Author: Eric Davis

Elliptical trainers are a popular choice for fitness enthusiasts who enjoy the convenience of home workouts. However, if you’re contemplating an elliptical purchase and live in an apartment or a house where the only available space is on the second floor, you might be apprehensive. It’s a common concern: can an elliptical be safely installed on an upper floor?

The reassuring news is that, yes, you can confidently place an elliptical on the second or any upper floor of your home. Buildings constructed according to standard codes have the structural strength to support significant weight – your floor won’t give way while you’re immersed in your elliptical routine.

However, it’s worth noting that if you reside in an apartment or shared housing, noise and sound transmission to the lower floors can be a concern. Additionally, space constraints and equipment stability require consideration. Therefore, it’s important to be mindful of how and where you position your elliptical, ensuring it doesn’t pose any inconvenience to you or your neighbors.

Is it Safe to Put an Elliptical on the 2nd Floor?

Rest assured, it is entirely safe to install an elliptical trainer on the second floor. Even if your floors are older and tend to creak or shake with movement, there’s negligible risk of collapse due to elliptical use.

While it’s natural to worry about your home’s structural integrity, it’s important to note that standard construction practices are designed to support considerable weight. Therefore, placing an elliptical or any other gym equipment on an upper level should not compromise the safety of your home. The primary concern for most residents, especially in shared living spaces, is often noise rather than structural safety.

Even if your floor exhibits some movement or noise during heavy activity, a correctly installed and operated elliptical shouldn’t exacerbate the issue. The key lies in proper placement and mindful usage. Once these are addressed, your only remaining concern might be noise.

Elliptical trainers offer a quiet and safe option for indoor workouts, and they are less likely to cause damage compared to other equipment like dumbbells, which can fall and potentially harm the floor.

Remember, it’s not uncommon for individuals to set up an entire home gym on the second floor. Compared to that, an elliptical’s footprint is relatively modest. So, if your house has been built to standard building codes, your floors should be more than capable of supporting the weight.

If you’re still feeling uncertain, consider consulting with a structural engineer. They can provide a professional assessment of your home’s internal structure, including factors like floor joists. Their expert opinion can help you confidently establish a safe and convenient spot for your elliptical on the second floor.

What is the average weight capacity of a Second Floor?

While the precise weight capacity of a floor can vary based on its construction, most residential structures are built to support substantial weight. Typically, a standard house floor should be able to handle at least forty to fifty pounds per square foot. Given these metrics, your floor should be more than capable of supporting any gym equipment.

For peace of mind, you can perform a simple calculation to estimate the total weight your room can bear. A conventional elliptical generally weighs between 150 and 250 lbs. If your room measures 10 feet by 10 feet, it should theoretically sustain up to 4,000 lbs. of weight, which far exceeds the weight of any standard gym equipment.

Your local building codes will provide information on the maximum permitted weight for second or upper floors. By estimating the weight of the other items in your room, you can determine if your room can comfortably support your equipment. This concept, known as a ‘live load,’ can help alleviate any concerns.

Consider this: news stories about floors collapsing under the weight of gym equipment are virtually non-existent. So, the likelihood of your floor giving way due to such weight is extremely low.

However, if you’re still feeling unsure—particularly if your house is older, exhibits signs of weakness, or has wooden floors—a professional opinion could be valuable. Consult a structural engineer, who can provide expert insight into the weight capacity of your floor.

Tips on making a second floor gym

The main concern in putting an elliptical upstairs is the noise others might hear from the bottom floors. Exercising on the elliptical can shake the floor a little which might bother people downstairs. Here are a few tips:

Use a Rubber Mat

You should use a rubber mat or carpet beneath your elliptical. This has a lot of benefits. It provides stability for the machine and friction that reduces the chance of the elliptical slipping or skidding. If you have tiles or smooth surfaces, a mat is essential

It also protects the floor from any damage. Especially if you have wooden floors. The mat evenly distributes the weight, so the weight isn’t concentrated on a particular area and doesn’t dent the floor.

The weight distribution also makes it much safer to use and puts your mind at ease. If you are planning to use regular carpet, be sure that it will be heavily damaged. On the other hand, you do not have to worry about exercise mats. As such mats are cheap and an effective way to place your elliptical or other heavy cardio equipment. Also, these mats reduce the small shifting sounds your elliptical machine makes when going heavy exercise.

Place the Elliptical against a Load Bearing Wall

Even after all this reassurance, if you are still worried that your elliptical might damage the floor, the safest way is to place it against a load-bearing wall. As you may know even during earthquakes, certain places are less likely to collapse and load-bearing walls are one of these. If you ever feel a little floor bounce, always place the heavy elliptical machine against such wall.

