Amysystems chair?

[Burgerman]

That makes no sense. If by "caster bar" you mean the caster fork, it must swivel 360 degrees to allow free chair movements.

Look here. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q ... b_EtT801wM

The flared caster arms position the caster barrel further towards the outside, making the caster track wider. And swing out further when rotated. So while they may not make it wider when in straight lnes they will make it less manoeverable and wider as you manoever about. If that matters to you.

[nld3]

That makes no sense. If by "caster bar" you mean the caster fork, it must swivel 360 degrees to allow free chair movements.

Look here. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q ... b_EtT801wM

The flared caster arms position the caster barrel further towards the outside, making the caster track wider. And swing out further when rotated. So while they may not make it wider when in straight lnes they will make it less manoeverable and wider as you manoever about. If that matters to you.

Yes, The front arm bar coming off the chair that the fork attaches to I asume.

I’m glad he’s being this thorough to let me try it. Even though that looks like the older model.

[nld3]

From an email exchange I had with AmySystems on Memory Seating.

Our chairs do not have memory seating at the moment unfortunately but it is an option we are looking to potentially add come this fall.

[nld3]

I have the chair at my house now and here's the Flared Caster Arm I was talking about. It is needed for the center foot rest. I opted for standard foot rests instead.

[Burgerman]

Why? Your legs will end up over and ahead of the wheels. Making it all very long.

[nld3]

These caster wheels now stick out even further. With caster spinning outward it felt like it was making it more difficult to back out of van EZ lock area.

[nld3]

I filmed the Amy demo center leg rest with LED lights on.

LED Light System for Amysystems Alltrack R3 Hybrid Powerchair


youtu.be/JzuS5KWFbko

[nld3]

After my vendor screwed up my order. And 7 months later I finally have a delivery date of around Jan 11th for my Amy R Hybrid.

[Burgerman]

Better get 2 at that rate.

[sacharlie]

If you are going to have 6 wheels on the ground why would the drive wheels NOT be at center distance to realize the benefits of better tracking and turning in place?

[Burgerman]

Because on a true mid drive the front casters are "sprung" into contact with the ground, pushing the mid wheels up, taking the weight off them. That means the things have less traction, and the 4 tiny casters each have a large share of the chairs weight pushing onto the ground. So rough ride. And drive on say gravel and theres less traction, esp if you try reversing or turning.

With a more rear drive chair that is basically rear biased, most of the weight sits on the drive wheels, and so better traction -- its not suspended by the sprung front caster arms. The rear casters or anti tip wheels are just there to prevent tipping rearwards on acceleration or on a ramp very lightly sprung. And because the centre of pressure is behind the C of G then they track straight outdoors more easily than mid drive. My own chairs are very much like this without the rear casters. So they wheelie easily.

[sacharlie]

Oh, so all MWD chairs are screwed up like that execpt the Magic Mobility?

[Burgerman]

Yes pretty much. The magic mobility one also displays the same sort of tendency. Try reversing on sand or gravel and you will see the casters get pushed in...
It gets away with it better due to its length. But it still does the same kind of things. The arms front and rear are longer, and the rear casters further back, so less "sprung" than most mid chairs. It also allows them to climb better as the motor torque can lift the arm better due to less spring force needed.

They are generally a little bigger with larger casters than the usual mid drive indoor/shopping centre type of chair too which all helps disguise it more.

Where this



Is basically a normal rear drive chair, with a couple of casters in place of the anti tip wheels. If you compare it to the pics of my BM2 or BM3 chairs its basically the same wheel/human positions, only I dont worry about it being a little tippy... So no rear casters. Although this seating is around 1.5 to 2 inches further back. I would be tempted to move the seat forwards 2 inches and chop off the rear casters.

[nld3]

I get to pick the chair up New Years eve if everything checks out good at the rehab fitting.

[Burgerman]

You ordered on 20th June. Thats, june, july, august, september, october, november, december, january? And you get to try? Fitting? Whatever that means!

Crazy system you have over there. I ordered and used two chairs recently. Both very much custom build, non stock parts, and non stock custom colour, seating, controls etc. I had then in 2 weeks, and in 2.5 weeks. From date of order to my front door. To use... Two different suppliers, two different chair manufacturers.

If anybody cares, and does their job properly, it need not take longer than 2 weeks to delivery. You hear the same crap here sometimes too with the NHS. If it does take longer its because someone somewhere doesn't give a crap, and because you are not the one with the money they need to please. If I was dealing with a company that wasnt responsive and couldn't explain really clearly why it was going to be more than 3 to 4 weeks then I would cancel, tell them that you were ordering elsewhere. And you must get a firm delivery date worst case in writing BEFORE giving a deposit or order.

