Roomba acting weird.. is it because of the dog/cat fur?

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smaz

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Joined
Mar 31, 2012
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I have an iRobot vacuum and it started going backwards in circles!!! It's frustrating, there's lots of cat hair and dog fur in the brushes and I clean them regularly. Is this causing my vacuum to go crazy??? Does anyone know how to fix this??
 
Well...

Firstly, a picture or model number would be better, and secondly, blast some compressed air where the bumper is!
P.S. I attached a link to show you what you should do if that does'nt work! Don;t worry if thats not the same Roomba!
If none of this works, go to robotreviews and post there as they have more smartacles about robots! :P

http://mysteryroad.blogs.com/photos/fixthecircledance/xintroroomba_3549.html
 
I know nothing about Roombas, but a little about autonomous robots, if they have sensors on the wheels (kind of like how older balled computer mice have those windmill sensors) or around the base, and they're knotted or clogged up with hair or dirt, that could be causing it to go round in circles, a thorough cleaning out may be needed, and not just of the brushes... :)

It's one of the reasons I don't like the idea of these Roombas and their other brand equivalents, in reality they're just an expensive gadget, and from what I've heard about them, high maintenance too with failed batteries, cleaning them out, freeing them when they trap themselves in a corner, it'd just be easier tying a vac's PN to a dog and letting it wander round the room... :S
 
Sounds familiar

It's why I gave up on my Roomba. They can't handle long pet hair. The dog hair at our place would get wrapped around the swivelling front wheel axle within minutes of use so that the wheel wouldn't spin freely, just sort of scrape along the floor. Plus always having to tear or cut it away from the brushroll wasn't fun either.
Vacuum first before Roomba.. no thanks.
 
Another unfortunate problem with the Roomba is its inability to deep-clean carpets the way a conventional vacuum cleaner can. When Consumer Reports tested the Roomba several years ago, they found that its carpet cleaning performance was far below even the lower-rated uprights and powernozzles. It was found to do an.acceptable job of cleaning bare floors, but took far longer to do it than the conventional cleaners it was compared to (nearly half an hour for the Roomba, only about three minutes for the upright and canister cleaners.) Another problem presented itself when the Roomba was used on a fringed area rug on a wood floor. When the Roomba rolled off the rug and then tried to.roll.back on, the fringe would.catch in either its revolving.brush or its wheels, and had to be freed.manually by the owner.

Please understand that I am not bashing the Roomba by any means. I applaud the thought behind the cleaner, but it does need quite a bit of.tweaking before it can truly compete with our current vacuum cleaners. It helps to realize that a number of Pre-Hoover electric vacuum cleaners weren't very successful, due to their very large, heavy motors and fans, which accounted for much of their excessive weight and bulk. Furthermore, those cleaners left much to be desired as far as efficiency was concerned. But, as the technology advanced and the components were simplified, vacuum cleaners became much lighter and easier to handle, and their efficiency improved markedly. As a result, they rapidly replaced brooms and carpet sweepers as the accepted standard of carpet and floorcleaning. Perhaps one day, with that same technological advancement, we will see a truly effective, efficient robotic vacuum cleaner that would do the Jetsons proud.
 
The far superior Electrolux Trilobite didn't suffer from clogged brush, wheels or castors.

And it didn't suffer from electro-statically attracted dust either.
 
Thank-you so much for your replies. I have a 530 Roomba. Since my last post I have done some research and came across a website that sells repair kits for my Roomba problem. I have since ordered a solder free kit to repair my poor lil Roomba. I will report back later with results.

http://eesolutions.ca/roomba_repair_kit.html
 

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