Did you hear?…Unexpected speed-up, elevation prompt Vision treadmill console recall

A glitch in the software on the interchangeable Premier treadmill console introduced last year by Vision Fitness has prompted a recall by the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Vision Fitness, of Lake Mills, Wis., in voluntary cooperation with the CPSC has told consumers to stop using the product and has repaired about 480 consoles. The consoles, made in China, were sold in September and October 2005 at specialty fitness dealers on a base for between $1,700 and $3,000.

The defect was discovered after one report by one user in late October 2005, said Josh Macht, national sales director. Company engineers were able to reproduce and track down the error, which was described in detail by the user who had reported both the speed and elevation started increasing to maximum although she hadn’t touched any buttons. It only occurred on two programs that allow a user to program their own workout and only after using it for 30 minutes.

“We’d rather err on the safe side,” Macht told SNEWS®. “We felt the recall was the best thing to do.”

The programming defect meant a user could be suddenly faced with an unexpected acceleration or change in elevation, which could result in a fall. In this case, no injuries had been reported, Macht added, only that “unexpectedly the speed and elevation begin to ramp up.”

Since the Premier was one of three consoles sold interchangeably with two bases, Macht said the biggest problem was tracking down the consoles since not everybody wrote down the serial number of both base and console. Meanwhile, Vision reprogrammed its consoles in stock, shipped replacements to its dealers, and had dealers ship back the ones that needed reprogramming.

Click here to view a picture and the CPSC information.