[alessia]

Hi everybody; I'm an italian girl with a "tethetered" spinal cord due to spina bifida.
I've used crutches for years, and so my wrists and shoulders are in bad conditions.
Now that I'm using a manual and very light weelchair, a see that the damages to my arms are so heavy and to avoid to ruin them totally - considering that i'm young - I'm trying to understand if there is a way to "transform" my manual weelchair in an electric one: i've found a power system tha interest me: i don't know if I can say its name... It's a model coming from Germany, and I've read different opinions - and a lot of people have problems with batteries.
Do these systems wotk? Do you know if there are things like this which works good?
An electric wheelchair is so heavy, expensive and need another car, then the little one i've got.
Thank you so much - really.

[mellowgator]

alessia, on Mar 17 2010, 06:19 PM, said:

Hi everybody; I'm an italian girl with a "tethetered" spinal cord due to spina bifida.
I've used crutches for years, and so my wrists and shoulders are in bad conditions.
Now that I'm using a manual and very light weelchair, a see that the damages to my arms are so heavy and to avoid to ruin them totally - considering that i'm young - I'm trying to understand if there is a way to "transform" my manual weelchair in an electric one: i've found a power system tha interest me: i don't know if I can say its name... It's a model coming from Germany, and I've read different opinions - and a lot of people have problems with batteries.
Do these systems wotk? Do you know if there are things like this which works good?
An electric wheelchair is so heavy, expensive and need another car, then the little one i've got.
Thank you so much - really.

i'm a c 6/7 quad who has been injured 23 years. i used a manual chair for 20 years and as i have aged have developed chronic pain in my neck and shoulders. i too was faced with moving to a electric w-c. what i found as an excellent go between is a power assist chair. i used the i-glide and loved it but johnson and johnson has stopped making it. in my search i found power assist wheels. they are called xtenders and are made by the quickie company. i now use the quickie ti which is a regular manual chair and i've added the xtenders which are removable. i like this chair set up even better than the i-glide! i describe it as power stearing. you only use a little push and the chair goes thur grass and up steep curves easily. the cost of the xtenders is $3000. depending on the light weight chair you currently use, it may be possible for you to add them to the chair you have now. i highly recommend them. i do have 2 batteries and i keep one on the charger. the battery only last about 5 miles. so i do change out the battery if i'm having a very busy day.

i saw a forum addressing this very thing you should check out this topic"Emotion Or Quickie Xtender Power Assist Wheels?, Which is best?" from july 2007. a lot of people have posted there on the pros and cons of both brands. i like how my xtenders look compared to the look of the emotions.

This post has been edited by mellowgator: 17 March 2010 - 07:05 PM

[Apparelyzed]

When J&J stopped developing the iGlide, it was taken on by the original developers, and re-branded as The Tailwind.

http://www.nextmobil...om/tailwind.php

Hope this of interest to you.

Regards

Simon.

[mellowgator]

thanks simon,

i didn't know about the tailwind. it looks like a great product.

thanks,

mellowgator

[alessia]

thank you so much! you've been so kind---

[alessia]

p.s. Have you heard something about that system from Germany that I wrote about? Thank you, I go to gain information about your precious answer.

[Alex_Spain]

Hi!,
i've been using an Alber e-fix installed in my Quickie Ti for about 3 years. You can see a review of my chair here: http://www.adaptado....ent/view/26/32/ . For me, it is the best electric wheelchair. Alber efix converts your manual chair into a full electric wheelchair (with a joystick). I have modified the batteries, and now i'm using lifepo4 battery (24V 10A) that only weighs about 3 kg (6.6 pounds). With this battery, i can use a robot in my small car to put the chair inside the trunk. You can see it at: http://www.youtube.c...h?v=_hqL6XMGjH8 (in the video i'm using my other chair with emotion wheels, but the quickie ti+efix has the same weight. I use both chairs with the same robot).
Emotion wheels are a good product too. But it is a power assisted wheel. I use both systems in different wheelchairs. If you are interested in emotion, read my review at: http://www.adaptado....nt/view/143/32/
Regards
Alex

[KeepTheFaith]

I have the Quickie Xtender power assist wheels. I don't like the way the battery pack sits on the back of my chair. I wish I would have known about the Tailwind motor assist chair because everything is concealed underneath and it's just a better looking chair, as far as motor assist chairs go. Someone at Project Walk, where I do therapy, has one of these and it's a nice chair with a lot of zip to it.

[alessia]

thank you again!! very kind...