Hi, I'm Reed. Please don't reply with any well meaning but discouraging thoughts about speed and safety, or that wchairs not designed for speeds above 7mph. I agree that no one should encourage or attempt massaging anything to perform outside of its original intended specifications without proper supervision, experience and safety considerations in place
That said, I have been in a chair (38 years now) ever since a motorcycle accident on an old kawasaki triple two stroke 750. Anyone remember? They were a true handful of go. As I get older, I find myself using an electric chair more and more often. I want to go faster. Most are capped at 7 or less mph. Things start happening above those speeds, ie, caster wheel flutter and overly rough ride...mostly law suits though, I think4. Sheet rock, car paint jobs, peoples shin and toes, stuff on the grocery store shelves...these all suffer as speeds increase. 3 or 4 mph is fine in most indoor situations, but every now and then, on smooth surfaces and when in a hurry, it might be nice to get up to 10, 12 even 15 mph. Thats pretty fast in a wheelchair, I know. I used to race marathons and 5 and 10k's in a special push chair with "geared up" smaller push rims. 12 mph consistent ends up in fair 5k times of about 15 minutes. Down below 12 minutes and you are talking about paralympic material. I tried out for and almost made the 96 team (Atlanta).
Back to power chairs. These days, almost all are 24 volt (twin 12 volt auto style batts in series) and are direct drive, no chain or belts. 1 motor for each drive wheel (fastening larger tires/wheels does work to increase speed, but torque is reduced accordingly. That is not an option for my purposes.
I only know enough electrical theory to get myself in trouble. The controls (a box with a joystick for speed and directional) are placed in front of an armwrest where your hand naturally falls. This is what I believe an old timer would call a dashpot, or a potentiometer, I think is also a form of rheostat? The more expensive, and generally faster, chairs have a 70, 80 or even a 90 amp model of these joystick boxes (hard to find). I may be wrong, and please let me know, but I believe this is the easiest way to increase speed. Also, I think that many of these "boxes" can be reprogrammed, but this requires model specific knowledge in addition to the proper reprogramming hard and software. This isn't really an option because, if possible, possould like to learn how to mod nearly any brand chair. Purchasing reprogramming equip for each model and brand would be cost prohibitive. If 1 reprogrammer would work on many chairs, I would be serching for a used one. If anyone knows, please share? Even so, I want to experiment by adding a little more juice than what is available at the highest programmable limits of the stock joystick boxes.
I have heard it mentioned that a third or 4th battery added in series might provide a 33 to 50% additional speed boost? I think there is good chance of burning out the box or motors by doing this though...?
Okay, I said a bunch of stuff, mainly to avoid people waisting their time by suggesting what I have already known or tried. Thanks for taking the time to read and consider. I promise to share any good end results, or any visualy cool, possibly catastrophic failures. If an explanation is too long, lets figure a way to discuss via a different mode. My thanks,for any good help. Reed
That said, I have been in a chair (38 years now) ever since a motorcycle accident on an old kawasaki triple two stroke 750. Anyone remember? They were a true handful of go. As I get older, I find myself using an electric chair more and more often. I want to go faster. Most are capped at 7 or less mph. Things start happening above those speeds, ie, caster wheel flutter and overly rough ride...mostly law suits though, I think4. Sheet rock, car paint jobs, peoples shin and toes, stuff on the grocery store shelves...these all suffer as speeds increase. 3 or 4 mph is fine in most indoor situations, but every now and then, on smooth surfaces and when in a hurry, it might be nice to get up to 10, 12 even 15 mph. Thats pretty fast in a wheelchair, I know. I used to race marathons and 5 and 10k's in a special push chair with "geared up" smaller push rims. 12 mph consistent ends up in fair 5k times of about 15 minutes. Down below 12 minutes and you are talking about paralympic material. I tried out for and almost made the 96 team (Atlanta).
Back to power chairs. These days, almost all are 24 volt (twin 12 volt auto style batts in series) and are direct drive, no chain or belts. 1 motor for each drive wheel (fastening larger tires/wheels does work to increase speed, but torque is reduced accordingly. That is not an option for my purposes.
I only know enough electrical theory to get myself in trouble. The controls (a box with a joystick for speed and directional) are placed in front of an armwrest where your hand naturally falls. This is what I believe an old timer would call a dashpot, or a potentiometer, I think is also a form of rheostat? The more expensive, and generally faster, chairs have a 70, 80 or even a 90 amp model of these joystick boxes (hard to find). I may be wrong, and please let me know, but I believe this is the easiest way to increase speed. Also, I think that many of these "boxes" can be reprogrammed, but this requires model specific knowledge in addition to the proper reprogramming hard and software. This isn't really an option because, if possible, possould like to learn how to mod nearly any brand chair. Purchasing reprogramming equip for each model and brand would be cost prohibitive. If 1 reprogrammer would work on many chairs, I would be serching for a used one. If anyone knows, please share? Even so, I want to experiment by adding a little more juice than what is available at the highest programmable limits of the stock joystick boxes.
I have heard it mentioned that a third or 4th battery added in series might provide a 33 to 50% additional speed boost? I think there is good chance of burning out the box or motors by doing this though...?
Okay, I said a bunch of stuff, mainly to avoid people waisting their time by suggesting what I have already known or tried. Thanks for taking the time to read and consider. I promise to share any good end results, or any visualy cool, possibly catastrophic failures. If an explanation is too long, lets figure a way to discuss via a different mode. My thanks,for any good help. Reed