[nld3]

The vendor forgot to check on the order. They sent a confirmation email to the therapist which she never received. And he never even bothered to check with her to confirm she got it. So that cost me 60 days right there. I also had a month delay because they wanted me to try the center footplate version since the front casters are different than the standard version.

[Burgerman]

Yes the same old stories endlessely repeated. All made up. Nobody BOTHERS to get on with anything. Sorry but every excuse I hear is just that. What I can tell you is that the factory can configure and assemble any chair usually in 2 weeks from order to shipping to a dealer. Very occasionally a week may be added because some part or specialist request wasnt in stock. My Salsa was ordered in a colour they do not offer. That added 7 days. The rest, which was a centre power footplate (not offered on the form) and an uprated power module, and a colour joystick, and a few other options, like custom seat base angle etc was all in the 2 weeks. If it takes longer its seldom the factory.

It means someone in the chain along the complex US systems line or the NHS system, never bothered to work in a timely fashion as a private company would. Someone doesent give a crap. Because time does not matter to them... Quite the opposite in the case of insurance paying, they need less cash in the bank if they pay 6 months later... Or they are waiting to order in bulk for better discounts, or something.

Under a free market system where the user is the one ordering, and paying, things behave very differently. A company that hopes to grow and make any money, is one that needs your approval and recommendation, will bend over backwards to deliver ASAP and with good communication. And be sure they offer you what you wanted to begin with. In a proper capitalist free market system, the price will be low, the service will be better, and the products will be delivered very fast, and be better developed.

Quick example of this.
I ordered 2 OLED TV's this year, as well as 2 washing machines, a dryer, and a us style fridge freezer. Among a load of smaller things. Every one was delivered within 48 hours, offered at the lowest price possible by forced competition, and with endless improvements in efficiency, performance, year on year.

Checking all this out and the suppliers reputation, due to feedback online, etc was essential to me. Its MY MONEY! (Same as my last 2 chairs)
All of that free market lark, just means the public get better products for less, with only those companies offering good warranties (5 years on all this stuff) and the best reputations for service, and prices, surviving. Because the CONSUMER has the choice of who gets the money. So they MUST please you.

[nld3]

Burgerman, I agree.
In my case I have very good insurance & I was forced to go through a Rehab facility to make sure everything was correct. Plus its not the same chair. Every chair I've had over the last 35 years has been an Invacare. So I was working with a Vendor & Rehab together which adds extra time. Of course they both screwed up which added 60 plus days to the wait. After all is said & done I hope the transition from the Invacare to the Amy is smooth.

[Burgerman]

I do too. But theres no real reason that the transition you are talking about, testing, ordering, fitting, any adjustments needed should have taken more than 2 weeks from initial request by you to delivery and use. Its not that complicated. When I ordered the last two chairs, I filled in the prescription form for the Invacare storm 4 myself. And had the area rep from the other manufacturer turn up and help fill in the prescription form, here at my property. In both cases the chairs were ordered same day, delivered in 2 and 3 weeks respectively.

(unlike you, I bought outright cheap, no details or service included, so I adjusted stuff like seating depth, seat position, CG, width, arm position, control pod placement, cables, and a few non stock mods myself over a couple of days. But that included some cutting and fitting non stock wheels, and making up new mountings for an actuator to get more recline, and reposition the control pod and rebuild the crap swing away etc. So not so simple. Still, 3 days, about 5 hours in actual time. Basic setup as you require, would have been 1 to 2 hours max.

My chairs arrived like this: On a pallet, in my driveway, in a box! With no backs, arms, etc fitted. Then dragged into the house. Note the ridiculous position of the joystick!

Now since it took them about 7 or 8 months to delivery, how long will it take them to get it adjusted and fine tuned, eg joystick to not wobble, and be in the right place, and seating configured to how YOU want it after a week or two of testing, same with footplate, and programming, and to fix all the small details. The ones that they will forget like running cables, and stuff neatly and a few cable ties, or headrest tightening up, cutting off the sticky out bits of seating and headrest or push handles you dont like hitting everything. etc.

Ideally you need a fine tuning list of stuff you notice in the first few days/week. And they should then return and deal with it all in a day. These small things matter as they take a chair thats never quite right and turn it into something useful that you enjoy using. What are the actual chances of this happening at all? Probably zero. Or maybe in 6 months...

So its likely time for you to take charge and finish their job for them after delivery in jan? It may mean finding a volunteer with some basic tools, and a programmer. That has the confidence to take a hacksaw to various parts!

First thing I did was to bin the footplate mounting, the swing away, the arm mounting top brackets, the headrest mounting "scaffolding" and the 4 crap tyres. And the rear wheels, and a few minor bits like cutting off the push handles among a few other things... Then out came the drill and the saw! You probably wont need to do that.

