Any Bounder or Redman Users? Need Opinions Quick!

[nickib]

Hi, I'm new to this site (thanks for the tip ex-Gooserider) and my fella is trying to decide between a Bounder and a Redman. He currently has his second Permobil C500. He would probably get another Permobil, but this time he wants a stander. The Permobil stander wasn't built strong enough to withstand his weight and curvature of his spine. He nearly broke the kneepads off within 10 minutes of standing! The Levo C3 isn't tough enough for him either. The Bounder seems to be, but he just isn't thrilled about the RWD. He really liked the Redman, but we can't find a service provider here in Pennsylvania who will take care of any repairs. If he could just actually talk to someone who has used either or both, I think it would help him make his decision! Oh, one of the reasons he is considering RWD is because he is also planning on purchasing a GoShichi conversion pick-up truck and he wants four-wheel-drive. The way the transfer case is in these trucks (Chevy or GMC only), anything with a larger than 23" front end won't fit. so here we are. Thanks for any info!

[Burgerman]

Never used any of those chairs, but be aware (as ex-g has no doubt already explained) that the weakest part of any powerchair is batteries. And the heavier the chair, and the smaller the battery, the worse it gets. Standing chairs generally do the "tricks" first, and the batteries get 2nd place. So end up smaller than needed. This results in 3 things.

Lack of range.
Greater AVERAGE discharge level, meaning they don't last well. And batteries are not cheap.
Lower performance (torque) because of bigger demand on a smaller battery.

As long as you understand the compromise. Look for group 24 batteries (70Ah or bigger).

[cdb0ewm]

I had a Bounder but it wasn't a stander. I found it extremely heavy, lacked torque to get up ramps and after adjusting the sensitivity of the controls numerous times, it was always either too sluggish or very jumpy
I stopped using it and went back to my old chai=r.

[ex-Gooserider]

Never used a Bounder, but every review I've seen suggests that they are very big and heavy for their features. They claim higher speeds, and arguably their belt drive motor setup can be more efficient than the usual gearmotors, but they are still running into the inherent limitations of a 24V battery setup...

I've also heard a few rude things about their controller setup - it is supposedly something unique to Bounder, and as usual there are no tools available to get them programmed properly. Don't know if there would be any issues trying to replace it with a more standard controller while keeping the motors...

Wouldn't solve the size issue, but seems like it might be interesting to convert one to a Lithium / Roboteq setup - the large wheelbase might be more stable, and the high speed option setup might even be able to blow BM's rig into the weeds....

ex-Gooserider

[Burgerman]

Outdoors it might! But they are very nose heavy, leaving you sitting on its front casters and have that ugly battery hanging out of the rear looking like its taking a dump...

[BILLSOTO1]

I USED Bounder plus for 10 years now.This my 2nd one after 7 years with my 1st one. this 2nd one has bike chains.
The chain has come off twice and strangers/friends were able to put it back in. THE brakes on the front, one sise
went out around october. I waited till january to cal it in. I waited 3 months with a loaner chair from wheelchairmedic.com
Now the break is out again. The vets hosp offered me a new backup chair. I'M going with the QZ6000 OR QZ6400 from
pridemomility.com. goes at 8 or 8.1 MPH With extra option. I'll get the tilt for dentist and wash my hair. MY 1ST bounder
lasted me almost 7 years, buyt the reg belts had 2 b replaced a bunch of tmes and motor broke, etc. IS TRUE WHAT THE LADY IN
CHARGE OF ORDERING CHAIRS THAT BOUNDER TAKES 2 MUCH IN PARTS REPLACEMENT AND THE BOUNDER IS OLD SCHOOL.
'M NOT GOINBG BACK 2TO BOUNDER. THE FASTEST UNDER BOUNDER AT 8MPH WHICH ARE THE 2 I TOLD U ARE MY BEST CHOICE.
I NEED SPEED WHERE I LIVE BECAUSE IS ALL HILLS AROUND HERE. ANY QUESTIONS? BILLSOTO1@YAHOO.COM I wish there was other
chairs over 8mph.

[crappiemaster]

I realize this is an older post but I owned a Redman standing chair last year.

It wasn't but a month old when I was at doctors office for a routine visit and the nurses asked me to demonstrate the standing function.

So I raised to a standing position and drove around a few seconds and when I went to lower from standing something snapped.

It was a cable and I was stranded at the doctors office in standing position and couldn't sit back down to leave or drive

One of the nurses husband can from work and got on the tech support and they told him how to disable the cable and sit me down.

It took a while but he got me back to sitting position and had to use tie straps to secure it to drive.

Redman sent me an updated part and we eventually got it on because nothing fit and had to fabricate, drill, grind etc to make it work.

After that the knee support was making indention in my knees and starting pressure sores.

I tried taking the Redman chair on my accessible pontoon boat but it was so heavy it looked like the boat was going to tip over on one side.

To make a long story shorter I paid 15K and sold it on E-Bay for 5K

There support system is not good. I wouldn't recommend it.