Permobil vs Quantum power wheelchairs? Help!

[RAFS]

Permobil Pwr Chair VS Quantum Power Chair

I have the C - 500 Hvy Duty Power Chair w/the Old Joy Stick. I've had it since April 2008 and it has never broken down on me. Previous chair was a Quantum 600 which I did not like. It rode hard and didn't have all the bells and whistles on it that my PERMOBIL chair has. I really like the seat elevating function and also the power : recline , tilt and leg rests. I have the high speed motor package and if I push the joy stick all the way forward and when it gets up to full speed I can feel a breeze go by my ears. It is also quite responsive. I can get it in the tighest of spaces w/o bumping in to any thing. I highly recommend PERMOBIL power chairs. They are well made.
Best of luck on what ever make chair you decide on.

[Bookjunky]

The Pride Mobility products are seriously sucking these days. I had an old Jazzy 1100 that was so dependable and so I went for the Quantum chair they sold me on and it was a huge mistake. That chair is a serious lemon and they have been trying to fix the darn thing since February. It is really sad when even the company rep comes down to the repair shop to look at a chair and can't figure out what the heck is wrong with it.

[Van Quad]

Van Quad,

I too have a Torque Sp and am on my 3rd set of motors. I had to have one rebuilt in May because Invacare stopped making them and has no replacement. What year did you purchase yours and what electronics do you have on it?

Purchased mine approximately 3 years ago and it's got the MK6i electronics. Living in the rain forest combined with these electronics = disaster. The least amount of dampness and the chair goes in circles. I've had four previous chairs operating in the same conditions without such safety concerns.
I've never burnt out motors so it is probably the electronics on your particular chair. I've always been a big fan of Invacare and three of those previous four chairs were from them. But their quality has gone off the cliff...

[RAFS]

Purchased mine approximately 3 years ago and it's got the MK6i electronics. Living in the rain forest combined with these electronics = disaster. The least amount of dampness and the chair goes in circles. I've had four previous chairs operating in the same conditions without such safety concerns.
I've never burnt out motors so it is probably the electronics on your particular chair. I've always been a big fan of Invacare and three of those previous four chairs were from them. But their quality has gone off the cliff...

So sorry to read that Invacares quality has gone off the cliff. My very first power chair was a Hvy Duty Action Arrow storm then few years later while working an 8 hour day in a call center I had the the 2nd generation power tilt n recline system put on it. I thought the seating system would use up a lot of power but it didn't seem to make any difference on having to charge it up any sooner then before the seating system was put on the chair as matter of fact when I got a new power chair a PERMOBIL C500 the Invacare chair was still on the original batteries from back in late 1998. I had gotten the PERMOBIL in April of 2008. Neither chair has ever given me any problems. I no longer have the Invacare as I didn't have any place to keep two power chairs living in an apartment. I donated it to a young gal in her 30's who has rapid progressive MS. She has to live in a nursing center. They have taken her out of a power chair I believe due to her arms being real spastic from the MS.

[RKA]

Some C300's I've done recently...

https://www.carecure.net/forum/showthread.php?t=173121

https://www.carecure.net/forum/showthread.php?t=186860

To asil1008, My husband has had at least 3 Permobils over the years; they have good reliability and feature-wise much adaptability. I would recommend them. I would also suggest that you check what kind of service is available for the chairs you are considering, because having a good technician to service the chair is important.

To SCI OTR, thank you for your most informative picture posts about the Permobils!! The pictures really help in visualizing what can be done with the Permobil in the way of adaptation. As I mentioned to asil1008, a good technician makes all the difference. Just as one example, on my husband's old C300, we needed to change the joystick from a right swing-a-way mount to a left; Permobil didn't make a left-handed mount for that model, but our local repair technician cobbled one up for us.

[Charlottes Web]

Do the Permobils have a smooth ride in the yard? I have a Quantum, Edge, less than a year old that beats me to death across the yard. My mobility guy says, it doesn't get any better with respect to shocks.

The base is so big, I slam it into everything, it does not stop on a dime, it gets stuck in the yard all the time, and the boys can out run it at top speed. The most annoying thing is the noise the big tires make on the hardwood floors ...it wakes the dead! But, it's a pretty color!

