The web site in the original message, http://www.wheelchairmodifications.org/ is an interesting source of information about electric wheelchairs. It's worth a visit if someone you know and care about needs an electric wheelchair. Even if you don't have a need to know about electric wheelchairs, reading about them can be an interesting digression from our usual EV discussions.
My first EV was an old electric wheelchair that I bought for only $25 dollars. It had flat tires and missing batteries and was thoroughly covered. with mud. After cleaning it, fixing the flat tires and connecting two 12-volt batteries to provide 24 volts, it ran great! I drove it around in my driveway and once took it to a nearby shopping mall to try it out. It's an interesting experience to control a vehicle with a joy stick. It's also a chance to get some sense of what it might be like to need a wheelchair for mobility. And it's fun to drive. This EV is a wheelchair with 24-inch rear wheels and smaller front casters. All wheels are fitted with pneumatic tires about 2 inches wide. Each rear wheel is driven by an electric motor with an integral gearbox and belt drive from the gear box to the wheel. Top speed is about 4 mph. The controller is in a box about the size of a child's lunch box and uses old fashioned transistors. I don't know if electric wheelchairs are considered proper electric vehicles for discussion here or not. I think they should be. Tom Shay . ----- Original Message ----- From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sunday, September 29, 2002 9:51 AM Subject: Hub Motors > Hi, think I got this working now, sorry AOL is free for me to use, so i use it. > > I have a quesiton about those hub wheel motors, like the 1000 watt model at http://abc.eznettools.net/D300013/X300109/eKits2.html > > Can I reverse them by the controller or a custom switch? > > I dont know if an electric wheelchair is considered an EV, but its my only way to get around and at 4-6mph its slow going and at that, I have to deal with over heating because of the small 400 watt motors and severly limited 2 channel 70 amp total controller and thermal roll back. > > I want to make a standard looking wheelchair with 2 of thoese motors on the rear, then mount hand rims to them for manual operation, put 4 batteries under the seat for the 48 volts, then find a 48 volt charger or use 4 12 volt ones, 1 for each battery. Then rig up a joystick like to control it for the long haul and use my hands on the hand rims like a unpowered wheelchair indoors. > > Wheelchairs steer by braking the inside wheel and or accelerating the outside one and in tight areas, even reversing the inside wheel. > > My goal is to run 15mph with tons of torque. I want to run till my batteries die or I get a flat. I dont want to have to stop and wait for something to cool down or some the controls to get lax or sloppy as it warms up. I hope the 2 1000 watt motors would be heavy enough for continious use. I am thinking of using the wheel size up to 24. I need to do more planning for the frame for the ride height I want to make up for my long legs. > > Thanks for any input, sorry about the HTML thing. > > Jeff > > Richmond, VA, USA > > http://www.wheelchairmodifications.org > >
