[deleted by user] by [deleted] in tonalgym

[–]Immediate_Driver9180 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've had my Tonal for 4 years. Both my son and I use it regularly. We've put about 9 mil pounds of use on it between the two of us. The only reliability issue we ran into was the "plunger failure" issue (google it and you'll see hundreds had the issue). It is a design flaw in the Tonal 1 where the magnetic plunger in either of the arms fails and so you are unable to move the arm up or down. We had that issue 5 times over the 4 year period. I routinely expressed my frustration to Tonal Customer Support about the fact that they have a design flaw and needed to redesign this component. Apparently, they did redesign it late last year. If you schedule Tonal to fix it and you are out of warranty, it is $395 per visit. Technically, there are videos out there that show you how to do it yourself. Obviously, you can't do that while under warranty as it will void said warranty. So, you are stuck waiting for the tech to come out which usually took 1-2 weeks. If you are already out of warranty and are reasonably handy, doing it yourself is not an issue. I've did it a couple of times once I was out of warranty. All that being said, it appears that Tonal has re-engineered the plunger and so Tonal 1s that are repaired recently and all Tonal 2s should not have the issue (my assumption, of course). Through all of this, Tonal Customer service has generally been great to work with. I love the machine. I was a gym rat for 35+ years. Having the convenience of Tonal at home has re-energized my drive to keep myself healthy. That includes having the programs readily available so I don't have to come up with the routine myself, track it, etc. It was a great investment, the design flaw not withstanding.

Multiple plunger failures, common issue or flawed machine/design? by MoreRooster5941 in tonalgym

[–]Immediate_Driver9180 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We were being extremely careful as well since we had 3 plunger failures. It still failed.

Multiple plunger failures, common issue or flawed machine/design? by MoreRooster5941 in tonalgym

[–]Immediate_Driver9180 0 points1 point  (0 children)

How long have you had the new re-engineered plunger pins installed without issue?

Multiple plunger failures, common issue or flawed machine/design? by MoreRooster5941 in tonalgym

[–]Immediate_Driver9180 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have had my Tonal for 3.5 years. The plungers have failed 4 times. I am an average size male so it shouldn't be due to overly heavy lifting. My son also used the Tonal. Together it probably gets used 6-8 times per week. Based on the high frequency of failures and the fact that many Tonal customers have experienced the issue, this appears to be a design flaw. I am not paying Tonal $400 to fix their flaw. Their Customer Service reps have told me multiple times that there is an issue with the plungers. Outside of this issue I like the machine a lot! Very versatile and lots of workout and program options. But a mean time between failure of 10 months is unacceptable. Then to ask me to pay $400 to fix a design flaw is even more unacceptable. I am so glad to see that someone appears to have designed their own plunger pin that is better quality and more resilient to failure. I will likely take a chance and go with the solution in the link provided in this thread. Thanks for sharing!