Every once in a while I get a service call that was unnecessary and unneeded, and sometimes humorous.
Here are a few that come to mind:
It Was the Dog’s Fault!
I got a call from a woman to come and take a look at her treadmill that was having an issue. I cannot recall if the issue for her was visual, audible, or an odor. The problem was caused by a dog’s ball that was under the treadmill that was causing the issue. I simply removed the ball.
You Got To Turn It On!
I got a call from a man whose treadmill would not run. Somehow the switch at the bottom front of the treadmill was turned off. He did not know that the switch existed. i simply turned on the treadmill.
Where’s The Key?
Recently I had a woman that called me to take a look at her treadmill that would not run. It turned out that the safely key had been removed. I did not see it in the immediate area so I used a magnet that I carry in my tool bag. It then started and ran fine. I did spot the safety key as i went upstairs out of her finished basement. It was on the side near the top of the stairs in a basket.
Gone Too Far!
I had a service call a few years ago where the treadmill would hardly run. The treadbelt would barely move. I tracked the power cord which was plugged into a power strip, which was plugged into a light duty lamp extension cord, which was plugged into another fairly light duty extension cord that ran from that half of the basement through a doorway into the other half of the divided basement. It ran over to where it was plugged into where the washer and dryer were plugged in.
The voltage drop was so much over that long run over light duty and undersized cord that the treadmill could not draw sufficient amperage to run the treadmill properly.
* I recommend that you plug your treadmill into a dedicated outlet. Some treadmills require a 20 amp circuit. If you need an extension cord, keep it as short as possible and make sure that it is a heavy duty 12 gauge cord.
While is is possible for most residential treadmills to be plugged into a 15 amp circuit with other items on the same circuit like a lamp or TV, my recommendation will prevent any potential issues.
Bouncing Treadmill
One of the main complaints on this service call was that their Nordictrack treadmill was bouncing a lot as well as making a lot of noise.
The customer ran on the treadmill to show me. As they ran I could see the left rear foot of the treadmill banging on the concrete floor of their basement with every step. When they stopped running the left rear foot was off the floor by about a half inch. They felt a little embarrassed that it was something that simple and was easily corrected in about 10 seconds.
* Some floors are uneven, especially in some older basements. Many if not most treadmills have adjustable feet that need to be adjusted by screwing them in or out so that both feet come firmly in contact with the floor. If your treadmill does not have adjustable feet you may need to shim them with some wood or cardboard, etc. to correct the problem.
Perhaps some of these stories will help someone prevent an unnecessary service call.
I will post more as they happen or I remember them from past years.
