Irobot scooba 385 DIY repair

Washes for a long time, a room of 15 sq. m And after adding water, he washes again. And again until the water runs out. During the entire period of operation, the robot stopped washing due to cleanliness a couple of times.

Our floors are not dirty, the floor is normal, it was supposed to be washed so that the child would crawl on the clean parquet. But waiting for an hour every time, when the floor is cleaned, soon got tired. A rag is both faster and cleaner! The robot cannot wash all the dirt and often leaves streaks or does not wash some areas at all. It also makes noise.

And rinsing a rag or washing a robot's parts is the same waste of time.

The battery runs out quickly.

Bottom line - the robot is not worth its money, better buy a mop and a supply of rags. Cleaning floors will be faster, cleaner and quieter.

UPD: the battery is dead this year.

Washes for a long time, a room of 15 sq. m And after adding water, he washes again. And again until the water runs out. During the entire period of operation, the robot stopped washing due to cleanliness a couple of times.

Our floors are not dirty, the floor is normal, it was supposed to be washed so that the child would crawl on the clean parquet. But waiting for an hour every time, when the floor is cleaned, soon got tired. A rag is both faster and cleaner! The robot cannot wash all the dirt and often leaves streaks or does not wash some areas at all. It also makes noise.

And rinsing a rag or washing a robot's parts is the same waste of time.

The battery runs out quickly.

Bottom line - the robot is not worth its money, better buy a mop and a supply of rags. Cleaning floors will be faster, cleaner and quieter.

UPD: the battery is dead this year.

One tank filling is stable and severely lacking for cleaning my 30 sq. meters (with the declared 45 meters from one gas station). If we divide these meters approximately in half and wash them in 2 tank fillings, then for the same 30 m the battery charge begins to be severely lacking (with the declared 80 meters from one charge).
Advice:
- Do not force the vacuum cleaner to clean more than 15-20 sq. m. from one gas station and have 2 batteries.
- I do not advise washing with vinegar - the smell.
To unfasten the reservoir with water, you supposedly need to push the handle, and the reservoir will "pop out" by itself, after which it can be removed using the same handle. So it does not snap out, and you have to, pressing the handle with one hand, in a clever way remove the reservoir, grabbing it by the side.
Having installed the filled reservoir in place, it is useful to push it over the entire area - otherwise it is not a fact that the sensor will work, and the vacuum cleaner may swear at the lack of a reservoir, although the latter is installed.

Washes for a long time, a room of 15 sq. m And after adding water, he washes again. And again until the water runs out. During the entire period of operation, the robot stopped washing due to cleanliness a couple of times.

Our floors are not dirty, the floor is normal, it was supposed to be washed so that the child would crawl on the clean parquet. But waiting for an hour every time, when the floor is cleaned, soon got tired. A rag is both faster and cleaner! The robot cannot wash all the dirt and often leaves streaks or does not wash some areas at all. It also makes noise.

And rinsing a rag or washing a robot's parts is the same waste of time.

The battery runs out quickly.

Bottom line - the robot is not worth its money, better buy a mop and a supply of rags. Cleaning floors will be faster, cleaner and quieter.

UPD: the battery is dead this year.

Washes for a long time, a room of 15 sq. m And after adding water, he washes again. And again until the water runs out. During the entire period of operation, the robot stopped washing due to cleanliness a couple of times.

Our floors are not dirty, the floor is normal, it was supposed to be washed so that the child would crawl on the clean parquet. But waiting for an hour every time, when the floor is cleaned, soon got tired. A rag is both faster and cleaner! The robot cannot wash all the dirt and often leaves streaks or does not wash some areas at all. It also makes noise.

And rinsing a rag or washing a robot's parts is the same waste of time.

The battery runs out quickly.

Bottom line - the robot is not worth its money, better buy a mop and a supply of rags. Cleaning floors will be faster, cleaner and quieter.

UPD: the battery is dead this year.

One tank filling is stable and severely lacking for cleaning my 30 sq. meters (with the declared 45 meters from one gas station). If we divide these meters approximately in half and wash them in 2 tank fillings, then for the same 30 m the battery charge begins to be severely lacking (with the declared 80 meters from one charge).
Advice:
- Do not force the vacuum cleaner to clean more than 15-20 sq. m. from one gas station and have 2 batteries.
- I do not advise washing with vinegar - the smell.
To unfasten the reservoir with water, you supposedly need to push the handle, and the reservoir will "pop out" by itself, after which it can be removed using the same handle. So it does not snap out, and you have to, pressing the handle with one hand, in a clever way remove the reservoir, grabbing it by the side.
Having installed the filled reservoir in place, it is useful to push it over the entire area - otherwise it is not a fact that the sensor will work, and the vacuum cleaner may swear at the lack of a reservoir, although the latter is installed.

The topic of robotic vacuum cleaners suddenly turned out to be very popular - our Roomba 654 and LG Hom-Bot reviews are read with enviable frequency. We decided that we need to tell you about another robot vacuum cleaner, the Scooba 385.