Load-bearing walls are stronger and have internal reinforcement allowing them to take on more weight. So, try to place your elliptical against such a wall, so the weight is distributed properly and doesn’t fall in the middle of the floor.

Buy a Lighter/Collapsible Elliptical

If all else fails to put your mind at ease, you can opt for a lighter elliptical. There are many different kinds of ellipticals available on the market. So, try to get one that is lighter and takes up less space for your second floor.

You can also get a collapsible elliptical. Ellipticals can take up a lot of space due to the added extensions of the handlebar for instance. So, they are wide on the top as well. A lot of models will have collapsible extensions that you can store better on the second floor.

This also means the full weight of the elliptical is not always falling on the floor. You can collapse it and store it properly so that there is less pressure at all times on the floor.

Next time the question of can you put an elliptical on the second floor stops you from working out, throw your worries aside, and invest in getting an elliptical for your home. Whether you live on the second floor of an old house, or the eighteenth floor of a large apartment building, it is perfectly fine for you to work out from the comfort of your own home on an elliptical.

A home gym doesn’t always have to be on the basement floor. Just make sure you follow my tips and take the necessary measures to not disturb the other inhabitants in your building or home. You can also follow this guideline to place any heavy exercise equipment, such as a treadmill in your free space upstairs. Again, if you are even in doubt, please consult a structural engineer.

As good as resistance exercise is, sometimes you need to be sure that your machine is working perfectly. For the perfect workout, the resistance in your elliptical motor must be working at peak performance. This guide will be all about how to test elliptical resistance motors.

To test an elliptical resistance motor, you need to check the voltage. You can do this with a multimeter pretty easily. There are two variants – battery powered ones and wall powered ones. Both can be checked easily with a multimeter.

That is just the surface though. There is much more to it. Well, for starters to get the best idea and to know what you are actually doing, it’s good to understand how these motors work. Then I will go into a bit more detail on how to test them. So, let’s get started.

How Does Elliptical Motors Work?

Okay, the basics of it all are that the motor creates some form of resistance when you paddle it. You are essentially required to power the motor and work against the resistance. This will in turn give you a workout.

As you can probably tell, the motor, along with other things, is very important. But I do think the motor is one of the most important aspects of an elliptical machine since that is the thing that gives you resistance. Which, of course, makes a workout possible.

These machines are also called cross-trainers. The type of resistance that an elliptical machine makes is called ‘silence magnetic resistance’.

You will notice that some parts or components are common among these types of machines. There will be a console, a resistance motor with a resistance cable, wire harness and a variation of the flywheel or a resistance mech and magnetic bracket.

When you, the user will change the resistance of your machine, this signal is transferred to the resistance motor. Depending on whether you want to increase or decrease the resistance, the resistance cable will either be wound up or get released.

Some units will have an internal eddy mech, the resistance will increase when the motor releases the cable. This happens because the magnet brackets inside the mech will move closer to the flywheel.

The motor will wound up the resistance if you decrease the resistance settings which will essentially pull the magnet bracket away from the flywheel.

The main thing to remember here is the closer the magnet bracket is to the flywheel the higher the resistance. So, naturally the further away the magnet bracket is from the flywheel, the lower the resistance.

Both these actions will cause the machine to increase or decrease its resistance. Which will give you the exact and precise workout you want. Pretty cool and straightforward stuff.

As the user, you get data and information about what the resistance is and how much is the motor wound up. This is done by the motor itself since it does two jobs. As we already mentioned, one of the functions is to release or wind the resistance cable.

The other is to tell the console how far the motor rotated which will give you an idea of what resistance position it is in. All these are done through a 5-wire harness. That is pretty much the basics of how it all works.

How to Test Resistance: Easy Guide

As you can now tell that resistance plays a big role in ellipticals. That is what they are based around basically. The resistance is what gives you a lighter or a heavy workout based on the settings you choose.

To make sure you get the right resistance and also to test that the resistance motor is working in your elliptical, there are a couple of very simple steps you can take. Do not worry though, you do not need to be an engineer or have a master’s in electrical engineering to figure it out.

There are two different kinds of ellipticals. One will use a battery to power the motor and the other type will connect directly to a wall outlet. Here is how to test both of them:

Testing a Battery Powered Elliptical

To test a battery-powered elliptical machine, checking the DC voltage is basically all you need to do. If you get a good reading when you manually change the resistance on the console, then you are all set to go – your motor is working.

Do this by using a multimeter to measure the voltage at the resistance motor. If the motor does not run when it is getting voltage from the console, you need to replace it.

