Foldawheel PW-1000XL review

[MenCallMeGimpy]

Two years w/o issues is a good thing. Is this equipped with motors and controller from goldenmotor?

I don't know where Wheelchair88 source their motors and controllers. The motors are small hub motors and the controller looks fairly generic.

It's been a great chair and the batteries are as strong as the day I got it. I'm just a little more cautious going over uneven surfaces than I was a few weeks ago.

[ex-Gooserider]

My understanding is that when they do the van modifications, one of the things they do is to make the passenger side door wider than stock, or possibly just reshape the opening to make it wider. (I haven't done measurements to compare / confirm) If so, there may be issues with the chair being wider than the door opening - I don't know...

ex-Gooserider

hobie1dog wrote:
For those you that travel by airline, do car rental places offer power chairs and ramps for them? Before this chair came out, how did you arrange to get a chair upon arrival at the airport? My last trip I got pushed around in a manual chair till we got to the rental car place and my son drove me around. But now I would need a power chair for future vacations.
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I have a couple of ramps one folds in quarters I take it with me to the airport as well as I use my older chair which I drive right to the plane door. I can walk from the plane door with crutches to my seat. Even my wife can make the chair with the ramp self load into the back of most minivans. All of this is becoming more difficult as we age. I often have wondered if by taking having the rental company take the center bench out why couldn't I/we use the ramp to access the middle door of the van, and wouldn't that be a hell of a lot easier? Use Ratchet straps anchored in the seat hold down fixtures to clamp the empty power chair in place. I can transfer myself into the passenger seat.

[clairc]

Has anyone seen the Foldawheel PW-777PL? It looks more sturdy that the other models but still foldable and transportable.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wheelchair-Reclinable-Adjustable-Foldawheel-controller/dp/B01D13TPO4/ref=sr_1_3_m?m=A2SGU4NTL6V9BJ&s=merchant-items&ie=UTF8&qid=1499106275&sr=1-3#Ask

[sad_vampire]

[quote="clairc"]Has anyone seen the Foldawheel PW-777PL? It looks more sturdy that the other models but still foldable and transportable.

Set-up video for the chair - https://vimeo.com/191757083

Direct link to the chair on the manufacturers website - https://www.wheelchair88.com/product/fo ... -pw-777pl/

[MenCallMeGimpy]

Has anyone seen the Foldawheel PW-777PL? It looks more sturdy that the other models but still foldable and transportable.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wheelchair-Reclinable-Adjustable-Foldawheel-controller/dp/B01D13TPO4/ref=sr_1_3_m?m=A2SGU4NTL6V9BJ&s=merchant-items&ie=UTF8&qid=1499106275&sr=1-3#Ask

I haven't seen this model, but strongly recommend you use the wheelchair88.com site if you're thinking of buying it. There are a lot of scammers on Amazon who pretend to be Wheelchair88 (to the extent the Wheelchair88 Amazon profile contains a warning about them). You can only be sure of getting the genuine article by buying direct.

[Generic Name]

Hello!

Has anyone had an issue with the PW-1000 or PW-999 similar to the following: The chair seems to have difficulty when maneuvering at certain angles (typically straight left or right). The chair will shake/shudder while making the turn, or will not move at all at certain angles. The chair (PW-999UL) is less than 2 months old, and did not this issue before (may have developed gradually); was much smoother during turns before. The battery is fully charged, so that shouldn't be it. At first I thought the wheels were getting stuck on the carpet, but it also happens on flat surfaces. Perhaps an issue with the front wheel orientations obstructing the turn? The chair does leave wheel marks on the carpet during these problem maneuvers.

Any ideas? I contacted wheelchair88 & they asked me to send a video, which I will do in a day or two. Other than that it is a great chair. Thanks everyone.

[Sully]

I bought the EZ Lite Iteration of these foldable chair, cost a few bucks more I think. However, the motors "in my opinion" are a bit weak. But they do move you I bought the 11" rear wheels and the narrow "Deluxe" model. Perhaps that makes it too high geared by default. Since I bought it for traveling in a non specific vehicle and airline use I have not given it much use yet. However, I can say I am disappointed in the power it seems to have with the little use it has gotten.

[sad_vampire]

Hello!

Has anyone had an issue with the PW-1000 or PW-999 similar to the following: The chair seems to have difficulty when maneuvering at certain angles (typically straight left or right). The chair will shake/shudder while making the turn, or will not move at all at certain angles. The chair (PW-999UL) is less than 2 months old, and did not this issue before (may have developed gradually); was much smoother during turns before. The battery is fully charged, so that shouldn't be it. At first I thought the wheels were getting stuck on the carpet, but it also happens on flat surfaces. Perhaps an issue with the front wheel orientations obstructing the turn? The chair does leave wheel marks on the carpet during these problem maneuvers.

