Walking Belt Friction Problems

As the walking belt wears, it creates more friction with the deck which creates more heat in the belt causing it to wear further. Additionally, the increased friction requires the motor to work harder to keep the belt moving at the same speed. With this in mind, it causes the motor to draw more electricity and therefore, more power to move the belt. The motor has to get rid of this excess energy in some way so the way it normally does it is by releasing it in heat so that's why treadmills with belt problems typically overheat the motor too.

All of this to say that if the breaker starts tripping, you know that the belt is causing the motor to pull too many amps and the safety system is working as it should. If the breaker has tripped more than a few times, it will need to be replaced because the breaker weakens every time it trips. Additionally, the walking belt will need to be lubricated at a minimum and if you want to be very aggressive toward the symptoms, replace the walking belt. We recommend our World Famous Treadmill Lube for the best performance and the best schedule for relubrication- in other words, you don't have to do it nearly as often as with other treadmill lubes. Some lubes, like water-based liquid silicone require relubing once every 30 days. Our World Famous Treadmill Lube can go as long as 18 months between lubes.