Sunday, March 4, 2007

reebok 3500c treadmill just stopped working

I purchased a Reebok 3500c treadmill a little over a year ago. I used it for about 4 months then went away on business for three months. When I came home it no longer worked. the console doesnt talk to the motors for drive or incline. I can not engage the belt in anyway.

8 comments:

cooney said...

I know it's been a while but this has happened to me. Whay happened in your situation?

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

could you please tell me if and how you fixed this problem for you? This problem has also happened to me today. I used the treadmill at 12-1, and it was working perfectly. At 5, i tried to use it again, and the keypad on the treadmill is now basically frozen. I can only select a running option, the jogging to be exact. I cannot raise or lower the incline, nor can I raise or lower the speed. The keypad seems to be frozen. Could you please help me "cooney"? Thank you if you can help, I would really appreciate your help.

Unknown said...

I had this same problem a month or two back. I finally got around to fixing it yesterday. The treadmill worked just fine. Within a day or two, the buttons quite working. At first some of them would work and others wouldn't. Then only one or two continued to work.

A new console is $400. That's the piece with the left and right keypads and the fan in the middle. This might sound long winded and complicated to some, but it's really not.

To fix mine, I removed the console. There are eight screws along the bottom side that you can get to from the back of the pedestal. Once removed, I'd suggest taking a picture of the left and right side that shows the various connectors with the wires. The pictures should be sufficient to be able to identify them later and plug them back in the correct location with the correct orientation. After taking pictures or otherwise tagging these connectors go ahead and remove them and set the console on a table or someplace where you can work.

Notice to the right and the left of the fan the flat ribbon cable that is sort of greenish in color with white or gray strips running through them. These go into the console face and are the wiring to the keypads. On the circuit boards they plug into a white connector. These are the problems. A 0.20C part on a $400 component. What a joke! On the white connectors, you can squeeze one end and open it up, the other end is hinged. Basically the top part of the white connector will swing upwards and this will release the ribbon cable. Do this for both the right and left sides.

Pull the ribbon out of the white connector. Take a good look at the end of the ribbon. Each of the ten (I think there were ten) lines going through the ribbon is a trace. The ends of the ribbons are split into three different sections. These sections flip-flop as to which side has the electrical or conductive part of the trace. The dark gray side is the side that needs to make contact with the internals of the white connector you removed it from. The opposite side of the trace is white. This is the side that does not make an electrical connection.

Okay, this will sound crazy, but it's just a mechanical issue. The connection is lousy! Cut up the sticky part of some post-it notes to fit the back sides of each of these three tabs. I double layered mine. Stick them on the side of each tab that has the white part of the trace. When you reinsert the ribbon cable into the connector, this extra thickness will force a better contact between the electrical trace on the other side of the ribbon and the internals of the white connectors. Be careful when closing the white connector again. It will try to catch some of the post-it note.

Do this for both the right and left keypads. Reattach the various wiring connectors. Reinstall the console. That's it. Get a good run on!

Trav said...

Wow, this worked like a charm. Thanks for posting this, it saved me time and money. I had taken the panel off a few times but could never really narrow down the issue.

Mike D said...

Brilliant Robert! I'm by no means anywhere near a self fixer but your instructions were on the money.
Thanks for taking the time to post this.

steve1 said...

thank you so much for this repair post. that was the exact problem with our treadmill. saved me much diagnosis time and money.
steve

Unknown said...

So just the buttons are not working.... We have tried the posty note trick and that got the fan working... so we made some progress... any other ideas? The buttons did light up