Any ideas? I contacted wheelchair88 & they asked me to send a video, which I will do in a day or two. Other than that it is a great chair. Thanks everyone.

Not had such problems with my PW-1000XL so far, but can get into problems where the chair decides to go down a steep slope its own way, but my Otto Bock B500 has that same feature (more grip though so easier to stop it).

I've always found the PW-1000XL has far fewer problems turning at low speeds than the B500, which is programming & the lead bricks that are about to get replaced with a lot of 15Ah LiFePO4 cells.

I'm about to build a new battery pack for the PW-1000XL, same plugs but won't be connected at the same time as the original lithium polymers, I'll report back on how that works out as the voltage will be a bit lower & it may cause the motors to stall in a turn without a change to programming, but I doubt it. Going to set up a seperate charge port on the liFePO4 pack so I can charge it with the PL8, same as the Otto Bock's larger pack (105Ah as opposed to 30Ah for the PW-1000XL).

[hank]

Acquired a pw-1000xl off Family.
Want to do away with std battery pack (24v 4a 96wh.)
Could i use a pair of 12v 20ah agm batteries instead.
Obviously make a new battery box and upgrade wiring
for a bit more range and safer option really.

[Burgerman]

You would add a bunch of weight which sort of defeats the purpose of that chair doesent it?

[MenCallMeGimpy]

Could i use a pair of 12v 20ah agm batteries instead.
Obviously make a new battery box and upgrade wiring
for a bit more range and safer option really.[/quote]

Not sure those would fit and give you enough ground clearance. Even if they did, you'd have to make the box very carefully, so as not to impair the chair's ability to fold.

I've had mine for nearly 3 years now, and it continues to perform flawlessly with the original battery pack (I use the maximum 3 batteries). My range is easily 20 miles on the few occasions I've pushed it that far. In everyday use (around the home/neighborhood and around the office) I only need to recharge it about once every couple of weeks.

The only safety issue I've had is when I took a curb cutout too quickly and got dumped on my back last February. The rear casters were useless and just folded flat under me. I removed the casters, learned to be more careful and haven't had a recurrence since.

[hank]

Yes i understand where you coming from.
What i was going to do was fit the batteries in a proper bought battery bag for each battery
then fit in the front of the PM either in the STD canvas bag behind footplate Or make
the bags easy to fasten on frame tubing to undo and lift out.
Basically so i could unplug and remove easily from chair if needed to fold
making it lighter to handle.

[Burgerman]

Why not use two 12v 8400mah hobby lifepo4 packs? That will double range.
Or 4. 2 parallel, 2 serires. They will fit in your pocket, and will geve much better range than 20Ah lead?

[hank]

I know its a much easier and lighter battery pack
But not got a charger for 12v 8400mah hobby pack.
Sold all my heli hobby stuff.
When i go lifepo4 route i will then get a Celpro pl8 charging system and power pack.
Thanks on options

[MenCallMeGimpy]

Hello!

Has anyone had an issue with the PW-1000 or PW-999 similar to the following: The chair seems to have difficulty when maneuvering at certain angles (typically straight left or right).

I haven't encountered anything like that in my PW-1000. It can get a little nose-happy on inclines, but on the flat it handles very well and is quite smooth (for a chair of its size with no suspension). Your experience sounds like one of the hub motors may be having problems. Torque-wise the chair is nothing special, but is certainly capable of hauling my 13 stone (180lb) carcass around without complaint, even up hills that exceed its recommended incline ability. I can get a steady 5mph (as determined by a speedometer app on my phone) all day long, or at least as long as my spine can take it over Los Angeles' ridiculously rough pavements.

Let us know what Wheelchair88 tells you. They've been pretty good with the few issues I had, so here's hoping they get you sorted out quickly.

[Sully]

Have you considered asking Wheelchair 88 if you can acquire a programmer for your chair? Ask if your motors can be re-set. You will not reset your motors themselves but the controls that operate them. This sounds like one motor may not be getting the power it needs to respond to your demands. They sound as if they are not synchronized. Turn them to 0% and then re-set to what you think you want. I would keep a written record with the info with what you do, so you can refer back to it. Every manufacturer's programmer does essentially the same things, they just use some different language. Some do go a bit deeper into the controller. Good luck with it. Keep us posted with your progress.

[Burgerman]

Remember that its easy to just write a bit of code that seems to work ok. Compared to decades of fine tuning and bug fixing. Of the kind that Lenny is doing with our roboteq code for 5 years so far! And the 20 years that Dynamic or Curtis instruments or PG Drives have done. Where do you suppose that the cheap chinese controller is along this path? And brushless is difficult and has issues with starting torque.

[scootntootn]

Thought I'd post car loading techniques here too. Different chair, but odds are good the same levering technique can be used. https://eloflex.eu/load-in-car/