Vehicle location
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Vehicle location
Bonjour,
Since Air Canada add a direct flight from Montreal to Tokyo I’m considering visiting Japan this year or next year.
I have 2 main questions… is the voltage a problem with canadian standard appliance (wheelchair charger, respitory equipement, etc…)
and is it possible to rent an accessible minivan for a couples of days.
Thank you,
Christian
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2 Replies
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Hi,
That is exciting! Non-direct flights are hard.
For the vehicle question first, I would get in touch with IDO Support. They speak English, have equipment rentals and at least one wheelchair accessible rental van. It even has hand controls and can be delivered to the airport! You can find their website (in English) here: http://www.ido-support.com/english/rentacar.html. Please let them know Accessible Japan sent you. Now, I am not sure of the price so it may be expensive. If you don’t need the extras like hand controls, I believe that a number of standard dealers also offer accessible vehicles (ie have a ramp in the back). If that would be better, let us know and we can look for some. But they may not be easy to rent as they are not always in the online rental system and you may need to contact the dealer directly.
As for power, please read our post here: https://www.accessible-japan.com/voltage-japan-wheelchair-battery-chargers/
It should be fine from Canada (120v) but you may not get a full charge in the regular time since the voltage is slightly lower in Japan (100v) and so it may possibly take longer. Also note that all plugs here are two pronged, so you may need a plug adapter.
If you could send a picture of the details sticker on your battery charger, we can confirm with more certainty.*
Hope this helps!
(*Please note we are not electrical engineers, so you should ask your wheelchair dealer for final confirmation)
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Hi Christian:
I agree with Accessible Japan; Please send in a picture of the label on your charger and they or I can give a better answer.
The short answer is:
- If you have an old charger that is big and heavy it probably has a transformer in it. It will be designed for 120 volts and at the 100 volts used in Japan it will not provide a high enough output voltage to fully charge your batteries. Lead acid batteries are, simply speaking, voltage controlled.
- If you have a newer charger that is more like the black brick that powers your laptop it may be designed for 100/120 volts 50/60 cycles and will do just fine in Japan. You still will need a three to two prong adapter if your charger has three prongs. These are available in Canada at Canadian Tire or Rona etc.
If you send in that picture of the sticker I can confirm the above, or your chair dealer can.
Hope this helps!
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