New to Powerchair/ Speed + Joystick question

[agntnumber9]

First off, thrilled to find the site. Thank you for the energy and info! Wish I found it sooner.
I am in the US. Just started with a power chair for neurodegen... I am starting with a foldable, power chair (EZ Wheels M49).
I liked the wheels and shock absorption + other features.

1) It is slower outside just in concrete. It feels way slower than the 3.7 mph described for this category. Wondering if I can swap out motor/ battery.. or however to get some oomph.
I LOVE that you have spent energy building your own.

2) I need a joystick that is better suited for a weaker hand. I see some ball ones on Etsy. Any best advice?

Thank you. Keep well and keep safe.

[Burgerman]

I think that its a made in china small folding device that uses a lightweight small lithium ion battery. As a folding chair that can go in a car as you travel, its probably fine. But its pretty limited in range, speed etc. Its also using a chinese made controller that is low powered, not programmable in the way we can with normal mobility products. Best to use it for what it was designed. Its likely not possible to easiy swap parts etc. It looks like its using geared brushless hub motors and a one off controller.

[ex-Gooserider]

Welcome to the forum. It helps if you go to the User Control Panel and add your location, that way it shows on every post, and helps us give location appropriate advice....

I agree with BM about the chair probably not having much option for improving it's abilities - the China folders are all fairly similar and have the same strengths and weaknesses. Great for portability in a car, possibly air travel, but not so good on getting around IN the chair....

Generally you can change the knob on a joystick to something that better suits your grip, but it is important to note that any of the electronics parts will NOT interchange easily, as there are several different manufacturers and model "families" of the controller / joystick / etc. electronics systems and you can ONLY swap parts if they are all from the same type of system (such as "R-Net" which is one of the better systems).

Since your chair is almost certainly made with a control system that is not one of the usual 'families', it is very unlikely that any of the joysticks you see on Ebay, etc. are going to work....

If you just want to change the knob, the only real concern is that the diameter of the new knob's hole matches the diameter of the shaft on the joystick, or you have an adapter to make it fit....

ex-Gooserider