[momof5k]

I have had my treadmill for a long time but it has never really gotten much use and the use that it did get was always walking..until recently.

I am doing the Couch to 5K program and just completed week for. As I have been running on it more, I am feeling like it may need to get adjusted or something.

Often, when I run, my foot (and subsequently the belt) actually slips forward upon impact then slides back...does that make sense? It feels like the belt could be loose or something but I have no idea how to fix it.

Any advice? Is this normal? I makes me very unsteady so I am running with one hand on the hand rail all the time (this seems to lessen the slippage)

Can the belt be tightened easily? By me or my husband? Or is this something that a repair man needs to be called for?

Thanks in advance for any insights you may have

[beerab]

Honestly I'd call the company and ask them what to do but I do think that means the band is loose or warped.

[StraitLover]

Do you still have the booklet that came with it? It should tell you how to adjust the belt. If you don't have it, see if you can find it online.

I had this same situation recently w/ my mother's treadmill. Whe I was walking on it, I would step and it would slide forward. Hers is just a cheapy one from Walmart (never even heard of the brand before!). Anyway, on hers, at the backend of the walking platform on either side of the belt, there are 2 screws. The treadmill came w/ a hex key (allen wrench) where you adjust those screws if the belt is loose or shifts from side to side. If it's loose, you turn the left screw clockwise and the right screw counterclockwise, testing the belt after each turn to see if it still slips. The max recommeded is 2.5 turns. If it's still loose, they say call a repair shop.

Now, this is just how hers works; yours might be different.

[pintobean]

What StraitLover said. You can tighten the screw on the roller on which the belt rolls. Normally on all treadmills you should be able to trighten the belt. It might take you couple of tries to get it to where you want it. What make and model treadmill do you have?

[momof5k]

Thanks everyone!

I (shockingly!!) found my manual but not the hex key that came with it so I have asked my husband (read: everyday for 2 weeks!!) to find one in the garage that fits so I (or he ) can adjust it.

Patience...patience...patience...

Hopefully that works! Thanks for the advice.

I have a Freespirit treadmill...several years old. The other crappy thing is that "someone" (one of my children...) jammed something into the spot where the safety thing goes so it now works without the safety key in it. This means I do not know if I can callibrate it anymore so I have no idea if I am running as fast (actually as SLOW) or as far as the monitor says. GRRRR!

Sadly, a new one is not in the budget right now so I will just keep going as it is.

[apb]

My treadmill at home did this too but then I figured out it wasn't the belt that was loose it was that I was moving too fast for the setting, I needed to either slow down, or raise the speed of the belt.

[momof5k]

Originally Posted by apb

My treadmill at home did this too but then I figured out it wasn't the belt that was loose it was that I was moving too fast for the setting, I needed to either slow down, or raise the speed of the belt.

Hmmm...interesting. I may try that