Looking for a lightweight power chair with tilt

[PowerUser]

Any suggestions? Does such thing exist?

It needs to support at least 30° tilt-in-space and have a big backrest. Something like Quickie Iris, but powered.

It does not need to be super lightweight, the main reason for this requirement is that I live on the 3rd floor and we use a Liftkar PT stairclimber, which will not work with a 100kg chair. Up to 50-60kg should be ok.
And also would be good for an able-bodied person to be able to lift it into a car, sometimes some stairs, etc. after removing all easily removable parts (e.g. the batteries or backrest).

So far I found tilt only on the heavy ones, such as most of the Quickie powered chairs have tilt, but not the light ones like Q50.

I was also thinking about Quickie Iris + a power addon like Alber E-fix, but there are some difficulties with this approach, such as it seems like according to our laws I can get the compensation for this addon only if used on some types of chairs.

[duke1]

hi not be rude but what your looking for is rocking horse shite!ime of looking at commercial powerchairs over the last 8 years i found much the same as you,overweight top heavy and awkward to transport if using an unmodified vehicle,most are heavy as theres more battery needed the more electrickery the chair has so your starting with a hurdle,i bought as a temporary indoor chair a small pride fusion with tilt/recline etc and even with the smaller lead bricks just 33ah removed it is still far to heavy to manually lify into a car boot and it has alloy chassis much lighter than steel which many are still made of.
i drive an old volvo 850 estate and after hurting myself several times,crashing my tinas chair of the ramp trying to drive it up or out even with the smallest of chairs is more dangerous than you would think.
since then i got serious and bought a decent set of ramps which go on the roof rack when we take the chair and an electric winch with remote control and using the personal wheelchair budget we bought a used but new condition van os airide excel it is a proper rehab type chair but i think about half the weight of most all alloy and very sensible sturdy design,it fits easy in the car and not a great amount of disassembly needed takes 10 minutes,has tilt recline pneumatic black tyres alloy wheels and very good air suspension.
i did a review here with some pics not sure where exactly you based but van os seem to have eu dealers might be worth a look. https://www.wheelchairdriver.com/board/ ... =2&t=10084
just be prepared to rethink your simplistic ideals as in the real world theres no such thing off the shelf,why i say rocking horse shite,despite what manufacturers ads might say they all have flaws,good luck

[Burgerman]

Not that I can think of.

Seems you need a chair that isnt possible. I could be wrong. Have little interest personaly in what I regard as tempory or shopping chairs as I am paralised and need a proper full time so,ution.

I would suggest you find a more suitable place to live. Esp if this is a permanant situation.

[rover220]

Unicorns don't exist. A pair of 40ah batteries will be near your target weight alone.

[PowerUser]

A pair of 40ah batteries will be near your target weight alone.

Even Li-ion?
In Alber e-fix and similar devices the battery is just 3kg.

Also I don't need very long distances. 15-20 km probably should be ok.

And if the batteries can be quickly removed e.g. before using the stairclimber then their weight should not be too critical.

[duke1]

A pair of 40ah batteries will be near your target weight alone.

Even Li-ion?
In Alber e-fix and similar devices the battery is just 3kg.

Also I don't need very long distances. 15-20 km probably should be ok.

And if the batteries can be quickly removed e.g. before using the stairclimber then their weight should not be too critical.

hi thats an awful uncomfortable looking chair if you can find a dealer to go try one out and by try i dont mean a quick toodle round the block but a proper test drive im quite sure you soon change your mind,a small light comfortable powerchair doesnt fold up,has suspension and sensible volume of air filled tyres not what from the way it looks is a modified manual chair,how slow is it?at self propel speed maybe ok but anything over will soon be hurting your butt!

[PowerUser]

thats an awful uncomfortable looking chair

which one?

[duke1]

thats an awful uncomfortable looking chair

which one?

hi the alber you linked to i meant

[PowerUser]

hi the alber you linked to i meant

It's not a chair, it's a thing that can convert a manual wheelchair (including the comfortable ones) into a power chair. (22-24" wheels with motors + joystick + battery)

[slomobile]

Manual tilt chairs are sketchy. Add on power assist is sketchy. They each can be made to work satisfactorily in specific circumstances. Together in a single chair is like using duct tape to hold your wheels on. It might work for a short time, but you will not like the result after any amount of use.
https://www.yorkshirecareequipment.com/ ... eelchairs/
I think the add on power assist devices are less sketchy than manual tilt because they can at least be completely removed. Leaving you with an uncompromised manual chair.
My original "tilt equipped" chair was just a manual chair I learned to wheelie very well. I would pop a wheelie, back up to a wall, and ask someone I trust to set both brakes at the same time. When I let go I was leaning against the wall. Don't do this if your wheels are on a rug. I broke a caster coming down off the wall once.

Looking at the Liftkar PT stairclimber, it seems to always be operated with the chair tilted. Why not find a way to make the Liftkar your chair tilt system? It has a battery inside. Maybe that can power a linear actuator to control your tilt? Talk to the manufacturer. They may find it is an option worth adding to their product line.
Assuming you don't need to use tilt and drive at the same time, dismount the chair from the Liftkar and add on a SMOOV or Firefly. Whoever is operating your starclimber can carry the drive add on in a seperate trip.

