Keep in mind, and you probably know already, CMS is not interested in speed. Safety and being mobile is more important. A lousy provider can make a great chair manufacturer look bad. It applies to automobiles and electric wheelchairs. Electric wheelchairs are not designed for outdoors, per se, and using them outdoors in the rain and snow, will create issues. Driving thru puddles and potholes will affect any brand of wheelchairs. Not protecting the electronic top side during times of heavy moisture, is asking for problems and issues. If outdoor used wheelchairs were built like tanks.... you would be able to bring them... indoors. Protect what you have... Best Wishes In a message dated 2/21/2012 3:53:58 A.M. Central Standard Time, aa999...@yahoo.com writes:
Now that speed issue you just mention is quite an interesting one and never heard of it before! Be forewarned Invacare electronics are nothing but garbage and completely unreliable! I've had every black box on my chair replace 3 to 4 times and some of them even more than that. My last chair had some minor problems as an Invacare product but six months after owning this chair it mysteriously stalled out and had to be manually turned off and restarted which I can't do! After hours with the technical support and regional representative visiting me he never did figure it out even after I stalled out on the railroad tracks with a freight train coming! Completely frustrated I switched repair shops and they were able to install a switch so I could restarted myself. If you are on the road as much as I am or out in the bad weather be prepared for breakdown and inconvenience at the stupidest times. I have the Ranger X with the main controller mounted on the front of the frame only covered partially by their factory cover! Water kicked up by the front wheels was wreaking havoc both the controller and the gearless brushless motors. A passing car splashed water on me during a light rain storm and killed my chair nearly 2 1/2 hours until it dried out. Finally somebody in the repair shop added about six or 8 inches of sheet metal to the front cover extending it back almost to the battery box. I still have to be careful was slushy snow and heavy downpours but for the most part it's 100 times better than the original.There are many other things that have gone wrong due to the inferior quality of their product! I will also be getting a new chair this year and have told my dealer no Invacare. I hope this helps in some degree. Monty of Indiana 3/4 complete 18 years ____________________________________ From: Derrick <whe...@cvn.net> To: wheelch...@aol.com; t...@toddc5quad.com; quad-list@eskimo.com Sent: Monday, February 20, 2012 12:59 PM Subject: Re: [QUAD-L] New wheelchair? Todd, I'm trying to get a new Invacare wheelchair too. I have always had Storm Arrow but my DME supplier said that medi-"i don't"-care will only pay for torque 3. Medicare will not cover wheelchairs that go over a certain speed; like 6.5mph or so. I'm worried about the durability too but we can you do? Fight medicare? They will cover my tilt. Derrick W ----- Original Message ----- From: _wheelchair@aol.com_ (mailto:wheelch...@aol.com) To: _todd@toddc5quad.com_ (mailto:t...@toddc5quad.com) ; _quad-list@eskimo.com_ (mailto:quad-list@eskimo.com) Sent: Sunday, February 19, 2012 10:30 PM Subject: Re: [QUAD-L] New wheelchair? Call the horse's mouth rather then calling the horse's (other end) Invacare 800-333-6900 ask for tech service? You won't be disappointed. Best Wishes In a message dated 2/19/2012 9:00:24 P.M. Central Standard Time, _todd@toddc5quad.com_ (mailto:t...@toddc5quad.com) writes: I'm looking at new wheelchairs and my local DME provider told me that GB (gearless/brushless) motors we're no longer available from Invacare. Does anyone know if this is true? Does anyone have any experience with the Invacare Storm Torque 3 ? I have had 2 Invacare Storm Arrow wheelchairs and the last one had GB motors which I like very much but they want me to try the Torque 3 and this seemed like a big step backwards to me. The Torque 3 doesn't seem to be as heavy duty and is slower than the Arrow. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Todd