Even though traditional robotic vacuums are already clean enough (see my reviews on the iRobot Roomba 564 PET and LG Hom-Bot), there are some types of dirt they can't do anything about. For example, spilled juices, or dirt brought in from the street. Of course, you can easily remove it manually, but, you see, it would be great to automate this process.

This is exactly what the iRobot Scooba 385 is designed for. Of course, Scooba 385 is not very correct to call a robot vacuum cleaner. Probably, it would be more accurate to be something like a "rag robot", but it just sounds ugly.

This is the only washing model among the iRobot line (you can read more about the model range, as well as about the iRobot military robots in the article about iRobot Roomva 564 PET). There you can also read a little more about the algorithm for the operation of such devices. In this article, I'll start right off the bat.

IRobot Scooba 385 Vacuum Cleaner Box

IRobot Scooba 385 Vacuum Cleaner Data

Everything you need is present: the iRobot Scooba 385 vacuum cleaner itself, a rechargeable battery, a charger (unlike the Roomba 564 PET, this robot does not have a special base), a motion limiter, and a small amount of detergent.

iRobot Scooba 385 - scope of delivery

As soon as I took the vacuum cleaner out of the box, I immediately put it on a long charge - for the first time it is advisable to spend at least 16 hours in order to "swing" the complete battery.

IRobot Scooba 385 charger

IRobot Scooba 385 Battery

Outwardly, the device looks like a completely ordinary robot vacuum cleaner - a kind of "washer" of increased size on wheels.

iRobot Scooba 385

This is the optimal shape for such devices - a square robot vacuum cleaner would have a hard time.

iRobot Scooba 385 - control buttons

As you can see, there are only two control elements - start of cleaning and pause. This makes sense - unlike the Roomba, which only needs to empty the dust bin once a week, Scooba will need to be refilled with new cleaning fluid before each cleaning.

To do this, you need to fold the container, pour a special cleaning agent or vinegar into it, and top up with water. I would not use any other detergent - after all, the mechanism of the vacuum cleaner is quite complex. I also did not like the advice to add vinegar to the water - after it, a rather specific smell remains in the room, which not everyone likes.At the same time, even a robot filled with ordinary tap water perfectly cleans the dirt brought from the street from the tiles and spilled and dried juice from the laminate.

Two compartments - for clean water and waste

Fill in water

After cleaning is done, the vacuum cleaner sucks up most of the sprayed water, and it ends up in the part marked "dirty". From there you just need to pour it out.

Main body of iRobot Scooba 385, top view

Put aside the water container and study the main part of the vacuum cleaner.

Here we can see several elements at once. Firstly, this is the battery, it looks much more impressive than in the iRobot Roomba 564 PET. This is understandable - the manufacturers tried to protect the battery as much as possible from possible moisture ingress.

Filter that collects large debris

We wash the filter with water

Unlike the iRobot Roomba, Scooba does not have a full-fledged dust collector - all large debris ends up in this small filter. Therefore, if your apartment is very dirty, it is best to pre-clean with Roomba or manually.

Now is the time to turn the vacuum cleaner over and look at it from below.

iRobot Scooba 385, bottom view

iRobot Scooba 385, another bottom view

There is only one brush (unlike the Roomba), but there is a spray bottle and a scraper to pick it up from the floor. In fact, Scooba uses a four-step cleaning system, with all steps being performed in one pass:

1. The vacuum cleaner collects debris from the floor and sends it to the filter;
2. Detergent sprayed;
3. The dirt is wiped off with a brush;
4. The contaminated detergent is collected with a rubber scraper and sent to the vacuum cleaner for suction.

Schematically, it looks like this:

IRobot Scooba 385 four-step cleaning

During cleaning, the vacuum cleaner manages to drive through all parts of the room, carefully walk along the baseboards. In my opinion, he washes the floor much more thoroughly than I do. At the same time, the movement pattern looks a little more primitive than that of the iRobot Scooba, and it also seemed to me that the cleaning cycle continues until all the water or detergent runs out, or the battery is discharged.

Motion Coordinator and Limiter for iRobot Scooba 385

Travel Coordinator and Limiter for iRobot Scooba 385 is powered by two batteries

Since the robot vacuum cleaner is not recommended for use on non-moisture-resistant surfaces, it is better not to let it enter areas with such a floor. A limiter comes in handy for this - just install it in the doorway and the vacuum cleaner will not go behind it. In addition, the limiter can work in the mode of a motion coordinator: if you have a confusing room layout, put a coordinator and turn it on, and then the device will find it easier to navigate.

If you're hoping the iRobot Scooba will be as simple and straightforward as the Roomba, then this is not the case. Firstly, you will most likely have to move the device from room to room manually, it does not know how to overcome even the lowest thresholds. It is clear why this is done - so that the device does not accidentally climb onto the carpet, which simply remains wet and does not wash off at all. In general, those with a lot of carpets did not speak very well of Scooba - they greatly reduce the area to be cleaned.

The water in the container lasts about 40 minutes. During this time, the vacuum cleaner perfectly cleaned my large room of 22 square meters, but in general, as its happy owners claim, it can cope with 30-40 square meters.

