My treadmill has faced the issue where the belt folded over.
This happened when I was just walking on my treadmill at lower speed.
As you can see from the image below, my treadmill belt was folded over, both front and back side.
Before this disaster happened, my treadmill belt was curling up on sides.
Also there are some weird sounds on the treadmill.
I have figured out how to fix this common treadmill issue.
In this post, I would talk about the reasons why this happened and how I fixed it.
Treadmill Belt Folded Over
Belt misalignment and slid to one side
The most common cause of this problem is due to belt misalignment.
As written in this post about treadmill running belt off center issue, the belt tension plays an important role.
If your treadmill running belt is slid to either left or right side, it will cause the belt to have high friction with the side panel.
Eventually it will damage the running belt, make the belt to get heated up and cause belt folding over issue.
Hence, it is important to keep the running belt at center.
Here is my video showing how to make the running belt to be located at the center again.
You may adjust the belt tension by adjusting it using a HEX key as shown in the image below.
The screw holes to adjust the belt tension are located at the back side of the treadmill.
If your treadmill running belt is off centered, refer to the table below to adjust the belt tension accordingly.
| Condition | Why This happens? | Rotate Clockwise or Anti-Clockwise? |
|---|---|---|
| Belt slide to the LEFT side | - Tension at the left side is too low - Tension at the right side is too high | - Rotate the tension screw at the left side Clockwise to increase the tension OR - Rotate the tension screw at the right side Anti-Clockwise to decrease the tension |
| Belt slide to the RIGHT side | - Tension at the right side is too low - Tension at the left side is too high | - Rotate the tension screw at the right side Clockwise to increase the tension OR - Rotate the tension screw at the left side Anti-Clockwise to decrease the tension |
Belt tension is too low
When the belt tension is too low, it might also cause the belt to slip at the same time.
You might notice the belt to stop for a second and continue.
Or the treadmill belt slows down when there are loads on it.
To fix this issue, simply adjusting the belt tension to higher level would solve this problem.
Please make sure the belt tension at both left and right side are equal, and the belt are positioned at the center as stated above.
Read: Treadmill belt not moving issue troubleshooting
How to fix if the treadmill belt is already folded over?
First, you would need to return the folded part to its original position.
There are two methods which I used before.
Method one: Loosen the belt and use hand to fold the treadmill belt back
To do this, you would need to loosen the running belt by adjusting the screw.
For my case, I removed the motor hood, and also the side panels.
I think it is better to remove the side panels as it will give clearer image on the position of the tension screws.
As shown in the image below, this is how my treadmill looks like after removing the motor hood and side panels.
Use a HEX key, rotate anti-clockwise to decrease the belt tension.
Try to pull the belt up and see if it now has more room.
Do this for both sides, until you can use your hand to pull the belt and it has enough room to be folded over again.
Next, fold the treadmill and inspect the folded part at the bottom side.
Use both of your hands to pull the running belt until the folded part return to its original position.
Please take note do not start or run your treadmill at this stage, as it might worsen the condition,
Now, unfold the treadmill, tighten the screw back and increase the belt tension again by rotating the tension screws clockwise.
Related: What to do if treadmill won’t unfold
When you are sure that the treadmill belt now has enough tension and positioned at the center, turn on the treadmill and let it run at a very slow speed, probably 0.5 km/h.
Monitor if the running belt stays centered or it would fold over again.
If everything is looking fine, turn off the treadmill, close the motor hood back and install the side panels.
Normally when the belt is folded over, its edge would be damaged or showing some frays.
As shown in the image below, I would simply use a lighter to burn out all the fray to make the belt edge looks better.
There are some parts of my running belt already badly damaged.
Although I still can temporarily run on it, but I think it would be better for me to replace it with a new belt for safety concern.
Update: I finally replaced the belt with a new one, this is how my treadmill looks like before and after the belt replacement.
Method two: Use a stick or something to push the folded treadmill belt back to its original position
The idea is just simply use a stick to slowly push the folded treadmill belt while the treadmill belt is running at very very low speed.
Please take note this method is more convenient, but it has higher risk to damage the treadmill belt further.
You do not need to remove the motor hood and side panels, also no need to adjust the belt tension if it is already in position.
Turn on the treadmill, adjust the speed of the treadmill at slowest speed.
Use a stick or something to push the folded belt back as shown in the image below.
If it won’t work, try to fold the treadmill, use the same trick for the folded part at the bottom as shown in the image below.
I have successfully fix the folded belt issue once using this method.
However, if it won’t work in your case, I would suggest you to opt for the method one above although it takes more steps.
