This video brings back the memories. I bought one in '08 and used it everyday until summer of 2011. My unit had some QC issues from the factory that I wasn't willing to return it for, but it still worked good enough. I had the smaller, more popular "Revolution XP" model which I don't think Bowflex even makes anymore.
Hi, thanks for making the video for adjusting the cables. Ive got the same model but haven't used it in a few years, when pulling on the left side cable it feels like it is dragging on something inside, Ive seen the manual to how to take it a part but was hoping i could fix it with out having to. any suggestions would be greatly appreciated thank you.
Thank you for taking the time to make this video. My cords both came out of the hold stops in the wheel. This helped me put it back to together. Nice cool 110 Deg, yikes.
Thank you. I was tightening the cable, but would always end up with just a bit of play on the left side. Giving the pulley a bit more of a turn to cause the pre-tensioning 5 lb plate to rotate slightly did the trick. I was assuming that when the large pulley stopped, that was as far as it should go. Anyway, it’s sorted.
Hey what exactly did you do cause my right side has some play in it, a few inches that I can keep tightened. I use the cam but once I pull on it, every single time, the few inches of play comes back
@@deadlyalliance8281 At about the 1:25 mark, he mentions turning the pulley just a bit more, causing the pretensioning plate to move slightly. This is what I did to take up the last tiny bit of slack and get the locking handle back in place. I probably had an inch or two of slack, max, and this took care of it.
I was using my revolution today and twice, the cable lost tension and the inside engine drive sprung back so hard it broke the rubber stopper in half. The first time this happened, I just tightened the cord again and it worked for....well less than 10 minutes until BANG! happened again. Sounds like a mini gun shot when it springs back so hard like that. I believe but am not 100 certain that the cause of this is.... There is a silver ring inside the engine drive assembly that connects to the bar and fits into the engine assembly itself. I can actually pull off the engine assembly from this ring on the side that this happens on. So my guess is, the engine drive assembly slips away from the machine itself, leaving the ring/bearing there and so the engine drive has nothing to hold it in the position it was before the slippage. Once it slips off mid exersize, it'll disengage tension on the cable, slam back inside the engine drive cover and... Yeah...im calling bowflex tomorrow to see what I can do...
It's hard to tell but my best guess is it probably needs a new spring and the teeth that are inside of the assembly.. call them up and if you can try to get it to duplicate the issue on a short video that always helps.
@@TheHandymanJasonyeah, I'll see what they recommend. Hopefully it's an easy fix cause it's a great machine, providing it works and lasts. Bowflex stuff is always so iffy after a few years of use
Do you know how to remove the tension shaft ? I have to move and with the tension shaft I’m unable to take it out of my house it’s to long to go through the door
The large pulley moves freely and I can easily use it to manually raise the cable, but the tension knob will not disengage from the pulley, and it only pulls out 1/8 to 1/4 inch. Any recommendations? Thank you in advance.
i noticed 1 side has less resistance than the other side, approximately 2kg or around 4-5lbs less resistance than the opposite cable. I was able to test with a suitcase luggage scale. Is this the technique to fix un-even resistance?
This does happen, however it's not supposed to… essentially what you've got going on is most likely your plate of resistance is broken or is not accurate, so you would need to contact bowflex to get a replacement piece. I have replaced quite a few of the 5 pound screw in resistance, and I've also seen a few of the plates lose their resistance over time. Regretably, this is not a fix currently, but I tell people that anytime you have a rubber band are you have a resistance rod? It will lose its ability of resistance over a period of time.
Hopefully, I can say this the right way to make it make sense… your yellow band that's on the inside should not be loose, it should be always A little tight. First, make sure you have your resistant plate mounted on and secured the correct way with the screws that they provided. Then when you're twisting... and you feel the plate start to turn. Then you are where you need to be… you never want to keep twisting that plate and then secure it because you will not have the ability of doing a full rep. Some people like the line to have a little bit of slack. I like that line tight consistently so I always do a slight turn and then lock the plate in so the line will not be slack... But that just might be me and my personal preferences.
Hi Jason. I hear a creaking plastic sound at the beginning of a movement. It's more pronounced when using heavy loads than light ones. Any ideas? Thanks
Boy, that could be just about anything! Your best bet is to have somebody. Pull the weight each time end while you identify where the sound is coming from. It could be that screws are missing from plastic or that a bearing is no good or even that a bit of the installation was done incorrect... ive seen it all! If your still under warranty I would after identifying the location take a short video and share that with bowflex... they sometimes will send a tech like me to swap out the defective part
Hello Handyman Jason, can you help me please. both of the pulleys have the 5lb lock in weight on them, but one of the pulley feels like it has a 20 pound weight on it. I've check everything on it and compared it with the good side, I don't see the issue yet. What do you think the problem is ?