If you are really dedicated to this, someone could probably engineer a device like a SMOOV or Smartdrive that latch onto the camber tube of a manual chair, but also actuate some kind of power tilt arm that pushes against the ground to tilt you.

[Burgerman]

Well it all sounds like a lot of bodgery and inadequate chair compromise instead of biting the bullet and finding a more sensible place to live. Unless this is a tempory thing.

Or one day when you realise you need to do that anyway you will realise you wasted all that time, and money on stair climbers, unsuitable chairs etc instead of dealing with the real problem first.

[PowerUser]

Well, moving to a different place is not easy and can make other things worse.

But either way having a lighter wheelchair would be good.
Not all places are fully accessible.
For example, what if you are travelling and when arriving to the hotel at night you find out that the elevator is not accessible (e.g. too narrow)? Things like this sometimes happen even if the hotel is marked as suitable for wheelchairs.
If the wheelchair is not 150kg then a person (or 2) could carry it through a staircase etc., otherwise you will have to sleep in a car.

I am confused why even batteries in all power chairs I saw have to weight 10 times more than in Alber E-fix.

[Burgerman]

Because they are of adequate capacity. (almost, for mr average. Many on here would still disagree! Inc myself). Whereas the alber is meant as a travel chair. So 2 small batteries so it can be stripped into parts and loaded on a car to be taken on a car trip to a shopping centre or whatever. But its not much good as a daily powerchair. Or a travel chair for that matter as taking it apart and reassembling it is very hard work. It takes a big battery to drag a full sized human around for a while.

You could fit smaller batteries in any powerchair. But those are your range. And if you actually need to do more than a shopping centres or the nearest shop then you need those bigger heavier batteries.

I know that moving to a more sensible place seems like a major thing. Because it is. But unless you expect this to be temporary you should make a bigger lifetime plan. And throwing good money after bad with stair climbers, inadequate chairs, etc isnt the way to do that. Trust me I have seen it over and over. You spend a fortune over the years putting out small fires. In the end will do the thing you should have done from the start. Once.

So do yourself a huge favour. Sit down with all those concened, and make a big plan for worst case eventual scenario, and it will take a week or two of thinking and researching. And start on that. Dunno where you live but grants and help is available in most places. Loans too.

If the place you buy has adequate space, then you might want a travel chair too. For any innaccessible places you want to go. I used to keep a manual chair, and tried a couple of travel powerchairs for that reason. They were so unconfortable and incapable that they ended up in the garage covered in dust and they have never been used in 23 years.

Foe e.g a bungalow, wide doors, big open plan rooms, wet room, disabled adapted kitchen, and a drive to park the wheelchair acceccible vehicle that you will want one day. And then whatever else you need. Preferably near entertainment, pubs, parks, colleges, shops, in a flat wheelchair friendly area.

Your choice though. I think that in the end you will see that its the best option.

[rover220]

Well, moving to a different place is not easy and can make other things worse.

But either way having a lighter wheelchair would be good.
Not all places are fully accessible.
For example, what if you are travelling and when arriving to the hotel at night you find out that the elevator is not accessible (e.g. too narrow)? Things like this sometimes happen even if the hotel is marked as suitable for wheelchairs.
If the wheelchair is not 150kg then a person (or 2) could carry it through a staircase etc., otherwise you will have to sleep in a car.

I am confused why even batteries in all power chairs I saw have to weight 10 times more than in Alber E-fix.

because the efix has either 12 or 18ah battery options.

[Burgerman]

It has other issues though. You are in a no suspension, short, top heavy manual chair with super skinny tyres, and tiny casters. It only does 3.7mph, to allow its tiny battery to get a theoretical 10 miles (ISO tennis court tested). Thats never going to happen in practice, maybe half that once you start stopping and starting and turning left/right or running along a sloped pavement.If you are lucky.

If you tried a real powerchair, you will be surprised how much better it feels. Stability and comfort wise. And control-ability too. And it can do real world terrain like our streets, curb ramps etc with ease. And can climb slopes and ramps without a fight. That efix claims 10% gradient capability which is a tiny 5.6 degree slope. Thats nothing, and the EFIX stops! It wont go up a street corner ramp without a run up.

Yes larger 18Ah batteries are available. But thats sod all plus another 6Ah. Whats really needed is around 60 to 70Ah. And bigger better wider wheels and a little better speed and control, and stability outdoors. So its a massive compromise. That may work for you, but it wouldnt for most users. Its barely better than a manual chair.

[PowerUser]

That efix claims 10% gradient capability which is a tiny 5.6 degree slope.

It says 20%: "Up to 20% with max. 120 kg"
(e-fix E35/E36)

which seems quite standard for a power chair?

[Burgerman]

It says 10% (gradient) on their website thats where I got the figure. Thats only 5.7 degrees.
Even 20% is only 11 degrees. There are plenty of steeper places you will come across.

If you dont need a proper powerchair, try it. Do a home assesement. It may be all you require.