Roomba Woes

I received a Roomba Discovery as a gift about two weeks ago.  So far, I have been very pleased with it.  It does a good job of vacuuming the entire first floor.  Everything was going well until…

The Problem

Only a few days after we started using our Roomba, the “Home Base” stopped charging the device.  The base was getting power (because the power light would illuminate) and the IR emitter was working (because Roomba could find it just fine).  The problem was that the Roomba would not start charging when the base contacts were connected to the Roomba contacts.  This caused the Roomba to try incessantly to dock itself, each time retrying because it assumed the contacts weren’t lined up correctly.  I assumed the Roomba itself was fine, since it would charge if you plugged the power brick directly into the main unit.

I called iRobot, explained the problem, and they sent me a new retail-packaged base unit (including the power brick); they also told me to just discard the old one.  Unfortunately, that didn’t solve the problem.  Fortunately, I now have two base units, and two power bricks.

The Solution

I called iRobot back and explained that the replacement base did not solve the problem.  They informed me that they’d need to replace the entire Roomba, as there must be something wrong with the unit itself.  The amazing thing is: they didn’t want the broken Roomba back!  They made me detach the “Brush Guard,” which is a plastic retainer that keeps the brushes in place (and also has the serial number on it).  Their reasoning being that they don’t repair Roombas, and without this piece of plastic, the unit was useless.  They instructed me to send the guard back, after which they would send me a replacement Roomba.  As a true geek, I could hardly wait to get off the phone so that I could figure out a way to rig the Roomba to operate without the guard in place.

The Hack

I found a page describing what one person did to accomplish this goal, so I set off to replicate the fix.  I only cannibalized a single wire hanger, half of which I used for a prototype, the other half became the working solution.

Roomba Bracket

The bracket
Bracket Installed

The installed bracket

The bracket alone, as well as the newly-fitted Roomba are pictured above.  I haven’t even mailed the brush guard yet, so I will have a working Roomba while I’m waiting for the new one.  Since iRobot doesn’t supply a new battery, I’m sure another hack will soon follow.  If nothing else, $50 (the cost of a battery) is a small price to pay for a second Roomba!

Category(s): Hardware, Miscellaneous

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