how much should it suck up?

will381796 · Joined: 28 Mar 2008 Posts: 28

Hello there. I have a one month old Scooba 5800. I am curious as to what percentage of water should be picked up by this bad boy? During my last run, I filled the tank w/ 2 cups of water and the appropriate amount of scooba juice. Post-run I had an empty clean tank and only one cup of dirty water. That's 1/2 of the water that the scooba put down that is not being picked up. I am running this on very smooth linoleum floors, so its not an issue of uneven floor surface making it unable to pick up the water. Any idea if this is normal or could I be having a problem with the suction?

Fraggboy · Posted: May 5, 2008, 11:55 am Post subject:

When you place the Scooba down ready to start a mission, take a look at the black squeegees and make sure they are straight and not wavy. That will have an affect on the suction. Also make sure when you clean out the dirty tank to rinse it out with hot water a few times. It acts like a wet/dry vacuum. If the ball is stuck it hinders the vacuum.

The Scooba will leave behind some water on the floor. Every Scooba is different in how much water it will pick up.

desh · Joined: 03 May 2008 Posts: 6

I've found that my fully filled (4 cup) Scooba 5800 picks up about 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 cups on a very lightly textured linoleum floor when finished.

It's about a month old and has finally gotten to the point where it finishes the clean tank before complaining about the battery.

I've been meaning to call iRobot to see if this is typical, but I would admit that my floors seem cleaner. Probably doesn't hurt that I run it every other day.

bobnielson · Joined: 12 Jun 2007 Posts: 275

I have a 380 and it really picks up most the water it puts down. I guess it depends on the surface. I have a smooth tile with grout. My floor is dry within 5 minutes of the end of a cleaning tank. I really would expect most of them to pick up at least 3/4 of what they put down. Most of the time I use white vinegar with a drop or 2 of dishsoap which cleans a lot better than the scooba juice and make little or no suds the scooba juice does.

bolero1000 · Joined: 15 Mar 2008 Posts: 38

Hi,

Just curious, is there any relation in the "suck rate" with the hardness of water ?

Related to that, any advice for my place with a medium (15 to 25 TH) hard water ?
Run the scooba once in a while with vinegar perhaps ?

Ciaooooooooo,
Luciano

bobnielson · Joined: 12 Jun 2007 Posts: 275

After 2+ years of scooba use here is what I think - 2 cents worth! I still have 2 big bottles of scooba juice left from my original purchase. I think they included 4 bottles. I have medium to soft water based on what the water spring up the hill is putting out. I soon learned that the reason the cleaning tank did not get emptyed is because the scooba juice makes suds in the tank. I read someone using vinegar (about as much as a scooba juice cup could hold) and getting more run time and an empty cleaning tank at the end of a run. Sure enough, I got about 5-10 minutes more run time and the floor started to really shine. I also fill the cleaning tank with hot water before each run and rinse the dirty tank with hot water after each run. Then that time of year when the spring water got 'harder' I put a few drops (VERY few) of dish soap and that turned out to be the best of all. I think this solution is self cleaning - meaning the scooba gets more of the water up in the suction and all the wet parts stay cleaner for improved suction for water and dirt removal.

longhair · Joined: 19 Feb 2008 Posts: 60

Very interesting, Bob. How could changing the solution make the Scooba run longer? I can see where it might change the characteristics of how the bot put down solution and sucked it up, but I don't understand how that might make it run longer. Less friction from the vinegar and/or diswashing soap?

bobnielson · Joined: 12 Jun 2007 Posts: 275

Hard or even medium hard water leaves a little of itself (the minerals that make it hard) behind. If you haven't seen what hard water can do to pipes or even the kitchen sink then there is no use trying to explain this. I have heard converstations on this board about others who's tubing and tank was crusting up with hard water deposits doing all kinds of things to get rid of the deposits. My first scooba got so much hard water on the air pump fan with all the other stuff that it picks up just stopped going. To keep all the internal plumbing going at full speed in the scooba is a constant job. Is the vinegar and a little dish soap kinder to the internal plumbing? I don't know - I have followed the advice of others that have "Gone Before" and have longer lasting scooba and roombas. Do what you think is right.