My review of the Quickie F55s Powerchair

My modified chair here
or
latest!  My new USED F55 powerchair!

This is as far as I know a UK only PowerChair. Computer aided design, by a guy called Donald Brooks for Sunrise Medical.

There are 2 variants (as well as lots of seating and seat riser options) there is the F55, F55s

The F55 is 4 mph maximum and has no lights.

The F55s is 6.2 mph maximum, achieved simply by use of taller gearing although it has plenty of torque still. This version has lights to comply with UK law because it puts it into a different "class" of vehicle.

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Since the slower one is only 200 UK Pounds cheaper and just 4 mph would drive most full time powerchair users completely mental we will concentrate only on the F55s 6.2 mph chair here! 

• If you do already have a F55 4 mph version and you would prefer it to go faster then you will only (!) need to change the pair of Motors/gearboxes as a complete assembly. You do not need the "full power actuator" that they talk about, because this simply works the lights!  (To make it "legal") But it still isn't a very cheap mod!

I feel I am now pretty much of an expert when it comes to this chair, as I have had mine 5 years, and broke all the bits that can be broke, abused and tortured it, modified it and tuned it and wore out 5 sets of batteries and three sets of motors and gearboxes! And I also had to cure its faults and I modified it in various ways - HERE

THE F55s PROBLEMS ...

This is probably the best designed and finished powerchair out there still after 5 years! (Apart from the IBOT) But like all Powerchairs it has one or two major issues that screw up an otherwise good chair!  As follows... This is quite a long section.

• 1. It has an incredibly weak, wobbly cheap, and nasty "swing away" pivot for the control pod. Consists of a bit of bent tin, and a wobbly rivet - have looked at loads of these on other peoples chairs over the years and EVERY ONE is loose and needs replacing!  Fortunately there is a "parallelogram" version which is also available (at a daft price) to replace it.  Although everybody at sunrise has no idea what you are asking them for... So actually getting one is almost impossible!  It is a part that is in the parts list - a .pdf file that you may download from here! (1.3Mb) Give them the part number and I guarantee sunrise or your dealer will only send you the wrong part about 5 times... I have one and its strong and solid. Recommended urgent fix!
   

• 2. The same pod is strangely located on the OUTSIDE edge of the chairs arm. Meaning that the chair is wider than it needs to be and with daily use it gets banged on doorframes and this is the main cause of that other previous part to be b**g***d! Who the hell designs these things?  Fortunately if you raise the armrests a "notch" it can easily be moved to the inside edge, making it less liable to be damaged and more comfortable at the same time!  Which is a massive improvement in use. Another essential job that fortunately takes only a few minutes - my chairs total width is now two and a half inches narrower as well! 2 inches is a lot when you are manoeuvring on trains, inside restaurants, pubs, small loos or doorways at an angle.
   

• 3. While we are still on the "pod" area, we have another problem! the "charging socket" is an XLR type connector - usually used for microphones and tiny currents. These can (they claim) take up to 10 amps for charging purposes. When they are new and making good contact they do this "quite" well, but are on the edge of their capability. Stupid design. This is not sunrises fault actually but Penny & Giles who make the control system (its a Pilot Plus 80 amp unit). It causes BIG charging problems with some types of chargers though. It starts to wear after a few months, and gets hot during charging. This is the key... It goes fairly high resistance. Not helped by also having a long thin cable also of high resistance, connecting the pod to the controller under the seat. Now, the clever intelligent charger (that senses the voltage accurately) "sees" higher voltage, and less current so it thinks the battery is more charged than it really is! My trusty digital multi-meter tells me this can be as much as 2 volts difference between batteries and the charger!  So poor charger drops back to a lower charging current too early in its cycle for fear of damaging the sealed batteries by "gassing"...  In reality it either never finishes the charge before morning, or goes onto a REALLY long final stage! So your battery cells never get equalised or properly charged and your batteries are useless. Simple solution, if you feel any heat here when charging, swap both the socket inside the pod, and the plug on the charger for new ones. Or better still, fit an external directly connected to the battery, charging harness with a proper power plug.
   

• 4. Programming of the PowerChair is nothing short of unbelievable!  This is a much bigger problem than ALL of the others! As it is delivered to you it is all but un-drivable, If you can:
  a) get it to turn at all on carpet its a miracle! Or if it does it goes too fast and hits something...
  b) get it to go through a doorway without you losing fingers or smashing into first one side and then the other...
  Its as if the joystick is connected by a very loose rubber band! It bears no resemblance to what the chair does.
  
  Fortunately there IS an easy cure! But it cost me 270 Pounds and I had a massive fight to get it! It is the PP1b "programming box" DO NOT confuse this with the completely useless user version the PP1a programmer that so called "wheelchair techies" wave about. They LOOK the same. They are definitely NOT!  You NEED the PP1b and some skills and understanding to use it safely and properly. Hence my problem getting one. I had to sign disclaimers, jump through hoops, etc and lie! Anyway, if you want your chair to drive properly you need to reprogram it. It will be faster, accelerate and brake better, turn slowly and precisely in direct proportion to what you do with the stick with LOTS of torque, and you will never hit another doorframe! If you want me to reprogram your own chair, (ten min job) email me and I will discuss. For full details go to F55s Modifications Page!

• 5. The motors and gearboxes are only supplied (Via EMD) as complete units. No spares are available other than motor brushes (these last two years maximum with full time use). They have two SERIOUS problems. I have had maybe 30 emails about the backlash or "clunking" that soon develops. It becomes very tiring to drive it like this. Although in reality it will never leave you stranded. The first thing to wear out is a tiny easy to get at,  rubber "cush drive" Pictures say a thousand words on the Modified F55 Page

Other than these few issues, it is well made, well designed, and has a good range of options. Beware of the seating options such as Recaro Seat, or "comfort" back, because these make you sit further forwards, moving the centre of gravity further forwards still. Then it becomes more of a problem to control.

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Email burgerman@ntlworld.com   -  20 Westlands Ave, Grimsby, N. E. Lincs, DN34 4SP, UK.