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Since the shelter-in-place order in California given the coronavirus outbreak in 2020, I've decided to get more exercise via the elliptical purchased back in 2016 (Schwinn Elliptical installation). Even though my risk of coronavirus complications is low, I prefer not to expose myself to the off chance of infection. So instead of walking or running outdoors, I choose to get a majority of my exercise on the elliptical, on average four days per week. I motivate myself to exercise by streaming TV shows, but immediately noticed the never ending squeaky noises competing with the sound of the TV.
Since purchasing this elliptical, I have never needed to perform maintenance. Of course when new, the Schwinn 430 was fairly silent. But as the months went on, the elliptical would be squeaky when first started. But not long (possibly around 10 minutes), the squeak would silenced. But now that the elliptical is 3-4 years old, the squeak just won't go away. So it's time to conduct some basic maintenance.
Luckily, Schwinn sent a small bottle of lubricant, but I had tossed the instructions long ago. Upon online searches, the instructions for lubricating an elliptical looked like a simple project requiring no disassembly. It completely solved the squeakiness in under 5 minutes.
- Cut the sealed tip off the lubricant bottle
- Squeeze a small amount of lubricant onto the two horizontal rail bars
- Gently wipe down any excess lubricant
Other instructions suggested removing screws to lubricate some of nuts and bolts. But determined not to make this a large project, I opted to only do that step if the above three steps didn't work. Luckily the easy steps worked to remove squeaks, so I didn't need to dissemble the elliptical. But depending on the brand of elliptical and the source of the squeak, you may need to take additional steps.
If you misplaced your elliptical lubricant, is easily purchased on Amazon: