Progress Report on X4 Wheelchair

[swalker]

As I have posted before, I bought the carcass of a very used Magic Mobility/Innovations In Motion X4 wheelchair.

It is an old 4 wheel drive wheelchair with ATV tires that I thought would be fun for my friend and I to rehabilitate and to use on some of my adventures. In particular, I have been very excited about getting it resurrected so that I can use it in the snow this winter.

There is still work to be done, but all the essential issues have been addressed. The list is long, so I won't bore you with the details.

Yesterday was the big day. We got the seat mounted on it and everything worked. I took it out in the snow and it performed very well. It certainly met, and in some respects, exceeded my expectations. The test ride was short and I was so excited I forgot to take any pictures

When I got home, I touched up a few things and was preparing to park it when I noticed the seat elevate function no longer works. Rats.

I looked into that today and it looks like one of the control cables was smashed when I lowered the seat the last time.

Unfortunately, I can't raise the seat until that is repaired, and I don't see how to repair it without raising the seat. It is always good to have a challenge to keep me on my toes (figuratively speaking, of course).

I am pretty sure I am going to find ways to get into trouble with this chair. I plan to have a very good time doing so. Next time, I will try to remember to snap a picture or two.

Steve

 

[Ottawan]

I love reading about your wheelchair exploits and admire your determination to get out there and enjoy your enviable surroundings.

Keep em coming ... pictures too.

 

[bigmark1954]

Steve...that is a way cool project. Sounds like we share the need for projects to keep us in the game.
I am in the process of hot-rodding my new trike, I hope I can still get on it next spring! I have taken it from 110HP to 190HP. I also need to finish the new bathroom. Flooring, sheet rock repair, and paint. Not looking forward to it, but it will stave off some of the winter boredom.
Anything that keeps me productive, is a lot better than sitting around and feeling bad about my physical deficits!

 

[davbo49]

Steve...that is a way cool project. Sounds like we share the need for projects to keep us in the game.
I am in the process of hot-rodding my new trike, I hope I can still get on it next spring! I have taken it from 110HP to 190HP. I also need to finish the new bathroom. Flooring, sheet rock repair, and paint. Not looking forward to it, but it will stave off some of the winter boredom.
Anything that keeps me productive, is a lot better than sitting around and feeling bad about my physical deficits!

:shock:

 

[swalker]

BigMark, that is a great looking project. Much more ambitious than my simple wheelchair resurrection attempt.

My X4 wheelchair has bizarre wiring. The seat elevate has apparently been disabled from the main controller. Two aftermarket switch boxes were added to control the seat elevate function. One is mounted next to the main controller and one is mounted in the attendant position. I can only guess as to why that made sense to someone.

The wiring from the two after market controllers comes together and plug into adapters in the wheelchair base. The wiring leading to that was completely wrapped up in the seat elevate mechanism. It was crushed and severed.

The current plan is to rewire it sufficiently to elevate the seat and then see how much of the original wiring was eaten by the seat elevate mechanism. It is quite the mess and I won't know how much work is needed until we get a bit further along in the investigation.

It is a wonderful project and will keep me out of trouble for most of the day

Steve

 

[swalker]

The tools and parts necessary to repair the damaged wiring arrived yesterday.

Today the seat was elevated by temporarily reconnecting the severed wires. This freed the portion of the wiring that had been eaten by the seat elevation function when the seat was last lowered. Fortunately, only about 2 inches of wiring was consumed. It was not necessary to splice new wiring in as there was enough slack in the cable so that being 2 inches shorter did not matter.

With this knowledge, the wires were permanently connected (molex crimp connectors along with a bit of miscellaneous soldering and a bunch of heat shrink tubing). The wires are now all properly connected and zip tied out of the way so we won't have a repeat of this incident.

The chair is now ready to ride. Work was finished after dark, so I did not take it out for a test ride. I look forward to doing that tomorrow. It looks like it will be operational enough to take it to the base of the ski area for my day of skiing next wednesday.

I still need to resolve the following issues:

1. The seat elevate function is operational even when the wheelchair is powered down.
2. The lights are disconnected, because they are always on, regardless of whether or not the wheelchair is on.
3. The freewheel lever on 3 of the 4 gearboxes do not cause the gearboxes to go into freewheel.

There are also some fitment and support issues I will need to address.

I am really excited and will keep you posted on how it performs (or doesn't).

Here's to a happy new year with a newly-functioning four wheel drive wheelchair!

