Threshhold ramp.
Bob
apartment door so I can drive in/out?
Just got it.
Everyone wants $80-100. And a basket for shopping. I got a Jazzy Chair and
it has to go in the back. And again, the store wants $100 for a stupid
little wire mesh basket.
Thanks,
Bob
Burgerman
news:1feSl.30808$YU2....@nlpi066.nbdc.sbc.com...
You need a ramp for i inch? really?
A bit 1/2 square of wood will probably do the trick,
Or a slice of tapered fence board/plank.
Pete
Bob wrote:
> Where can I get a little ramp, about 1" high x 8" wide to put in front of my
> apartment door so I can drive in/out?
why not just get someone with a power saw to cut some 1"x4" or 1"x8"
timber on a diagonal so you end up with a wedge.
> Just got it.
>
> Everyone wants $80-100. And a basket for shopping. I got a Jazzy Chair and
> it has to go in the back. And again, the store wants $100 for a stupid
> little wire mesh basket.
Why not use one of those eco style shopping bags, they can be had for
around $1-$2 http://www.ecobags.com.au/products/?cid=218
Bob
"Burgerman" <burg...@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
news:pjeSl.77627$0V4....@newsfe25.ams2...
I thought so too, but the front caster wheels hit it. And it isn't just me,
everyone in this place (that has a chair) has 'jury rigged' something like
you described. I found what I want from the manufacture (of all places!) $49
will solve that problem.
Still have to do something for a rear wire basket.
What do you guys do when you run out of power and away from home?
Pete
>>
>> Or a slice of tapered fence board/plank.
>
> I thought so too, but the front caster wheels hit it. And it isn't just me,
> everyone in this place (that has a chair) has 'jury rigged' something like
> you described. I found what I want from the manufacture (of all places!) $49
> will solve that problem.
Your chair should be able to climb over a 1" step, but anyway, you've
found a solution so it's no longer a problem.
> Still have to do something for a rear wire basket.
have you tried a bike shop, they might have something like you want.
have a look here http://sportsbay.com/baskets.html
> What do you guys do when you run out of power and away from home?
It's never happened, always charge your chair every night or when you
finish using it for the day, if away overnight, take your charger with
you, if you don't you'll ruin the batteries.
BTW What distances are you travelling?
Burgerman
Full sized "all day" powerchairs designed for outdoor use will have 70ah or
group 24 size batteries. They will literally go all day long unless you are
exeptionally heavy in a hilly area or have an "8mph" powerchair or faster.
And you have healthy fully charged batteries (charged every night).
If you do run out of power often then all of the above is not true.
You can opertunity charge whenever you get the chance like while reading
email. . And its a good idea as it prolongs the life of your batteries due
to lower average depth of discharge. But they must still get a full
overnight charge as well.
Personally I 95 percent recharge in about an hour using a fast 30 amp
charger every tea time! Just to be sure. As I am doing right now.
See about half way down this page:
http://www.wheelchairdriver.com/inverters-chargers.htm
It also shows the mobile charger I use in my van...
Bob
"Pete" <pe...@home.dud> wrote in message
news:022c6c77$0$20640$c3e...@news.astraweb.com...
> Bob wrote:
>> "Burgerman" <burg...@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
>>> A bit 1/2 square of wood will probably do the trick,
>>>
>>> Or a slice of tapered fence board/plank.
>>
>> I thought so too, but the front caster wheels hit it. And it isn't just
>> me, everyone in this place (that has a chair) has 'jury rigged' something
>> like you described. I found what I want from the manufacture (of all
>> places!) $49 will solve that problem.
>
> Your chair should be able to climb over a 1" step, but anyway, you've
> found a solution so it's no longer a problem.
>
>> Still have to do something for a rear wire basket.
>
> have you tried a bike shop, they might have something like you want.
I was in Home Depot today and for $1 they had a nylon rip-stop bag. It holds
about 4 cu.ft. I bought 2. More than enough for shopping. Just hang them
over the arm rest.
I took it for my first ride today. What a trip! I cranked it all the way up
and 25 MPH - Zoom Zoom. Little scary, not having a car in front of me and be
sitting right up front and out there. Did the hills I have to do with only a
slight slow down and they're almost 30 degrees. I did good with my purchase
and I like it.
.........................
> BTW What distances are you traveling?
Less then 10 miles and I doubt I even go that far.
Thanks, for everyone's help.
Spider
> I thought so too, but the front caster wheels hit it. And it isn't just me,
adjust the front wheels all the way up
they come adjusted way to low
Burgerman
You gotta love mid wheel drive powerchairs. They either wobble back and
forth like a drunken sailer at least once programmed to go and stop properly
they do, or they wont go up a 1 inch lump of wood...
Fashion and marketing over function.
Pete
To an extent i agree, though a badly setup RWD chair, seat too far fwrd,
bad programming, would have issues with a 1" lump of wood as well, with
every chair, it boils down to proper setup to get the best from it.
