Strange problem

tum · Joined: 26 Apr 2008 Posts: 41

My 570 is dead :-(

It stopped midway through a cleaning cycle and played music I'd never heard before. I started it up again and it went for about a minute before jerking around a lot (going back and forwards) and then finally died whilst playing some music. The music it was playing was hard to recognised because it was actually playing about two or three times slower than it should!

Now the guy won't evem turn on ...no lights, no nothing :-(

I've tried resetting, removing the battery etc...no luck

tum · Joined: 26 Apr 2008 Posts: 41

After trying lots of things to fix him, I finally disassembled him and cleaned out all his innards (especially the circuit board). He works again!

Weird. I guess there was some short on the main board.

bobnielson · Joined: 12 Jun 2007 Posts: 275

I don't have a 5xxx but several 4xxxs. I am wondering how much "stuff' can really get inside the roomba to stop it dead like that??!! Was it hair or just common dirt that all of us have? When, or even if, I get a 5xx there has got to be a lot better job of building a roomba by iRobot. If the insides of the circuitery is as open as that then I will stick with my reliable 4xxs.

vic7767 · Joined: 14 Jan 2006 Posts: 3099 Location: Louisiana

Bob, don't know how far down that Roomba was really taken but here is a link to my teardown of the 535. From the overall design and modular construction of the 5XX series dirt and debris will have a much more difficult time accessing the PCB portion of the robot.

http://vic7767-robotmods.blogspot.com/

tum · Joined: 26 Apr 2008 Posts: 41

Ok, I spoke too soon.

It failed several times more and now I can't get it to come back. The only thing I can think of that would cause this is bad solder joints of a bad component.

Both of those would take ages to diagnose :-(

Does anyone have any ideas?

igors48 · Joined: 17 Apr 2008 Posts: 57 Location: Ukraine

tum wrote: My 570 is dead :-(

I started it up again and it went for about a minute before jerking around a lot (going back and forwards) and then finally died whilst playing some music.

May be check front bumper and cliff sensors and it`s connection cables?

GOOD LUCK!

thermidorthelobster · Joined: 01 Jan 2007 Posts: 16 Location: UK

The music it was playing as it faded out wasn't "Daisy, Daisy" by any chance? :shock:

fancyfreewv · Posted: May 12, 2008, 1:26 pm Post subject:

Call IRobot instead of asking on the forum. It's under warranty and they will either diagnose or replace it for you.

wsngmartin · Posted: May 12, 2008, 5:29 pm Post subject:

tum's a kiwi

tum · Joined: 26 Apr 2008 Posts: 41

thermidorthelobster wrote: The music it was playing as it faded out wasn't "Daisy, Daisy" by any chance? :shock:

Haha, yeah that would be scary :-)

I've been reading the irobot forums and at least 3 other people have had the the same symptoms on their 5XX series:problem:

Totally Dead (no lights or sounds)
Drunk movement and sounds before death

G3LHQ · Posted: May 12, 2008, 6:27 pm Post subject: english sense of humor

Hi Tum
The "daisy daisy" music question cracked me up
I love your web site by the way.
Maybe is all the tape wrapped around your 570 or you may have inadvertantly pulled a wire off when fitting the bearings
I liked your Robonova RN-1 humanoid robot did you build it ?

I stripped my 5 month old brush gear box on a 4xxx (no hairs)
I have decided not to buy the 5xxx series
good luck

tum · Joined: 26 Apr 2008 Posts: 41

G3LHQ wrote: Hi Tum
The "daisy daisy" music question cracked me up
I love your web site by the way.
Maybe is all the tape wrapped around your 570 or you may have inadvertantly pulled a wire off when fitting the bearings
I liked your Robonova RN-1 humanoid robot did you build it ?

I stripped my 5 month old brush gear box on a 4xxx (no hairs)
I have decided not to buy the 5xxx series
good luck

Yeah, I built the basic RN-1 from a kit. I added the movable head, IR eyes, bluetooth, accelerometer. He walks around the house pretty autonomously now. I'll have to upload a video soon :-).

Do you know if the roomba turns on (responds to button presses and shows lights) with just the charger connected and no battery? I'm trying to figure out if this is a mainboard problem or a battery temperature sensor problem.

I'm guessing I have to buy a new mainboard from roombaexchange. I've taken the current one out and carefully examined it but can't find anything obviously wrong but it won't turn on with the battery connected nor with the power adapter.

I miss my roomba :-(

G3LHQ · Posted: May 13, 2008, 5:03 am Post subject: battery problem ?

Hi Tum
I took my battery out and plugged in the charger and no lights etc
just dead.It looks like the battery needs to be in circuit.
Have you checked your battery connections.

tum · Joined: 26 Apr 2008 Posts: 41

G3LHQ wrote: Hi Tum
I took my battery out and plugged in the charger and no lights etc
just dead.It looks like the battery needs to be in circuit.
Have you checked your battery connections.

Hi G3LHQ,

Thanks for that bit of info! If you are able to could you please let me know the resistance between the two temperature sensor pads on the battery? They are the smaller of the 4 connector pads (don't do this if you don't know what you're doing tho!).

Thanks :-)

G3LHQ · Posted: May 13, 2008, 6:02 am Post subject:

Sorry my battery is a 4xx series without sensors, I don't own a 5xx series
Maybe someone else can help
cheers

G3LHQ · Posted: May 13, 2008, 6:37 am Post subject: working again

Hi Tum
I thought you would like to see your 570 working again looks like the same carpet (I like the cat)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ar4Ao1aLECo

G3LHQ

tum · Joined: 26 Apr 2008 Posts: 41

G3LHQ wrote: Hi Tum
I thought you would like to see your 570 working again looks like the same carpet (I like the cat)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ar4Ao1aLECo

G3LHQ

Haha. Good find. That's my cat, RN-1 and also my 570 before it went to the dusty carpet in the sky.

RoombaExchange · Joined: 21 Aug 2006 Posts: 1187 Location: Florida USA

Sorry Tum, I don't think I answered that from your email, it should be 10K.

tum · Joined: 26 Apr 2008 Posts: 41

RoombaExchange wrote: Sorry Tum, I don't think I answered that from your email, it should be 10K.

Hi Chris,

Thanks for all your help (not to mention the great service you provide at roombaexchange). I'm sorry about not having replied to your helpful email yet.
My battery reads around 13K. I think that means it's reading a colder temperature than yours so the robot should be accepting that fine.

Based on all the info I've gathered, I think my battery is probably ok and the problem is most likely with the mainboard. I'm now weighing getting a new M/B or getting a new 570 (thus getting the mainboard as well as accessories and spare parts).

Decisions decisions... :?

tum · Joined: 26 Apr 2008 Posts: 41

Just an update:

I think I've nabbed the problem and will write up my experiences and post it on my blog and here once I confirm that it really is the problem this time (and won't make me feel stupid when the roomba dies again!)