How to Clean the Concept 2 Rowing Machine

I’ve rowed over 8 million meters on my Concept 2 Rowing Machine. I’ve oiled the chain a number of times, but I wondered about how dirty it was inside. The Concept 2 website says to clean the flywheel every 250 hours and I’ve rowed for nearly 1,000. I knew it was time to open and clean the flywheel, I was a little afraid it was difficult and, not being mechanically minded, I was concerned I wouldn’t get it back together again.

First I checked the drag factor. This is a number for the rate at which the flywheel is decelerating. If dust particles settle on the flywheel your drag factor will be lowered. A brand new Concept 2 erg will have a drag factor of 90-100 at the 1 damper setting, and about 210 – 220 at the 10 setting. My drag factor was 69 on 1 and 120 on 10. I really needed to clean it, I could tell.

How to Find the Drag Factor on a PM2

1. Turn the monitor on

2. Wait for the zeroes to be displayed

3. Press ready and rest together

4. Take a few strokes and the PM will display the drag factor

To open the flywheel I had to undo just 4 screws. They were easy to unscrew and remove and the cover came off very easily. I also took off the wire mesh and cleaned that too. That had lots of dirt and hairs attached to it.

Inside was thick dust. I was surprised at how much dust had collected over the years. I tried vacuuming inside, but it just didn’t work. In the end I cleaned most of it with wet wipes.

I put the erg back together, I had a little trouble getting the wire mesh exactly back in position and had to ask a family member to hold it while I replaced the screws. It took a little while, but wasn't what I'd call difficult, and certainly not as bad as I'd feared.

Then I retested the drag factor, it was 80 on 1 (up from 69) and 210 on 10 (up from 120). Wow! That was a huge difference. I've resolved not to leave it so long next time.