FAQ
Q: Can I lubricate my treadmill walking belt with any household lube such as WD-40, silicone spray, or oil?
A: Most of these products contain petroleum distillates that will absolutely ruin the belt.
Q: My owner's manual says my treadmill is maintenance free. Will I ever have to do anything to my treadmill?
A: The truth of the matter is all treadmills will require maintenance or repairs at some point. There is no exception to this rule. All must be cleaned and parts wear out on any treadmill. A regular maintenance schedule will keep parts from wearing out prematurely and will help the treadmill operate more quietly.
Just remember that the number one cause of a treadmill motor failure is high walking belt friction created by a lack of lubricant and a worn surface on the walking Belt and Deck. If you replace the motor or motor controller, make sure that you check the walking belt. Otherwise you may be replacing the treadmill motor or the motor controller again!
Maintenance Tip; Reason for Motor Control Board Failure!
High walking belt friction created by a lack of lubrication between walking belt & Deck.
Worn surface of walking belt and Deck.
Dust building up in the motor controller circuit board that cause short circuited on some components of electronics. All treadmills will require regular maintenance to reduce downfall of the machine and will help the machine operate more efficient.
Motor Controller: This is the most uncommon of the causes. Typically replacing a motor controller in this situation will not solve the underlying problem and then you will end up replacing a belt as well as a motor controller. Normally if a control is dropping output, it will do it with a person on the belt or not. Tests of DC output dropping is normal in many controls since they have a current limiter which will automatically drop output to prevent burning up the board. This is best diagnosed by eliminating the other possible problems first. If you are left with the control as the cause, replace the motor controller.