Sorry for some reason this didn't notify me when you sent this reply. Based off of my experience and not seeing this machine I would guess that 1 of your lines has popped off of the roller or maybe even a bad bearing on one of your rollers It can really be a pain in the butt trying to figure out that part because you would have to essentially take off all the plastics from the point of origin to the final destination... From an experienced person I can tell you this is similar to hell on earth! Hopefully this helps!
If you follow this carefully you should be able to fix them… I have done at least 20 restringing of the revolution... This video helps you do what You would normally have to pay a licensed technician to do. Congratulations, I just saved you $100 😉!
On just the right side cable it makes a “clunking sound” while in motion (but only at a light weight of 10-15lb). The cable is tracking fine and the yellow tension band is nice and centered without any damage. The sound seems to be coming from the flywheel (that has the cable wrapped around it) although it rotates nice and straight 🤷🏻♂️…so, I wonder if it is those teeth on the tension adjuster knob? It is strange though that as I make the weight heavier it goes away? Was thinking the flywheel or some internal moving part was rubbing but I’m not finding anything. I appreciate your assistance!
I've seen things like this happen a lot and each time it seems the results are from something different. However most the time when I see a bearing go bad this sound it more obvious... The reason more pressure and the noise goes away is typically pressure on the bad bearing will silence… but this will only last for a short period of time and the noise will become more pronounced. Sometimes nautilus/ bowflex will request a series of tests with you over the phone... This is so that way they can hear what is happening in real time... Definitely participate if you feel comfortable (this is what I do when I do a house visit). However one thing that can help is if you are able to have somebody take a short video of you duplicating the problem... this can help to send to them when they request on the phone call. 1 thing there gonna ask is to follow the wire to ensure it's not off the rail. I'm almost 100% its not off base by what ur telling me... but they will ask you if you have checked... just fyi
@@TheHandymanJason I appreciate the response. By “bad bearing” would you be referring to the flywheel at the bottom of the unit that has the cable wrapped around it or the grooves of the tension knob…or both maybe? Thanks again greatly appreciate any help you offer
@@cousineddy9702 Normally my bearing issues I've noticed are with the bikes and the Max trainer's I have not replaced a bearing in one of these units yet but what you're telling me sounds similar to what I have experienced... If I showed up to the house today and could not diagnose the issue immediately I would probably be getting on with my dispatch who would forward me over to the Tech Support and they would do a step-by-step analysis maybe even request a video. If with bikes specifically I have noticed this similarity when there is more resistance the Sound will dissipate for a short period of time… you might be experiencing something similar but with the factor of weight... again this is just a hypothesis without seeing the unit.
@@TheHandymanJason Fantastic thanks I’ll call them when biz hours resume tomorrow. That tension handle used to tighten/loosen cable placement. How do I remove that handle to see if it’s damaged on the inside? There is only one screw in the center. I removed that screw which was snug, straight, and not stripped but wasn’t sure how hard I should tog to pop it off?
I'm sorry for some reason I never got the notification that you sent a message to me. Each side is threaded different than the other it sounds to me like you threaded the right side the left or the left side the way you would thread the right. It's very easy to do I've done it a couple of times by accident... Try making sure that you are threatened the correct direction you should be able to feel a light bit of pressure when you pull if you're still noticing the same problem persisting I would expect that you might have popped off of one of the rollers so you would have to follow the cord all the way down-the-line to make sure that the cord is not off of a guiding roller.
I'm sorry been working a rather full time job and crazy hours have not gotten a chance to chat with you yet. Would it be possible … if you still need help… I could do a Google meet with you this Saturday.
Boy that's a tough one sorry didn't see this until just now. Newline I would probably say that you probably have a large mat that's underneath either the front of the machine or the base of the machine and when you're doing any working out it's unbalanced But that's gonna be something very hard to diagnose without even saying it
I have a issues that if u pull the handle down and let go when it gets up the weight plate shakes/ rocks and makes a noise that doesn’t sound too good how do you fix that?
If it doesn't then most likely you have the teeth broken on that little adapter that you should be twisting at the Base. Make sure with pulling the cord it doesn't fix itself If it keeps on releasing no matter what you do call up Bowflex they're going to have to send you a replacement part
My revolution had this same problem and I was able to fix it the same way you just showed. I did notice, however, that one side seems a little weaker than the other. The tension isn’t even on both sides. Any suggestions?
