Maintaining Your Treadmill
, by Joris Lans, 5 min reading time
1,200+ satisfied customers (4.7/5)
, by Joris Lans, 5 min reading time
To enjoy your treadmill for as long as possible, proper maintenance is essential. We have made an overview to tell you how to do this. Note: Before beginning maintenance, make sure that the treadmill is completely turned off by unplugging the power cord.
In any case we advise you to dust off your treadmill at least once a week with a dry cloth or feather duster. Dust is a great threat to the mechanics of the treadmill. Particularly the drive motor attracts lots of dust and because it accumulates in the hood and has got nowhere else to go the dust sucks in. This can cause the drive motor to falter and ultimately shut down altogether. Not what you want it to do of course. Fortunately there's an easy way to clean the drive motor so it keeps running for a long time. In the next section, we'll tell you how.
The drive motor is located at the front of the treadmill underneath the display. With most treadmills the hood is secured with a couple of screws. You can unscrew the hood using an Allen Wrench or a T-wrench. Carefully vacuum the dust off the drive motor with a vacuum cleaner and make sure you don't touch the electronic parts, the printed circuit boards, of the drive motor to avoid them from getting damaged. Clean the drive motor this way once every two months.
The running mat is constantly moving during training so it's got a lot to endure. Wear and tear are lurking. You can avoid this by lubricating the running mat on a regular basis using a lubricant. Lift the running surface and spray the lubricant on both sides of the running surface. Make sure to distribute the lubricant evenly on the entire running surface so it's well-lubricated. Plug in the powercord and turn on the treadmill. Let the treadmill run a few minutes and walk on it a few minutes yourself so the lubricate distributes evenly and sufficiently on the running surface.
The regularity with which you should lubricate the treadmill depends on your usage. If you use the treadmill less than 3 hours a week lubricating the treadmill once a year suffice. If you use the treadmill three to five hours a week you have to lubricate it every six months. If you use the treadmill more than five hours a week it has to be lubricated every three months.
Watch our one-minute tutorial on the easiest way to lubricate your treadmill belt.
Tensioning the running surface requires precision. If the running surface is tensioned too tight it will tear. If the running surface is tensioned too loose it will slip because it will come to a complete stop while the rollers keep turning. This causes dangerous situations and falls. Plug the power cord and walk on the treadmill for a short while. If the running surface appears to be slipping away askew it means it's being stretched out and not tensioned tight enough.
There's a set screw on both sides of the rails at the back of the treadmill where you get on and off. These set screws can be loosened using a Allen Wrench of a T-Wrench. Turn both set screws a quarter turn to the right. Walk on the treadmill for a short while to check if the running surface no longer slips away askew. If this is still the case turn both the set screws clockwise once more. Repeat this process until the running surface no longer slips away askew. Before getting started please refer to the owner's manual to make sure this is the right procedure for your treadmill.