I am getting on in years and being a little overweight one of my chores "Having a Bath" gets more difficult every time. I find it difficult getting down into the sitting position and even worse getting up again. I used to have to roll over onto my stomach then crawl up on my knees and eventually drag myself up. It was such a chore that I resorted to a bath seat across the bath & used the shower in a sit up position.
Imagine my surprise when I bid & won this Bath lift in the
boffer megaBots reverse auction
It cost me less than 25% of the recommended retail price
The unit was brand new but had been manufactured 4 years ago and unfortunately the battery pack was dead and checking with the
Aquajoy website a replacement controller would cost £125 which was more than the complete Bath Lift cost me. A quick negotiation with the suppliers and they agreed to compensate me to fit replacement batteries in the remote control unit
The battery pack is NiMh 13.2 volts made up of 11 x 1.2 volt cells and I was able to find a 12 volt pack & add an extra cell to it. The pack then charged up with the supplied charger, the cells I fitted were nearly double the capacity of the original cells so I left the remote on charge for double the recommended initial charge totalling 24 hours.
The Aquajoy Premier Plus Bath Lift
A TWO PIECE LIGHTWEIGHT RECLINING BATHLIFT- Allows the client to recline in the bath like they used to
- Separates easily into two compact sections
- No awkward locks or buttons to press, backrest simply folds forward to detach
- Compact design saves storage space and allows the Bathlift to be carried against the body for an unobstructed view
The unit came boxed folded down and was easy to handle, in the folded down position the back & motor unit could be separated from the seat base unit enabling easy fitting into the bath of the base unit which is held in place by 4 suction cups one at each corner. provision is made to be able to add a further 2 suction cups if the seat is unsteady but I found it very secure with the supplied cups.
The back & power unit combined are just laid on top of the base unit clipping into place and then hinged upwards to provide the reclining backrest.
The remote control plugs into a cable coming out of the motor unit, this is a standard 5 pin DIN connector with heavy rubber casing to make the connection waterproof. Pressing the up button the motorised ram on the back of the seat gently raises the seat on a scissor type frame until the seat is just higher than the edge of the bath, there are protective flaps either side of the seat which fold out when the seat is raised, these flaps can hook under the bath handles if fitted, so a pair of guides are supplied to hook onto the handles to prevent fouling, I found this tended to make the seat restrictive due to the flaps folding in further. The back & seat have a removable non slip washable covers and the seat can be used with or without these covers.
The specifications state Maximum weight limit 170kg (26.5 Stone), well I am 135 kilos so it should take my weight comfortably. I stepped into the bath an plonked myself down on the seat comfortably, pressed the remote down button and gently lowered into the bath. (There is a safety device built in as such that if there is insufficient power in the battery to raise the seat it prevents the seat from being lowered)
The flaps at the side folded up so as not to rub my legs against the side of the bath, I found these a little restricting because of the hand rail protective guides. Once lowered to a height of 80mm from the bottom of the bath the back rest reclined and could be stopped at any angle up to 40 degrees from the vertical, once submerged in the water bathing is an enjoyable event.
Raising the seat I found it struggled if I was leant back on the rest & found it better to pull myself into the sitting up position with the bath handles after which the seat rose out of the bath gracefully with the flaps folding out once the seat had reached the height of the bath edge. I easily stood from the sitting position and was able to get out of the bath easily.
Once the bath is emptied and the chair rinsed with the shower unit it is then lowered to the reclining position of about 27 degrees, the side flaps are folded in and the back will then fold over onto the seat into the parked position.
The specifications can be found here There are a number of accessories available to make the unit more comfortable and safer for the more infirm, here is the bath lift with some of these accessories
