Cruising down the sidewalk on 3 wheels with a flat – wheelchair lifestyle

The story of my Invacare Power Chair [electric wheelchair] that I received on June 30th, 2010.
It all began on the first day I had my Invacare Power Chair. I was test driving it in my house, everything went “ok”. Then I went out side with the Invacare Power Chair, that is where the fun began!! Driving the chair around in the grass was good, there were no problems at all. There was a little bump going up from the grass to my cement driveway. I decided to go to dinner. In leaving my property I crossed the street in front of my house, went up the driveway apron diagonally and the [left caster tire] Semi-Pneumatic Casters Lt. Grey, popped off the wheel. Turned around drove the chair back to my house. Took a picture of the left tire that had popped off of the left front caster. Sent a copy of the picture to the dealer via e-mail. Then the next week the dealer came out picked up the Invacare Power Chair and took it back to their shop, where they put the tire back on the caster. The chair was returned to me in that same week.

In the meantime, after I sent the e-mail to the dealer. I used my Quickie P200 electric wheelchair [my backup chair] and went to dinner.  In the first month that I had my new Invacare Power Chair, I was very careful in operating the electric wheelchair, going up and down curb cuts and driveway aprons.
A month had gone by, I was coming back from dinner. While crossing the street about 4 blocks from my house, I went up the ADA’s approved curb cut  and the tire popped off the left caster again!!  While sitting in my Invacare Power Chair, I took a drink of my hot tea and quietly laughed at myself. Wondering how I was going to get my Invacare Power Chair back home. Here is what I did, on 3 wheels I drove the Invacare Power Chair home on the sidewalk I had to  be careful of cracks and bumps . Driving my Invacare Power Chair on 3 wheels was almost like riding in a hydrofoil boat. When crossing the street, the only thing that I had to be careful was cracks and bumps in the street and going down driveway aprons and curb cuts, there is no way of stopping the chair. If you go down the curb cut, driveway apron forwards all of the weight goes to the front casters and there is not enough weight on the rear wheels. The best way to avoid sliding down the driveway aprons and curb cuts, is to go down backwards. Keep in mind that people walking might not know that one of the wheels is broken on your electric wheelchair, so be careful!! You can go up the curb cut, driveway apron forwards, because all of the weight is on the rear wheels. When I returned home, I  sent a copy of the picture to the dealer via e-mail.

Then the next week the dealer came out picked up the Invacare Power Chair and took it back to their shop, where they  put more of a heavy duty tires back on both of the casters. This time I was without my Invacare Power Chair for about a month while the dealer order  heavy duty tires,wheels and inserts. I was not without any electric wheelchair, I had my Quickie P200 electric wheelchair as my backup chair.

How ever I do have an on going problem with the footplates, they keep on breaking on my Invacare Power Chair. It is not the footplate  that breaks, it is the little bracket that the footplate is bolted onto.  That same little bracket is also bolted onto the hanger. So far this past year they have broken about five different times now!! I just wish that I could buy replacement parts over the internet, counter or mail order.