Bowflex Max Trainer - Tension & Resistance Issue & FIX

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After my Max Trainer M5 Resistance messed up on me I looked into how to fix and and turns out for me it was the motor I needed to replace. After finally getting it fixed up I wanted to show people how to properly adjust the Max Trainer Resistance with it without the motor needing to be replaced.

Опубликовано:

7 сен 2024

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Комментарии : 100

@LSims92 3 года назад

Thank you! I've been so frustrated with this...nearly in tears thinking it was me. I haven't really had my max trainer that long, so I'm disappointed in this quality issue.

@GetCart3rCA 2 года назад

Great to hear!

@tomlinse6470 14 дней назад

Thank you…. Thought I was getting out of shape really fast… much better… your directions were spot on

@fiero880 Год назад

Only video that truly shows the correct adjustment for the servo after you replace it. Thank you

@LloydD45 3 года назад

Had the same problem - no resistance. It had a different cause, but did involve the white plastic quarter-disc. The cable had slipped out of the groove, this illustrated where it needed to go, I popped it back into the groove and was good to go. Thank you. PS, the hardest thing for me was getting the housing back on and the screws aligned.

@ikwu 3 года назад

Added tip. The easiest way to get easy access to make the adjustments is to remove the magnet wheel. Its get three screws which are really easy to remove and screw back on. the wheel just pops right off and can be slotted back into place.

@ShadCorliss 2 года назад

This was most helpful. Even the call Bowflex for the part replacement tip. $18.73 including shipping. The customer service rep said bowflex was keeping the servo price low because it is a common part needing replacement. 5-10 year life span. I priced around other places before calling bowflex. A lot of companies is selling the same part for $89.90. Thanks M Carter.

@GetCart3rCA 2 года назад

Their support is pretty good. The part on the other hand is a bad design though.

@olesearusu Год назад

Can I have a link to where I can order parts?

@hartgemini007 10 дней назад

This is really helpful having just bought one on eBay which was delivered however the orange magnet assembly is on the metal so making a loud metallic rubbing- looks easy adjustment to fix

@timb4666 4 года назад

THANKS great vid. I had same problem, way too much resistance. If you pause the vid at 0:41 you’ll see the tail of the cable coming through the red arm next to the spring. If you loosen the “stopper” (sorry, no vocabulary) and pull the cable through you can accomplish the same thing. Maybe easier to access than the other two adjustable screws pointed out. Cheers.

@calvindaniel 2 года назад

This video helped me so much. I wasn’t having a tension issue, but my break disc was rubbing on the magnets making a bell like noise, so thanks for the explanation of everything, helped me a lot!

@TheCMaillet 2 года назад

How did you fix it? I have the same issue

@calvindaniel 2 года назад

@@TheCMaillet I have yet to fix that unfortunately. I plugged in the machine after not using it for a while to find that my display unit is bad, and a new one cost almost $400, so I don't think I'm going to fix it. Sorry!

@GetCart3rCA 2 года назад

Excellent! Great that it helped you figure it out.

@davidkendall7675 9 месяцев назад

Thank you so much! Fixed mine today! Motor was fine,but resistance was messed up.

@hartgemini007 10 дней назад

Just needed to adjust the metal cable with 2 screws about an inch -working perfectly

@odsricany 2 года назад

Thanks for the video. Great help. First I had to adjust the break, now even replace the servo-motor. It took me 2 months to get it to Germany. Bowflex design is not really about long lasting quality. I would not buy it again :(

@bradjones8176 3 года назад

Thanks for the video, helped me fix ours in 2 minutes! The white pie thing flipped over centre.

@nhk15 4 года назад

Thank you so much for sharing your detailed video!!! I fixed mine after watching your video. Good bless you!

@GetCart3rCA 2 года назад

Good to hear it worked :)

@tekriotgaming8886 3 года назад

Really appreciate you putting this out there ... helped me a ton with fixing my own unit. THANK YOU!

