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Powerchair Charger
As I am planning a trip to japan next year and using a powerchair (permobil m5), I wanted to ask if it was possible to rent a charger (and if anyone has experience with that) for the chair in japan, as my charger only supports 115V 60hz and 230V 50hz (and ill be staying in tokyo so the frequency wont match as well). I plan to bring my own chair, as I couldn’t find any rentable ones with a headrest, and foldable ones don’t let you stay in them on public transit.
Tracey and Josh Grisdale7 Comments-
Hi,
I would be very surprised if a place just rented a charger (unless it broke mid-trip and they were doing it to help). Permobil has a Japan office with contact information at the bottom of the page you might want to try. https://permobilkk.jp/
You could also possibly get a step up/down converter. But they are big and heavy… *some* large hotels may have them, but be sure to ask for a picture as the person answering might think you are talking about a simple plug converter which doesn’t change voltage.
Have you tried asking your provider if they have one they can lend you for the trip?
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@joshgrisdale I will ask my technician, my austrian Permobil provider and permobilkk.jp. But i really dont want to buy a heavy transformer/converter as it will cut into my plane weight allowance, and i read somewhere that converters are not ideal so a transformer is better? And i think i can assume by this reply that my 115V 60hz charger is definitely not compatible with japanese power (especially in tokyo).
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@joshgrisdale
I agree with Josh. Your best bet is to beg or borrow an international charger from your provider. If your machine is fairly new they may even trade your original charger for an international one.If that fails your charger will likely work on the Japanese 100 volt 50 cycle system but at reduced efficiency. That means the lower output may only charge your batteries to, lets say 3/4, charge. That may not be a problem if you do not travel far, but may leave you feeling anxious about running out.
I assume you current charger has a switch to change between voltages. I also assume it has a transformer and is big and quite heavy. The international chargers have switching power supplies and no transformer so they are much lighter and easier to travel with.
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@dmdz This not sure if this came to you ↑
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@joshgrisdale Yeah figured that part out already.
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Also just asking as you already responded to me, do you know any hotels where the bed is high enough for a hoist (without solid frame) that are averagely priced? Because the fotos on the accessible japan site are not that great for estimating if the beds have a solid frame.
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@dmdz Yes, unfortunately we (I run Accessible Japan) generally only get the photos the hotel sends us… It would probably be best to post a separate question so it doesn’t get muddled
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