Repair Timetable -Is this Acceptable?

The Summer of 2018:  The summer I spent indoors, a prisoner of my failing powerchair and my wheelchair repair service.

Again I ask --- what length of time would you be willing to wait to get your only pair of shoes repaired or replaced?  Hmmmmm?

Prisoner:  Summer of 2018 spent indoors.

My last two posts (1) & (2) have outlined my frustration in having my Quantum 6000 wheelchair's power issues resolved in a timely manner.  My frustration continues...

My wheelchair repair service is by all accounts a reputable company and franchise.  I understand their own dilemma, having acquired most, if not all of Shopper's Home Healthcare services when they divested their company of wheelchair sales and service.  Retaining qualified technicians also appears to be a challenge.  Sick days and summer vacations have also been offered as excuses.
Unfortunately they are the only service in 'town' covering a very large part of southern Ontario.

1. Thursday June 21st, 2018 - call Service Provider requesting service on loss of power from my Quantum 6000.  Got lucky as it usually takes a week or so to get a technician to make a house call.  They promise to send one next day.

2. Friday, June 22nd, 2018 - Service Technician promptly calls in the A.M. and searches for cause of the power issues with my powerchair.  Chair runs fairly well on a flat surface.  Powerchair can no longer climb the ramp.  Have to compensate loss of power by pushing joystick to the left.  Chair struggles in left-hand turns (where right wheel pushes).  Climbing the smallest bump or ledge, the left wheel has power and climbs; the right wheel hits and stalls --- which pivots me around the stalled tire --- into walls if nearby.

Technician measures motors and tells me they are within factory specification.  Doesn't have the meter to plug into joystick to measure stored parameters.  Technician leaves after almost two hours --- for another job.  Problem unresolved.

3. Call Service Provider --- send technician with 16 years experience to complete diagnosis; has meter to diagnose parameters stored in joystick.  Technician states that problem is the joystick controller.  Doesn't provide full power on an incline when pushed to max,  (then why does it run reasonably well on a flat surface?)  Service technician orders new joystick.  Asked him if he could place a "rush" request on that order.

4. Monday July 2nd, 2018 - Service Provider calls asking if I want to go through with this pricey order ($921.00 Cnd.).  "What choice do I have?", I asked politely - this chair is 'my legs'.  I thought they were calling to tell me the parts were in,  It took a week for them to call to verify if I wished to proceed with the "rush" order.  Secretary tells me it usually takes two weeks for the parts to arrive.  I again plead if a request to "rush" can be requested.

5. Tuesday July 10th, 2018,  I subsequently receive the invoice for the parts ordered dated July 10th.  Stapled to it is a printed cashier's tape receipt of the stated amount having been made on my charge card.  It appears the service department actually put the charge through on my credit card one week before calling to ask my okay to do so.  I'm confused.

6. Monday July 16th, 2018 - Two weeks have passed.  I call my Service Provider asking if the parts requested have arrived.  The confirm that the parts are in but inform me that I cannot get a technician for over a week.  Book the appointment


7. Friday July 27th, 2018 - Service technician with 16 years experience arrives to replace joystick (and connecting cable).  Repairs made; problem remains $921.00 later.  Technician notices right motor has damage to the 'plug' (for lack of a better name) which holds the brush contact for the motor.  (Why was this not noticed by the first tech (or the second for that matter) who measured the motors and found them within factory specification.)  Did the techs damage the brushes when examining them?  This brush plug or housing is protected by the tire on one side and the motor engagement lever on the other.  It would be difficult if not impossible for the wheelchair user to damage.

Technician with 16 years experience suggests I get a new motor.  Then it is my call; do I wish to replace the other motor at the same time because "when one goes, the other may not be far behind."  While that may be true, this was not wear and tear but rather physical damage.  What choice do I have?  Well, I don't want to spend the summer of 2019 waiting to replace the other motor so I okay the deal.  Please, please, PLEASE - can you put a rush order on the parts as I want to salvage some of this summer.

8. Thursday August 8th, 2018 - Service Provider calls me to ask if I still wish to go through with the pricey purchase; $2120.00.  Again I ask "what choice do I have?  These are my legs!"  So, one week after the 2nd diagnosis is made and my "rush" plea is made, I'm called to ask if I still want to go through with the order.   "Yes, I do" I whimper and again, futility request the make it a 'rush' order.  I try to guess when the parts may arrive based on their previous timetable - two weeks would be the 16th of August, three on the 23rd of August.

Update:
9. Monday August 20th, 2018 - I call service provider to ask if ordered parts have arrived at their facility.  "Yes" I'm told "they are in and we have you scheduled for a service call on August 30th" --- TEN days from today!  I wonder when the parts actually arrived and was the wait for a service call longer than ten days.  My pathetic request for a "Rush" order had me waiting three weeks!

