Yup, I've gotten ahold of my very first power-chair. Don't laugh, I got it free. (Like I'd pay for something as geriactric as that, c'mon)
'Cource right now you might be saying "You bastard!" "A powerchair is a powerchair, right?" Well, have a look at the new Jazzy 11202000 and you tell me.
One of my neighbor's is a polio survivor, and if you're not up on that, they "cured" it around 1956 or so, so you do the math. He's kind of a cool guy, but like everyone, there are things to look out for.
Anyway.
I went to the store for him awhile back, groceries and hardware, y'know, boy stuff. he rides a powerchair, which I was kinda checking out, as someday I'm going to be in one. Not that I expect that to happen tomorrow, but if I ever stub a thumb or break a finger or somesuch, I'm screwed in a manual chair.
But anyway.
He's got like 4 old chairs under a tarp on his deck, and I was looking at them a little. They're all fairly old, like the one you see here in the pictures.
So, he was telling me about how I should look into a powerchair in order to save my shoulders. They're feeling better at the moment, but last week they were pretty torn up. Too many trips up my ramp-of-death, I suspect. I wasn't really into the idea then, and I'm still not now, but like I said, someday in the future....

So now I've got my very own powerchair. It's a hoopty, but it's mine.
I took it down to the local powerchair shop to have the electronics looked at, just so I didn't dump a bunch of money into batteries or something just to find out the controls didn't work or the motors are dead, or something. THe guy had a look, and the first thing he said was "Who's ass do I get to kick for giving this thing to you?" Then he told me the batteries only had 3.5 volts each, making the total 7. The thing runs on 24, and the stock charger won't charge them if the voltage dropps below 21. So.... I've got them hooked in parallel (12 volts, 2x amps) right now on my trusty car charger, tomorrow I'll hook them back in series (24 volts, x amps) and see if the thing will move.

If it does, and it's not a big if, but an if none the less, then I'll have a working (vintage) powerchair. Even though it was free, there's no way in hell I'm going to be caught dead driving the thing around as is.

So what the hell am I going to do with it? Well, here's my vision:

I want to take it apart and build a custom gas-electric hybrid chair. Gas power to get quickly to the store, school, that sort of thing, and electric to get around inside. I had thought of using jet power, but apparently that's rather loud, and doesn't have much take-off power. The faster you go the harder it pulls, but the thought of riding a wheelchair at over about 15 miles an hour frankly scares the hell out of me.
So, gas it is. I think a small 5 horse go-cart motor would work pretty well, especially if it has an onboard alternator to keep the batteries topped off.

So I've got the propulsion idea covered. I want to change the chair geometry when it's under gas power, as speed and a standard "chair" seating position are a sure way to die.

So as I think about how to make it go, it's currently sitting out on the deck on the charger. When I took it down to the powerchair guy, he tested the batteries, and told me they had 3.5 volts in them. Each. They're supposed to have 12. Also mentioned if they have less than 21 (together) then the stock charger won't charge them. So... I hooked them to my trusty car charger, and got them up to 12 volts last night. Switched them to the 24 volt configuration, turned it on, and it gave me a 'blink code' and that's it. Maybe the batteries aren't charged, or something. So... They've been on the charger (again) for almost 24 hours, and they're still not ready yet. So we'll see.

So........ I'm also thinking of using the powerchair as some kind of "carrying heavy things" mule. Of melding it with a motorcycle lift type thing. So I can drag something heavy onto it, drive it inside, and lift it to the level of the counter, if I want. It's important that it lifts up and down, because if I just have it tall all the time, I'll have a hell of a time getting something heavy onto it, and it will be quite tippy. So stick something heavy onto it, tie it to myself, and let it carry the heavy thing and pull me as well. This is of cource all under electric power, as gas would be rather bulky and uncontrolable I think.

So I dunno. It's not going to be the world's fastest pulse-jet powerchair just yet. It's prolly not going to be a dual fuel powerchair for quite a while. Heck, it's not even running yet. But I've got dreams, Baby, I've got dreams!

So I've been looking for a MIG welder for awhile.... I was using the one up at school, but I'm at a different school now, and for the life of me I can't find a welding class in the catalog this semester. It's too late to join one even if I found it now anyway, so... I've been looking at little 135's, because I can plug them into house current. I don't have a 220 plug here anywhere, don't even have a plug at all out on the deck. So I'm going to have to run a 110 powercord from somewhere... the bedroom I guess, cuz it needs it's own circuit. If I plugged it into the living-room, the fuse would blow and all the computers would go down... bad bad Bad.

I've been trolling the net, and there's 2 contending at the moment. The Lincoln SP-135 Plus and the Millermatic 135.
I think the Lincoln is on top at the moment, because it can do aluminum, and I've got some plans for that. The cell-phone charger that works from a King radio battery pack, the "toy hose" roller, and the Gerber-sized "toy hose" clamp. For those of you out there who run away from wildfires, a "toy hose" is one that is lightweight and lays flat when you roll it. Here is the civilian version . Now without letting the cat totally out of the bag, all those things I want to make out of aluminum, and all require some welding. 'Cource TIG is the best way to do that, but MIG does that as well, should your welder be capable. The Lincoln is, the Miller is not. So, the Lincoln I will get.

I searched the net, and found one right down the street from here for $705, but found one on E-Bay for alot less. it remains to be seen if I get it however.