I'm able to retract the cord all the way to the top of the arm. However, the cord does not stay in place and will fall all the way to the ground. Any suggestions?
Carefully watch how I make the chord cord retract and go back into the system there should be teeth on that piece that I am twisting manually If that doesn't click back into place with the teeth the net means that little handle that I'm holding is defective and needs to be replaced
@@TheHandymanJason Thank you for quick reply. I actually took apart the knob to see if the teeth were catching and it appeared to do so. I observed the other side and only thing I could tell is the cord had resistance (like a push pull) to the bands. In my case, it seems that the cord is disconnected from the cam assembly. The knob locks pulley in place. I don't put pressure on the knob to make it engage, only prevent it from going left to right if that makes sense? But as soon as I let go, the cord goes completely to the ground.
@@frankmarino794 lol sorry I don't. In and out of consciousness right now... sick! The original of that video I was going to do a very in depth... Probably should next time I see a revolution and say say if this didn't work look at this video. I could try to step u though it via zoom if you'd like.
I always forget how to do this and have to be reminded; great video!
Thanks!
This video brings back the memories. I bought one in '08 and used it everyday until summer of 2011. My unit had some QC issues from the factory that I wasn't willing to return it for, but it still worked good enough. I had the smaller, more popular "Revolution XP" model which I don't think Bowflex even makes anymore.
Hi, thanks for making the video for adjusting the cables. Ive got the same model but haven't used it in a few years, when pulling on the left side cable it feels like it is dragging on something inside, Ive seen the manual to how to take it a part but was hoping i could fix it with out having to. any suggestions would be greatly appreciated thank you.
Thank you for taking the time to make this video. My cords both came out of the hold stops in the wheel. This helped me put it back to together. Nice cool 110 Deg, yikes.
Thanks for taking the time to comment... glad I could help!
Thanks for the video! I was able to make the adjustment in about 2 minutes. You are awesome!
Awesome... thats why I do what I do!
Glad I could help.
Thank you. I was tightening the cable, but would always end up with just a bit of play on the left side. Giving the pulley a bit more of a turn to cause the pre-tensioning 5 lb plate to rotate slightly did the trick. I was assuming that when the large pulley stopped, that was as far as it should go. Anyway, it’s sorted.
Hey what exactly did you do cause my right side has some play in it, a few inches that I can keep tightened. I use the cam but once I pull on it, every single time, the few inches of play comes back
@@deadlyalliance8281 At about the 1:25 mark, he mentions turning the pulley just a bit more, causing the pretensioning plate to move slightly. This is what I did to take up the last tiny bit of slack and get the locking handle back in place. I probably had an inch or two of slack, max, and this took care of it.
I was using my revolution today and twice, the cable lost tension and the inside engine drive sprung back so hard it broke the rubber stopper in half. The first time this happened, I just tightened the cord again and it worked for....well less than 10 minutes until BANG! happened again. Sounds like a mini gun shot when it springs back so hard like that. I believe but am not 100 certain that the cause of this is....
There is a silver ring inside the engine drive assembly that connects to the bar and fits into the engine assembly itself. I can actually pull off the engine assembly from this ring on the side that this happens on. So my guess is, the engine drive assembly slips away from the machine itself, leaving the ring/bearing there and so the engine drive has nothing to hold it in the position it was before the slippage. Once it slips off mid exersize, it'll disengage tension on the cable, slam back inside the engine drive cover and... Yeah...im calling bowflex tomorrow to see what I can do...
It's hard to tell but my best guess is it probably needs a new spring and the teeth that are inside of the assembly.. call them up and if you can try to get it to duplicate the issue on a short video that always helps.
@@TheHandymanJasonyeah, I'll see what they recommend. Hopefully it's an easy fix cause it's a great machine, providing it works and lasts. Bowflex stuff is always so iffy after a few years of use
@deadlyalliance8281
The revolution though is one of the better ones ... but you are correct sadly
Thank goodness I found this... lol
Do you know how to remove the tension shaft ? I have to move and with the tension shaft I’m unable to take it out of my house it’s to long to go through the door
Do you have a video on cord replacement for the Bowflex Revolution?
No I don't yet... that would be a good one though!
Thank you 🙏
The large pulley moves freely and I can easily use it to manually raise the cable, but the tension knob will not disengage from the pulley, and it only pulls out 1/8 to 1/4 inch. Any recommendations? Thank you in advance.
