Roomba RIP

[c9]

I forgot to complain about the fact that I appear to have killed our Roomba!

A common practice in our household: bring the Roomba upstairs from its charging station, set it going to clean the living room of pet hair, and then leave for work/movie/friends' house/vacation. Upon return, put Roomba back in charging station.

Recommended practice according to iRobot, Inc.: not that.

You're supposed to have the Roomba charging as quickly as possible after discharging the battery, so leaving for a weekend is a no-no. We did it for a few weekend trips, and when we returned from PEI recently the Roomba was dead (this has happened before) but would not charge at all (which had never happened before).

I left it charging overnight, and no change. Time to worry. I scoured the iRobot website and learned the recommendation above, which I had missed when we got the Roomba. I tried a recommended reset trick which required a 72-hour charge, and no dice. I bought a replacement battery from eBay and tried charging again: no dice. Eeep!

I have contacted iRobot for help, and they think the Roomba's dead. They've offered an Out-of-Warranty exchange option ($153 US incl shipping to Toronto), but there's a company in Montréal that will do a diagnosis for $30 and also do repairs. Is that a smarter option?

I miss our Roomba, and do NOT want to go back to sweeping.

(let's be honest: I do not want to go back to NOT sweeping.)

Comments

[purplemartini.livejournal.com]

We are currently having the debate of whether or not we are going to get Molly maid or a roomba. Where the roomba is cheaper in the long run, the fact that it can be accidentally slayed is a negative. Also, I think we'd be so lazy and just say "we can run the roomba later" whereas when the cleaning lady is coming, you can't put it off.

[c9.livejournal.com]

I found the Roomba so nice because running the Roomba just meant hitting a single button and walking away. It's my fault that I didn't set up the base station, but I plan to do that with the fixed/replaced one. Our friends have theirs under the couch, so it's out of sight and just cleans on the programmed schedule.

One way to think about it: how many weeks of cleaning will you get out of the cost of a Roomba ($300ish in Canada) ?

We're not bad about the rest of the cleaning, just the picking up cat hair dust bunnies, so the Roomba seems perfect for us. If you had a maid then all the kid toys and wires and remotes and whatever wouldn't be an issue I suppose...

[bartok.livejournal.com]

Not forgetting that roomba doesn't sound too environmentally friendly. Sweeping uses no electricity!

All the cool kids are doing it.

[c9.livejournal.com]

It's better to compare against its actual competition: the vacuum. In that match it's better due to the low power requirements.

Sweeping is best, but sweeping can't actually do what the Roomba does.

[bartok.livejournal.com]

sweeping can't actually do what the Roomba does

annoy the cats?

[c9.livejournal.com]

Precisely!

(also go under the couches, and even cover areas multiple times and work while I'm away!)

[amnewsboy.livejournal.com]

I had no idea those things could be "killed" like that.

[c9.livejournal.com]

I've realized that it may not have been just that. The thing was used, and two years old, which is approaching a common lifespan for older models I've learned. So it could actually be a natural death. :)

[scottyt2.livejournal.com]

Actually, it sounds like it just needed a new battery. Not sure how easy those are to get for a Roomba though.

[c9.livejournal.com]

Already tried that - they're easy to get, but not cheap. The battery was not the problem, sadly.

[scottyt2.livejournal.com]

But it has to be the battery. Otherwise I don't sound suitably smug and superior. :/