Re: Roomba 570 problems

[ddl@danlan.*com (Dan Lanciani)]

In article <YoWdnQaXUIu1M4LVnZ2dnUVZ_uKpnZ2d@xxxxxxx>, ROBERT_GREEN1963@xxxxxxxxx (Robert Green) writes:
| "Dan Lanciani" <ddl@danlan.*com> wrote in message
| news:1347996@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
| > I decided it was finally time to try a Roomba so I got a 570 from
| > Hammacher Schlemmer.  It worked for about an hour total and then
| > one of the wheel modules seemed to lose the ability to move in a
| > forward direction.  This made the Roomba turn in a tight circle
| > until it gave up.  There was nothing obviously mechanically wrong
| > with the wheel module (it turned freely by hand) and when the Roomba
| > tried to turn it the wheel did stiffen up (as determined by my hand).
| > Maybe part of a bridge driver had failed?  Anyway, Hammacher Schlemmer
| > exchanged the whole package for a new one.
|
| FWIW, in reading up on your unit this weekend, it seems there is a tendency
| for hairs, especially long ones, to wrap themselves tightly around the brush
| and wheel shafts and trigger the motor stall sensors.

I removed the wheel module; there was no obvious mechanical problem.

| If you put the unit on a table ledge so the cliff sensors sense "solid
| land," you can put a wheel in each palm and guesstimate the torque.

I did quite a bit of that.  When it wanted to turn the wheel forward it
managed to tense it up a bit but nothing more.  Backwards worked.  I
tried controlling it with the remote as well.  My first guess would be
that part of the driver circuit had failed.

| http://forums.irobot.com/irobothome/board/message?board.id=80&thread.id=2389
| &view=by_date_ascending&page=2
|
| talks about brush problems.  Do you have two different size roller brushes
| and are they bristle or rubber paddlewheel style with four vanes?

One brush, one rubber paddle wheel

| It seems
| that iRobot replaces bristle brushes with rubber flapped ones when owners
| complain.

Apparently they replace the entire brush module quite a bit, but I don't
think it would have helped in this case.  The motor wasn't even trying to
turn.  I suppose it could have burned out, but again it felt like a driver
failure.

| I've gathered that a lot of problems surface in the first few runs of new
| ownership due to the typically high initial "dirt load" in the house.

I would have hoped that all the drivers were protected against even complete
motor stalls.

| Let us know what happens.

I have unit #3.  I haven't run it much yet; I'm sort of afraid to.  If
things don't settle down after six months (when the free shipping stops)
I'll probably give up...

				Dan Lanciani
				ddl@danlan.*com