The tension knob has a strong spring so you may have to get a better grip to disengage it.
THANK YOU
i noticed 1 side has less resistance than the other side, approximately 2kg or around 4-5lbs less resistance than the opposite cable. I was able to test with a suitcase luggage scale. Is this the technique to fix un-even resistance?
This does happen, however it's not supposed to… essentially what you've got going on is most likely your plate of resistance is broken or is not accurate, so you would need to contact bowflex to get a replacement piece.
I have replaced quite a few of the 5 pound screw in resistance, and I've also seen a few of the plates lose their resistance over time.
Regretably, this is not a fix currently, but I tell people that anytime you have a rubber band are you have a resistance rod? It will lose its ability of resistance over a period of time.
Thank you for this video
Glad I could help you
Having an issue with the yellow band staying loose. Any solutions?
Hopefully, I can say this the right way to make it make sense… your yellow band that's on the inside should not be loose, it should be always A little tight.
First, make sure you have your resistant plate mounted on and secured the correct way with the screws that they provided.
Then when you're twisting... and you feel the plate start to turn. Then you are where you need to be… you never want to keep twisting that plate and then secure it because you will not have the ability of doing a full rep.
Some people like the line to have a little bit of slack. I like that line tight consistently so I always do a slight turn and then lock the plate in so the line will not be slack... But that just might be me and my personal preferences.
Bless you 👍👍👍👍
Lol glad I could help
Hi Jason. I hear a creaking plastic sound at the beginning of a movement. It's more pronounced when using heavy loads than light ones. Any ideas?
Thanks
Boy, that could be just about anything!
Your best bet is to have somebody.
Pull the weight each time end while you identify where the sound is coming from.
It could be that screws are missing from plastic or that a bearing is no good or even that a bit of the installation was done incorrect... ive seen it all!
If your still under warranty I would after identifying the location take a short video and share that with bowflex... they sometimes will send a tech like me to swap out the defective part
Hello Handyman Jason, can you help me please. both of the pulleys have the 5lb lock in weight on them, but one of the pulley feels like it has a 20 pound weight on it. I've check everything on it and compared it with the good side, I don't see the issue yet. What do you think the problem is ?
Sorry for some reason this didn't notify me when you sent this reply.
Based off of my experience and not seeing this machine I would guess that 1 of your lines has popped off of the roller or maybe even a bad bearing on one of your rollers
It can really be a pain in the butt trying to figure out that part because you would have to essentially take off all the plastics from the point of origin to the final destination... From an experienced person I can tell you this is similar to hell on earth!
Hopefully this helps!
Had my Bowflex Revolution for 2 years. Hopefully I can fix the uneven strings. Thanks a million
If you follow this carefully you should be able to fix them… I have done at least 20 restringing of the revolution... This video helps you do what You would normally have to pay a licensed technician to do.
Congratulations, I just saved you $100 😉!
@@TheHandymanJason subscribed
keep the videos coming 👍🏿
On just the right side cable it makes a “clunking sound” while in motion (but only at a light weight of 10-15lb). The cable is tracking fine and the yellow tension band is nice and centered without any damage. The sound seems to be coming from the flywheel (that has the cable wrapped around it) although it rotates nice and straight 🤷🏻♂️…so, I wonder if it is those teeth on the tension adjuster knob? It is strange though that as I make the weight heavier it goes away? Was thinking the flywheel or some internal moving part was rubbing but I’m not finding anything. I appreciate your assistance!
I've seen things like this happen a lot and each time it seems the results are from something different.
However most the time when I see a bearing go bad this sound it more obvious... The reason more pressure and the noise goes away is typically pressure on the bad bearing will silence… but this will only last for a short period of time and the noise will become more pronounced.
Sometimes nautilus/ bowflex will request a series of tests with you over the phone... This is so that way they can hear what is happening in real time... Definitely participate if you feel comfortable (this is what I do when I do a house visit).
However one thing that can help is if you are able to have somebody take a short video of you duplicating the problem... this can help to send to them when they request on the phone call.
1 thing there gonna ask is to follow the wire to ensure it's not off the rail.
