Here is a solution for those of you who have experienced recurring dead buttons on the console. For me, all buttons would function initially but after a few minutes of use (belt running), all buttons would stop functioning except speed buttons 5, 7 and 12. Switch off, unplug the treadmill and all button functions would come back on next power-up hours later.
The problem is that the electronics cannot handle the static electricity generated by the running belt motion. The static in your finger as you press the button penetrates the thin membrane switch and goes right into the electronics. It takes several hours turned off for the excess charge to dissipate and control to be restored.
1. Gently peel the button decal off for both sides (incline and speed), do not remove or pull on the flex circuit underneath. This is the membrane switch.
2. Use the decals (sticky side up) to trace the outline on paper and tin foil and carefully cut out the profiles.
3. Stick the paper in using looped or double sided tape, careful not to place tape over or near a button locations. I used white printer paper because it is not very thick. A layer too thick pay prevent the button from working.
4. Place tin foil cutout over the paper. The foil needs to be connected to earth ground (the 3rd pin on the power plug) and I don't trust the frame is properly grounded so I ran a wire from the foil in the console to a grounded screw near the power switch (where the plug wire ground connects). Make sure the treadmill is unplugged when you are working on it! The incline and speed side foil sheets are also connected with a wire.
5. Cover the foil layers with a layer of clear packing tape to protect the foil if you ever need to remove the button decals again.
6. Check function and if all is well, replace the button decals.
The paper increases the dielectric strength while the foil layer shunts the static charge of your fingers to ground. Since I made this improvement it has run perfectly! Good Luck
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