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TDX-SR Performance


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Author Topic: TDX-SR Performance  (Read 2624 times)
wkd32
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« on: April 11, 2008, 04:53:18 pm »

This is my first power chair of any kind and I don't know what's normal and what's a problem.  My new TDX-SR behaves very strangely on the short ramps in my house and sometimes lurches to one side inexplicably.  When coming off of one of these ramps, instead of driving smoothly down, it seems to ratchet down with a series of bangs until all wheels are flat on the ground.  I've had people try to observe what is happening from a ground-level, but no one can see an obvious problem.  I rebuilt the ramps to make them less steep.  This helped, but didn't completely eliminate the problem.  One other thing that frustrated me was trying to drive up a gently sloping fairly low curb (not a curb cut).  The front wheels went up all right, but lifted the middle (drive) wheel off the ground.  That was as far as I could go.

I used a scooter before getting the TDX-SR.  The scooter went up all the ramps in my house, and the curb described above smoothly and easily.

What I'm wondering is whether or not my TDX-SR is defective, needs adjustment, or is normal.  I don't see anybody else on this forum reporting similar problems.
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KiwiJenn
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Invacare Equipment: 22 February 2005 - TDX 5, with Tarsy Tilt/Recline and Articulating Elevating Legrests. December 2013 - TDX SR T/R/E/PL
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« Reply #1 on: April 12, 2008, 05:29:12 am »

Hi wkd32 and welcome to the boards:)

It might take you awhile to get used to how the TDX SR preforms and what it's limitations are.  The TDX is a centre wheel drive aka CWD.  

Sometimes CWD chairs do lurch to the left or right side when it stalls/struggles.  You may need to turn the Torque up a littte bit to help prevent the TDX SR from stalling.  The TDX SR comes with the HDTTGB motors and they have a lot of power/torque.  I'm wondering how steep and shortness, the ramp is.

The TDX SR can only climb a 3" curb.
The TDX SR can reverse up a 1" curb.

You may want to tune up the programming for your driving needs too which takes a bit of time.
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wkd32
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« Reply #2 on: April 12, 2008, 10:02:01 am »

Thanks.  The two ramps in the house are about 29 inches long and go up 4 inches.  Yesterday I went out the backdoor onto a wooden deck, turned around, and tried to come back in over a 2 1/4 inch rise.  I couldn't do it.  After turning up the power and lurching to the right and into the door frame, I finally gave up and had to get out of the chair in order to get it back in the house.
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wkd32
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« Reply #3 on: April 12, 2008, 10:28:23 am »

I should also add that I tried out a TDX-SP for several weeks before ordering the TDX-SR.

None of the problems I have had with the TDX-SR occurred with the TDX-SP.
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chairman84
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« Reply #4 on: April 12, 2008, 05:01:27 pm »

Jenn is right, the chair needs some reprogramming.  my old arrow 2g with GBs used to get stuck on the threshold of the front door of our house.  the wheels would stop and when i gave it more gas it started lurching side to side violently.  i later realized that i had my torque level way too low.  i turned the torque and power level to 100% on all drives and the problem went away.

the TDX SP you demoed was just programmed better than your SR.  have the tech come by with the programmer and tweak everything till its to your liking.  it may take a few visits with the programmer to get it just right.  read this article ....it helps explain all the programming parameters and what they do.
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jakeyboy1
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« Reply #5 on: April 13, 2008, 09:07:12 am »

wkd32
Definintely the programming.  The ratching is the motors engaging and disingaging because they aren't getting enough power.  I recomend you buy a programmer and make small changes and then drive your chair for awhile then make more small changes until it suits your needs.

Check ebay for programmers if your dealer won't sell you one.  Make sure you get a MK6 programmer.  I can email you a programming guide if you end up getting one.  Good luck.
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wkd32
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« Reply #6 on: April 14, 2008, 12:14:31 pm »

Thanks. I appreciate all the advice.  The tech is comming over on Wednesday to tweak the programming.  From what you all are saying, that would seem to be the answer to my problems.  I hope it will also fix the jerkyness of the power at slow speeds.  It seems to pulsate instead of providing smooth power.
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wkd32
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« Reply #7 on: April 18, 2008, 12:42:59 pm »

The Rep from my equipment supplier came in reprogrammed the chair.  Unfortunately, he had little or no familiarity with the procedure, and made the chair much worse than it was.  I only discovered how bad it was 15 minutes after he left.  I phoned him and asked him to turn around and come back.  After struggling with it for a while, he phoned Invacare to get instructions.  He managed to get it back to the way it was, more or less, and supposedly added some torque.  It seems better, but is not great.  It was at this point that I decided to buy my own programmer and learn to use it.

The second major issue I had was the ratcheting and pitching of the chair when coming off of a ramp.  The equipment supplier rep had no idea about this.  He once again called Invacare.  Invacare said that this was normal and was caused by the stability lock.  All I can say is, it doesn't feel normal.
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KiwiJenn
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« Reply #8 on: April 19, 2008, 06:28:39 am »

This really makes me sad/frustrated to hear that 'some' Rep's and even some techs who work on powerchairs or work with the powerchair users, have no idea how to use a programmer!!  

The key to get the best performance from any powerchair, is the programming.  It has to be right for each individual.  This should be understood by these Reps and techs.

This happens here in NZ too, people get a new powerchair, a few settings are changed and that's it.  This is one main problem why the user can't get good performance from there powerchair.  If a power module is replaced then settings are lost (except for MK6) and powerchair is just given back to the user without adjusting the settings..sometimes.

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The Rep from my equipment supplier came in reprogrammed the chair. Unfortunately, he had little or no familiarity with the procedure, and made the chair much worse than it was.
I'm glad to hear you are buying your own programmer:)  If you need help using it, please ask.

Once you get the programming all tweeked and finely tuned in all drives the TDX SR should run pretty smooth.
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wkd32
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« Reply #9 on: October 30, 2008, 02:45:40 pm »

As a follow up to this story, things got progressively worse until I realized there was something actually wrong with the chair, beyond programming.  When attempting to guide the unoccupied chair up a ramp, one drive wheel would lose power while the other wheel continued to have power, causing the chair to veer to one side and then stop.  Backing it down the ramp was almost impossible with power only going to one wheel.  I contacted the equipment provider.  He told me to contact the Invacare rep.  Despite multiple attempts to contact him and several messages left on his answering machine, I received no response.  At this point, I contacted Invacare customer service.  They told me to contact my local Invacare authorized service facility.  I did, and finally got some action.  They came to the house, confirmed that the chair was not working properly, and took it to the repair facility.  After consulting with Invacare they determined that the controller box was faulty.  Invacare refused to send a replacement until the faulty controller was in their hands, thus extending the period I am without my chair.  After weeks, I am still waiting for Invacare to send a replacement to my local authorized repair center.  I have been told that the labor expense will be my responsibility, which seems wrong to me, considering the chair never worked right when it was brand-new.  For such an expensive chair, one would think after sale service would be better.
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wkd32
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« Reply #10 on: November 20, 2008, 11:53:44 am »

Everything has been resolved satisfactorily now.  My TDX-SR has been repaired by Invacare and returned to me.  It now works like it has never worked before.  In the end Invacare treated me fairly.
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Alejandrina
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« Reply #11 on: August 27, 2019, 01:47:31 am »

None of the problems I have had with the TDX-SR occurred with the TDX-SP.
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