Great thread, good information, thanks!
T

[MSspouse]

...The most annoying thing is the noise the big tires make on the hardwood floors ...it wakes the dead! ...

It could be the casters. We have hardwood too. See post on my fix.

http://carecure.rutgers.edu/forum/sh...light=silenced

[MSWIFE1]

My husbands C300 is very quite on our hardwood floors. I actually just made the comment about how I had to watch it cause he could sneak up on me now. Going across our yard which is flat and very very dry right now, is much smoother than the Invacare TDX3 but he is still jarring around a bit. The big tires are jell filled or something like that, they are flat frees but they are soft. That really helps with the ride I think. But then again, I'm just the innocent bystander.

[Charlottes Web]

Thanks so much for the fix link, MSspouse! I thought it was rubber meeting wood, but I couldn't figure out why the noise just recently started. I thought it had something to do with having it outside and getting the tires wet. I'm guessing it has about 20 miles, too.

I'll have my husband grease those bad boys up tonight! Girl question; do you use a car jack to get the wheel off?

MSwife, I wish I'd known of this site when my Dr. Rx'ed my chairs. With the information here, I'd be riding the equivalent of the Batmobile!

Thanks again!
T

[forestranger52]

My Permobil C500 has foam filled tires and I use it on dirt roads constantly. The shocks work very well, which is a pleasant surprise because most powerchairs are not good off pavement.

[MSspouse]

... Girl question; do you use a car jack to get the wheel off...

Although I have them, it seemed like overkill. I just used a 4' 2x4 to lift one end at a time. Set it on blocks and lifted the other end. Make sure to use a silicone based grease or something harmless to rubber. Petroleum grease might deteriorate it over time.

While he has it in the air, you might want to have him check the main wheel hubs too. Shortly after fixing the castors our Q6 developed a creak when starting and stopping. Turned out on of the the wheel hub was not tight enough on the axle shaft. The hub is held on a tapered shaft with a large nut. There is a shoulder that stops the nut from over-tightening on the taper. Tolerances were such that one side wasn't very tight. This let the steel surfaces work against each other slightly and it eventually started squeaking. I had to add an extra washer under the nut to get the hub to tighten enough to eliminate slop. If your hubby is mechanically inclined he will see what I am talking about when he disassembles it.

[Charlottes Web]

Forestranger, I can't remember if I test drove a Permobil. Many of the chairs gave me vertigo...lol. If it wasn't so loud, the lawnmower is a smoother ride to the garden! I've come close to bouncing out of my chair a couple times - of course, slowly down a bit is always an option, but opting for a seatbelt ...zoom zoom! BTW, how fast does your Permobil go on a dirt road? Maybe I can arrange a trade in through insurance.

MSspouse, so not to highjack the OP and his topic, I'm going to revive your "fix" thread with a couple of questions, later today. My husband loves to take things apart!

Cheers,
T

[forestranger52]

I don't use maximum speed on dirt roads. If I hit a rock or a stick, it could quickly change my direction and cause problems. Sometimes the dirt roads are eroded and I run in the middle on the level most place. I must be carefull to stay where it is flat as possible, if a wheel rolls over into the lower worn path the vehicle tires make on either side. I could tip over. The suspension is very good so that's no problem but anyone could bump up too high and loose control.

Driving on dirt and gravel roads takes serious attention and with various obstacles plus unlevel areas, a slower speed is recomended. Also since I am a quad without hand function, I must always be cautious because my dead fingers can easily hit the raised buttons on my controller and stop the powerchair dead in it's tracks. I can be tossed out like a rag doll or do multiple roll overs.

It is nice when I can run at max speed as I can cover a lot of ground. I believe I have the heavyweight option on my Permobil and that speeds her up a lot.

[eversonsail]

Pride /quantum products

that's what pride products and their Customer Service reps

are all about. Pride CEO and down your products suck

[SCI_OTR]

It is nice when I can run at max speed as I can cover a lot of ground. I believe I have the heavyweight option on my Permobil and that speeds her up a lot.

With the C500 Corpus 3G, there is no heavyweight option. Do you mean the speed package which includes a 6.5 MPH top speed, the gyroscope-based Enhanced Steering Performance (ESP) tracking module, and mandatory front anti-tip casters?

If that is true, I imagine it probably looks something like this...