Ski erg handle(/cable) loses tension during high Watt pulls

[papadopus]

I have recently been experiencing some issues with my Concept 2 skierg (SN: 0416150-2715-430104164).

When I start pulling at high wattages, the left handle starts to lose tension on some pulls. This is a very hard thing for me to describe accurately, but basically what is happening is that after some high wattage pulls I will reach up for my next pull and only feel tension from the right handle, while my left arm is surprised by the lack of tension. This doesn’t happen on every pull and only seems to happen sometimes on higher wattage pulls.

At one point during a previous workout, the left handle lost tension and the cord from the left handle “escaped” the handle and flew back into the cord housing. I had to open up the side of the ski-erg to retrieve the cable and re-attach it to my handle. Both cords still seemed to have tension which led me to believe this might be a possible issue with my left handle? I opened up both handles to inspect but both looked the same to me.

It feels as if during certain pulls, the left hand cable is "slipping" and loses all tension. Almost as if the cable just loses grip on whatever wheel it is supposed to be on, and just zips past with no tension.

I am at a loss to explain what is happening here. Has anyone else experienced this issue before?

[RayOfSunshine]

Sounds awful. Have you contacted C2?

[johnlvs2run]

after some high wattage pulls I will reach up for my next pull and only feel tension from the right handle, while my left arm is surprised by the lack of tension. This doesn’t happen on every pull and only seems to happen sometimes on higher wattage pulls.

Perhaps one of the bungees is not retracting fast enough. That happens routinely on my Skierg, but not to that extent.

At one point during a previous workout, the left handle lost tension and the cord from the left handle “escaped” the handle and flew back into the cord housing. I had to open up the side of the ski-erg to retrieve the cable and re-attach it to my handle. Both cords still seemed to have tension which led me to believe this might be a possible issue with my left handle? I opened up both handles to inspect but both looked the same to me.

The cord must have slipped off the black bracket at the bottom of the handle, which appears to be a different issue.
As I use different handles, I've started wrapping electrical tape around the cords to make sure they stay in place on the brackets.

Definitely contact C2, and let us know what they say.

[papadopus]

Thanks for the replies! I have contacted Concept 2 and they got back to me already. Updating this post for the future Googler's out there.

Reply from Concept 2!

What is happening is the clutch inside that spool is failing. Your machine was manufactured in April of 2015. Shortly after that time we redesigned the spools because we received similar reports. We can send you two new spools to install covered by warranty and no cost to you.