Has anyone tested a Quickie Jive

[Teamonkey50]

Thats a lot to digest. I am 13stone & my chair is now a month old I have waited till the power level is flashing red until I charged my chair overnight for 9 hours My dealer said his battery expert advised this. I will have to save up & replace my gel filled 60am batteries with lithium & a new charger. Would my Rnet 120 controller be compatible though. The chair does seem to get me up steep hills of 10 degree slope very easily with no struggling

[LROBBINS]

Your dealers "battery expert" is an a--hole. Lead batteries last longest the LESS they are discharged. Charge at least every night and all night even if you've used the chair only 5 minutes that day. Charge whenever you can during the day (if you have a charger less than 10 years old) if you've been using the chair hard. A battery routinely discharged to 50% may last 400 cycles, and if discharged to 80% (20% remaining) may last only 200, and if it's left sitting around discharged for any length of time it will last even less. Burgerman has put lots of detailed, reliable battery information on the main WheelchairDriver pages. It would be worth your while to read it.
Ciao,
Lenny
P.S. Your RNet 120 IS the most powerful (or one of the most powerful) wheelchair controllers available. Pair that with good motors, heavy wiring, batteries that can pump the amps (Odyssey Extreme for heavy users, MK gel for less aggressive users - last longer but have less oomph), CG in the right place (or the best compromise between stability and agility), pneumatic tires (preferably tubeless), and proper charging and you've got the best you're going to do with lead acid batteries, and that ain't all that bad.

[Teamonkey50]

Thanks Lenny, Burgerman certainly knows what he is talking about, my chair is only a month old so hopefully it's not too late as I've only run it down & charged it 9 times as per my dealers "battery expert" ?? Instructions . Do the makers of extreme batteries have a uk distributor? And will I void my warrenty by replacing all my leads with top quality ones?

[Burgerman]

Odyssey batteries are made by Enersys.

The can be bought easily. Search for tayna batteries, and dont pay VAT. The group 34, 68Ah ones will give better range than a gel battery of bigger group 24 size under heavy load. But lead is crap, dont expect miracles.

If your batteries are 60 Ah now, best measure your battery space to be sure the bigger ones will fit in.

[Teamonkey50]

Odyssey batteries are made by Enersys.

The can be bought easily. Search for tayna batteries, and dont pay VAT. The group 34, 68Ah ones will give better range than a gel battery of bigger group 24 size under heavy load. But lead is crap, dont expect miracles.

If your batteries are 60 Ah now, best measure your battery space to be sure the bigger ones will fit in.

Thanks very much, it can Take 70amp gel batteries. It's a cost issue for me as had to have the chair funded. I will check out if I can save up or get funding for the type of batteries you use & a charger. But I am a complete novice & have a lot to learn before I can (afford) fit them but thank you for patience & information I really appreciate it

[LROBBINS]

Tayna is a first rate UK supplier - even having to have batteries shipped from them to Europe. Odyssey Extreme are not gel batteries, they are Adsorbed Glass Mat (AGM), but are, just like gel, sealed non-spillable and certified for transport by all methods without special precautions. Gel batteries supposedly will last longer, and really good ones such as MK may actually do so IF the WC chargers were really optimized for them (they're not), but they can't deliver as high momentary currents as the AGM. AGM will last longest if the charger is optimized for them, and WC chargers aren't that either, they're a compromise. In the end, for a "light" user, the gels may or may not actually last longer, for the "heavy" user they probably won't last any longer and they won't have as much oomph. Ciao, Lenny