Steve

 

[swalker]

I have now taken the X4 out for a couple of spins.

Yesterday, New Year's day, I took it out for about 1 mile. That completely drained the batteries. It is a battery hog! It was about 15 F (-9.5 C) and the snow was quite sticky. I was hoping that contributed to the rapid battery drain.

Today, I took it out for about 2 miles. It was warmer (about 25 F (-4 C) and the snow was not quite as sticky. I had a full charge when I left home. I probably had a total of 200 ft of elevation change.

The chair behaved very well. It is quite capable. It shut down on me once when I had it under a sustained, heavy load. I had read about that characteristic of the chair, so am not too worried about it.

If the weather is still nice tomorrow, I may try to see if it is possible to load it onto one of the local buses. The chair is not very maneuverable and it is pretty tight quarters in the busses.

What is a good story without pictures?

1. The X4 parked in its charging station
2. Out and about on the X4 New Year's day.
3. On the X4 at our local park (which does not get plowed in the winter)

Steve

 

[notBrad]

Way, way, way too cool Steve!

I've got to get me one of them when the time comes for taking the dogs to the beach...

 

[swalker]

I have been more than a bit concerned about the poor range I have on the X4. The first trip drained the batteries in 1 mile. The second trip drained the batteries in 2 miles.

I installed new MK Gel batteries, which are the same make and model that I have in both of my Permobil C500 chairs. Searching the MK web site, I found the following FAQ:

Q: Why am I not getting the run time I expect from my new MK Gel batteries?

A: Our gel batteries are made with thicker plates than other batteries. It is because of these thick plates that we are able to get a longer cycle life from our gel batteries. The downside is that it takes longer for all the material inside these plates to become active. It takes approximately 15-25 cycles to break the battery in.
​

It looks like I need to take 13 to 23 more rides in the chair before I get too concerned. Let's see how fast I can do that.

Steve

 

[affected]

Oh how tough Steve, you will have to just keep on taking that chair out ... hehehe :lol:

Let us know did it take 15 or 25 cycles to get the battery working at optimal

 

[swalker]

I went out in the X4 again today, so I only have 12 to 23 more trips to get the batteries conditioned

I went about 1.5 to 2 miles today. I only used about half the battery capacity. It felt warmer today, but the thermometer read 25 F when I left home and went down from there.

The main objective of today was to see if the wheelchair fits on our local buses. It fits, but just barely.

I have to remove the right leg rest (very easy) and fold up the left foot rest to make it onto the bus.

I can get off with the right leg rest in place and the left foot rest folded up.

It is super tight and requires an amazing amount of maneuvering, but I can get the chair onto and off of the bus. I managed to do it twice today.

Once I successfully boarded the bus, I decided to take the bus downtown and check out the X4s ability to get to where I will load onto the biski for skiing. I was successful in doing so. I was also able to chat with the folks at the adaptive ski program and confirm that everything is set up for me on Wednesday. I can hardly wait.

Here are a couple of shots from today. The first is of me on the bus and the second is of me in the wheelchair where I will load into the biski.

Steve

 

[bigmark1954]

Cool Steve.....that chair looks like it could run obstacle courses. Do you lift it onto the bus, or does the driver help?
IT should provide you with many adventures, especially once the winter is over. We have had more snow this year than many of the previous years,,,,One thing is for sure...It is colder than the Abominable Snowman's NUTZ:shock:. It has been dropping to single digits for the last several days.

 

[swalker]

BigMark,

All the buses in our town are accessible. There are two models. The most prevalent one kneels and then deploys a ramp. There are a few busses that have a lift.

Today I was on buses that have ramps. They kneeled the bus and deployed the ramp. They then flipped up the seats in the handicap area. After that, I drove up the ramp, make a sharp left turn, and made my way to the handicap seating area.

Making that left turn is, uhh, exciting Getting turned around in the relatively narrow bus is also pretty darned entertaining. Loading is MUCH easier in my C500.

I intentionally did this during the middle of the day when the buses are typically empty. I caused the first bus to be about 5 minutes behind schedule. Well worth it, in my humble opinion.

We always get a lot of snow, but this season has certainly started off with a bang. The reports I get from my friends are that skiing is fantastic this year. I hope to find out on Wednesday.

Steve

 

[affected]

Can't wait for your skiing report Steve!

 

[KimT]

Steve,
I've been reading, with amazement, your posts! Awesome machine. I love your attitude and love seeing pictures.
Kim