How many roombas have you gone through??

RC Eden Carpet Cleaning · Joined: 03 Apr 2005 Posts: 401 Location: Seattle, Wa USA

My friend is thinking about getting a roomba. He asked if I have had to replace mine and I told him no. However I want to give him a better answer so can you folks tell me how many roombas you have gone through??
Thanks

PeterH · Guest

Still on my first Discovery (bought Oct 04) as are my friends with a second one I got for them.

jonvall · Guest Joined: 06 Sep 2004 Posts: 49

I bought one in September '04 and it's still going strong. I bought one for my Sister-in-law in October '04 and her's is still going strong as well.
Do what many of us have done and buy it from Hammacher Schlemmer. They have a lifetime warranty so you can buy it and never worry about it breaking again!

Dré · Guest

Bought one some 3 months ago. It went "circle of death" after some 2 months of heavy use. Fixed it by using the mod on a site of a member from this forum.

Bought another one some 1 month ago (so the first one wouldn't have to work so hard). Thing died on me yesterday (battery is dead, making clicking noises while being charged). The other (first) roomba has gone "circle of death" since yesterday (so have to clean it's wheel sensors again; for the 3rd time BTW).

Also... On item no. 1 the rubber rotary (beater?) wheel now has a round notch instead of a square (so the motor couldn't rotate it any more). Fixed it by melting a nut on the end (and inserting that in the motor drive part).

Don't get me wrong... When they work, they are great BUT:

- Be prepared to tinker with them A LOT. I thoroughly clean them at least once a week (but still the circle of death pops in every now and then).

- There are some HUGE mistakes in these units. For example the wheel encoder. Any first grade idiot knows that dust and optics aren't the best of friends. A simple hall detector would have been great (very very tolerant to dust) but instead Irobot went for the optic way. Big mistake!

- The rubber "beater" roller has a square notch that simply is too small and not up to the task.

- The wheels make quite a bit of noise. It doesn't have to be that way (my Automower (lawn mower) for instance is as quiet as a whissle. Of course there's a price difference (but then again the Automower is actually reliable...).

- The beater roll (rubber roll, no idea what Irobot calls it), in conjunction with the wire protector, seems to like my doormat very much (soo much it has a few percent in the dustbin every time the unit vacuums).

- The unit has several compartments you, the user, can't reach BUT dust can. All mechanics (even the ones you can't clean without taking the unit apart) of the Roomba are full of dust and lint.

All in all it works like a charm WHEN it works (apart from loving our doormat BUT I can live with that). I can even live with the fact that I have to disassemble the unit completely every month (or more often) to fix the circle dance... BUT... The broken down battery on the 1 month old Roomba did it for me... I'm getting myself a few Trilobites. Why??? Because I like to have things that don't break down at their own free will.

Too bad...

JJ · Guest

Dré wrote: All in all it works like a charm WHEN it works (apart from loving our doormat BUT I can live with that). I can even live with the fact that I have to disassemble the unit completely every month (or more often) to fix the circle dance... BUT... The broken down battery on the 1 month old Roomba did it for me... I'm getting myself a few Trilobites. Why??? Because I like to have things that don't break down at their own free will.

Too bad...

Lot's of good points, but I don't think buying the Trolobites is the answer. Unless of course your Uber-Rich!!!

For me, the answer was much simpler. I bought 3 Roomba Reds and 3 Homebases. Now, if and when one of them acts up I always have 2 working units while waiting for the replacement from iRobot.

I also get to keep my half working units that I can play with whenever they send me a replacement, so eventually I will have an army of Roombas running around my house!!!

pdagal · Guest Joined: 29 Jul 2004 Posts: 9

We got ours in early August 2004. Just today the brushes stopped spinning so iRobot is sending us a replacement. We always kept it clean and the brushes are in good shape and not stripped or melted *shrug* . Customer service was excellent in handling the RMA.

jcl3209@hotmail · Guest

AUTOMOWER???????????

Dré wrote: Bought one some 3 months ago. It went "circle of death" after some 2 months of heavy use. Fixed it by using the mod on a site of a member from this forum.

Bought another one some 1 month ago (so the first one wouldn't have to work so hard). Thing died on me yesterday (battery is dead, making clicking noises while being charged). The other (first) roomba has gone "circle of death" since yesterday (so have to clean it's wheel sensors again; for the 3rd time BTW).

Also... On item no. 1 the rubber rotary (beater?) wheel now has a round notch instead of a square (so the motor couldn't rotate it any more). Fixed it by melting a nut on the end (and inserting that in the motor drive part).

Don't get me wrong... When they work, they are great BUT:

- Be prepared to tinker with them A LOT. I thoroughly clean them at least once a week (but still the circle of death pops in every now and then).

- There are some HUGE mistakes in these units. For example the wheel encoder. Any first grade idiot knows that dust and optics aren't the best of friends. A simple hall detector would have been great (very very tolerant to dust) but instead Irobot went for the optic way. Big mistake!

- The rubber "beater" roller has a square notch that simply is too small and not up to the task.

- The wheels make quite a bit of noise. It doesn't have to be that way (my Automower (lawn mower) for instance is as quiet as a whissle. Of course there's a price difference (but then again the Automower is actually reliable...).

- The beater roll (rubber roll, no idea what Irobot calls it), in conjunction with the wire protector, seems to like my doormat very much (soo much it has a few percent in the dustbin every time the unit vacuums).

- The unit has several compartments you, the user, can't reach BUT dust can. All mechanics (even the ones you can't clean without taking the unit apart) of the Roomba are full of dust and lint.

All in all it works like a charm WHEN it works (apart from loving our doormat BUT I can live with that). I can even live with the fact that I have to disassemble the unit completely every month (or more often) to fix the circle dance... BUT... The broken down battery on the 1 month old Roomba did it for me... I'm getting myself a few Trilobites. Why??? Because I like to have things that don't break down at their own free will.

Too bad...

jcl3209@hotmail · Guest

TROLOBITES????????

JJ wrote: Dré wrote: All in all it works like a charm WHEN it works (apart from loving our doormat BUT I can live with that). I can even live with the fact that I have to disassemble the unit completely every month (or more often) to fix the circle dance... BUT... The broken down battery on the 1 month old Roomba did it for me... I'm getting myself a few Trilobites. Why??? Because I like to have things that don't break down at their own free will.

Too bad...

Lot's of good points, but I don't think buying the Trolobites is the answer. Unless of course your Uber-Rich!!!

For me, the answer was much simpler. I bought 3 Roomba Reds and 3 Homebases. Now, if and when one of them acts up I always have 2 working units while waiting for the replacement from iRobot.

I also get to keep my half working units that I can play with whenever they send me a replacement, so eventually I will have an army of Roombas running around my house!!!