[nld3]

A video on modifying an AmySystems Midwheel chair.


youtu.be/fMPSBuw7naI

[Burgerman]

That arm ends up too wobbly left/right direction, (actually all the seat back hinged upward type of arms do) for me. And the joystick IS 2 or 3 inches too far to the right, and 2 inches too low to get your hand around the outside for proper control. Almost all chairs are this way. But if I try to drive them that way it feels very awkward to get good control. Once programmed to respond properly.

I always end up with a similar creative adjustment to get my joysticks in this position. Which feels much more natural to use as your hand naturally falls into this position, and its protected from hitting door frames or people.

And a centre post very solid no wobble arm rest mount, no hings from the seat back. Everyone is different but most find this way more natural, and much better for control once the thing is programmed to respond accurately and instantly.

[nld3]

I just had the EZ Lock bracket put on my Amy R3 Hybrid. I'm going to pick up the chair tomorrow & return Wednesday to be fitted for Driving. The Mobility Van conversion vendor was worried that this new chair is 1/4" higher. I told him my back up plan was to lower the chair with the smaller 12 1/2 " with 8" casters wheels. But he wondered if the lowered AMY will still fit the EZ Lock? Wow I didn't even think of that neither did my therapist.

[Burgerman]

You seem to be surrounded by idiots. Any guy with a little experience,, can think of all this stuff, the chair, its specs, the van, all the setup and config stuff at once in the beginning. And need only do a little adjustment when delivered.

I recently ordered the invacare and the sunrise chairs, and before ordering already knew exactly how and if they would fit my van already installed electronic tie down, what type of mods or bracket would be required or made, even to the point of a sketch with the exact position of the 16mm bolt and the height above the deck it will need to be at so that when I enter the van it will lock me in the right position. This took all of about 10 mins, with a simple tape measure and a few dimensions. And a look at the chairs themselves visually, and a look in the parts manual. Thats their JOB!!!

I also knew how the seating would be moved back, and how the control pods would need to be positioned, and approx how I would be doing this when I ordered the chair. As such, when my chair battery is removed to replace with lithium it will get a plate bolted to the battery floor with a 16mm bolt fitted in the correct place to give 10mm clearance from the vans B pillar caused by the fatter wheels, (so 8mm off centre to the right) and the correct position to leave a 2 inch gap to the steering wheel and my fat stomach! This will be the right place to sit to drive. Those measurements are found by measuring the van, the height of my raised tie down top, and then moving back the seat, sitting in it and measuring my own stomach position in relation. E.g 17.5 inches ahead of bolt position for e.g. And then transferring those measurements to the chair and metal plate/16mm bolt. The bolt head will be adjusted to 2.25 inches above the deck while I sit in the chair on carpet so that suspension and tyre pressures are taken into account. It will then be perfect in my van.

All it takes is someone with a brain to look at the big picture, make a few measurements and ask you a few questions. Then order correctly, with adequate ground clearance for e.g. and make adjustments and fitting etc either at your house or the vehicle manufacturer. All at once. Couple of hours waiting while they do all the details.

[Burgerman]

In the case of my BM2 or 3 chairs, where I only have an approx position and thats because I have not figured out the exact correct seat position yet (requires testing) I added 2 extra positions. 1.5 inches ahead, and behind the expected position.



And so sure of this I am, it is welded in place well long before the chair is built! If I am wrong I am screwed. But its easy to figure this out so I am not wrong. The guy ordering your chair should be able to do exactly the same to fit an existing tie down. And its way less critical if its not even fitted yet. But it can be, without even having a chair there. Mine was.



Look below, you can see the bolt fitted and the chair isn't close to finished. The bolt will need to be adjusted shorter for length when I test. But the tie down will fit with 35mm clearance under the chair, and the bolt will be in the correct place.



All this is way harder than just checking the height before ordering!!!

[nld3]

I just got a reply from Amysystems.

"Yes, EZ lock is compatible with our bases including the R3. Wheel types shouldn’t factor into that compatibility."

[Burgerman]

So 7 months then...

[nld3]

Quick shot of my new Black Opal Amy (Quickie Colors). Don't bother with this color its not much different than regular black.

[Burgerman]

Hope you enjoy your chair.

Did you test it?
Program it?

[nld3]

Hope you enjoy your chair.

Did you test it?
Program it?

I used it around the house yesterday. I need to tweak the settings & I still need to be fitted in the van so I can drive.

[Burgerman]

Is it r-net?

If so you will need either a programmer, or someone with one, for a few days or so.

Read this slowly, for a page or 3. viewtopic.php?f=2&t=8035