Sunrise EU/UK vs Sunrise US A bit of a rant

[Burgerman]

70mph?

Sit on
https://www.scooter.co.uk/fast-scooters
Electric
https://www.scooter.co.uk/electric-moped
Stand on electric
https://www.altriders.com/fastest-elect ... s-reviews/


The thing you are calling a mobility scooter has 4 wheels, so isnt actualy a scooter.
The three wheel ones are not either. They are trikes.

How 4 wheeled mobilitly "scooters" get called scooters beats me. But they are really a type of car/buggy/gof cart thing.

[SP3_NYC]

@exGoosrider

Even if it is only on the books in one state, it potentially means that a dealer in CO can make stuff available to people in other states (or even a chair owner could....)

ex-Gooserider

Or I Could because I'm in Colorado I think that once a person gets a manual it can be posted anywhere. Software I'm less sure about. Pride dealer software is useless because they have to approve changes anyway, right?

I've thought of 'moving' to Colorado to buy parts at dealer discounts, and to obtain every manual and piece of proprietary info I might ever need, the thing I can't locate anywhere online.
A Quantum rep told me they have no service manuals, because the chairs are "too custom and have too many options."...lol... I said, you mean even the base has many options....she said no, but stuck to her position.

@ex-Gooserider please, please get and post any information. If it's a question of purchasing service manuals, I'd be happy to contribute/buy them for all of us. I have found full Invacare Service Manuals for the Eu, and even some very inadequate ones for the latest Sunrise (The last decent service manuals were from 2012 for the 7-Series Powerchairs (710,715,720), and a bit later for the 636 & 646.

Do we have a thread for publishing manuals, or links to them?
@Burgerman, would that be okay? I have a few to share.

~S

[Burgerman]

If you want!

I generally find them online. I have a few for the chairs I use. Cant host them here because copyright and size issues. Buy you could link them. Although to be honest theres nothing on a powerchair complicated enough to need a manual. I have completely stripped and rebuilt many, all basically the same. You just undo what you see.

Parts manuals are availablle online. From the manufacturers. At least here. Those are useful. Lets you figure out what can fit what! And what to order. With numbers.

[LROBBINS]

Given that FDA approval requires tight inventory control and a record of all changes, the Pride people are just giving you BS. No surprise there.

[slomobile]

Re: FDA approval
https://youtu.be/mhXnN8CXCwM?si=1jA-FUuNiUfHccy8

The process is different for wheelchairs, involving RESNA https://www.resna.org/
But the video illustrates the problem well. Favoring existing players and lookalike solutions while putting up barriers to innovations by new players.

[Burgerman]

Things like wheelchairs, patient lifts etc are not subject to FDA rules or many other rules in the UK. There are a few for lifting such as apply to all lifting equipment such as cranes and pressure vessels for safety. But these are generally self certified. Like the CE markings for electronics in the EU and still in the UK until we get around to junking it. Those to are self certification. You must ensure its safe etc but dont have to submit anything to the likes of the USAs FDA.

So if you want to be a manufacturer of powerchaurs like tom did when he copied my BM2 chairs (in a fashion) he is perfectly entitled to do so. And this results in the same free markets as we see for other goods like carpets, TVs, cars, whatever. Very little in the way of certification needed. Cars are a little different now with emmisions and crash testing but those are exceptions rather than the rule. But small car companies can still exist that do not nessassarily comply. Theres ways around it. In the same way I dropped an alloy Rover V8 into the space where a 1.6 litre 4 cylinder engine came out. Ending up wth a cross between a rover/ford. What does that comply with? If I choose to make 1000 of them and sell them then thats a legal business.

The problem in the US is your funding/insurance/FDA thing. It must be the reason theres no sensible rear drive chairs for e.g. in the USA/Canada.

[ex-Gooserider]

Totally agree... I've been told that the reason Sunrise won't bring their RWD models to the US, is that they'd have to go through the ENTIRE FDA / RESNA testing routine, which is VERY expen$ive, and that they didn't think they'd sell enough to justify the expense...

Could be BS, but does make sense given what I know about the FDA and gov't agencies in general...

Unfortunately I can't help in getting info via the Colorado R2R law since I live in MA... I was just hoping someone that did live in CO could...

ex-Gooserider