The drive belt is used by the motor to drive the treadmill walking belt via the front roller pulley. A drive pulley is mounted on the roller and the roller has knurling or a sleeve to help it drive the walking belt. The treadmill console detects the current speed of the treadmill by monitoring the movement of a magnet mounted on the front roller pulley with a reed switch or by using an optic switch which monitors an optic disk mounted either on the front roller or on the motor shaft. If the sleeve moves to the side, you will not be able to keep the belt centered and many optic disks can be warped if pushed to the side by the sleeve if it moves, but we do have replacement sleeve kits if needed.

Steps to Replace a Drive Belt

Step 1
1. Remove the safety key and unplug the treadmill from the wall outlet.

Step 2
2. Remove the screws securing the motor hood and gently remove the motor hood.

Step 3
3. Using an Allen wrench provided with the treadmill, loosen the two rear roller adjustment bolts until the rear roller comes into contact with the walking board. Turn the bolts and equal number of turns on each side and keep a count of how many turns you made so you will know how to properly re-tension the walking belt.

Step 4
4. Remove the drive belt from the motor pulley. Place a screwdriver between the pulley and the belt and turn the pulley by hand. Use the screwdriver to guide the belt over the edge of the pulley. Be careful with the screwdriver to prevent damage to the pulley.

Step 5
5. Mark the position of the front roller axle on the front roller bracket above the front roller adjustment bolt using a Sharpie marker so you will know where to put the bolt back into position. Remove the front roller adjustment bolt if your treadmill's front roller has a pitch adjustment bolt. If your treadmill does not have exposed roller bolts you will need additional instructions. Please see the troubleshooting section on our website for further help.

Step 6
6. Gently slide the front roller from out of its mounting position on the frame. Do NOT remove the roller from the walking belt.

Step 7
7. Slip the old drive belt off the roller and loop the new drive belt onto the front roller pulley.

Step 8
8. Replace the roller back into its slot on the pulley side and re-tension the front roller pitch bolt to its proper place using the Sharpie mark as a guide.

Step 9
9. Using the screwdriver, loop the drive belt over the motor pulley. Many Icon units originally had the drive belt misaligned by design (if you can believe it). This was to use the side load of the drive belt in order to keep tension lower. It does lower amp draw for the machine and replacing a side load drive belt occasionally is much cheaper than replacing a motor and/or controller so if your original drive belt was off-centered, install the new belt in the same manner.

Step 10
10. Re-tension the walking belt.

Step 11
11. Plug in the machine and check the drive belt for slipping. You can use some automotive fan belt dressing on the grooved or contact side of the belt to help it with grip on the pulleys and it will treat the belt as well. We prefer using belt dressing rather than over-tensioning the belt for the aforementioned amp reasons as well as additional stress placed on the drive system parts.

Step 12
12. Replace the motor cover and test.

Step 13
13. Make sure the walking belt is not slipping and is properly aligned and your treadmill is ready to use.