Maintenance of your magnetic treadmill is mandatory to ensure a long term functionality and to prevent uncertain glitches. For your benefit and safety, you make sure that your treadmill is checked upon and serviced regularly. This also helps avoid putting your workout regime to an unfortunate halt, disrupting your schedule and causing you some financial losses if used by your customers at your gym. As the saying goes, Prevention is better than cure, therefore don’t wait till your treadmill fails so that you can undergo the strenuous process of having to replace a new one.
I have come up with an easy-to-understand guide that will enable you to maintain your treadmill.
Important Components Concerning Magnetic Treadmill Maintenance
Trying to do any form of maintenance to your magnetic treadmill before understanding the functionality is quite risky to your health as it poses a danger of electrocution. Therefore, it is important to understand the key components of a magnetic treadmill;
1. Motor
It is covered by a protective motor casing.
2. Deck
The flat area under the belt.
3. Console
It is where the electric fittings are found.
4. Roller
Located in-front and at the back of the treadmill, it is where the belt moves on.
5. Treadmill belt.
-This is the belt where you walk on while exercising
6. Power switch
It regulates the power connections to the whole treadmill machine. It is located at the lowest front part of the device. In some models, it can be found at the front side of the machine. Most serial numbers are located near the power switch.
7. Safety Key
This is a key that is usually in the form of a magnetic key or can be inserted. One end is attached to your gym clothes, and the other is connected to the console. In case you fall and stumble, the key is pulled out of the console and immediately halts the belt’s movement. It helps avoid any further injury on the occasion of unfortunate falling.
Mode of Operation of Some Treadmills
a- Electrically operated– It can involve the user walking on the belt and uses a horsepower of 2hp. Running creates an increase of horsepower to about 3hp. Those who weigh over 100 kg, they produce a horsepower of 0.5.
b- Manually operated treadmill is quite rare to find.
Safety Measures to Consider when Maintaining Your Magnetic Treadmill.
-Unplug any power connection to the treadmill.
-Disconnect the safety key from the console whenever you’re working on the magnetic treadmill.
– Never work on the treadmill if your hands are wet.
– Always ensure that you’re working in a clear space whenever you’re doing any servicing work on your machine.
– Check the manufacturer’s manual before disassembling the treadmill. It will give you some surety that you’re doing the right thing.
When doing maintenance to your treadmill, you must have the following tools and accessories;
Tools needed
1. A non–abrasive cleaner.
2. Smooth cotton cloth
3. T-shaped Wrench for adjusting the back roller
4. Regular ALLEN wrenches
5. 100% silicone lubricant.
Replacement accessories
1. Extra safety key
2. Extra treadmill belt
3. Roller Pulley
4. Driver Motor Belt
5. Console cord
6. New power cables.
Common treadmill problems and how to fix them?
The treadmill belt is where the main activity takes place; therefore it is prone to more damage to the forces that act upon it.
1. Un-centering of the belt-
To fix this, switch on the machine at the lowest speed. Use the larger Allen wrench to adjust the bolts. Rotate the bolts left or right by ¼ while observing the tracks till the belt I fully re-centered again.
2. Belt too loose or tight
One way to know if the belt is in the right tightness is to lift the belt’s side, usually at around the middle part of the belt. Lift it by three inches. If it is difficult to lift, then it is an indication that the belt is too tight. If you can reach your full hand beneath the center area, the belt is too loose. To solve the issue, use a T-shaped Allen Wrench to tighten the tension bolts at the back by ¼ rotation. If it is too loose, tighten it by a ¼ spin.
Steps to lubrication of your magnetic treadmill
1. Hold one side of the belt and lift it up and away by one inch. Fix the silicone lubricant’s nozzle in the space and squeeze the contents out of the bottle applying the lubricant in the middle area. Repeat this procedure on the other side too.
2. While holding the belt, try rotating the belt again by half-rotation and apply the silicone lubricant once again.
3. After completing the lubrication procedure, start the treadmill, so it moves at a slow speed for a maximum of about 5-minutes to ensure that the silicone is even supplied beneath the belt.
What You Need to Know Concerning the Maintenance of Your Magnetic Treadmill for the Long-term;
1. Safe storage of your treadmill
Avoid storing your treadmill in wet or damp places. Water droplets inside the console can pose a very serious health risk to anyone who will use that treadmill since it can cause electrocution or fire. Low temperatures are also bad for treadmill since they easily cause malfunctioning in the console.
2. Assessment and tightening of nuts and bolts.
Due to the forces that the treadmill is exposed to, the treadmill’s bolts and nuts are prone to getting looser over time. It is mandatory to assess the bolts and ensure that the nuts and bolts are tight, and use an Allen wrench to tighten the loose ones.
3. Regular clean-up of the console and frame.
The treadmill should be cleaned five days in a week. That is around every day from Monday to Friday. This is because of the dust particles that may fall on the console’s surfaces and the belt. Too much dust particle accumulation is risky to the user as you can easily develop respiratory problems like asthma or bronchitis. It’s also a hygienic practice to ensure that you clean the treadmill at your gym to avoid transmitting some infectious diseases to people.
Best Magnetic Treadmill For Easy Maintenance Recommend:
Conclusion
Proper maintenance and cleaning practices for your magnetic treadmill is not an easy task. If you have an expensive treadmill model in the market currently, it is prone to malfunction if not well serviced. Commercial treadmill to be used at the gym undergo restraining forces due to being used by many people. Since they experience too many pressures, they need to be serviced frequently. Always treat your magnetic treadmill like your personal car, as it needs to be taken to a mechanic for servicing and replacement of worn-out parts. Failing to invest some time and effort in taking care of it will lead to the machine breaking down, and thus you’ll end up buying a new one.
