For Exercise Equipment owners.....repair?

[deadheadskier]

My rowing machine is farting real loud, on the verge of shitting the bed. It has major issues above my pay grade.....looks to me it requires some welding. No warranty left on the unit, which I paid 400 for new.

Has anyone had any experience with calling in a repair man to fix their home exercise equipment? Was it worth the cost or should I not bother trying to have it serviced?

Pretty much a balancing act here. If someone can come in and will repair so I get another two years out of it for under 150, I'll go for it. Otherwise it goes in the trash and I start new again. The latter would suck as it's only 2.5 years old and has only seen steady use for about half that time.....meaning 3 uses a week for about 25 minutes a use.

 

[hardline]

is it steel or aluminum. if its steel take it to anybody that has an arch welder. better yet go get a small one for like 300. welding is so fun. if it needs to mig/tig might be a little expensive. but either way no more than 100 for a few welds.

 

[Marc]

JB Weld that sonuvabitch.

 

[Marc]

If it's not a real high stress area, that is.

 

[drjeff]

is it steel or aluminum. if its steel take it to anybody that has an arch welder. better yet go get a small one for like 300. welding is so fun. if it needs to mig/tig might be a little expensive. but either way no more than 100 for a few welds.

JB Weld that sonuvabitch.

What's the worst that could happen??

 

[hardline]

i love being able to weld stuff. i can make almost anything i need or dont need.

 

[Terry]

My rowing machine is farting real loud, on the verge of shitting the bed. It has major issues above my pay grade.....looks to me it requires some welding. No warranty left on the unit, which I paid 400 for new.

Has anyone had any experience with calling in a repair man to fix their home exercise equipment? Was it worth the cost or should I not bother trying to have it serviced?

Pretty much a balancing act here. If someone can come in and will repair so I get another two years out of it for under 150, I'll go for it. Otherwise it goes in the trash and I start new again. The latter would suck as it's only 2.5 years old and has only seen steady use for about half that time.....meaning 3 uses a week for about 25 minutes a use.

Are you sure it's not you doing the farting while working out? LOL

 

[deadheadskier]

Are you sure it's not you doing the farting while working out? LOL

It's a combined effort, but the machine is definitely louder


Actually I was able to take it apart and find that it did not need a weld. I should be good to go for awhile, but I'm not optimistic that this machine will have a long life when used regularly like I have been lately. That's the thing with home exercise equipment. Decent stuff costs a TON of money compared to a Gym membership. I can't stand the Gym though.

As example, I really like the Bowflex dumbbells, but they cost freakin' $400 for dumbbells!!! Even the Dicks knock of brand was $300....

a Gym quality erg would've cost me over a grand. I wonder what the profit margins are on Gym equipment, gotta be huge.

 

[mlctvt]

Keep an eye on Craigs List. I see Concept II rowers on there quite often. I picked one up locally for $200 and I've used it contantly for 8 years with no problems. It is an older "B" model but I don't mind not having the latest model.

 

[Marc]

I still think you should JB Weld something on it, just for good measure.

 

[deadheadskier]

What exactly is JB welding? heard of arch welding.....not JB

 

[Marc]

Oh, this is bad, this is very bad. Never heard of it? It's right up there with duct tape and WD-40.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J-B_Weld

 

[deadheadskier]

so pretty much crazy glue or two part epoxy

got it

um, what's duck tape? I sell ducks for a living, didn't know they made tape out of em' :lol:

 

[mondeo]

is it steel or aluminum. if its steel take it to anybody that has an arch welder. better yet go get a small one for like 300. welding is so fun. if it needs to mig/tig might be a little expensive. but either way no more than 100 for a few welds.

Someday, I will own a TIG welder. Agreed, so much fun.

But I can only really TIG, not MIG or stick. And I'm sorta a hack at TIG too.

so pretty much crazy glue or two part epoxy

got it

um, what's duck tape? I sell ducks for a living, didn't know they made tape out of em' :lol:

But so much better than two part epoxy!

 

[hardline]

Someday, I will own a TIG welder. Agreed, so much fun.

But I can only really TIG, not MIG or stick. And I'm sorta a hack at TIG too.



But so much better than two part epoxy!

i am pretty good a stick. i am working at my rolls of quarters.

 

[Marc]

I'm pretty good at getting the welding stick stuck.

TIG welding aluminum is pretty tricky, but the guys that know how make it look easy. You have to get it good and clean and etch off the oxide before you can weld it, and you have to keep thegun moving because it has such a high thermal conductivity. Easy to burn.

MIG welding I like. Easier than stick.

 

[deadheadskier]

Keep an eye on Craigs List. I see Concept II rowers on there quite often. I picked one up locally for $200 and I've used it contantly for 8 years with no problems. It is an older "B" model but I don't mind not having the latest model.

thank you for the one useful response to my thread

I almost missed it amongst the weld happy dorky engineers and doctors whom I have no idea what they're talking about :lol:

 

[BeanoNYC]

What brand is it?

 

[deadheadskier]

It's a Stamina 1400 Air Rower....at the time, had pretty good reviews for a machine in it's price range...roughly $350

http://www.amazon.com/Stamina-35-1400-ATS-Air-Rower/dp/B000208URS

 

[hardline]

thank you for the one useful response to my thread

I almost missed it amongst the weld happy dorky engineers and doctors whom I have no idea what they're talking about :lol:

well excuse me. i humbly resemble that remark.

back to a proper hijack. a budy of mine is a deep water welder. that is some crazy stuff. he was telling me how some days it feels like he's hooked up to a 12v battery all day.

this is what i am hopeing to get myself for christmass.

http://www.weldingmart.com/Qstore/p001915.htm