We're Moving!

Image
Click for more info.

Roomba vacuum cleaner?

Discussions to express your inner nerd.
User avatar
cortman
MoT Member
Posts: 1027
Joined: Tue Dec 18, 2018 5:57 pm
Location: Missouri
Has thanked: 10044 times
Been thanked: 3892 times
Contact:

Re: Roomba vacuum cleaner?

Post by cortman »

Sorry to hear this [mention]BostonCharlie[/mention] . Best wishes.

We finally got a robot vacuum this Black Friday, and I have to say we are really blown away with it. After exhaustive reviewing I decided to go with Eufy over Roomba simply because of the better ratings and fewer stories of low quality parts and bizarre unexplainable problems. We got the Eufy G30 and it has worked incredibly well. Cleans our rugs, carpets, hard floors, everything, really well.
I got the extended 3 year warranty with it, so I'm hopeful that will help against any future repair problems, but if it keeps performing the way it has I can hardly imagine life without it.
User avatar
BostonCharlie
MoT Member
Posts: 3256
Joined: Tue Dec 18, 2018 5:26 pm
Location: Texas
Has thanked: 20583 times
Been thanked: 12693 times

Re: Roomba vacuum cleaner?

Post by BostonCharlie »

Thank you everybody for your advice! I am in for the refurbished 980, which came to $280 after tax, incl. 2-year mfg. warranty and 30-day (buyer pays) returns. The reviews by [mention]pgcity[/mention] convinced me to go for the better model. I applaud [mention]cortman[/mention]'s venturing outside the box, but I feel tentative enough as it is to follow him.

I am approaching this is an experiment, since it is so far outside of my experience. Before pulling the trigger I had to admit that not enough vacuuming has occurred around here the past couple weeks. (This is mostly due to the scheduling required since there are three others in my household -- vacuuming is so noisy.) I will post my impressions here as I figure out how it could work in my battle against the mess. I will return it if it doesn't work out.

roomba-2.jpg
pgcity
MoT Member
Posts: 930
Joined: Thu Feb 28, 2019 12:46 am
Has thanked: 3608 times
Been thanked: 3155 times

Re: Roomba vacuum cleaner?

Post by pgcity »

BostonCharlie wrote: Thu Dec 17, 2020 9:47 am Thank you everybody for your advice! I am in for the refurbished 980, which came to $280 after tax, incl. 2-year mfg. warranty and 30-day (buyer pays) returns. The reviews by @pgcity convinced me to go for the better model. I applaud @cortman's venturing outside the box, but I feel tentative enough as it is to follow him.

I am approaching this is an experiment, since it is so far outside of my experience. Before pulling the trigger I had to admit that not enough vacuuming has occurred around here the past couple weeks. (This is mostly due to the scheduling required since there are three others in my household -- vacuuming is so noisy.) I will post my impressions here as I figure out how it could work in my battle against the mess. I will return it if it doesn't work out.


roomba-2.jpg
That's a great deal.When I got mine it was about USD 600 when i shipped it to my friend in the US and got his help to bring it to me in Malaysia on his holiday. Same unit here was close to USD1000 then. In this day and age of planned obsolescence, where things fail after a year, I was surprised when my 860(aka Roobie) kept up at it. Gave me confidence to get the 980(aka Rosie). Very happy with both. Roobie is my first love and Rosie is my second. Till death do we part :D
User avatar
BostonCharlie
MoT Member
Posts: 3256
Joined: Tue Dec 18, 2018 5:26 pm
Location: Texas
Has thanked: 20583 times
Been thanked: 12693 times

Re: Roomba vacuum cleaner?

Post by BostonCharlie »

Our Roomba arrived today. It was well packed and seemed just as fresh as a new product. I installed their app and set it up, which was straightforward. Out of the box it needed charged, so I took that time to tidy the nest of cables under our AV setup.

After dinner I moved some things up off the floor and pressed the green Clean button. It was interesting to watch. It was thorough, methodical, and determined to cover every square inch of our floor. It seemed to work harder on carpets and rugs than on the bare floors (it was louder, anyhow). The mats at the front and back doors caused it to get stuck, however -- the corner of the mat got caught and started to roll back as the machine tried to vacuum it, lifting one side of the Roomba off the floor until it gave up. Next time I'll put away the mats (fwiw, they are on hard floors). It got stuck two other places. One was where it tried to drive over a lamp base while partly under a chair: as one side lifted up, the body got caught against the underside of the chair. The other was under this same chair: it has metal supports that Roomba could almost (sometimes) clear. The first few passes were fine, but for some reason it got stuck under a support. I'll get some cups for the feet that will raise the chair a little out of the carpet's pile, which should give it the room it needs.

