Life of battery before no longer chargeable.

Gloria · Guest

An engineer friend, when I was telling him about the Roomba, told me it may not have a long life! I have read reviews that mention 8 months! If this is the case, how much or can a buyer replace with a new battery? My cell phone acted that way and I could no longer purchase a new battery (obsolete). What do users have to say? :(

Rudi · Guest Joined: 24 Nov 2004 Posts: 16

Gloria wrote: An engineer friend, when I was telling him about the Roomba, told me it may not have a long life! I have read reviews that mention 8 months! If this is the case, how much or can a buyer replace with a new battery? My cell phone acted that way and I could no longer purchase a new battery (obsolete). What do users have to say? :(
Perhaps you need to clarify your question a bit:
- What is the life expectancy of Roomba's battery
- What is the life expectancy of Roomba
- Can batteries be replaced?
- What type of cell phone can clean a room :-)

Roomba can be expected to live many years, provided it is maintained regulary. Long dogs hair can ruin the cleaning mechanism if they are not removed weekly.

Roomba's battery is an ordinary (but big and heavy) battery that can be recharged about a thousand times. The battery can be replaced after that.

Apart from that, there are a lot of postings on this and other forums of users having problems with their Roomba. Thus is the nature of a forum, you visit those if you want to buy a product, or have problems with it. Very few people return once the product has been bought and there are no problems. Furthermore, more than A MILLION Roomba's have been sold the last couple of years. So, if you divide the 50-odd Roomba's with problems by the million sold, hardly 0,01 percent of the Roomba's sold are giving problems.

Rudi

Rick · Guest

The original model Roomba was notorious for the batteries dying prematurely, It seemed that the battery would start to die after a year of daily use.

The new models use a higher power battery and charging system which is supposed to extend the lifespan of the battery but it is still too new to tell how long they will last. Theoretically, the battery should last for roughly 2-3 years if used daily, but until that time comes it's anyones guess.

Worst case scenario, if your battery dies in less than a year iRobot will replace it free under warranty. After that you can buy a replacement for around $50.

Roomba Accessories

Rick

ssharp · Guest

The Sharper Image offers replacement batteries for the Discovery Series with a 1, 2, or 3 year extended warranty. Well worth the purchase, as the batteries, like all other batteries have a limited life expectancy.

Guest · Guest

I purchased the new Roomba Discovery for Christmas, it lasted 30 minutes. So, I placed it on the rechargable home base, watched the lights on the top, after three hours the light turned green. Thinking one could leave it on the recharger base I left it there. Tne next day the light was red and no matter what I do the battery won't recharge and now my Roomba just sits there. What do I do? Rob S. :oops: :cry: :twisted: :evil:

Rick · Guest

Not only can you leave the Roomba on it's home base after it's charged, it is actually recommended that you do so.

It sounds like you ran the Roomba right out of the box without charging it first, which might have caused your problem. Pull the battery out and hold the Power button down for 1 minute to totally discharge the Roomba. Then reinsert the battery and put it back on the home base. When the light turns green again it should work fine.

Rick

kendeall1950 · Guest

The first roombas were provided with a battery pack that was done on the cheap and had a marginal quality charger. A new company is now supplying the battery pack and the charger has been through a redesign.