I think you have to separate the different MWD chairs, The Pride Jazzy,
which i think is the chair we're talking about here, is really in effect
a FWD chair with spring loaded anti-tip casters at the front. More
advanced MWD chairs like the TDX and Pride Q series use motor torque to
lift or apply downward force on the front & rear casters as required,
They either work reasonably well if setup properly, or badly if not,
most aren't, they require good seat positioning so COG is over the drive
wheels as well as correct spring pre-load on the caster wheels.
The third type of MWD is the Frontier X5 which has the centre drive
wheels and front casters mounted at either end of a fixed beam with the
chair attached to each beam at a pivot point, no rocking back and forth
and you won't even feel going over a 1" step.
Some X5 fun.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4eZJ6lKRUg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsnCLAGXyCU
Bob
"Pete" <pe...@home.dud> wrote in message
Actually Jazzy Select. Problem solved with a little ramp. I think it was I
only have a 4' walkway and have to slow down to make the turn. Anyway,
problem solved.
For $1 I found in Home Depot a (about) 4cu.ft. rip-stop bag for shopping.
Just hang it over the arm rest. Works good.
Burgerman
news:003b2dfd$0$9755$c3e...@news.astraweb.com...
I think the camera being about 2 inches from the pebles making them look
like boulders is a little decieving But yes I can see it works. What would
it do with a bit of reprogramming and some instant go/stop though? Once all
the damping and delay had been programmed out?
The mud one was more interesting showing the grip available from these
145/70-6 off road type tyres. Thats why I am fitting them...
More interestingly what happens when you find small step in the pavement or
a 4 inch curbstone or similar obstacle? I could do that in my old modified
powerchair quite easily with those big front casters and lots of power by
doing a quick wheelie and then just crashing up or down. Its not
comfortable though when the rear tyres hit- too hard... T
The new big balloon ones should be better here and "round off" the curb on
the way up and cushion the landing a little on the way down. I updated that
page by the way.
Burgerman
Pete
> Actually Jazzy Select. Problem solved with a little ramp. I think it was I
> only have a 4' walkway and have to slow down to make the turn. Anyway,
> problem solved.
That's the important thing Bob, It's not how you overcome the problem as
long as you do it.
> For $1 I found in Home Depot a (about) 4cu.ft. rip-stop bag for shopping.
> Just hang it over the arm rest. Works good.
There's nothing like thinking outside the square.
Pete
> "Pete" <pe...@home.dud> wrote in message
>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4eZJ6lKRUg
>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsnCLAGXyCU
>
>
> I think the camera being about 2 inches from the pebles making them look
> like boulders is a little decieving But yes I can see it works.
A good point, though if you compare the rocks against the front 8"
casters, a lot of them seem to be about 4"
> What would it do with a bit of reprogramming and some instant go/stop though?
> Once all the damping and delay had been programmed out?
There's always a bit of tweaking for personal preference, though to be
fair to Magic Mobility, their default programming seems reasonably good.
I can't say the same for my Pride chair.
> The mud one was more interesting showing the grip available from these
> 145/70-6 off road type tyres. Thats why I am fitting them...
They do work well don't they.
> More interestingly what happens when you find small step in the pavement
> or a 4 inch curbstone or similar obstacle?
At the end of the first vid when the chair in in the water feature the
water depth just covers the bottom of the drive wheel rim, this would be
about 3�"-4". I find 4" curbs no problem, 5" is pushing it, though this
is more my limitation than the chair.
It's interesting watching the X5 go up a 4" curb, because the chair is
attached to the drive beam a bit less than half way, having the front
caster lift 4", only lifts the chair frame a bit less than 2", plus the
soft 3.5 psi drive wheels deform over the curb, which tends to round off
curbs and other obstacles. The design seems simple but works quite well.
> I updated that page by the way.
I'll have a look.
Pete
> The new big balloon ones should be better here and "round off" the curb
> on the way up and cushion the landing a little on the way down. I
> updated that page by the way.
I just checked out your updated page, The chair is coming together
nicely, and the lawn tyres look good fitted. All in all, an excellent
result.
Burgerman
Thanks! Need one or two bolts before I can finish it which are ordered. Then
to test! Which tyres to use...
Next I am doing a 4x4 one with 4x those tyres/motors that are very close
together and almost touching for far less tyre scrub than a usual 4x4
powerchair. It will be 26 inch wide again but much shorter as no casters
spinning around at the front so footplate can be closer..Will use R-Net
http://www.pgdt.com/products/r-net/index.html 120 amp per channel control
system this time as its now cheaper than the 100 amp per channel pilot plus
system.
The reason skid steer tears up tyres and carpets in most off road chairs is
that the motors are too long causing most of them to have the wheels too far
apart. I figured out a way to do it and have no motors or batteries sticking
out. Should be ok indoors too occasionally as long as you dont spin in
circles and take care.
