Toms chairs are gettig better!

[Burgerman]

http://www.offroadpowerchairs.co.uk/newpage6

I might buy one if the price is right.

[rustyjames]

to you BM for building the prototype and starting it all. You did all the heavy lifting.

[greybeard]

Agree with Rustyjames. Well done BM. And well done Tom for having the vision to develop the design through to production and supply. Best of luck.

[wizzerwin]

A massive thank you to you Burgerman, I have been disabled forty odd years due to a spinal injury playing rugby league and because of your determination and hard work and the excellent information on your website I have just ordered one of Tom’s off-road wheelchairs.
If there’s anyone in the world deserves an M.B.E it’s you for services to disability.
I soon will have full independents, thanks once again.

[Burgerman]

Let us know how it goes, build quality etc since I am considering one from him myself!

[Gnomatic]

If the battery box is the same as your BM2, it should fit 120Ah of lithium in there, correct?

Looks great either way!

[robert97]

kilmore did this frame. i'm doing the lithium and electronics.
box is 173mm wide. i have two 7S5P packs giving 46v 60Ah.
tight fit. almost done.

[expresso]

A massive thank you to you Burgerman, I have been disabled forty odd years due to a spinal injury playing rugby league and because of your determination and hard work and the excellent information on your website I have just ordered one of Tom’s off-road wheelchairs.
If there’s anyone in the world deserves an M.B.E it’s you for services to disability.
I soon will have full independents, thanks once again.

Nice - looks like a great chair - if i ever need to buy one myself - i would consider it also - - please post pics feedback when you get it and use it etc,

[expresso]

wondering on a chair with the battery comp. is so tight - even yours BM how do you make sure its safe - room for wiring etc, - getting the pack in there and out - looks very hard - the box being Metal - i would be concerned - i am sure its not a problem if done right since its being used with lithium on your Chairs BM - etc, and maybe others -

shouldnt it be protected somehow with rubber layer - what is being used to lower these packs in the chairs and removing them ? i am asking in general about all chairs - not specific to this chair - - in order to add lithium to this kind of chair - you need to remove the whole top section seating - ?

[Burgerman]

shouldnt it be protected somehow with rubber layer - what is being used to lower these packs in the chairs and removing them ? i am asking in general about all chairs - not specific to this chair - - in order to add lithium to this kind of chair - you need to remove the whole top section seating - ?

Thin plastic sheet. And every bolt has a plastic tip in case ot unscrews. Getting in and out?

Build pack properly, drop into chair long before the top goes on while building it. It can come out of the rear doot too. If anti tips removed.

[Burgerman]

Lead... Slides out of rear...



Lithium... Bigger (taller) sill slides out of rear. Designed for both.



Fitted. Note rear door, hinged at the bottom. And plastic plugs in every cell bolt.

[Burgerman]

Better view, rear door. Remove one allen bolt at top. Remove anti tip wheels so door can fully lower. And slide battery out.

http://www.wheelchairdriver.com/images- ... ar-700.jpg







This is all the electrics there is on the base.
The rest sits inside the seat frame. On a rubber mounted electrically isolated alloy tray.

Below:

[Burgerman]

CLICK!!!

http://www.wheelchairdriver.com/BM3-con ... ronics.jpg

http://www.wheelchairdriver.com/BM3-con ... nics-3.jpg

[expresso]

yes i seen your pictures and the bolt covers etc, - but i just realized these packs where all done by you and you always take the whole chair apart etc, - didnt realize - what if someone has this chair - like me - not able to take the whole chair apart to replace the lead to lithium - wondering how it would be done - i see you have the rear door etc, - i think it would be hard - very tight to work the pack in there and fix adjust wiring etc, connectors - just from the rear door -

what about exposure to the elements - riding around with large openings -would get very dirty fast in there - i would think - just curious if anyone ever done this with taking the whole chair apart - how it worked out for them -

[expresso]

CLICK!!! http://www.wheelchairdriver.com/BM3-con ... ronics.jpg

yes well done - i seen all this before - i was thinking of lets say someone has a chair - all done - or buys one of Toms chairs - well done there - now i get this new chair and want to change it to lithium - how hard would it be - could it be as easy as i did my chair - i opened my rear battery case - slide out the battery tray - thats it
made my pack - slide it back in -

for some reason this kind of chair seems harder to do it that way -

[Burgerman]

Theres just one Anderson. And one Balance connector. And lots of free space below the seat for hands.
Slide in battery. Plug in later!
See:

[Burgerman]

yes well done - i seen all this before - i was thinking of lets say someone has a chair - all done - or buys one of Toms chairs

Toms chairs are not my chairs. No idea what his are like here, or many other details... I designed mine for easy swap lead/lithium, 24V, 45V, roboteq etc. From the start.

Toms? No clue. One example In an accident (in my van) the battery will try to go forwards and crush your legs. Which is why in my pic above you see 2x 16mm bars, across the front of the battery / centre section. Crash car while sat in one of toms chairs and lose both your legs...
See download/file.php?id=7517&mode=view Nothing to stop the battery carrying on forwards. That would fail in a crash test.

