Often people will say “my walking belt stalls” or “it skips” or “stops”. Most often they will say that “it slips”.
Usually is it simply because the “walking belt”, “running belt” or what I call a “treadbelt” is too loose causing it to slip on the drive roller. When this happens it tends to stall under the weight of the user.
This is typically fixed by tightening up the bolts at either side of the rear (idler) roller. These bolts not only tighten the treadbelt by drawing the rear roller back, the also are used to center the belt. Care must be taken not to tighten (right hand turn) or loosen (left hand turn) one side or the other too much as to cause the treadbelt to go off to one side or the other too much resulting in damage to the treadbelt as to require replacement.
If the loose treadbelt is in the center then I would tighten both sides equally perhaps ¼ turn at a time.
When a treadbelt is properly tightened you should be able to deflect to belt about 2 inches off the deck reaching in with the palm of your hand turned up about midway between the front and read of the treadmill. Another and more important test is to set the speed of the treadmill at 2 mph and stomp down on the belt with your right floor while standing on the left side rail with you left foot to see if you can make it slip on the front roller.
Sometimes however, it is not the treadbelt that is too loose, but rather it is the drive belt that is loose. This is the small narrow belt that is typically unseen by the user and serves to transfer the power from the drive motor to the drive roller which in turn drives the treadbelt.
While drive or motor belts often lasts the life of a treadmill, they can become damaged and more often than not, stretch out so that they begin to slip on the drive motor and drive roller pulleys.
Depending on your make and model of treadmill, sometimes these can be tightened up by a couple of different mechanical means at the drive motor. Sometimes there is no way to tighten up the drive belt by a mechanical means and a new drive belt must be installed.
A third possible issue is that the drive roller pulley and has become separated from the drive roller and it is spinning or slipping on the drive roller. This is typically accompanied by a somewhat loud grinding, ratcheting noise or even a squeal.
The easiest way to fix this is to install a new drive roller. However, some manufacturers can provide a new drive roller pulley that must be press fit onto the old drive roller once the old pulley is removed.
Maine Treadmill Repair