Testing an Elliptical That Plugs In

Some elliptical machines will plugin directly to the wall for power. Before checking these motors, you must completely unplug the machine from the power outlet first. This will make working with it safe.

Now what you need to do is check the wire harness connections between the motor and also the console. Just like before, use a multimeter to check the voltage. You need to check continuity through the resistance motor and wiring.

If there is any damaged wiring then you will probably need to replace the wiring itself. And if your multimeter is registering infinite resistance through the resistance motor, then it is time to replace the motor.

Keep in mind that sometimes the motor might not be the issue. It can be the console itself. If both your motor and the wiring are fine, you might need to just change the console at this point.

Best Practices to Keep Your Motor Working for A Long Time

Before I finish this guide, I wanted to leave you with a few tips and tricks to keep your elliptical machine working for longer. These will be maintenance best practices to make sure your machine and by extension, the motor stays in perfect operating conditions for longer.

Keep It Clean

Honestly, this is a no-brainer. Keeping your machine clean and tidy is perhaps one of the simplest and also one of the most effective things you can do. keeping it clean will prevent dust and gunk from accumulating inside it which can also mess up the motor.

Tighten the Nuts and Bolts

Making sure to tighten the nuts and bolts after a couple of weeks of use is always a good idea. Some machines will need to be assembled before you can use them. While we are sure that you tightened all the nuts and bolts while assembling it, checking them after a few weeks or so does not hurt.

Ellipticals that see a lot of users will have the fasteners come a little loose over time. An easy way to avoid this is to, of course, do regular checks. So, check loose fasteners to avoid major repairs. Trust us, this will not take you much time. And might end up saving you hundreds of dollars.

Adjust Your Elliptical Machine

Sometimes it is not the motor but other components that may have slipped or have come loose that is causing the problem. So, double-check to make sure that nothing on your machine needs to be adjusted before you can use it properly.

For example, some machines will come with a drive belt. This belt might be needed to adjust if you feel like the pedal is slipping.

Since now you know how to test elliptical resistance motors, you can diagnose a faulty motor yourself. Make sure you follow the best practices when using the machine and you will need to do fewer repairs in the long run. I hope this article was informative enough to help you with your queries.

Ellipticals are really popular for their overall functionality and manoeuvrability as stationary exercise machines. By stimulating activities like stair-climbing, soft-jogging, cycling, etc. ellipticals have made life so much easier for people who love to exercise at home. But, have you ever had to ask yourself – why my elliptical is making a clunking sound?

An elliptical can make a clucking sound for a number of reasons. Things like a lack of lubrication, broken parts, loosened joints or even accumulation of dirt can cause your elliptical to make a weird clunking sound.

In this article, I’ll provide some of the most common reasons why ellipticals may make a clucking sound, and then I’ll be moving on to explain a few of their possible solutions as well. So, keep reading till the end for a probable solution to your problem.

Why Is Your Elliptical Making A Clunking Sound?

Has it ever happened that you went on to get a bit of a morning exercise in a fresh mind but as soon as you started to pedal, the elliptical started to make a really loud clunking sound? Pretty annoying, right?

Well, it happens all the time and it’s one of the very basic troubleshooting that an elliptical goes through. Here are the three main reasons why your elliptical could be making that obnoxious clunking sound:

Levelling Issues

If you have ever bought an elliptical to exercise at home, you must have noticed the rubber paddings while setting them down. There’s one of each on both sides to stabilize the elliptical while you are using it. 

If you didn’t set it up properly, there could be levelling issues with your elliptical. In simple terms, the weight is not distributed on both pedals evenly while using the machine. As a result, the overall framework becomes unstable and every time you put excess pressure on one side, the other side goes up a little and causes a little grinding sound. 

Lack of Lubricants

Another reason why your elliptical may cause extreme noise is if the gears are all dry and out of lubrication. Every time that you use the elliptical, various mechanical gears get displaced within the machine to generate the respective output. 

If you didn’t use enough lubricants with the nuts and bolts while setting up the elliptical, two major issues take place. One – it’s much harder to pedal and accelerate since it takes way more force to engage the inner bearings. And two – the drier the gears are, the more sound they will produce every time you try to forcefully engage them. 

Loosening of Joints

All the parts of the elliptical come disassembled when it arrives as a package that later needs to be joined together to create the final machine. So, if an inexperienced person does the assembly, they might end up making a mistake.

Such mistakes later result in the loosening of nuts and bolts in and around the elliptical. Usually, a severe clunking sound is a warning that something like this is happening and it immediately needs to be fixed. If you don’t pay attention to such warnings, the machine could fall apart at any given time and that can cause serious injuries. 