10.  Thursday August 30th, 2018 - Service provider arrives on-time and installs the two motors necessitating taking almost all of the chair apart.
   -2 Motors = $980.00 each
   -2 Wheel Assembly Hubs =  $40.00 each
   -1 Hour labour = $80.00
   -Total = $2120.00

Thankfully the correct parts were shipped and the chair does now run to my satisfaction.

One-Sixth of a Year has Passed

Since I first Called for Service

and my Wheelchair was Repaired!

Add that charge to my needless Joystick replacement (and labour) and you have a total of $3041.00.   Urgh@$&**!  And summer is gone...

So if it takes two weeks to get delivery of the parts (as nobody stocks the most common parts for the most common of wheelchairs any longer);  and if my "rush" request is laughed away ---  then I might expect delivery around August 16th of this year and perhaps another week, August 23rd to have a technician install them.

June 21st to perhaps August 23rd to (hopefully) get this chair running again.  How long is too long to get timely service for a disabled member of society?

I spent $921.00 needlessly as it was not the source of the problem I had called about.  Several years ago I had pinched the joystick-cable connector in a doorway and cracked the locking tab.  I had taped up the connector and it worked flawlessly ever since.  It may have still done so until I retired this chair but now I'll never know.

I live in a rather rural area and am fairly able bodied so I do work around the property.  I wish to keep this Quantum running as long as possible to be used outdoors and around my shop.  I also want that second powerchair so that I never again am held prisoner by my chair, nor my Service Provider.

The house in which I now reside is a ranch style built in the early 1960's.  The doorways are narrow (and now scarred by my strikes -another post).  My manual chair with canted-wheels cannot make it through the openings.  At present, this Quantum 6000 is my only option.

By the way, I have put in a request for an evaluation for a new powerchair.  I did so over a month ago when I was told I would be added to a waiting list a month long.

I Spent the Summer of 2018

A Prisoner of my House!

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Greed, Engineering Stupidity? - Your Call...

Greed, Engineering Stupidity? - Your Call...

A day after having my Quantum 6000's joystick controller replaced, I'm still fuming that the diagnosis of my chair's power issue was incorrect and that I was stuck with a $921.00 bill for a component that was well used but entirely functional.

The new $921.00 joystick control unit,

My previous tech informed me that the Permobil control unit was built in China.  I imagine the Quantum is also a Chinese product.  Why China?  Well, for one reason alone - to save money for the manufacturer; not the client!

I suspect that the unit costs in the neighbourhood of $10.00 to mass produce and I'm probably overestimating.  Three film pressure switches; a row of LED lights; the gimbal joystick and a few chips and microprocessors within housing of recycled plastic.  Tack on the cost of shipping in overseas containers (literally a slow boat from China) and mark the product up 100%.  Stockholders and investors will be pleased.  The CEO can buy another Mercedes.

I can purchase an audiophile quality stereo component for about the same price as my joystick controller --- and it has a significantly greater number of electronic chips, components and circuitry than does the joystick.  Market size for these exotic components are probably smaller as well --- a poor excuse.

How can the cost be justified when many of the disabled relying on these products are destitute, unemployed, have no private insurance coverage and no huge wrongful injury settlement.  Well, the government will pay --- so jack up the price.  Remember it is not the government, but the taxpayer that pays and that means most of us.

So after they misdiagnosed my power issue, I was told I needed a new motor to replace the damaged one (the one which measured "bang-on" company specs a month ago)

The problem is that the small round housing holding one of the motor's brushes is cracked.  But you cannot replace the brush --- individual motor brushes are not marketed so you have to replace the whole motor.

'Can you imagine having to replace your car engine because you need new spark plugs?'

As I lamented in my previous post --- can you imagine needing a new spark-plug for your car and you're told the only way to get a new spark-plug is to install a new engine!

Technicians tell me that the motors are not repaired but are scrapped.  Crushed, ground up and melted to recover the metals.

A throw-away society that congratulates itself on being environmentally green!  Yeah, I'll light a candle for that during Earth Hour!

The engineering geniuses also designed motors that are not reversible; left can not be swapped for right or vice-versa.  Why?  As I understand it, they are attached to a frame or housing which only fits one side. Twice the needed inventory space makes no sense. (more on that further below). 

The Dual Quantum motors are indicated by the red arrows.  The also point to the lever which engages or disengages the motor from the wheelchair (so it can be manually pushed).  Simply flipping the motor over to the opposite side would put the leaver facing inward.  Can the black cap on the rear of the motor be unscrewed and flipped around to make the motor interchangeable?  Can a left motor be mounted in the right motor's housing?  I never received a clear answer from my tech.  I suspect it is not that easy,

When the motor(s) failed on my Permobil, they specifically ordered a left (or right) motor.  Is it different for the Quantum?

