Over 40,000 rowing machines are being recalled in North America due to a potential fire risk.

Utah-based iFit has initiated a voluntary recall of its NordicTrack rowing machines following incidents where the screen console reportedly overheated, caught fire, emitted smoke, melted, and led to notable property damage.

The company estimates that approximately 44,800 of these rowing machines were sold in the United States, with an additional 700 sold in Canada.

There have been eight reported incidents associated with these machines, which were manufactured in China.

The reports detail two instances of fire and six cases where the rower screens either smoked or melted. Fortunately, no injuries have been reported.

iFit disclosed that these incidents have resulted in property damage amounting to at least $6,000 so far.

Customers have been instructed to stop using the recalled rowing machines immediately and to unplug them. 

A screen console on an exercise machine could overheat and ignite due to electrical faults, poor ventilation, or overheating of internal components like power supplies or circuit boards. 

IFit, which is headquartered in Utah, has voluntarily recalled its NordicTrack rowing machine after reports of the screen console overheating, catching on fire, smoking, melting

The recalled NordicTrack rowers have the model number NTRW19147, which can be found on a sticker at the base of the machine.

The recall applies to the model numbers NTRW19147.0, NTRW19147.1, NTRW19147.2 and NTRW19147.3.

These machines are colored black, gray, and white, with ‘NordicTrack’ printed in black on the front legs and ‘RW900’ printed in white on the back legs.

According to iFit, only the older version of this rowing machine is affected.

The rowers were sold nationwide, both in stores and online, from November 2018 to April 2022, for around $1,700. 

Retailers included Best Buy, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Nebraska Furniture Mart, ABT, as well as nordictrack.com and Amazon.

No refunds are being offered. 

Instead, iFit is providing free installation of a new screen console, which can be scheduled online. 

The recall applies to the model numbers NTRW19147.0, NTRW19147.1, NTRW19147.2 and NTRW19147.3

NordicTrack is one of four brands owned by iFit, with the others being iFit, ProForm and Freemotion.

A 2024 survey by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) found that exercise equipment sent almost half a million Americans to the emergency room in 2022.

Roughly 445,642 people visited the hospital in 2022 because of gym equipment, while another 719,335 required treatment for injuries related to basketball and cycling, combined.

In 2021, the fitness giant Peloton recalled 126,000 of their Tread+ treadmills after 72 people reported injuries – including cuts, burns and broken bones. One child died after being sucked into and trapped under the machine.

Stairmaster recalled 3,500 of it’s stair stepper machines in 2018, after some models were found to be accelerating automatically – leading to falls and injuries.