eeprom interference/tampering

Hello

I own a commercial gym where we have several electronic treadmills. Lately those treadmills have started to be have unusual by automatically adjusting the speed and incline levels without the user doing so. This happens on an irregular basis.

I'm suspecting that someone who attends the gym or an employee is tampering with the control units in the treadmills.

I have seen video footage of an atendee holding something that looks like a professional mobile radio (PMR) next to the treadmill's casing where the control unit is.

My question is, can something like a RF transmitter interfere with the eeprom chips on the controller which would be causing the changes in speed and incline?

i.e is it possible to interfere with the eeprom chip using an RF Transmitter like a PMR?

Thanks.

From what I know, no. You cant just use radio waves to alter the setting of such a machine, unless of course, the treadmill features remote setting of some kind.
It is much more likely that the treadmills are set to a programme in which it simulates a hill or various terrain. In such a programme, it automatically adjusts incline, speed and a few other settings.

(why would an employee want to tamper with a treadmill, of all things, is the question...)

Hope it helps,
Michael.

Certainly a strong RF field could upset the electronics, but not in any controllable way - I would suggest you ask the attendee what he was doing, and ban him if required.

mike11298 said:

From what I know, no. You cant just use radio waves to alter the setting of such a machine, unless of course, the treadmill features remote setting of some kind.
It is much more likely that the treadmills are set to a programme in which it simulates a hill or various terrain. In such a programme, it automatically adjusts incline, speed and a few other settings.

(why would an employee want to tamper with a treadmill, of all things, is the question...)

Hope it helps,
Michael.

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Hi Michael,

Thank you for the prompt reply.

Yes the treadmills do have programmes which they follow (speed, incline settings etc), but these changes are happening outside of the programmes.

The technicians from the manufacturers have even changed the control units yet the same problems exists.

They suggested that someone could be using a high powered rf transmitter which might be tampering with the "eeproms".

I was just checking if this was possible, because from what I've read, I don't think eeproms can be tampered with using such methods.

Nigel Goodwin said:

Certainly a strong RF field could upset the electronics, but not in any controllable way - I would suggest you ask the attendee what he was doing, and ban him if required.

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From the video footage his actions do look suspect (directing pmr at the treadmills where the control units are). I prefer not to accuse him of anything without more proof tho.

Is it even possible to have a strong "RF field" in a PMR?

I have seen RF Transmitter detectors are several gadget stores, I assume they would help in identifying the culprit? Like - https://www.zapchecker.com/

ugaboga said:

From the video footage his actions do look suspect (directing pmr at the treadmills where the control units are). I prefer not to accuse him of anything without more proof tho.

Click to expand...

Don't accuse him, just ask him what he's doing - and why.

Is it even possible to have a strong "RF field" in a PMR?

Click to expand...

Place your mobile phone near your computer monitor, then ring the phone, you should see interference on the monitor - why should a PMR be any different?. A PMR may even be higher power than a phone.

I have seen RF Transmitter detectors are several gadget stores, I assume they would help in identifying the culprit? Like - https://www.zapchecker.com/

Click to expand...

If you've got him on video, just ask him.

I have a a few questions.

How old is your equipment?
How many machines exhibit this "phenomonon"?
Is it the same equipment that is changing settings or does it very?
Are the changes repeatable? That is, are the incline levels and speed changing at the same intervals each time? Or is it random?
Have you personally witnessed these changes and have you witnessed it changing at the same angles and rate?
Did you check the programming while experiencing this issue?
Do the machines power down when not in use? If so, EMI is an unlikely cause.

If your systems use eeproms, EMI is an unlikely cause. Even with poor filtering on the controller, interference is unlikely to cause an issue with a eeprom. This are fairly secure devices and requires special instructions for writing (reading, it acts just like a prom).
Are you sure it's uses eeprom? Is there a coin battery on the controller? It's unlikely, but it could be using RAM which is much more suseptable to interference and EMI could be a likely cause.

I you haven't already, try to review the programming while the machine(s) are experiencing this problem, while powered w/o shutting it off. I wonder if it may be using backup memory to restore the programming each time it turns back on. This would only be likely if it's using RAM though. This may be an issue that will require a full dianosis by the mfg.

One thing I failed to mention and should have considered was your site. Could this be the cause? Is your business wired for the load that is demanded? It's possible you could be dropping voltage. You could also have a faulty ground. You might consider having an electrician come out and look at your electrical wiring. But before you do that, you might just take one of the machines to your house and test it there.