@GetCart3rCA 2 года назад

Awesome. Thanks!

@robertbartilomo845 4 года назад

Thank you for sharing. Seeing the tension motor and the pie-shaped lever and cable position alone helped solve my tension issue. Must have flipped completely around as the cable was around the back and not in the groove in the front. Took your advice not to remove and just moved and cable and it’s back to normal.

@unds85 3 года назад

I had the exact same problem...Cable flipped completely around on the 5th time I used it. Maxtrainer M9 just bought it 4 days ago.

@judsonames4622 2 года назад

@@unds85 how did you getvit to flip back to the side e.g. back into the groove? There is too much tension to move it

@unds85 2 года назад

@@judsonames4622 relieve the tension by getting the wire OUT OF the groove then reposition the cam and in the home position and then put the wire back in the groove.

@jessicareid750 3 года назад

Thank you so much! I was able to fix my issue by watching your video. I really appreciate you making this video and sharing it!

@DLITINTHEHOUSE 3 года назад

I thought my motor was burned out too because the white pie piece wouldn’t move at all, but I removed it and adjusted the resistance to find out it still moved! The two magnets were bottomed out so I remounted the white pie piece to where it would engage with the wheel on level 1 and I was back in action. So I recommend folks to mess with the pie piece first by removing it and then adjusting resistance to see if the gears inside the motor (where the pie goes in) spin. If they do then it’s a matter of putting it back in and playing with the positioning of the magnets. I did have to adjust tension because the 1 was too high after I resolved it.

@desireebluearm-swann3198 4 года назад

Your video is awesome! With the help of your instructions I finally got my M7 fixed😃!

@kennethardoin8146 2 года назад

Had to comment I definitely appreciate the video although it was not my specific problem it was instrumental in helping me get my M7 back rolling My actuator motor was still working the tension stop had slipped moved it back up into position and working like a champ Sure appreciate it

@GetCart3rCA 2 года назад

Thanks for the comment! Glad it helped you out.

@DanHobbyFun 2 года назад

Fixed mine, which also had the bad servo. The servo would move but go a couple steps then go back, no adjustments would make it step through the full 16 steps.

@GetCart3rCA 2 года назад

I've replaced mine twice since I've had it.

@PatsAdventuresTravels 3 года назад

Thanks! Mine just recently starting not having enough resistance for the level. I just hadn't taken it apart yet. So we'll see.

@JC-JC20 11 месяцев назад

Fixed mine! thank you!

@CorvetteLS7427 3 года назад

Common problem with the Max Trainer, I have a M7 and have issues with the resistance, sad BowFlex can’t make something more reliable for the money you spend for these machines.

@ashic Год назад

@GetCart3r I have the same issue with my M7. I noticed that even at 1, the magnet is almost fully inside the disc. I rotated the white thing to the next groove. Now, at 20 (highest setting), the magnet is covered only about 75%. This I guess means that 20 for me is what 16 should be. I guess I need to fine tune with the top or bottom screw, but I'm finding both impossible to turn. I'm a bit confused as to what I should be turning.... is it the nuts on both sides of the board, or the thing above it? Any details about the fine tuning process would be great. This is already a lot more usable though.... levels 1-7 are the same, but then from there to 20, I get differing resistance. And this is much more usable than before where level 3 equated to 20.

@jamiewhite5025 Год назад

Great video, thank you. Can you tell me where you ordered the replacement motor from?

@Gbishop34 3 года назад

I’ve opened and adjusted my cables so many times and they keep coming loose… would love to see a video of someone adjusting them. Any hints?

@910homies 11 дней назад

Hey bro idk if you ever look back to this but i hope you do.. so whenever i go up a resistance level..it would go higher and i watched your video to fix it and it would work for a day or 2 and then the resistance would start to go craxy again...maybe its time for a new resistance blue thing?

