iRobot Roomba 560 (iRobot Roomba 560)

Member Name: hworth1

Product:	iRobot Roomba 560
Date:	12/06/09 (201 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cleans so you don't have to

Disadvantages: Dust can get into brush motor assembly, causing motor to burn out

I have owned an iRobot Roomba 560 for less than one month. I was initially absolutely delighted, my house was looking consistently cleaner than ever before. Roomba comes to life when scheduled, leaves it's charging base, vacuums the whole downstairs of my house, & returns to its charging base when finished. To vacuum upstairs, I simply take the unit upstairs, press the 'clean' button & away it goes. It comes with two virtual walls or lighthouses which can either be used to prevent Roomba entering some areas completely, or to ensure one room is completely clean before entering another & then assists Roomba's guidance back to the charging base. However, after less than two weeks, the brushes stopped turning. I contacted Domotec by email who contacted me by phone the next day to say they were sending out a new brush motor assembly which arrived in the post the next day. When I took the unit apart to replace this brush motor assembly, it became obvious what the problem was. Despite emptying the dust bin, cleaning the filter & brushes after every use, there is nothing to stop dust & hair getting in around the motor & gears, eventually stopping it turning and probably causing the motor to burn out. I now routinely disassemble the unit every week to vacuum out the internal workings & brush motor, which is not ideal, but keeps it running perfectly!

Summary: Roomba is great, but needs to be more reliable with less maintenance

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