My Scooba's battery died!!

Fraggboy · Posted: June 7, 2008, 11:29 am Post subject: My Scooba's battery died!!

I have always left the Scooba charger plugged in, 'Thinking' that my 5800 had the updated firmware that wouldn't overcharge the battery. I tried to run it in my new place (Moved), and I did the normal things to get Scooby running. She ran for 15 seconds and she played a sad tune, and the power button turned red. I was like :?: So, I turned it off, and back on. The power button was green, and I pressed the clean button again. It immediately turned red, and did the buzzer type sound.

I called iRobot CS, which went pretty pleasant for me. She asked if I had a sticker by the barcoded serail on the body, and I told her no. She asked for the serial # of the charger. I gave it to her. She immediately told me she was going to send out the OSMO with a new battery. I am like, cool!

Just wanted to let you guys know that I think it might be safe after it's fully charged to unplug the charger from the Scooba. I 'think' the people who run the Li-Io batteries are safe from this (Correct me if I'm wrong).

Once I get the the OSMO, and if it doesn't say to return it, I will be more than willing to spread it around the community to help others out here.

vic7767 · Joined: 14 Jan 2006 Posts: 3270 Location: Louisiana

The nice thing about the LI-ion Scooba battery and an un-OSMOed Scooba is the charging treatment will not damage the battery and it will charge properly. However if you have a NiMH Scooba battery and a Scooba that should be OSMOed and you do not disconnect your charger and remove the battery after about a 3 hour charging cycle then you will be doomed to the 5 to 15 minute run times after about 6 months.

bolero1000 · Joined: 15 Mar 2008 Posts: 41

Hi,

Fraggboy wrote: She immediately told me she was going to send out the OSMO with a new battery. I am like, cool!

Just a question, was your scooba still in warranty ? And/or asked you for an invoice or similar ?

A girl in a French forum is trying to get this OSMO patch (trought a person living in Canada) & the Irobot CS asked:
"The original date and location that the Scooba was purchased"

As you possibly know, no scooba yet in Europe, she bought it on Ebay, so no real invoice available.
She's going to write to the seller, but no big hopes he'll reply and he'll provide her a "real" invoice (BTW the warranty is surely expired ..)

If Irobot don't want any "proof" she could use a site that's selling the 5900 (i.e. Allergy Be Gone ), but if they want a proof ... :(

Thanks & Best Regards,
Luciano

THX-1138 · Posted: June 8, 2008, 4:24 am Post subject:

Chris,

Sorry to hear about your problem. It was known that 5900 and certain 5800 Scooba had this problem. I posted it on the "READ FIRST" thread with indications on how to know if your 5900/5800 series Scooba was affected.

It is great that iRobot is providing you with the new NiMH pack but for long term I would suggest going LiION. :wink:

Fraggboy · Posted: June 8, 2008, 6:08 am Post subject: Re: My Scooba's battery died!!

bolero1000 wrote:
Just a question, was your scooba still in warranty ? And/or asked you for an invoice or similar ?

It is still under warranty. She didn't ask me about any invoice. Just the serial # of the charger.

THX-1138 wrote: It is great that iRobot is providing you with the new NiMH pack but for long term I would suggest going LiION.

Nikolai,

You are so right about going Li-Io! Once I have some free time/money I will be purchasing a Li-Io battery for sure!

I did read the "READ FIRST", but I 'thought' my Scooba was unaffected. Turns out, I was wrong. Oh well, I was fortunate enough to still be under warranty. But, even if I wasn't I would be purchasing a Li-Io battery.

newmom · Joined: 28 Dec 2006 Posts: 259 Location: Wisconsin

I am trying to figure out if I have a Lion or Nickel battery in my Scooba. Also what is the deal these days with using the outside charger which I see is being sold again. I thought for a while, the word was not to use the charger and I thought they quit selling it.

Gordon

newmom wrote: I am trying to figure out if I have a Lion or Nickel battery in my Scooba. If you did not buy that battery from one of the three sources being advertised in these forums, yours is NiMH (the stock iRobot type). Quote: Also what is the deal these days with using the outside charger which I see is being sold again. ... I've seen no user data on those more recent Charging Bases. They could be safe -- iRbt has had plenty of time to correct their charging-control circuits. I'm sure the fix is very simple, but becomes a big-deal when thousands are being produced.

Time will tell. We know that iRobot will not say anything about the Charging Base. Once again, owners are the field testers!

newmom · Joined: 28 Dec 2006 Posts: 259 Location: Wisconsin

[quote="Gordon"] newmom wrote: I am trying to figure out if I have a Lion or Nickel battery in my Scooba. If you did not buy that battery from one of the three sources being advertised in these forums, yours is NiMH (the stock iRobot type). Quote: Also what is the deal these days with using the outside charger which I see is being sold again. ... I've seen no user data on those more recent Charging Bases. They could be safe -- quote]

Thanks a bunch Gordon, I appreciate it.

glo69 · Posted: June 12, 2008, 9:35 am Post subject:

Gordon and newmom

As far as I know nothing has changed since this thread http://www.roombareview.com/chat/viewtopic.php?t=6582 was posted. At least there has been no part number change.

I also happen to have a brand new External Base in my possession that I was going to do a quick test on just to make sure it isn't defective (It's headed to France). I don't see any reason I can't add a quick trickle charge measurement to my agenda :)

vic7767 · Joined: 14 Jan 2006 Posts: 3270 Location: Louisiana

Let us not forget that even if there have been no design changes on the external charger for the Scooba NiMH battery, it is still safe to use as long as one removes the battery after a 3 hour charging cycle.

moofar · Joined: 13 Jun 2008 Posts: 1

vic7767 wrote: Let us not forget that even if there have been no design changes on the external charger for the Scooba NiMH battery, it is still safe to use as long as one removes the battery after a 3 hour charging cycle.

Which, one should note, is not what iRobot's documentation stated. Following their recommendations will destroy the battery - somewhat surprising failure of technological understanding, and one that makes iRobot not a great company to buy from in the first 2 generations.