@robertzimmerman8910 Год назад

The servo motor on the Max5 started knocking which meant that it was toast. I used another YT video to replace it. When I tried to check it by setting the burn rate (is this the resistance?), to 16 I had to hop down and look fast because the machine sent it back to the 1 position. The readouts on this machine are complete confusion. Having 2 dots gets you something like a 4 resistance and having 3 dots gets you 16? One YT video talks about the internet being swamped with these machines simply based on their readout and methods to change the resistance. I note that the resistance changes when I hold burn rate down, but nothing happens when I hold down resistance level buttons. The owner's manual doesn't even mention these buttons. I can get it to work but the logic to get it to work the way I want it to by using the adjustment buttons will not get me there. Next time, I'll spend more to get something that isn't off the rails.

@pika751 7 месяцев назад

Sorry this comment is very late, but it would be helpful if you could answer this. Me and my dad both use this max trainer, and he uses a program I’m not sure about, and I always use max interval. I always choose the level 4 resistance for max interval, and I could always average around 16.1-16.7 calories burnt per minute(note we did mess with the resistance awhile back because the motor broke). But now I can sometimes only average 15.1-15.6, or sometimes even 17.8-18.1. I’m not sure why, but the only thing I can note and why I don’t think it’s just me having on and off days is that when ever my dad goes on and I do the max interval, let’s say the resistance feels easy. The resistance will feel easy until he goes on it again, and then maybe it will feel hard, normal, or easy. It’s very random, do you know why or how to fix it?

@rylon3144 Месяц назад

Hi Carter. I found your video and i believe that my servo motor is also cooked. You mentioned that the new part was around 24 dollars. I am doing some searching and I am only seeing motors for around 135 or more. Did the price just increase that much over the years or am I looking at the wrong places. I am also in Canada.

@GetCart3rCA 26 дней назад

@@rylon3144 I called Bowflex directly. I don’t look anywhere else as they had the part. I should order a new one just in case.

@memobug Год назад

What is “the book” you are referencing with the calibration instructions?

@ronaldramseyjr.8388 Год назад

be VERY careful opening the plastic piece covering the magnet. on my m5 the top piece has a longer extension embedded behind the actual frame itself that requires angling to get off. in order to achieve that angle, the cord that connects to the power cord breaks! fml

@rossmeche4849 4 года назад

My engine doesn’t even respond to input from control panel. I think my engine/blue part is fried or doesn’t operate correctly. I ended up taking off the white fan pully lever. I feel like this is a lost cause now

@silverfoils 2 года назад

My machine has 37 hours use and this part has failed. The UK distributer wants £55 ($76) for the part delivered. I asked if the part came with any guarantee, as they seem to fail easily. The answer was no, so if you are considering one of these machines, I would say consider something else with a better reliability record. A product is only as good as its weakest component and this motor is CHEESE!

@ahmadabdolsaheb 4 года назад

Thanks for the video. I wonder if the fan on the other side ads any resistance? if not, do you think I could remove it? It makes a lot of noise while working out :(

@norcalkid2776 4 года назад

Hi Ahmad - You should not remove the fan for the following reasons: 1) The #1 reason - Your Max Trainer will not longer work! This because mounted to the fan's backing plate are 4 small magnets. When you pedal the machine, the fan rotates and those magnets pass in front of a "speed sensor". The speed sensor is what "wakes" the machine up and determines the RPM (pedal speed) and your calorie burn rate. If the fan was removed then the speed sensor would never detect any rotational movement and thus your machine would also "Pause" any workout. There is a workaround (though still not suggested): 2) The fan BLADES are riveted to the fan's backing plate and so, in theory, you could drill out the rivets and remove ONLY the fan BLADES. Then those magnets on the fan's backing plate would remain and so the speed sensor would still function OK. However, the fan blades provide SOME resistance and so your machine would not have as much resistance as it should, which means the calorie burn values would be incorrect. Note the REAL resistance is provided by the brake disc and the brake magnets (using "eddy current" braking technology). Also, the fan blades remove the hot air and help cool the brake disc's heat and so with no fan blades the brake disc would be much hotter.

