WooHoo! Great Buy!!

Dead-head · Tue, February 22nd, 2005, 04:56 PM

Ok, so I hope it turns out to be a great buy, anyway. I got the Powerhouse Elite 9000. It's essentially an Impex 9, from what I can tell. It's a Smith Machine with Bench, Lat pulldown, low row, and butterfly attachments. The bench is essentially the ab4050 with leg and preacher attachments. I got it at Dick's for $399.

I went out and bought some of the rubber flooring from Sam's to put under it.

I'll have pictures after I get it setup.

kmfisher · Tue, February 22nd, 2005, 05:14 PM

I think its closer to the Impex 8. That's a nice setup overall. The smith machine is okay (keep it lubed well.. the stores sure don't), but it has the nice 1/2 rack and pulley system. Plus, the bench is great. Also, weight racks help too.

Good luck putting it together!

slush_puppy · Tue, February 22nd, 2005, 10:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dead-head

Powerhouse Elite 9000... ab4050

daciz2 · Tue, February 22nd, 2005, 11:30 PM

can't wait for the pics

Dead-head · Wed, February 23rd, 2005, 08:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kmfisher

Good luck putting it together!

Wow! This thing is a chore to put together. I didn't have a whole lot of time to work on it last night, but when I did get started it was slow going. There are probably no less than 1000 pieces including bolts, washers, and nuts. There were two bearing plates required to put the first three pieces together to form the base and it took me well over an hour to find them :d_mad:. Now that I've got some assembly started, I think it will move faster.

kmfisher · Wed, February 23rd, 2005, 10:10 AM

It took me a while to put together the Tracker 550. Tons of bolts in all different sizes that all looked suprisingly similar. I screwed up with a few early on and had to go back a couple times to recover bolts I needed later.

The one think I would suggest is laying out all the pieces first, and possibly labeling them by setting paper w/ marker under them. It makes it go much faster.

Dead-head · Wed, February 23rd, 2005, 11:03 AM

Here's pdf of the owner's manual.

Owner's Manual

kmfisher · Wed, February 23rd, 2005, 03:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dead-head

Here's pdf of the owner's manual.

Owner's Manual

Well, that doesn't look like fun. The tracker I have had more pages, and smaller drawings. Even then you sit there going "damn, that's a lot". Have you gotten it all put together?

Dead-head · Wed, February 23rd, 2005, 04:07 PM

I barely got started last night. I hope to get a big chunk of it done tonight. It looks like the assembling of the cable attachments might be a whole lot of fun. I'd sure like to have it done by this weekend and get started with a MWF routine next week.

Dead-head · Thu, February 24th, 2005, 12:16 PM

Day 2 was nearly equally as frustrating. I spent most of my time last night doing inventory of what I had. I now think it might all be there.

I'm really frustrated with the machining of the parts. It seems that in a few places where two bolts are required to connect a tube with a plate, the holes are not spaced equally from one part to another. I'm afraid I'm going to have to make some modifications on my own, which will likely void the warranty.

kmfisher · Thu, February 24th, 2005, 02:48 PM

I had that problem. What really helped me was keeping the bolts loose, but on there until the very end. Often times my alignment was just bad, too or I used the wrong bolt. Don't tighten it all up tight until the end, it really helps with aligning everything in position.

Dead-head · Thu, February 24th, 2005, 04:40 PM

That's what really worries me... I've kept things loose, and still can't get them in.

CASABLANCA · Fri, February 25th, 2005, 07:27 AM

Contact the place where you purchased your machine or www.impex-fitness.com

Dead-head · Mon, February 28th, 2005, 08:56 AM

Pictures are in...

Dead-head · Mon, February 28th, 2005, 08:58 AM

You might notice in the last picture, that there is no back board for the butterfly. The holes in the frame are 20cm o.c. and the holes in the board are 25 cm o.c. I'll be calling Impex about that today.

You can also see in the top right picture that the grip on the lat bar is torn, which is another item I hope Impex will replace for me.

kmfisher · Mon, February 28th, 2005, 04:18 PM

How does the smith machine feel? How is the overall sturdiness? Pros/cons yet?

Dead-head · Mon, February 28th, 2005, 09:41 PM

First workout was tonight. Deadlift, pulldown, crunches, and seated row. The lat and row both felt good. I got some graphite lube to keep things moving smoothly.

The structure as a whole feels pretty sturdy.

I really like the bench, very comfortable, very stable.

I called customer service to get the backboard and handle grip taken care of. I think Impex has one full-time employee taking all their customer calls, honestly. It took forever to get through, but the young lady was very friendly. I hope I get things straightened out.

Dead-head · Thu, March 3rd, 2005, 11:19 AM

Tonight I go for squats. This should be the lift that really tests the effectiveness of the machine. Now, granted, I'm not yet squatting 500#, but I'm guessing I'll get a good idea about how comfortable and smooth the ride is.

Dead-head · Fri, March 4th, 2005, 08:46 AM

I did squats last night. It felt real good.

TROY P. · Fri, March 11th, 2005, 12:47 PM

Congratulations DEAD HEAD on your accomplished set up ..

Looks good man, now start lifting that iron. Keep us posted on your progress...