tunstallhill

Hi

I have a Wahoo Kickr that i have bought second hand and its making a very loud kind of 'jet engine' whirling noise when i use it, getting worse when i increase power and cadence

does anyone have an idea what it might be? i've tried taking off the belt and putting it back on and tensioning it properly but i had no effect.

i've also tried to contact Wahoo directly with no response. I've shown the recording to a few people who have similar turbos and i'm assured that its definately not supposed to sound like that

any help is much appreciated. thanks

unterhausen

Do you know what year it is? There were some years with a noise problem. I think people have come up with fixes.

tunstallhill

its 2017 i'm pretty sure

unterhausen

The internet tells me that's probably a bad bearing. If you are a little handy, you can replace them without too much work.

tunstallhill

Yeah I'll be able to do it , can't seem to find a video guide online though

I've ordered a new belt on the advice of the Wahoo service guy .. but personally I don't think that is the problem.

I'll try it first then order a new bearing

I've looked all over online and can't find any other mention of the noise that I'm experiencing

unterhausen

There are lots of reports of them squealing, but yours is definitely the worst I have seen. Apparently you can diagnose belt issues by putting water on the belt The 2018 models (I think) had an undersized 5mm key that could cause belt misalignment problems. But maybe you got one that has the same problem.

tunstallhill

just took delivery of my new belt this morning and fitted it, it appears to have made it worse if anything. new video below with the new belt on.. (i've left the cover off to see if theres anything stands out that might be wrong). it sounds like the noise is coming from the tension roller area, but its difficult to pin point

spelger

that is an interesting sound. have you tried lubing the bearing? mine was making a bit of noise and adding lube quieted it up. been running fine since then. no, it did not sound exactly like yours thojugh,

tunstallhill

I can't find a guide online to remove the bearing . It's actually a 2016 Kickr Gen2 (not 2017)

I'm apprehensive about opening it up without some sort of guidance. There is a cap on the outside of the fly wheel I can't seem to get it off but I'm guessing that is where the thru axel is it get the bearing out

The guys at Wahoo said they are having another look at it

Ive got a feeling they are going to say that it's supposed to sound like that , it's 7 years old after all

spelger

mine is a newer model. i looked for a better pic but this is the best i could find on my phone. the tensioning bearing is what needed lube for me. i just shot it with silicone lube until it was quiet. easy for me to say but make sure the tension force on the belt is not too much. don't know how wahoo determines this.


. needed to do it twice.

tunstallhill

Spot on thanks for that I'll try it. I'm not sure how exactly to determine the tension but one video I watched said you should only be able to twist the belt to 45degree.. if you can twist it sideways 90degree then it's too slack

I notice on tours that the tensioner seems very far away from the bottom/main gear. It's very close on mine

bblair

I have a KickR Snap, wheel-on type, with a similar problem. Out of warranty, I am sure, but Wahoo sent me a new drive unit. Not the whole trainer, just the fly wheel/controller assembly. Easy instructions to swap and they told me to just toss the old one.

Hopefully, they'll do that for you too.

hayden52

This was a known problem with the early Kickrs. I had mine replaced with a new one after contacting Wahoo. I believe it is a bad bearing; when I had mine I took it apart and re-lubed the bearing, and it made it better, but it still squealed. Taking the unit apart is not so difficult; the problem may be finding a new bearing. You may be able to order one from Wahoo.