Skid steer with long wheelbase is bad. Will need to make own frame as well
this time so wont be a modified f55 anymore... Unless I use a bit somewhere!
Anyway thats not this month.... But theres nothing to building powerchairs
that perform and last better than the manufacturers do. They are just not
tyring!
Pete
> Next I am doing a 4x4 one with 4x those tyres/motors that are very close
> together and almost touching for far less tyre scrub than a usual 4x4
> powerchair. It will be 26 inch wide again but much shorter as no casters
> spinning around at the front so footplate can be closer..Will use R-Net
> http://www.pgdt.com/products/r-net/index.html 120 amp per channel
> control system this time as its now cheaper than the 100 amp per channel
> pilot plus system.
I've looked into the R-Net system before, very nice, I like how the
programmer is built into the hand control. Any idea what the R-Net
system is worth?.
Just IMO, but, the problem with having the wheelbase tight, is you solve
one problem, Scrubbing, but introduce another, instability. The whole
idea of a 4x4 chair, is to go places other chairs won't, If the
wheelbase is so short that tipping fwrd/back becomes an issue, then your
limiting where you can go.
Just my take on it, I'll look forward to seeing what you come up with.
This is one of the best 4x4 Wheelchair concepts I've come across
http://www.fourpowerfour.com//index.asp
Burgerman
> Burgerman wrote:
>> Next I am doing a 4x4 one with 4x those tyres/motors that are very close
>> together and almost touching for far less tyre scrub than a usual 4x4
>> powerchair. It will be 26 inch wide again but much shorter as no casters
>> spinning around at the front so footplate can be closer..Will use R-Net
>> http://www.pgdt.com/products/r-net/index.html 120 amp per channel control
>> system this time as its now cheaper than the 100 amp per channel pilot
>> plus system.
>
> I've looked into the R-Net system before, very nice, I like how the
> programmer is built into the hand control. Any idea what the R-Net system
> is worth?.
Only basic end user dummy programming is accessible though. You still need a
programmer. They still wont allow a disabled person "full" control because
we are stupid!!! R net is cheaper than pilot plus. about a hundred for the
basic pod getting dearer as you add couloured screens and more functions we
dont need. The controller is about 170 from memory.
>
> Just IMO, but, the problem with having the wheelbase tight, is you solve
> one problem, Scrubbing, but introduce another, instability. The whole idea
> of a 4x4 chair, is to go places other chairs won't, If the wheelbase is so
> short that tipping fwrd/back becomes an issue, then your limiting where
> you can go.
Yes - my current one is already short at the back. and it tips and wheelies
like a mad thing. Just like a manual sports chair does. I like it that way.
Not for everybody and needs some ability and control and some reprogramming
to allow instant response. It means that there is very little weight over
the castors aiding manoeverability, wheelies up curbs and off them etc. It
also saves battery power and means a castor wheel puncture can be ignored
for days as one is plenty! My 4x4 will be the same. With most of the weight
over the rear two wheels meaning rhe same skill level and lack of ability to
do steep ramps going forwards without tipping. Or you just tip back onto the
tiny anti tip wheels which doesent worry me... You will not tip forwards
because the front two wheels are well ahead of the c of g. And in an real
emergency the footplate will stop you tipping over. But it will limit
climbing ability going forwards to a degree.
Burgerman
Yes but there are any number off outdoor off road only solutions. I need
something that can be used indoors in small spaces like public toilets, turn
inside my van and drive from it and that can manoever like my current
indoor/off road powerchair. The whole point of the exercise is so that I
have one powerchair that can do all without changing chairs, needing
trailers, getting thrown out of the pub! Etc, Only the X5 came pretty close
but thats got seat hieght, width, length, and "corners" which fot me rules
it out since its also too big to drive my van, fit easily around my house
etc.
I am building one that can! Although that may limit its off road capability
to some extent.
2 pages here that will be about 20 pages soon!
http://www.wheelchairdriver.com/off-road-powerchair.htm
Its easy to make off road only powerchairs/quads/trikes etc. Its not very
practical for most of us to have trailers, and to swap chairs just to cross
that bit of rough ground you find in your way! Its all but impossible to
make a chair that can do all of these indoor, all day range, outdoor off
road abilities all in one compact powerchair hence the party of two! X5 and
my own home built one...
Pete
I think you've got as close as your going to get with the "one chair for
all conditions" with your current chair.
The skid steer idea, although interesting, is imo a step backwards from
what you have now. However i'll look forward with interest in what you
come up with.
> 2 pages here that will be about 20 pages soon!
>
> http://www.wheelchairdriver.com/off-road-powerchair.htm
Some interesting designs and concepts there. The Tank Chair sure has
evolved, i remember seeing pics/video of the early design, the current
one looks far more robust.
--
Pete.