The interesting thing is that, despite getting slightly disoriented each time it got stuck, it was able to figure out where it was. Initially it seemed lost, vacuuming old territory. But ultimately it seemed to get back on track -- it didn't end up vacuuming the whole area again, anyhow. Not that it would really matter, I suppose, since it's automated. But it's the kind of thing that indicates the degree of care taken in its development.

We interrupted its cycle and told it to go home after one hour of work. The bin had a fair amount of dust, fur and everything else you expect to find. It wasn't full, but I had vacuumed with my little upright just two days ago. (We have one, small, short-haired dog.)

So, my first impression is good. It does its job and I enjoy using it. Hopefully the little changes I make will be enough to prevent the need for regular rescues.

I named it Nick because it looks like a big coin, like a nickel, but I hope I can think of something better.
pgcity
MoT Member
Posts: 930
Joined: Thu Feb 28, 2019 12:46 am
Has thanked: 3608 times
Been thanked: 3155 times

Re: Roomba vacuum cleaner?

Post by pgcity »

BostonCharlie wrote: Mon Dec 21, 2020 10:52 pm Our Roomba arrived today. It was well packed and seemed just as fresh as a new product. I installed their app and set it up, which was straightforward. Out of the box it needed charged, so I took that time to tidy the nest of cables under our AV setup.

After dinner I moved some things up off the floor and pressed the green Clean button. It was interesting to watch. It was thorough, methodical, and determined to cover every square inch of our floor. It seemed to work harder on carpets and rugs than on the bare floors (it was louder, anyhow). The mats at the front and back doors caused it to get stuck, however -- the corner of the mat got caught and started to roll back as the machine tried to vacuum it, lifting one side of the Roomba off the floor until it gave up. Next time I'll put away the mats (fwiw, they are on hard floors). It got stuck two other places. One was where it tried to drive over a lamp base while partly under a chair: as one side lifted up, the body got caught against the underside of the chair. The other was under this same chair: it has metal supports that Roomba could almost (sometimes) clear. The first few passes were fine, but for some reason it got stuck under a support. I'll get some cups for the feet that will raise the chair a little out of the carpet's pile, which should give it the room it needs.

The interesting thing is that, despite getting slightly disoriented each time it got stuck, it was able to figure out where it was. Initially it seemed lost, vacuuming old territory. But ultimately it seemed to get back on track -- it didn't end up vacuuming the whole area again, anyhow. Not that it would really matter, I suppose, since it's automated. But it's the kind of thing that indicates the degree of care taken in its development.

We interrupted its cycle and told it to go home after one hour of work. The bin had a fair amount of dust, fur and everything else you expect to find. It wasn't full, but I had vacuumed with my little upright just two days ago. (We have one, small, short-haired dog.)

So, my first impression is good. It does its job and I enjoy using it. Hopefully the little changes I make will be enough to prevent the need for regular rescues.

I named it Nick because it looks like a big coin, like a nickel, but I hope I can think of something better.
Congratulations on the newest family member. I set my "Rosie" to economy mode and 2 passes. You should also update the firmware if not done yet. Once the schedule is set up,she starts and cleans automatically without complaint.
User avatar
cortman
MoT Member
Posts: 1027
Joined: Tue Dec 18, 2018 5:57 pm
Location: Missouri
Has thanked: 10044 times
Been thanked: 3892 times
Contact:

Re: Roomba vacuum cleaner?

Post by cortman »

I can't quite bring myself to name ours, but I do enjoy always referring to it as "the robot" in a thick Russian accent.
User avatar
BostonCharlie
MoT Member
Posts: 3256
Joined: Tue Dec 18, 2018 5:26 pm
Location: Texas
Has thanked: 20583 times
Been thanked: 12693 times

Re: Roomba vacuum cleaner?

Post by BostonCharlie »

Making progress with my training, lol. A new hazard emerged: last time it got trapped in the laundry room because it had caused the door to swing closed with its bumping about. This was in its final 'edge cleaning' pass, so it's easy to imagine. Today I propped this door open before its run. I see that Home Depot has door stops with a magnetic catch (here) that I think would be convenient for this door.

The first couple runs were using its default configuration in the same area of our home. According to its logs, it covered about 525 square feet in a little over an hour. This area is about 20% hard surfaces, and the rest is low pile carpet. Its battery lasted about an hour. On the previous run it interrupted its work to recharge, which was successful (although funny because there was only about six minutes of work remaining).