@ahmadabdolsaheb 4 года назад

@@norcalkid2776 Thank you for the detailed information. I will try the second option as soon as I find a used m5 in my area :)

@68ceddy 4 года назад

What’s the key to getting the black cover piece off to look inside.Took all screws out but it seems stuck at the top

@markday4348 3 года назад

Thankyou, how long had you used it when the part quit working?

@Aakhalil77 4 года назад

so i upgraded from m5 to m5u and lost resistance, even when i click the numbers they dont go up , stays at 1 , i opened this and tries to adjust the white triangle ( i think it gave me some resistance) but the numbers would not change, stays at 1 does not go up .. do you think i should order this blue motor ?

@Kenlo2023 3 года назад

Same issue, did you replace it?

@christopherzecca4789 Год назад

I have same issue with mine. Pressing the buttons to change the resistance doe not register on the console. Is this a console problem or a sensor problem?

@Heybaeb1 7 месяцев назад

How can I lower my resistance it only goes up

@michaelbaldwin6940 3 года назад

I hope the is what is wrong with mine.. it is way to easy at level 16 I barely have to move it to get to my RPM range.. will have to tear it apart this weekend and see.. if so, then the magnets are not even on the wheel at 16 if its that easy if that is my issue.

@silverfoils 2 года назад

Great video. Can you please tell me where you got the replacement part from? Many thanks.

@GetCart3rCA 2 года назад

Called Bowflex.

@robertjunger 4 года назад

Thanks for the video. I’m wondering if mine is over adjusting as well. Do you know what the position for the magnets is for level one?

@norcalkid2776 4 года назад

For ALL Max Trainer models, the spec for the magnet position at Max & Min resistance settings is as follows: - At MAX resistance (level #8, 16, or 20 depending on model): The BOTTOM of the magnets should be at the bottom edge of the brake disc. - At MIN resistance (level 1 for all models): The TOP of the magnets should be at the bottom edge of the brake disc. You make the adjustment at MAX resistance and then simply CHECK it at MIN resistance and the magnets should move the diameter of the magnet. If it moves more or less, then your servo motor is faulty or intermittent and should be replaced.

@rebeccaehrick971 4 года назад

I have been having issues as well. I too found a video that had me adjust the pie. It didnt really help. The problem kind of fixed itself for a while. I have been doing level 1 / 2 on the max interval for several weeks. Now all of a sudden it is SO HARD even on level 2. I unplug it, plug it back in - sometimes it corrects it, sometimes not. But when i go all the way up to 16, I can hear the magnet grinding. Do you think replacing the motor will help with my issue as well?

@rogerstubert 4 года назад

Rebecca Ehrick adjusting the cable (like in the video) helped mine. First take that cover off and set the machine to level one. If that red arm with magnet on it isn’t sitting partially outside of the large disc then you’ll need to adjust the cable.

@dilzila1 Год назад

Is 30 minutes of elliptical enough?

@kspaletta5 2 года назад

WhT is the name of the part

@GetCart3rCA 2 года назад

It's called a Servo Motor. Call up Bowflex and they have the best price for this part. It's a known part to fail so sounds like they've keep prices good and in stock.

@ElliebotConstruction 3 года назад

Thanks!

@futbol1972 Год назад

bowflex max trainer m5 won't let me change speeds?

@dlg521 4 года назад

Where did you buy the servo motor? Can't find them anywhere on mine is doing the same thing. Thx

@GetCart3rCA 4 года назад

Called up BowFlex. They were very helpful and parts were not bad. I think the part was $20US. Just give them a call.

@futbol1972 Год назад

They are selling me a max bowflex max m5 for $500 that won't let change speeds? Is it an easy fix?

@mmstrux 3 года назад

When I line it up at 16, then set the tension down to 1, the magnets go lower than what 1 shows on your video. I have to set it to 6 to get it to where yours shows 1. Does that mean the motor is shot?

@juancespedes8293 3 года назад

I have the same problem, did you figure it out?

