TREADMILL REPAIR
PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE
The first and most important part of owning a treadmill or any piece of equipment is preventative maintenance. If you’re not currently doing this, get started today!
Items needed for a good preventative maintenance program on your treadmill:
Vacuum cleaner
Screwdriver – philip’s and flat blade
Sockets and Allen keys depending on the model Grease cleaning cloths
Now let’s get started!
ALWAYS UNPLUG THE TREADMILL OR ANY EQUIPMENT BEFORE SERVICING!
Remove the hood or engine cover. There are probably between 2 and 8 screws. Now vacuum the dust from around the motor and drive mechanisms. What you can’t reach with a vacuum, use a small cloth or brush. A clean engine does not clog or overheat.
After you’ve cleaned around the motor, look for any grease fittings, these are usually found on commercial grade units, but yours may have some too.
For those of you who have never seen one, they are about the size of a pencil eraser and have a hole in the end. they are usually found in bearings. If you don’t have a grease gun, you can buy a small gun and grease at your local auto parts store for less than $10.00.
If your unit is chain driven, wipe excess dust off the chain and apply a small amount of grease to the chain, also grease the drive chain and lift chain as needed. Use white lithium grease if available.
Check all drive belts for wear, look for cuts and nicks, and replace as needed.
Loosen the walking belt, most treadmills have a bolt or screw on each side at the rear of the unit. Loosen them, push the rear roller toward the walking platform until the belt is loose enough for you to look under.
Lift the belt up and inspect the bottom for wear. If it appears worn or burned, the belt should be replaced.
Inspect the walking deck for wear, you will be able to tell if it is worn. If it has small worn grooves or bearing spots, it should be flipped or replaced.
Many treadmills today have walking decks that can be flipped over. If your deck is worn, turn it over, but it is recommended that when you flip the deck over you replace the walking belt.
Clean the platform and the bottom of the band with a soft cloth; Depending on the model of your treadmill, you should lubricate the walking deck at least every 6 months. Some units use silicone spray or gel. Another use of wax. Check your owner’s manual for the manufacturer’s recommendations.
After cleaning the belt and deck and lubricating the deck as needed, center the belt on the walking deck and tighten the screws at the end of the treadmill.
Turn each bolt the same amount to keep the strap centered. Tension the belt until it no longer moves freely on the rollers. Then, with CAUTION, straddle the belt and turn the treadmill to low speed.
Wait for the belt to start moving, then step on the belt. If it stops, it’s not tight enough. Take off the belt and tighten each side 1 turn and then put the belt back on.
Repeat as needed.
Once you can walk on the belt at a slow speed without stopping or slipping, increase your speed to 3 miles per hour. This should be a brisk walk. If your unit has side rails, hold the rails and try to stop the strap with pressure.
IF OK, increase speed to 5 MPH. Run on the treadmill, if you feel it slip, tighten the bolts another 1/2 turn each. Repeat if necessary.
If the belt is not centered, stand behind the treadmill and run the belt at full speed if the belt drifts to the left. Tighten left bolt/screw 1/2 turn and loosen right bolt/screw 1/4 turn until belt is centered.
IF the belt runs to the right, tighten the right side bolt or screw 1/2 turn and loosen the left bolt or screw 1/4 turn. Repeat as needed, this should center the walking belt.
Always clean the treadmill after each use, perspiration is very corrosive.
If your treadmill leans, increase the elevation to the maximum and vacuum under it.
If it doesn’t tilt, pull it out and vacuum.
Most operational problems are easily seen, detected, and repaired. If the cause of a problem is not obvious, follow a logical process of checking each system component.
Repairing your treadmill
It would be impossible for me to list every issue for every treadmill manufacturer in this report, but here are some common issues:
The walking belt is not centered. See preventative maintenance procedure for belt centering.
No power, check unit is plugged into a live outlet, ALWAYS USE CAUTION when working with electricity. Try another outlet if necessary.
If you know the outlet is live, unplug the unit and check the fuses, you may need to lift the cover for this.
IF you have power but the motor is not turning, you either have a bad power supply or the motor brushes are worn. Contact the manufacturer for information.
If the engine is turning, make sure the drive belt is not loose or broken. Tighten or replace as needed.
The walking belt moves, but a loud screeching noise is heard.
Loosen the belt and see if the noise goes away, if so you may have a bad front roller. Sometimes you can spray the roller bearing with a lubricant like WD40 and this will solve the problem, but you may need to replace the roller.
If the noise does not go away, the motor bearings are probably bad and the motor will need to be replaced.
Lift does not work, unit will not raise or lower, or stuck in lift mode.
Unplug unit and check lift motor fuse, replace if necessary. Check the lift system for broken chains or cables, make sure something hasn’t gotten caught in the gears.
If your unit is equipped with limit switches for the upper and lower limits, check them to make sure they are not activated. These are usually small microswitches located around the hoist gears.
ALWAYS LOOK FOR LOOSE OR BROKEN CABLES FOR ANY PROBLEMS YOU HAVE.
You have power to the treadmill but the control panel is not working.
If your unit requires a key or magnet, make sure it is inserted correctly.
You may have a faulty control panel and will need to replace it.
Check for broken or loose drive belts under the cover.
The treadmill will run for a short time and then will blow a fuse, break, or just stop.
Either the belt or the deck, or both, are probably worn out and need to be replaced. Try to lubricate the deck first. If this does not help, you will need to replace the worn parts.
Perhaps the belt is too tight and is causing the motor to draw too much current. Try the belt adjustment procedure in preventive maintenance.
