I normally use my treadmill few times a week.
Sometimes I run at 10km/h and another day I might choose to only fast walk on the treadmill at level 10 incline.
It depends on my mood that day on how aggressive I would like to exercise.
As you know, the treadmill belt is one of the most important components of the treadmill.
After finish using my treadmill, sometimes I could feel the treadmill belt is warm or hot. (My cat like this!)
Is it normal in this case? It could be normal if it is warm, and abnormal if it is hot.
In this post, I will list down the most common reasons that cause the treadmill belt to get hot.
Related:
Treadmill Belt Getting Hot
- Lack of lubrication or wrong lubricant used
Yes, this is the most common cause that make your treadmill belt to get hot easily.
Lack of lubrication under the treadmill belt will cause high friction between the running belt and the running deck.
High friction generates more heat hence higher temperature on the belt.
Also, it might even cause an unsmooth treadmill running experience like slipping and sticking.
This is how the treadmill deck looks like without running belt on it.
It should be always covered in lubricant to reduce the friction.
Besides, make sure you use the correct type of treadmill belt lubricant.
Not every “Oil” will work great as treadmill belt lubricant.
For example, you should not use oil for pneumatic tool to lubricate your treadmill belt.
I normally used a lubricant that’s dedicated to treadmill belt as shown in the image below.
This treadmill belt lubricant works great for my treadmill!
- High Incline Setting
When I incline my treadmill to higher setting, for example, level 10 incline, I notice that my treadmill belt tends to get heated easily than when I put it flat on the ground level.
When running at higher incline setting, more friction would be generated.
Also, more workload for the treadmill tends generate heat faster.
Normally I would not worry if the higher incline causes the belt slightly heated up as this is a normal case.
- Incorrect Belt tension and alignment
The belt tension needs to be adjusted at optimum level, neither too loose nor too tight.
Imbalance belt tension will cause problem like the belt to slid to one side.
Normally, when the treadmill belt starts running, the belt will be shifting to the side with less tension.
This is my video showing how to fix the treadmill belt off centered issue.
It is problematic if the belt is off-centred and it might in contact with the side panel as shown in the image below.
As result, it will cause friction between the belt and the side panel and heat up the treadmill belt.
Besides, it would also damage your treadmill belt, etc, like causing the belt curling up on sides or belt totally folded over problem.
The fix this issue, I would simply adjust the belt tension to make it balance, and make sure the belt is located at the center.
Related: Treadmill Belt Totally Not Moving Troubleshooting
- Worn out belt
If the belt is being used for few years and shows sign of worn out, I would suggest you to replace it with new one.
Not only it improves my overall treadmill exercise experience, also fixing most of the belt related problem at the same time.
Besides, it also makes my treadmill looks new! This is my treadmill image comparing the “Before” and “After” the belt replacement.
As you can see, my old belt edge has many frays and normally I use a lighter to burn it out.
Until my treadmill belt is totally damaged like below, I have finally decided to replace it with a new one.
- Treadmill weight limit overloads and overuse
Each treadmill is designed to handle specific weight limit.
If the user weight exceeded the weight limit which the treadmill can handle, it might cause treadmill motor related problem as the motor cannot handle that kind of load.
Even the belt is still running as usual, the extra load on it will cause higher friction and thus heat up the belt easily.
Besides, you might even feel that the treadmill belt will slow down when you step on it.
If your treadmill is from either NordicTrack or Sole, I have prepared a weight limit table for each brand which you can access it here:
Besides, treadmill is a machine and it needs a rest too after operating for certain time.
Avoid overuse the treadmill without breaks as it can cause excessive heat buildup near belt, motor, console, etc.
Conclusion
I mentioned few reasons that cause the treadmill belt to get hot in this article.
However, do not worry if the treadmill belt is just slightly warm and it is absolutely normal in this case.
If it is getting higher heat, normally a proper lubrication would be able to solve this problem.
Let me know in the comment box below if you face the similar treadmill belt getting heat issue.