There are several other reasons why ellipticals can exhibit such odd behaviour. However, it’s usually one of these three but if it’s not, it’s highly recommended that you consult a professional to check the bearings out.

How to Resolve the Clunking Sound in Your Elliptical?

Now that you know why and where the issues in your elliptical are to cause such a horrendous ruckus every time you go to exercise on it, it’s time to figure out some solutions. After all, for every problem, there’s always a remedy out there somewhere. 

So, let’s take a look at some of the possible solutions that you can find super helpful during situations like these. In addition to the solution themselves, I’ll also let you know about the step-by-step instructions on how to apply them.

Do A Thorough Examination

If you are handy with the home equipment and have proper knowledge, read the maintenance guide thoroughly and then examine the framework of your elliptical. See if anything is out of place.

Most likely, you’ll find some discrepancies. Carefully figure out what they are and then fix them one by one. Call a technician if necessary.

Fix the Joints

After repeated use, the joints and handlebars of the elliptical often get loose. In that case, examine all the placements of the bearings carefully to see which ones are problematic.

After that, use the respective screws, nuts, and bolts as instructed in the elliptical assembly guide; to tighten the bearings that need fixing. Stay cautious of any unwanted accidents.

Lubricate the Bearings

If the clunking sound persists even after you have tightened up the nuts, it’s time to lubricate the bearings. For lubricants, it’s best to get good quality all-purpose grease from your local mechanical shop. 

If you already know how and where to apply the grease, gently apply a light coating over the shafts and pivot points. If not, take the help of a mechanic or technician by all means. Do remember to take off the outer parts like handlebars, pedal arms, etc. before you apply the grease. 

Replace the Broken Parts

Just like people get exhausted after a long-term tiring activity, machines wear out too. To be more specific, some of the parts like battery, motor, pedalling bar, etc. wear out after months of use.

The clunking sound will be a subtle signal that it’s time to change these parts. Carefully, examine the battery and the places where the sound is coming from and then replace the worn-out/broken parts. 

Focus on The Flywheel

Sometimes, the problem lies in the flywheel itself rather than any of the internal bearings. Even though it’s a comparatively rare occurrence, it does happen a lot of the time. However, it’s harder to notice if anything is wrong with the flywheel as it shows no apparent damage unless you look for it specifically. So, do a deep analysis of the flywheel. That is if you are capable of doing one.

Don’t try to be DIY-er in such cases as that can often do more harm than good.  Ellipticals are heavy machines and they require special maintenance. If you don’t have previous experience with such heavy mechanical equipment, things can go from zero to thirty really quick.

The possibilities of heavy injuries are pretty high as well in such cases. Anyways, enough about the precautions. What I was saying about the flywheel was that garbage or dirt can get deposited under the flywheel. 

These additional nuisances cause somewhat of a resistance that gets into the internal bearings as well if you don’t clean them up in time. Once they get in, it’s a whole other story and a whole lotta clunk-clunk-clunk all day long.

So, the point is, keep your elliptical clean and properly lubricated to avoid these annoying sounds. If they persist even after all these, it’s finally time to find the receipt and visit the nearest service centre. 

When my elliptical is making a clunking sound, these are things I usually do to troubleshoot the issue. Hopefully, with my tips you will be able to fix your issue as well. But make sure to understand when an issue is beyond your abilities and contact a qualified person to fix your elliptical.

As I’ve said before, tinkering with your elliptical without the proper knowledge can cause more harm than good. Thanks for reading and until next time, farewell.  

Ellipticals require proper maintenance to stay in their peak working condition. Lubricating is one of the most crucial parts of elliptical maintenance. Lubrication stops the squeaky noise, dust accumulation and reduces corrosion due to repeated friction. Most people do not know where or how they should lubricate their elliptical because there are too many pivot points.

People generally use Teflon-based lubricants or liquid silicon on pivot points that have a wavy washer on them. As for the wheels and the base, people typically use spray lubricants on them and wipe the excess away with paper towels.

There are a ton of different elliptical varieties, and each has slightly different pivot points. It can be problematic for most people to find all the pivot points they need to lubricate. That is why most people do not know how to lubricate an elliptical properly. In this guide, I’ll talk about all the things you need to know to become an elliptical lubricating expert. So, without  further ado, let’s get right to it.

How to Tell if Your Elliptical Needs Lubrication

The general rule of thumb for elliptical is to lubricate them in regular monthly intervals. People typically do a thorough maintenance every 5-6 months or so. It is also alright if you do not prefer to keep track of time. In which case, you need to discern whether your elliptical needs lubricating by its performance.

