[sudo-discuss] wheelchair lift on craigslist $250

Wed Sep 3 14:58:44 PDT 2014

Sorry hol, i didn't see the post about the width, i thought 30" would be 
enough.  After looking over craigslist i don't see anything that would 
work!  Oh well.

A couple of years ago a friend of mine took out a wheelchair lift from his 
work van, i think it was pretty big but it was long gone.

Thanks for doing the hard work to make this happen.

-jake

On Wed, Sep 3, 2014 at 1:33 PM, <hol at gaskill.com> wrote:

       jake,

       i originally questioned the rationale of spending the $2500 on an inspection alone if you recall.  the purpose of that was to get clear
       guidance on what will be required and to have full confidence that we would be immune from ADA lawsuits in the future, in addition to not
       having to waste our time and money constructing noncompliant features.  per the lease, all construction that we'll be reimbursed for 50% by
       john has to be signed off by a licensed contractor.  so if we pay 1/2 of $8000 and have a lift that's legit and the contractor handles all the
       permitting, etc, then that seems like a decent deal.  please feel free to shop around since I only got the one quote last week, the day after
       the inspection.

       >without even having looked at the list of requirements we are supposed to meet

Bathrooms: http://www.bobrick.com/Documents/PlanningGuide.pdf

Lifts: http://continuingeducation.construction.com/article.php?L=194&C=673&P=3

  *  4.2.4.2Relationship of Maneuvering Clearance to Wheelchair Spaces. One full unobstructed side of the clear floor or ground space for a
     wheelchair shall adjoin or overlap an accessible route or adjoin another wheelchair clear floor space. If a clear floor space is located in an
     alcove or otherwise confined on all or part of three sides, additional maneuvering clearances shall be provided as shown in Fig. 4(d) and (e)
     (see diagram). (Comment: Wheelchair lifts are typically considered to be alcoves. According to Fig. 4 (e), the minimum inside platform
     dimensions for a wheelchair lift with its gates on opposite ends (so that the user has a straight approach to the lift) are 36 inches x 48
     inches.)

all the work we're planning at this stage is work that i identified prior to that inspection simply by reading the codes.  i also proposed buying a
used wheelchair lift on CL that would suit our application, and volunteered to install it myself this week if someone else could fetch it.  if you
prefer to hack out all the details like used car batteries, ballscrews, bearings, power electronics, mechanical gate actuators, safety nut,
controls, etc in a way that will function reliably for the next few years without maintenance, and you're willing to research and perform all that
work on the relevant timeline, that would certainly help advance things along that front.  I have not researched any electrical characteristics
other than total current demand from the mains so you'd have to take the lead on those details.  For my part, I have only had a limited amount of
bandwidth to work on this and am doing the best I can to meet our commitment to accessibility.  If anyone feels I am taking the wrong approach and
wants to do things differently I would be ecstatic to step back and focus on other things. 

cheers,

hol

On 2014-09-03 12:41, Jake wrote:

i look forward to finding out the regulations on size, load, battery capacity, etc. because those are numbers we can work with.  If the van lift on craigs
list (and there are many of them) fits those requirements, i don't see the problem.

As for battery capacity, a single car battery can surely serve to evacuate a meeting of 30 electric-wheelchair using visitors in a power failure with no p
roblem, especially since it would only need power to lift the empty platform up to receive the next chair.  Lowering doesn't take any power at all (except
  for a tiny solenoid which releases pressure when you press the DOWN button), and if not, batteries are really easy to buy more of!

It sounds like you're advocating against trying to do it ourselves without even having looked at the list of requirements we are supposed to meet. Even if
  it weren't for the thousands of dollars difference, I still think we should at least consider "hacking something together ourselves"

-jake

On Wed, 3 Sep 2014, Patrik D'haeseleer wrote:
             I definitely think we need to consult with the guy who came to do the ADA inspection before we decide on a creative solution
             like converting a van lift. It's entirely likely that wheelchair lifts for vans follow different regulations with respect to
             size, load, battery capacity, etc. Considering that this is one of the few expenses where our landlord will be pitching in
             50%, I'd still say we should go with the professional $8K option and get it done right, rather than hacking something
             together ourselves. Patrik On Wed, Sep 3, 2014 at 11:58 AM, Jake <jake at spaz.org> wrote:
             http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/for/4648013065.html yes it's for a van.  but if the dimensions are acceptible then it's a
             solution. i talked with a lift shop today and I was told that getting a lift certified by the state is a nighmare lasting
             months and costing millions of dollars, involving load-testing and battery backup etc. the "cheap" way of installing a
             "residential" lift like the ones mentioned before would "only" cost about $2500 if we get the one I linked above, we power
             it with batteries anyway (it's made for a van) and that way, in a power failure it will still work. That's one of the
             requirements we need to have anyway. So I vote we go that direction.  Of course there is the accessibility professional we
             contacted before, and we can ask them about this plan, but assuming the hardware meets our needs for dimensions and
             load-bearing I think it's a good solution.  I am willing to help with the adaptation and wiring, etc. -jake
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