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A review of the Gowrings Mobility 4 in 4 drive from powerchair

Adaptachair

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gowrings Mobility 4 in 4 powerchair is low.

It is specifically designed to allow you to drive a van from.  It is not very fast, and pretty short on range, with small batteries compared to an "all day outdoor" type chair.  But worth considering if this is what you need!

 

Burgerman.

OK now an email I received about this chair:

Hello,

I have had an Adaptachair which is actually the same chair as the Gowrings Mobility 4 in 4 drive powerchair which was bought for me after an assessment at work last June. The chair cost £9,700 and was paid for by Access to work (Employment Services) 80% and my employer 20%.

It has been crash tested and I can drive my adapted Mercedes V-Class from it. It was recommended by Personal Mobility Options who I bought my car from. The chair does most things I need:-

 

  • The seat raises up so that I can put myself at the correct level for easy transfer to bed or toilet - I couldn't manage without this now.

  • The leg rests move into a horizontal position so I can rest my legs

  • The back reclines - I can almost sleep in my chair with legs up and backrest down

  • the armrests fold up out of the way so I can transfer easily

  • the chair is very comfortable with a Recaro seat

  • it is quite small and narrower than my old chair

Problems I have had:-

  • The seat is too comfortable like a bucket seat making it difficult to get out of.

  • it is very slow.

  • The armrests have a soft spongy covering which is not hard wearing and chunks break off if I hit the edge of a door frame

  • The main problem is that it has to be charged for 8 to 10 hours every night. I was not told this when I bought the chair and charged it every night as soon as I went to bed. With my job and carers needed to get me up I can only charge the chair for 7 hours a night. The maximum distance the chair will go is 2 to 3 miles so it is not suitable for me to be able to do my job therefore I have to replace it. Adaptachair will not admit that they did not tell me the charging requirements and they are not in the user manual.

Please email me at ddonovan@ntlworld.com if you want any more info.

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My own comments regarding these issues...

Point 1 - Seat "too" comfortable!  Well here the manufacturers cannot win!  Seating is a personal issue. I could not use a Recaro, for the same reason, but it offers lateral (sideways) support that is required during driving.  Personally, I would need my normal Gel cushion, and sling back for pressure sore prevention reasons anyway...  Not sure if this chair allows this.

Point 2 - It IS slow.  It really cannot be any other!  If the manufacturer of the Adaptachair chose to use taller gearing needed for say 6mph (10 kph) in this small light chair, it would then defeat the entire object of the chair!  (Or it would suffer even less range.) Taller gearing means bigger power drain even at slow "manoeuvring" speeds. Because of this it would need bigger batteries and possibly motors too, as well as a larger "Amperage" controller.  This would mean a bigger heavier chair generally. Current technology prevents this faster chair then without making it "bigger".  It is something that you choose, to allow a smaller chair to drive from. Life is a compromise!  At least until battery technology improves drastically!

Point 3 - Armrests dunno...

Point 4 - Charging. This is the guys main problem. Again this is a technology problem rather than an specific one.  All powerchairs with the exception of thee iBOT use one type or another of the common LEAD ACID batteries. They may be Gel, or sealed, or "dry" or AGM but all basically work the same way.  ALL of them really need at least 8 hours to charge after use, as a minimum!  Faster charging damages batteries and shortens their life. This is especially true of the Adaptachair as it uses small batteries to save weight/size/space. So they tend to be discharged "more" in a day than larger ones would.

 

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All information on this site is © of the respective writers & contributors, & John C Williamson
Email burgerman@ntlworld.com   -  20 Westlands Ave, Grimsby, N. E. Lincs, DN34 4SP, UK.

 

 

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