My issues are not with the Quantum chair, nor Pride which is the parent company.  This Quantum was given to me free of charge by a sympathetic friend and the chair was old with worn parts that would last an unknown duration.  It is well past its life expectancy but I wish to keep it going for heavy use outside around the garden and garage.

My final gripe is that nobody stocks parts any longer because of the cost of storage of a variety of parts that may or may not at some time be needed.  Very little is kept at the shop.  Everything seems to be ordered by carrier pigeon and shipped by that 'slow boat from China'.  No faxing orders --- no overnight courier shipping.  The client can wait --- they're disabled and have no life anyway.

You can't sell what you don't stock!  Unfortunately, with Shopper's Home Healthcare out of the wheelchair business (though they were incompetent), there is no alternative to turn to and therefore no competition,  Companies competing for clients would keep each other on their toes and serve their clients better.

Am I bitter?  Hell yes!  The franchise in this city is not run as efficiently as the previous one of the same name in my previous town.  Now that Shopper's Home Healthcare has divested itself of wheelchairs they are the only game in town.  There is no competition.  Service lags, long wait times for service and technicians are stressed.  It's a formula for disaster.

This chair will no longer climb my ramp and I was advised not to "push it" as it may fail altogether before replacement motors are available.

2018 may be the summer I spend indoors.

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Summer Still Keeps Slipping Away

Summer Still Keeps Slipping Away

After waiting for One-Twelfth of a year I'm

Still A Prisoner of my Broken Powerchair

In my previous post I wrote about the power issues which suddenly developed in my Quantum 6000 power wheelchair.

Today marks a month to the day since the power issue was supposedly diagnosed and solution (replacement parts) recommended.  The technician arrived and replaced the suspect parts yet the problem remains.

 Will I also be a prisoner of Autumn?

I was a prisoner of summer from June 27th through to today, July 27th.

After waiting one-twelfth of a year (one month) for repairs --- and after a $921.00 replacement joystick (plus labour), the original problem remains.

To quickly review:  My Quantum suddenly developed power issues most noticeable when climbing the ramp to my home.  Where before it barely slowed when on the incline, suddenly it struggled and I had to compensate by pushing the joystick to the left.

The tech(s) (it took two) who diagnosed the problem inspected and measured the motors and said they were within factory specifications.  I was told the problem was the joystick which may not have been telling the motors to apply full power when pushed forward to the max.  I may have had to push the joystick to the left because the joystick's gimbal was no longer centered --- or such explanation.

I had once crunched the cord connector linking the joystick to the electronic control module at the rear of the powerchair.  Still, I had taped it up securely and it never failed to provide an electrical connection.

I had my doubts as to the joystick causing the power issue as the Quantum had plenty of speed and power when not on an incline.

 New $921.00 Cnd. (plus labour) joystick did not solve the power issue as the technician's diagnosis suggested.  A month later, back to Square One!

As the Quantum powerchair was being returned for my assessment, the technician noticed some damage to a motor brush housing which had not been noted by either technician, a month ago when one of the fellows tested the motors.  How this damage could have occurred is puzzling as the motor brushes are virtually flush with the motor itself and protected by the tire on one side and the lever which engages the motor on the other side.

 After completing repairs which did not solve my power issue, the technician noticed that one of the motor brush housings was damaged --- not noticed a month ago when they examined and measured the motors,  The red arrow at the bottom shows the damaged brush housing or plug which holds one of the brushes against the motor thereby providing power.  At the upper right of the photo is an enlarged view of the damage (arrow -half broken away).  The remaining arrow, pointing left, shows what an undamaged brush housing looks like.  The logical and sane solution would be to unscrew and replace all (4?) brushes per motor with new ones.  The repair would cost a few dollars (before mark-up by the greedy health care and manufacturing system!

So, the only recourse I was offered was to purchase a new motor to replace the damaged brush housing (for lack of a better description).  I was told the brush could not be replaced as they don't make replacements.  (how about an old discarded motor?)  To replace the brush --- you replace the whole motor.

Can you imagine having to replace your car's motor because you need new spark-plugs???  Urgh%#@*!

Not only that, but if one motor is worn --- or is failing, the other probably is reaching the end of its useful life.

This chair is my legs!  I have no choice but to order two new motors (about $!K each) after paying $921.00 for a joystick which I may or may not have needed.  Will it take yet another month (up to September) to get the motors?


So I remain a prisoner of my legs; of a malfunctioning wheelchair; of technicians who could not properly diagnose the problem; of the wheelchair repair franchise that cannot stock common parts nor order them in a timely manner; of the greedy manufacturers of medical devices; and remain a prisoner of my home while the summer of 2017 slips away outdoors.

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