@mmstrux 3 года назад

@@juancespedes8293 Yes. After a 3-hour call with a support person and getting nowhere, I finally told her to just send me a new servo motor and that worked. (She and her manager insisted my motor was fine. It wasn't).

@SlashtaCross 4 года назад

I just purchased a M5 off of a local person and as much as im enjoying it i've noticed that the resistance adjustment doesn't work. I'm assuming this is my issue as well, a failed motor. The only problem now is I can't find anyone selling them except a person on ebay for $500. Any tips on where to buy to ship in US?

@norcalkid2776 4 года назад

You can buy the servo motor at the BEST price direct from Bowflex. You have to call Bowflex Customer Service to order the part. They are about $18 including the shipping. The Bowflex servo motor part # is 8004601.

@michaellanzi9242 4 года назад

Call bow flex direct. I did 3 weeks ago and got mine in a few days ago. I just installed it today 2/16/20 . The total price was 25 dollars. Screw that guy on eBay

@michaellanzi9242 4 года назад

Your Bowflex® order SO-73016679 has been received. You will receive another email to confirm when your order begins processing. Item Quantity Unit Price Subtotal Discount Item Total 8004601 SERVICE KIT, SERVO MOTOR, M5 1 12.67 12.67 12.67 Tax: $1.24 Shipping: $4.99 Order Total: $18.90 Sorry 19.00 I have a m7. I ordered it on 1/31 I went to that guy on eBay and he was charging 50. At first then after 3 weeks of waiting. I cancelled , called company direct, they said on back order but will be in within 45 days. Like I said got it in a few says ago installed today and looking forward to great workout in am. If you need any help let me know

@michaellanzi9242 4 года назад

19.00 They have in stock

@norcalkid2776 4 года назад

@@michaellanzi9242 Yep, like I previously posted, they are about $18 (including the shipping) direct from Bowflex. I actually got them to give me free shipping so I only paid less than $13! They only make 1 servo motor which is the same for the M5/M6/M7/M8/Max Total models. NOBODY should EVER pay more!

@rashidsohail1043 2 года назад

My M5 power socket is broken, is there any online provider in Canada.

@GetCart3rCA 2 года назад

Give Bowflex a call. Their support is pretty good. At the least it's either cheap enough to just order one from them maybe or solder the one you have to fix it?

@jeffreymusser8450 4 года назад

Oh my gosh - where the heck did you find the servo to order???? I’ve been looking for a replacement for like 2 years now and it’s never in stock anywhere... it’s not listed on bowflex web page as replacement part... and even when I spoke to bowflex they said they were all out of stock too... that’s when I threw in towel thinking this servo is some freaking unicorn part... WHERE DID YOU GET THE PART FROM???!!!!!

@kimberlibyrd9033 4 года назад

I finally found one at sportsmith.com for about $50. When I first started looking everyone was out.

@500wattz Месяц назад

How much was the motor?

@GetCart3rCA 26 дней назад

@@500wattz believe it was around $25 CAN. I called Bowflex support directly.

@ijenkins2760 3 года назад

where did you find a new motor?

@denisedelasierra5238 3 года назад

You call Bowflew and order it, it's the only way to get it.

@m.k.k.4931 3 года назад

Where did you get your servo?

@GetCart3rCA 2 года назад

Called Bowflex

@peterwillison5284 2 года назад

Thanks for the video, what a disgrace thou that such a video is necessary. This is an expensive machine, $4000 in Australia, and it’s a piece of crap with zero backup from the manufacturer. Should have bought a Nordic Track, far superior quality for a fraction of the price.

@michaeltorrano1889 4 года назад

Where can I order the motor?

@norcalkid2776 4 года назад

You can buy the servo motor at the BEST price direct from Bowflex. You have to call Bowflex Customer Service to order the part. They are about $18 including the shipping in the US and about $26 to Canada. The Bowflex servo motor part # is 8004601 for ALL Max Trainer models (except the M3, which does not have a servo motor).