Walking Pad Maintenance & Repair

Walking pads require maintenance. This includes de-dusting the motor chamber, lubricating the belt and deck, adjusting belt tightness and alignment, cleaning and eventually replacing the drive belt. Failure to keep up results in loud noises, jerky motion, and burning smells.

Daily

Dust & pet-hair are an enemy to motors, rollers, and bearings. Blow air into the motor carriage - through any vents and openings available - to blow out dust and hair. Do this frequently - at least once a week (I do it every day or two). Use a high RPM electric duster, like WolfBox MF50 (cheaper) or WNH Air Duster (stronger).

A "cold start" is when, first use of the day, you start your treadmill and immediately step on. You may experience jerky belt motions and squeaking / screeching. If you do, you're hurting your treadmill. So before walking each day, "warm start" your treadmill by running it 1-2min at max speed, before stepping on. My theory is this expands the ribbing in the drive belt for a better grip on the pully. You only need to do this at day's first use.

Budget mills deal less effectively with heat. To deal with this, reduce the amount of continuous (in one session) walking. I recommend 30-45 minutes of walking, and a 5 minute break (turn off via remote). The occasional hour or two won't kill these machines; but running the belt for 8hrs a day will. I'm a fan of the Pomodoro Technique for focus management. You work for 25 minutes (don't check emails / texts / Slack, nothing - pure hardcore work) and then take a break for 5 minutes to catch up on everything, or just de-steam. This fits perfectly with the treadmill. Work for 25-30, turn it off and go check your texts in the bathroom or whatever for 5 min, repeat.

Weekly

Every 40 hours or 3 months of use, apply lube in a zig-zag motion under the belt (between belt and pad). Then run the treadmill at 1mph for 2 minutes without walking on it. This reduces friction on the pad, which prevents overworking the motor, which extends the treadmill's life. Get one with a firm applicator; wobbly tubes are hard to control. Godora is easier, Sekoday is cheaper. More details.

If the belt starts to drift one way or another, you take an Alan wrench and tighten the side which is too tight / close (not not the side with slack). This pulls the belt away from that too-tight side towards the slack side. Think of it as if you created a slope that the belt rolls down. Do quarter turns clock-wise while the belt is running, wait 15 seconds to see if it fixes itself, and do another quarter turn if not (repeat until it's fixed). Then you just leave it - it's something I don't understand, not "undoing" the tightening after the fix, but whatever - you just leave it. This situation happens say once every week or two, is something you do with all the treadmills; necessary evil.

Also! A sloppy belt-adjustment leads to early motor, bearings, or drive-belt failure. It puts too much strain on one side, angles the rolling pin, and causes downstream degradation. Signs of this are jerky motions, squeaking or grinding, and smells. And make sure the belt is not-too-tight, not-too-loose (I'll make a video soon, Google it for now).

Monthly

• Loud noises, like squeaking or screeching sounds.
• Burning smells. Burning rubber, burning machinery.
• Inconsistent belt motion under load. Either jerky motion, or sluggish movement.

Check the front rolling-pin's alignment. Perfect alignment is critical. Even some millimeters off can cause uneven strain and wear on your drive belt, pully, motor shaft, motor, and bearings. There's often some notch indicating where the pin should align to. But if not, use the "Correct belt drift" section above for how-to.

1. Use a flash-light, and (1) note the drive belt model number (printed on the outside), and the number of ribs (ridges) on the inside. Eg, Urevo 3S is Vega 338EPJ, 6Ribs. CyberPad is Vega EPJ292, 6 Ribs.
2. Buy it. Rare on Amazon, so you'll likely use AliExpress or Ebay. $10-$15, around 2-3 weeks shipping. In fact, you might wanna just buy one now, to have for later.
3. Replace it. See the video.
4. Re-align the belt, and make sure that front roller is perfect (see above section).

Yearly

Other parts

• Motor. If a motor dies, it'll be obvious. A console error code, or the device simply stops working. If it dies on a budget mill, just use your warranty for a replacement. Motors are about as expensive as the treadmill, when purchased individually (manufacturers buy them in bulk at a discount). But if you're curious: Urevo 3S, CyberPad. But a LifeSpan / Unsit motor dies, it's probably worth replacing (and they'll likely cover it).
• Deck. If you crack the frame or deck, I don't think you can replace this. Use your warranty.
• Walking belt. If you've worn your belt out, you've got a good problem! This takes a long time, congratulations. But yes, these are replaceable. Look it up on YouTube.

Wow, that's a lot

Treadmills are needy. Budget mills more than premium. But don't let the internet fool you - LifeSpans die too without proper maintenance, I've seen it plenty. If you want a low-maintenance walking pad, get a manual treadmill. C'est la vie, the maintenance becomes a muscle-memory ritual, and it accounts for most the 5-star and 1-star discrepancy.