3 Tips To Help You With Power Wheelchair Repair Problems
Posted on: 28 October 2018
As of 2015, there are about 40 million people in America with some type of disability. Some of these individuals will need a power wheelchair due to that disability. When you own a power wheelchair, you will run into problems that will require repair. In some cases, these problems do not require a technician; instead, they simply require a basic understand of the power chair itself. Here are three tips that will help you better understand how to operate, manage, and "repair" your power wheelchair when you are having issues with so that maybe you won't have to unnecessarily contact a repair technician.
Tip #1: Understanding Your Chair's Beep Codes
When you own any kind of electronic product (well, any product, really), it is important that you read the user manual thoroughly and carefully. If you fail to do this, you won't understand what is going on with your product when something goes wrong.
One of the most common problems that power chair owners will experience is unfamiliar beeping sounds—and they're unfamiliar because owners have not familiarized themselves with the user manual. The motorized wheelchair is beeping to let you know that something is wrong with the chair. In reality, it isn't just a beep; it is a fault code.
Inside of your user manual, you will find a chart with diagnostic fault codes. For instance, if your chair beeps once, it likely means that the battery is too low. If the chair beeps five times, it may be a volt error. These will vary from chair to chair, but there will be codes for your battery being low, the battery charge being too low for the chair to operate, the manual freewheel level being in the forward position, as well as various other errors. The manual will also inform you of the solution for each other these errors.
Tip #2: Understand the Freewheel Lever
On power wheelchairs, the freewheel level can be a particularly helpful feature as it helps the owner of the chair manually disconnect from the electronic braking system. So, when the battery is running out of juice, the freewheel level comes in handy. In order for the wheelchair to operate properly, the freewheel lever must be in the locked position. To lock the lever, simply locate it (usually on the back of the chair) and adjust it until the wheels are unlocked. If the lever is in the unlocked position, the power wheelchair will be unable to move.
Tip #3: Understand the Joystick
It isn't uncommon for the joystick to get locked up when a sequential code is accidentally performed on your chair. One instance of this is when you accidentally hit the power button on your power wheelchair twice or hold it down for a few seconds.
Again, reading your user manual is imperative as it will help you understand these problems that can keep you from paying an unnecessary service fee. However, when you run into a repair problem and can't figure out what's wrong—even after reading your manual—give a power wheelchair repair technician a call for assistance. A service, like Dynamic Repair Solutions, can provide just the assistance you need.
Share