Replacement drive motor

[JoJo7]

I am looking to replace the right motor of my Quickie Freestyle power wheelchair. The motor is a Pihsiang M4-9MNS-2A, a quite ordinary two brush motor. I had assumed that all I had to do was get another motor of the same model and connect it to the wheelchair. However, on the Edmund Wheelchairs site I came across the following warning:
"All electric wheelchair motors and gearboxes should be installed by a trained professional who can adjust and program the motors for proper steering and performance."
What adjustments and programming are they talking about? Is it possible that they mean programming the controller?
Also, does the model number (which I read on the side of the motor) refer to the motor only or to the motor plus gearbox plus mounting geometry?
Regards,
Joe

[Burgerman]

If you get the same motor and gearbox then theres no need for any programming. As for markings I dont know.

If its not the same you need two, and possible motor compensation settings changed.

[ex-Gooserider]

There shouldn't be any programming needed if you have an exact replacement, at least in theory... and the hardware installation is mostly a question of doing things carefully and being sure to properly torque bolts, and otherwise use techniques to ensure that parts don't fall apart - since failures have such obvious serious consequences...

However since motors do degrade slowly over time, replacing one of a pair of old motors with a brand new one might cause a steering issue as one side of the chair might have more torque than the other, or run at slightly different speeds - even brand new motors may perform slightly differently just from manufacturing tolerance issues. SOME of the controllers have the ability to balance differently performing motors in software.

Even if you are replacing a pair of motors, and not using the same ones, you might need to look at motor compensation to see if that needs adjusting.

Bottom line is that you MIGHT need to look at programming in order to guarantee that both motors perform the same way, but the closer you can match the replacement motors, the less likely it is to be essential.

ex-Gooserider

[gac3rd]

The Edmund website is still up, but the company has closed it's doors. It is a great loss.

On your question, it is my understanding that if you put in the new motor, and the chair does not run straight with the joystick straight forward, then you will need to program a parameter. Or get used to driving forward with the joystick in a turn position. If the chair runs straight out of the box, you are home free.