Concept2 Forum

After a row, I often get deposits like these on the rail of my rower:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/JcWEpHvBnnQc3pNSA

I'm not sweating on the rower or dropping anything on there, and I clean them thoroughly off the rail and the top rollers with Dawn dishwashing liquid on a wet face cloth.

But they keep coming back. Would new top rollers solve this problem? My Model D is fairly old and I already had to move the bottom rollers to reduce seat wobble.

Mike Taglieri

Nothing you can do about it, other than cleaning the rail (and the rollers if necessary) before or after a workout. I do it before, to also take off any accumulated dust since I last rowed.

They're very common, and as far as I know, everyone gets them. (I don't know exactly what they are, but others here will.)

When I use my Model C at home I use glass cleaner (generic Windex) and a paper towel. On the Model E at the gym I use the anti-bacterial wet-wipes they have in abundance. Neither approach seems to damage the rail or the rollers.

Its the stainless steel slowly oxidising and it comes off on the rollers.

Get a stainless saucepan or frying pan, even if its clean the water goes black if you hit it with a scourer.

The rollers are a hard material, its just wear and new rollers will not change it.

Just wipe the slide and the rollers clean, I used to do it before every row using just a damp dish cloth, no need for detergent or anything.

Carl Watts wrote: ↑

November 17th, 2023, 10:15 pm

Just wipe the slide and the rollers clean, I used to do it before every row using just a damp dish cloth, no need for detergent or anything.

Exactly what I do since I got my erg Jan '23. Also better for the environment.

Must be a mix of blood sweat and tears, plus whatever's in the rollers, graphite, MS. What's odd is it never ends.

jamesg wrote: ↑

November 18th, 2023, 3:22 am

What's odd is it never ends.

In fact, it's a bad, bad sign if it does stop accumulating - that means that the erg is only building up dust, not meters.

Ombrax wrote: ↑

November 18th, 2023, 5:46 am

jamesg wrote: ↑

November 18th, 2023, 3:22 am

What's odd is it never ends.

In fact, it's a bad, bad sign if it does stop accumulating - that means that the erg is only building up dust, not meters.

Hahahahaha

After every workout, I clean the rail with a non-acidic glass cleaner I get from Sainsbury's. Prior to beginning a workout, I always make sure there's no dust or muck on the rail. My erg is kept under a C2 cover when not in use.

What Carl said; no cleaners, just water. Plus, I use my finger wrapped in the damp towel to clean the rollers every row, too. I wedge my wrapped finger between the roller and rail (four times, once for each roller contact point), roll the seat back and forth a few times, then do the same thing with a dry part of the towel. It's easy to do this before I even get off the machine after the workout.

If I simply wipe the sweat from the rail after use, I get no accumulation.

If the wheels feel lumpy I wipe them too -- just hold a rag to the wheel and roll it back and forth.

My Model D is now over 20 years old, and I've never needed to use cleaner.