Tripped Circuit Breaker

Troubleshooting a tripped treadmill ON/OFF circuit breaker or facility outlet circuit breaker. Review the electrical requirements, see >Electrical Requirements.

It is extremely important to know whether it is the treadmill circuit breaker or the facility wall outlet circuit breaker that trips. It is also extremely important to know when the breaker trip occurs, choose one of the following trip events:

  • Immediately on power up
  • After the belt starts but before the exerciser walks onto the belt
  • After the exerciser walks onto the belt.

If the facility outlet circuit breaker trips

  • Measure the facility wall outlet voltage. If the is approximately 0 VACvoltage in an alternating current circuit, the wall breaker has tripped.
  • Inspect the power cord, if damaged, replace the line cord. If the line cord is not damaged continue with the following steps.
  • Verify whether there is more than one treadmill on the same outlet circuit breaker. This will be especially evident if two or more treadmills shutdown at the same time. To verify if multiple treadmills are sharing the same wall breaker, manually switched OFF the wall breaker. If more than one treadmill loses power, the treadmills are on the same breaker.
    • If YES, advise the customer to have their facility wiring upgraded per Precor specifications.
    • If NO, continue troubleshooting.
IMPORTANT: If the ACAlternating Current: electric current which periodically reverses direction between positive and negative polarity. circuit feeding a treadmill is found to be a non-dedicated branch circuit or a circuit equipped with a capacity of less than 20 amps, the AC circuit must be corrected before any reliable Troubleshooting can be performed. More importantly, a non-dedicated branch circuit may constitute a safety hazard to the treadmill operator.
  • Verify the wall outlets do not share neutral wiring and that each wall outlet is on an individual branch circuit. An individual branch circuit will have its own load line, neutral line and ground line. To verify that the treadmill is not on an individual branch circuit use an AC voltmeter measure from the hot contact of one AC receptacle to the neutral contact of another AC receptacle. If AC line voltage is present then the treadmills are sharing neutral lines.
    • If YES, advise customer to have their facility wiring upgraded per Precor specifications, and then continue to step 5.
    • If NO, continue troubleshooting

CAUTION: The treadmill requires a 20-amp individual branch circuit grounded per NEC (National Electric Code) guidelines or local region electric code.
  • Measure the AC input voltage with the treadmill unloaded (running belt moving, with no one walking on the running belt) and then again while loaded (someone walking/running on the belt). The difference between the two states should be no more than about 6 volts RMS, and ideally less.
    • If the voltage variance is more than 6 volts RMS, the distance the branch circuit wire are runs maybe very long or may have used smaller diameter wire. Recommend to the club that they should consult with an electrician if this is suspected.
    • If NO, continue troubleshooting.
  • Weight overloading is the most frequent cause of treadmill shutting down. Overloading is most often caused by excess deck/belt friction, but can be made worse by line voltage conditions. This condition happens more often with heavier runners, but never walkers. In high exerciser clubs (10 hours or more of use per day), the decks/belts will wear out much faster than at other locations, sometimes in months rather than years. It is often accompanied by error codes 27, 28, or 29, see "Troubleshooting the 3 Phase AC Drive Motor System."

If the Treadmill ON/OFF circuit breaker is tripped:

  • Verify the wall outlets do not share neutral wiring and that each wall outlet is on an individual branch circuit. An individual branch circuit will have its own load line, neutral line and ground line. To verify that the treadmill is not on an individual branch circuit use an AC voltmeter measure from the hot contact of one AC receptacle to the neutral contact of another AC receptacle. If AC line voltage is present then the treadmills are sharing neutral lines.
    • If YES, advise customer to have their facility wiring upgraded per Precor specifications, and then continue with step 2.
    • If NO, continue troubleshooting.

CAUTION: The treadmill requires a 20-amp individual branch circuit grounded per NEC (National Electric Code) guidelines or local region electric code.
  • Verified that a long distance branch run has inadequate gauge wire.
    • If YES, advise customer to have their facility wiring upgraded per Precor specifications.
    • If NO, continue troubleshooting.
  • Verify the input line voltage; Low line voltage for the U.S. is any voltage below 108 VAC, measured while the treadmill circuit breaker is switched "ON" and the running belt is stopped. For international, low line voltage is anything below 200 VAC while the treadmill circuit breaker is switched "ON" and the running belt is stopped. Measure the line voltage with the treadmill circuit breaker is switched "ON", and the running belt is stopped. Record the voltage. Then measure the voltage again using the instantaneous voltage drop using the min/max function on your volt meter while someone is running on the treadmill at 7.0 MPH or higher.
    • If any measurement is below 108 VAC (US) or 200 VAC (International), advise the customer to have their facility wiring inspected by an electrician.
    • If the measurements are at or above 108 VAC (US) or 200 VAC (International), continue troubleshooting.
  • Does the treadmill trip its breaker immediately on power up?
  • If YES, it is likely that there is a shorted component (line filter, lower control module) or faulty/shorted wiring.
  • If NO, continue with the following steps.
  • Does the treadmill power up, but trips the breaker after the motor is started?
    • If YES, it is likely that there is a bad roller or bad drive motor.
    • If NO, continue with the following steps.
  • Does the drive motor start up fine, but trips the breaker after an exerciser walks/runs on the running belt?
    • If YES, Overloading is the most frequent cause of treadmill shutting down. Overloading is most often caused by excess deck/belt friction, but can be made worse by line voltage conditions. The overloading condition happens more often with heavier runners, but never walkers. In high exerciser clubs (10 hours or more of use per day), the decks/belts will wear much faster than at other locations, sometimes in months rather than years. It is often accompanied by error codes 27, 28, or 29. Perform an amp draw test in the Running Belt and Deck Troubleshooting procedure.

See Also

System Troubleshooting Procedures

 

 

 

 

Contact Precor Customer Support (Ph 800.786.8404) with any questions.

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