In the initial stages of lubricant deprivation, the first sign is the rough feel of the tread. The tread of an elliptical should feel smooth when you walk on it. You need to lubricate it soon if it shows any signs of feeling uneven or grating.

If the elliptical squeaks when you are working out, there’s around a 70% chance that it needs lubricating as soon as possible. Otherwise, the repetitive grinding will wear out the parts involved and cause permanent damage to your machine.

However, a lack of lubrication is not the only reason for a squeaky elliptical. The squeakiness could very well originate from loose bolts, dust accumulation, or improper placement on the floor.

Lubricating Ellipticals (Step by step)

There are two primary types of ellipticals on the market. One type has tread ramps and wheels, and the other is rampless. Rampless ellipticals have different pivot points than the ones with ramps and wheels.

The process of lubricating either of them is almost the same. The only difference is the different pivot point locations. Let us talk about how you should go about the process of lubricating:

Step 1: Uncover The Parts

First of all, get all the plastic covers off from the front and back to expose all the moving parts. Some ellipticals have the larger parts at the back, and some have it in front. Take off the wheel covers and other plastic overs if there are any.

Step 2: Clean All the dust

Many people think that lubricating means slapping some nice and slippery oil on something, which is one of the worst things people can do to their machinery in the long term. The correct way of lubricating is to clean the parts before applying lubricant. Otherwise, the dust and debris will mix with it and cause problems later.

Start by cleaning out all the dust from the elliptical surface, especially around the pivot points where you will be applying lubricant later. While cleaning the machine, you should pay attention to the belt connecting to the tread ramps.

The belt will slowly wear off, and the belt debris will collect at the bottom of the elliptical. It is one of the most crucial things you need to clean before applying any lubricant. The amount of belt debris indicates the condition of an elliptical. Older ellipticals should have a large accumulation of it if the elliptical has not been cleaned in a while.

Step 3: Lubricating the Pivot Points.

By now, you should have found all the pivot points on the elliptical. The pivot points are the moving joints. They usually have a wavy washer at the connecting point. Your task is to find all of these joints and apply a little lubricant to them.

Just a little bit of lubricant is enough. You do not have to drench it in the slimy thing. But try to get a dab of lubricant on any part that creases other parts when it moves. Even those that only have a brass bushing.

Step 4: Lubricate the Tracks

Once you are done with the interior, move to the outer parts of the elliptical. The tracks are crucial, as they are one of the primary reasons for creaks and squeaky noises if you neglect them long enough.

You can generally lift off the metal legs on the track. Then spray some diluted cleaner directly on the tracks. You don’t need anything fancy for this. Even the most random spray lubricant will work just fine. Once you are done, gently wipe the excess lubricant off of the track with a paper towel.

Step 5: Lubricating the Wheels

Lubricating the wheels will be easy if you ever cleaned a pair of skate wheels. The wheels on an elliptical are generally the same size as skate wheels, and the process of taking them off is also similar.

First, you would need to remove the bolts from each wheel. After the bolts are taken off, gently shake the wheel while pulling them off the mounting point. Once they are all taken off, drop a smattering of grease on the mounting point. Spray lubricant is not a good choice for the wheels. It is better to use grease in this case.

Step 6: Inspect Your Handiwork

No, I do not mean staring at your elliptical like a bum. You have all the moving parts exposed and recently oiled. It is the perfect time to inspect if they are working as they should. Just hop on the tread and start using the elliptical. Keep your ears open for any abnormal noises. Identify the location of any creaky noise and lubricate that part again.

If your elliptical is old, you should expect to find some abnormalities among the moving parts. You could even find some loose bolts or misplaced washers.

What Lubricants Can You Use on Ellipticals?

Most ellipticals and treadmills work with wavy washers and belts. The best lubricant for these things is liquid silicone-based lubricants, Lithium and Teflon-based lubricants are fine too. You should get the concentrated liquid versions for the interior of our elliptical. One of two drops on all the pivot points should be more than enough.

You would need regular grease for the wheels. It does not have to be anything special. Just get some clean grease for the mounting point of the wheel. Also, get some all-purpose cleaner for the tracks. You could use diluted bleach if you do not have anything else on hand. Just remember to wipe it off once you are done.

I hope this has helped you understand how to lubricate an elliptical. There are various kinds of ellipticals with different ramp structures, but they all have the same fundamental design. You merely need to find all the pivot points and apply the appropriate lubricant to them.

One thing to remember is to always refrain from lubricating oil-impregnated bearings. Some high-end ellipticals have such bearings in them, and it isn’t wise to mess around with those. They usually need to be lubricated with liquid silicon and should be handled by someone experienced in handling such things.