I'm almost 100% its not off base by what ur telling me... but they will ask you if you have checked... just fyi
@@TheHandymanJason I appreciate the response. By “bad bearing” would you be referring to the flywheel at the bottom of the unit that has the cable wrapped around it or the grooves of the tension knob…or both maybe? Thanks again greatly appreciate any help you offer
@@cousineddy9702 Normally my bearing issues I've noticed are with the bikes and the Max trainer's
I have not replaced a bearing in one of these units yet but what you're telling me sounds similar to what I have experienced... If I showed up to the house today and could not diagnose the issue immediately I would probably be getting on with my dispatch who would forward me over to the Tech Support and they would do a step-by-step analysis maybe even request a video.
If with bikes specifically I have noticed this similarity when there is more resistance the Sound will dissipate for a short period of time… you might be experiencing something similar but with the factor of weight... again this is just a hypothesis without seeing the unit.
@@TheHandymanJason Fantastic thanks I’ll call them when biz hours resume tomorrow. That tension handle used to tighten/loosen cable placement. How do I remove that handle to see if it’s damaged on the inside? There is only one screw in the center. I removed that screw which was snug, straight, and not stripped but wasn’t sure how hard I should tog to pop it off?
@@cousineddy9702 very hard... most techs will not take that on... im experienced and it takes me about 1hr
I follow the steps and hen the little ball gets to the top its just like its locked in place and cant be pulled. everything looks in place
I'm sorry for some reason I never got the notification that you sent a message to me.
Each side is threaded different than the other it sounds to me like you threaded the right side the left or the left side the way you would thread the right.
It's very easy to do I've done it a couple of times by accident... Try making sure that you are threatened the correct direction you should be able to feel a light bit of pressure when you pull if you're still noticing the same problem persisting I would expect that you might have popped off of one of the rollers so you would have to follow the cord all the way down-the-line to make sure that the cord is not off of a guiding roller.
could use your help on a bow flex revolution. you available to help over the phone? willing pay some.
I'm sorry been working a rather full time job and crazy hours have not gotten a chance to chat with you yet.
Would it be possible … if you still need help… I could do a Google meet with you this Saturday.
Will this week be ok?
On leg presses, do you know why the machine would lift a little from the floor (where the wheels are). It seems like it shouldn’t. Thanks!
Boy that's a tough one sorry didn't see this until just now. Newline I would probably say that you probably have a large mat that's underneath either the front of the machine or the base of the machine and when you're doing any working out it's unbalanced
But that's gonna be something very hard to diagnose without even saying it
I have a issues that if u pull the handle down and let go when it gets up the weight plate shakes/ rocks and makes a noise that doesn’t sound too good how do you fix that?
That could be a number of different things.
If it's possible could you do a short video on CZcams then copy and paste the link on this chat?
I did everything and it doesn’t stay in place it just dangles like a broken limb. Help!!!!
If it doesn't then most likely you have the teeth broken on that little adapter that you should be twisting at the Base.
Make sure with pulling the cord it doesn't fix itself If it keeps on releasing no matter what you do call up Bowflex they're going to have to send you a replacement part
My revolution had this same problem and I was able to fix it the same way you just showed. I did notice, however, that one side seems a little weaker than the other. The tension isn’t even on both sides. Any suggestions?
Yeah probably wanna contact bowflex you might have the 5lbs initial weight broken... thats what I would inspect
Funny….since it’s under warranty I had the 5lb stretch packs replaced. Problem solved!
@@mikeeisenberg7764 I thought that was the problem!
I'm able to retract the cord all the way to the top of the arm. However, the cord does not stay in place and will fall all the way to the ground. Any suggestions?
Carefully watch how I make the chord cord retract and go back into the system there should be teeth on that piece that I am twisting manually
If that doesn't click back into place with the teeth the net means that little handle that I'm holding is defective and needs to be replaced
@@TheHandymanJason Thank you for quick reply. I actually took apart the knob to see if the teeth were catching and it appeared to do so. I observed the other side and only thing I could tell is the cord had resistance (like a push pull) to the bands. In my case, it seems that the cord is disconnected from the cam assembly. The knob locks pulley in place. I don't put pressure on the knob to make it engage, only prevent it from going left to right if that makes sense? But as soon as I let go, the cord goes completely to the ground.
If you have a hotline, I don't mind paying you for tech support lol! Bowflex closed for the weekend!
@@frankmarino794 lol sorry I don't.
In and out of consciousness right now... sick!
The original of that video I was going to do a very in depth... Probably should next time I see a revolution and say say if this didn't work look at this video.
I could try to step u though it via zoom if you'd like.
I do this and it keeps getting derailed over and over again
Call bowflex... its probably the retention spring needs replaced then.
@@TheHandymanJason oh thank you very mych
@@choccypushinp2566 no worries hope it works out for you