Permobil M400 issues

[dmccoyks]

I took my power chair to my daughters wedding this weekend and left my chair there to pick up the next day. Bad mistake! Apparently some of the guys at the after party decided to start driving my chair around quite erratically and who knows what else. Unfortunately, it is no longer working properly.

The issues it is experiencing are that it will not drive straight and pulls to the left. Also when I try to turn right, it barely moves and makes a grinding noise while keeping the joystick in that position. Does anyone have any idea what may be going on or how to troubleshoot these issues? I don?t see any errors on the screen. Thank you and I appreciate any help anyone may be able to offer.

[Gearhead]

Do all 4 caster wheels spin and swivel freely?

Next time you need to leave your chair somewhere, lock it (see owners manual).

[Rustyjames]

Sounds like a bearing got wiped out, probably by running into something. Good advice by Gearhead, hopefully it's in the caster(s), if not it's a motor/gearbox.

[dmccoyks]

Thank you for the quick replies. Yes, I will lock it from now on if I ever leave it again. I never thought grown men would do that with my chair! I will check the casters out tomorrow. Are there bearings in the main wheels or just the front casters? Is the motor user replaceable with some mechanical knowledge? Thanks again.

Also how can I tell if they need replaced?

[Rustyjames]

There's bearings in the caster stems and each caster wheel. You can drive, or push the chair on a piece of wood on one side to elevate the other. Check that each fork and wheel assembly spins freely. If they all do then your problem is in a motor/gearbox. There are bearings in the gearboxes. Hopefully, it's not the latter because that's quite involved. I'm thinking it's going to be the caster stem bearings were damaged from running into something. Caster stem bearings can be difficult to replace as well.

[dmccoyks]

Thank you for the additional information. I will check that each spin freely and go from there.

[RollinPositive]

I took my power chair to my daughters wedding this weekend and left my chair there to pick up the next day. Bad mistake! Apparently some of the guys at the after party decided to start driving my chair around quite erratically and who knows what else. Unfortunately, it is no longer working properly.

The issues it is experiencing are that it will not drive straight and pulls to the left. Also when I try to turn right, it barely moves and makes a grinding noise while keeping the joystick in that position. Does anyone have any idea what may be going on or how to troubleshoot these issues? I don?t see any errors on the screen. Thank you and I appreciate any help anyone may be able to offer.

Sounds like a motor is out... I would have your DME check it out and see if they can give you a loaner while its being checked out

[Gearhead]

1st, disengage - re engage motors. Ensure engage lever(s) are fully engaged. If problem goes away it was because motor lever wasn't engaged fully. Usually leaves a code but not always.
Semi common issue.

If caster is dragging or tight, it should be noticable when riding over smooth (less traction) surfaces. Affected caster will slide verses roll. No casters sliding = possible motor assy.

Yes the motors can be replaced by someone with basic mechanical skills and physical ability.
If you don't have a back up chair you may want to do what Rollin suggested.

Forgot to mention, when chair is locked, it can't be turned on (unless someone knows the sequence) but it can still be moved by disengaging motor/brakes. Nice to let those who are storing chair for you that they can push move it as they need.

[dmccoyks]

Thanks again for the help. I will try those things. I was also wondering if I remove the motors and run them will that tell me if it is bad or not. Is there another or better way to test the motors?

[dmccoyks]

I could not figure out how to jack it up since my jack is pretty tall to test the motors. I will have to wait until my wife gets home with our van with the power lift for further testing on that.


However, a couple things I noticed, 3 out of the 4 casters to not turn very freely. They take a little bit of force. Does that sound like those bearings are bad? Also I can go in reverse and it seems to work pretty good, even turning both ways. Does that make any sense? Thanks again!

[Rustyjames]

Sounds like your problem is with the caster assemblies and not the motors. They each should swivel and spin freely.

[dmccoyks]

That would be great if that is the only issue. When you say they should spin freely, do you mean there should not be any resistance to them spinning?

[dmccoyks]

I am going to go ahead and replace the bearings to start. It looks like there are 2 bearings at each caster for a total of 8 or are there others that should be replaced as well while I am doing it?

[Rustyjames]

Correct, there shouldn't be any resistance in the caster spin, or fork swivel, on each caster assembly.

[dmccoyks]

Okay, there is definitely quite a bit resistance on 3 of the 4 so I will start there. Thanks for all your help!