Today I disabled its final edge cleaning pass. It completed 504 sq. ft. in 45 minutes (same area, except I didn't put the dining room chairs up this time). No new hazards, and no stops to charge.

Its bin is easy to access, empty and return. Its dust filter is easy to remove and brush clean.

Its cleaning brushes leave our carpet looking fresher -- and this is an older carpet that is tramped down in places.
User avatar
BostonCharlie
MoT Member
Posts: 3256
Joined: Tue Dec 18, 2018 5:26 pm
Location: Texas
Has thanked: 20583 times
Been thanked: 12693 times

Re: Roomba vacuum cleaner?

Post by BostonCharlie »

Update to say that I love my Roomba. I use it downstairs and upstairs, now. Each area requires different prep, but it isn’t troublesome.

Upstairs there is a corner occupied by a table and desk with lots of cables underneath. I fence that area off with a few short lengths of clean 2x4 (it was scrap, but I must have paid more because it’s prettier than what you’d expect). Just bumping into the flat 2x4 is enough to deter the Roomba.

Its pattern depends on its orientation when it starts a job. If it is pointing north/south, it will make long north/south paths as it cleans. So I alternate between starting it north/south and east/west.

I found that its own base could become an obstacle as it cleaned. It is light and easily moves if Roomba bumps into it. The long cord could also be a problem. So my son designed and printed a keeper for the base. It holds the excess cord and is anchored to the wall by means of the base’s plug. That has helped keep the base stable. (See photo attached)

So far, so good. I empty its bin after every run. I use a soft nylon brush to clean dust out of the bin. I also remove and brush the bin’s paper filter, knocking it against the plastic bin I use to catch everything, which dislodges quite a bit of dust. I would not try this while indoors, lol.

I think it does a good job of keeping our carpets clean. It also keeps them groomed: they look nice and feel nice to walk on afterwards. I do not miss vacuuming.

We have just one pet, a short-haired cat, fwiw. (The short haired dog moved out with my Ex -- the cat is my octogenarian mother's tortoiseshell. Now that the dog is gone the cat has run of the house.)

0B104FE1-33D2-4D6B-9C98-F7477A98659D.jpeg
User avatar
pdsf
MoT Member
Posts: 1379
Joined: Sat Jul 06, 2019 3:34 pm
Location: Atlanta, GA, US
Has thanked: 4335 times
Been thanked: 3785 times
Contact:

Re: Roomba vacuum cleaner?

Post by pdsf »

BostonCharlie wrote: Thu Feb 18, 2021 12:20 pm Update to say that I love my Roomba. I use it downstairs and upstairs, now. Each area requires different prep, but it isn’t troublesome.

Upstairs there is a corner occupied by a table and desk with lots of cables underneath. I fence that area off with a few short lengths of clean 2x4 (it was scrap, but I must have paid more because it’s prettier than what you’d expect). Just bumping into the flat 2x4 is enough to deter the Roomba.

Its pattern depends on its orientation when it starts a job. If it is pointing north/south, it will make long north/south paths as it cleans. So I alternate between starting it north/south and east/west.

I found that its own base could become an obstacle as it cleaned. It is light and easily moves if Roomba bumps into it. The long cord could also be a problem. So my son designed and printed a keeper for the base. It holds the excess cord and is anchored to the wall by means of the base’s plug. That has helped keep the base stable. (See photo attached)

So far, so good. I empty its bin after every run. I use a soft nylon brush to clean dust out of the bin. I also remove and brush the bin’s paper filter, knocking it against the plastic bin I use to catch everything, which dislodges quite a bit of dust. I would not try this while indoors, lol.

I think it does a good job of keeping our carpets clean. It also keeps them groomed: they look nice and feel nice to walk on afterwards. I do not miss vacuuming.

We have just one pet, a short-haired cat, fwiw. (The short haired dog moved out with my Ex -- the cat is my octogenarian mother's tortoiseshell. Now that the dog is gone the cat has run of the house.)


0B104FE1-33D2-4D6B-9C98-F7477A98659D.jpeg
Just came across this thread. [mention]BostonCharlie[/mention] - hope 2021 has been good to you so far. Thanks to you and everyone for your input and reviews! Been considering that same Roomba 980 Refurbished (vs a Dyson cordless refurbished, which seems more versatile). I like to have my windows open so I feel like I need to vacuum more often than I should but it's really my least favorite household chores (and who has the time?!). My place is small so a Dyson cordless can still do the job easily and quickly. Maybe I should wait for the extra % off as my current canister vacumm cleaner continues to work well, even though it does get heavier as I get older. :)
Post Reply