Unrelated. I also notice that the Roboteq in one of the images above is case grounded to the chair. You cant do that!

[robert97]

i asked kilmore to make mine as narrow as possible,
and as low as possible. things are tight, but that
was my request. i like my tradeoffs...

original plan was to load cells from rear, but the upper
comes off so easily with four bolts; i drop packs in,
then snap connectors. then lower seat. very easy.
and i don't plan to access lithium cells often.

yes, mine has some exposure to elements- but colorado is very dry.
i may put cells in heat shrink someday.

[expresso]

i asked kilmore to make mine as narrow as possible,
and as low as possible. things are tight, but that
was my request. i like my tradeoffs...

original plan was to load cells from rear, but the upper
comes off so easily with four bolts; i drop packs in,
then snap connectors. then lower seat. very easy.
and i don't plan to access lithium cells often.

yes, mine has some exposure to elements- but colorado is very dry.
i may put cells in heat shrink someday.

thats cool - you can lift it right up and off - if a user can do it this way - that would be great - do it once - do it right - and hope to never have to touch them again -


if you done mind - how did the shipping part of this work for you - i mean its coming from the UK to the USA - packed in a crate - strapped down so cant move etc, - ? i try to vision how it would be delivered to me - i am not near needing to purchase one myself - but never know one day -

i was just curious how it would be done - same as a battery change with lead i guess - they have to slide out the rear somehow -

[robert97]

pallet leaving kilmore

the pallet container arrived save and sound.
my chair was kilmore's first to USA and the delays were
a nightmare. DHL caused some of the 20 day voyage- they were sloppy.
pallet sat at Heathrow Airport for days because
of some VAT exception paperwork. pallet sat in cincinatti because
it got into the medical equipment line. should have been marked wheelchair parts.
then DHL sent it to two wrong cities before going to colorado.

if we did another chair, maybe 5 days.

[LROBBINS]

John,

It is OK to ground the Roboteq case to the chair, and I'm afraid that I was the source of the original misinformation. The case is isolated from all of the ground circuits, including the B-minus of the battery, so bonding it to the chair frame is OK. I had originally thought otherwise because of Roboteq's instructions to attach the case tab to earth if an AC device is attached, but checking with an ohmmeter showed otherwise. Indeed, connecting it to the chair frame may be a good idea to reduce noise sensitivity. On Rachi's chair I have done that, and also have a capacitor between each cable shield and the electronic ground. There's no low-impedance DC connection, but a path to get rid of noise.

[Burgerman]

Really? I was sure mine measured low ohms. Must check it out.

[expresso]

freight76.JPG

the pallet container arrived save and sound.
my chair was kilmore's first to USA and the delays were
a nightmare. DHL caused some of the 20 day voyage- they were sloppy.
pallet sat at Heathrow Airport for days because
of some VAT exception paperwork. pallet sat in cincinatti because
it got into the medical equipment line. should have been marked wheelchair parts.
then DHL sent it to two wrong cities before going to colorado.

if we did another chair, maybe 5 days.

long trip - but it worked out - so it arrived in perfect condition - you ordered the whole chair - it arrive in parts ? just trying to understand how it works - from the pallet - dosnt look as if its a whole chair - unless you specified you wanted it that way - then you put it together - but if someone cant do that - it would arrive ready to go with no work putting parts together i would assume ?

its a nice chair - better than any here i think - quality wise - simple real tires - fast - and all the power features of seat lift - tilt etc, - -

[Gnomatic]

yes, mine has some exposure to elements- but colorado is very dry.
i may put cells in heat shrink someday.

How would you go about heat shrinking a large pack? I might be interested in doing that to mine if I can figure out a way to do it.

[Burgerman]

https://www.kitepackaging.co.uk/mcp/heat-shrink-wrap/

Easy. But buying in small quantities isnt...

[robert97]

here is a small quantity that fits my two 7S5P packs

large enough for lithium pack

[expresso]

how would it get done - you have to cover it the same way as heat shrink tubing - the whole pack inside and then use heat gun ?

i guess lay the pack on the side and slide it over it - flip the pack and continue - - would be good given you dont have to touch it again or inspect it -

[Burgerman]

You slide the pack in. Make sure its cut about 4 inch too long each end. And use a heat gun at about 18 inches. Shrinks like the stuff we do helicopter rotor blades with. Its not rubber like heat shrink tube, but shiny tough plastic.

Heres a small version although he makes a mess of the ends:

youtu.be/ALshbpGkMtc

[expresso]

Maybe i give it a try on my next one i build - not as easy to flip it around though - when its a large pack - just have to get the correct size to fit over a 105ah pack - wont be easy - i like if its done right - will be neat - - did you see his wiring - no wonder they all fail -

[Burgerman]

Yep... For your 90Ah pack, you would cut 2 sleeves. One goes east west, the other goes north south. No wrinkles, no gaps at all. Its easy to do neat endswith practice too.