Finally I’ve been able to get a treadmill after too many years of having to run outside with stinky traffic, stinky people and dogs that like to chase runners. I bought it yesterday, it’s used and 5 years old, and in fantastic shape.
At least, it was, until I carried it up the stairs to my building and managed to catch the rubber tread covering on the belt on the edge of the railing.
Now it’s torn, and I don’t know how to fix it. See crappy diagram: Top - RawSVG
Could I duct tape it? Or should I trim it off? I just don’t want to ruin it further or end up getting a piece stuck in the mechanism.
At first blush, I would think you need a replacement belt. I would be leery at either taping or triming it - getting it caught in the mechanism would be bad news…
Just do a Google search on treadmill belt replacement. It seems to be a normal maintenance procedure. If the treadmill was five years old, it was probably time to do this anyway. Cost is around $80-$120 from Amazon.
The couple who had it were elderly, had only used it a handful of times (there is no visible wear on the belt), and had to discontinue using it due to declining health.
I paid $300 for it (originally $900), and that was the very most I could do anyway, so a replacement is out of the question for me. I just need to know if there is at least a temporary DIY fix, or more specifically, if anyone here has done that sort of repair successfully.
I’m just not in the mood for joking replies over something I’ve had to wait a decade to be able to afford, and now I’ve damaged it as soon as I got it. I’m pretty upset about it, especially since I’m out of cash to do anything else for it now.
DIsclaimer: I’ve never done any of this, just offering advice on what I’d try.
I doubt that there’s any do-it-yourself procedure that’s really foolproof. You do run the risk of having to replace the whole unit if the belt gets stuck and a motor burns out, or something, but if you can’t afford a new belt, might as well try something.
I’d try duct tape first. It’s hard to tell from the picture, but is all the original belt material still there, just with a rip? If so, duct taping it together should be doable without much loss of integrity. Run the tape perpendicular to the direction of belt travel as much as possible. If a section of belt is actually missing, this might be harder.
Once it’s done. Run it on slow in increasing increments, inspecting the tape. Try running it faster, etc. Once you start to use it, you’ll probably have to inspect the tape regularly to make sure it’s not starting to come loose.
If the tape doesn’t work, you might be able to cut an even strip off of one edge of the belt, but I’d be wary of doing that. The belt might not be stable if it’s narrower than the rollers. You could try putting some kind of spacer onto the rollers to fix that, but I don’t know how well that would work.
I told him of my plight. He’s brilliant with coming up with innovative solutions to things, but I didn’t think the news would be good for the belt. Still, he said, “Let me see what I can do.”
He has some sort of automotive sealant that dries to a rubbery substance, so he took that and paired it with electrical tape to make a patch. And…it worked FANTASTIC. Sealed it well and there’s no way it’s coming off. I’m really happy.
I’m pretty upset about it, especially since I’m out of cash to do anything else for it now.