IRobot Scooba 385 Waterproof Battery

The battery itself is enough for about two “washing” the floor - that is, about 80-90 minutes. It is clear that this is still a new battery, but the stock is quite serious. When the battery is worn out, you can always buy a new one - spare parts for robotic vacuum cleaners are sold both on the website of the Russian reseller and on Ebay and the manufacturer's website, iRobot.com.

iRobot Scooba 385 crawls under the kitchen cabinet

The cleaner and smoother your floor, the better the iRobot Scooba will clean.When I was doing the repairs, I hoped from the very beginning that I would buy a robot vacuum cleaner, and therefore all cabinets, including kitchen ones, are on my legs - the device crawls in there perfectly and cleans the floor. I myself would never gently wash it with a rag or a mop.

iRobot Scooba 385

The most optimal algorithm for iRobot Scooba is to run it in one of the rooms before you leave home. In my presence, I would not do this - not only does the device buzz quite strongly, it also gets tangled underfoot. I had Roomba running in other rooms at the same time. It turned out pretty optimally - Roomba was launched throughout the apartment, except for one room, in which Scooba is cleaning at this time. The devices do not interfere with each other, as they cannot pass through the virtual wall.

As rightly noted on Habré, this robot vacuum cleaner has many disadvantages. It does not know how to automatically recharge, it does not “jump” over thresholds well, it is worse at getting out of wires than the iRobot Roomba, it should not be released onto a surface that is too dirty. In addition, every time you have to recharge the device using a cord, which is not very convenient. Again, you need to fill in water, buy additional cleaning products. All this, of course, is not very convenient. But iRobot Scooba has one distinct advantage.

He washes the floor for me, and he does it well.

And I'm much more interested in occasionally tinkering with a high-tech mechanism than once a week sadly rubbing the floors with a rag.

There are some peculiarities, if you take them into account, then you can forget about manual cleaning. As a bonus, I'll tell you about a SPECIAL CODE with which you can significantly extend the life of the battery.

From the electronic workforce, houses are inhabited by: a robot vacuum cleaner, a robot window-lover and a robotic scrubber (a robot because she is dumb, I call her “Tolkushka”, but she washes well, albeit for a long time).

I wrote a lot about the vacuum cleaner and its numerous upgrades and they are not finished yet. The apotheosis of this model will be its transfer to a Li-ion battery. Therefore, I found a seller with a good reputation on Avito and ordered two from him at once: for a scrubber and a vacuum cleaner. I'm still waiting for a scrubber, and the seller offered a vacuum cleaner Akum with increased power (5200 mAh)

from a new batch at the cost of a standard one (4400 mAh) for 5800 rubles. But I immediately warned that these Akums have not yet been tested and errors are possible, especially on old models (I just have an old man, roomba 581). As expected, problems began with the new controller and the eternal error 5. The seller offered to replace it with a standard battery without any problems or return the day, chose a replacement, I'm waiting. And so that I would not ache and not be afraid that I would be deceived, for the period while I was waiting, he offered me to use his battery and his Scooba 450 washing vacuum cleaner.

This is how I got the latest generation scooba test.

In total, irobot has launched four washing models on the market:

Scooba 230 undervacuum cleaner (inexpensive and compact, the soap sucks, but the consumer liked the idea of ​​the floor washers)

Scooba 380 the first full-fledged scrubber (washes thoughtfully and efficiently, but for a long time. There are problems with clogging of the internal hoses, abrasion of the tip of the suction tube, pushing the wheels and breakage of the float in the tank. I have just such a robot, I'm waiting for the battery)

Scooba 390 an unsuccessful attempt to improve the 380 model (nothing really different, except for the color of the case and something insignificant inside)

Scooba 450 the last and final model of the washing vacuum cleaner (completely changed the tank, the filtration system and the cleaning algorithm. It became faster, but washes worse than 380).

On 450 models, irobot completed their attempts to release a flooring robot and moved on to develop a dead-end idea with floor polishing robots. This is complete nonsense, but the manufacturer can now cash in on consumables.

I will review the irobot Scooba 450 versus the 380 model.

Improvements (some of them questionable):

+/- Increased speed. But at the same time, the quality of the sink itself deteriorated, which is logical. The cleaning algorithm, in my opinion, was licked off the roombы, but not corrected in relation to wet cleaning. Yes, he became faster, yes, he practically got rid of mistakes (unused dry places), but the quality has dropped.If the 380 can be run once a week and one pass per room, then the 450 achieves a normal cleanliness result in only two passes per room and preferably at least twice a week. As a result, you spend the same amount of time cleaning in general and make more body movements (drain / fill / rinse the giblets / recharge), but it seems to you that the robot has become faster, this is an illusion.

+/- Got quieter. Someone is a plus, I don't care. It's just that the power of the pump was reduced, most likely, and this leads to a deterioration in quality.

+/- Got easier. For me, this is the first call to the deterioration of the materials used. Well, judge for yourself, they didn't put carbon and titanium alloys in there, they just replaced some metal parts with plastic somewhere.

+ Can be stored without stand. It was cleverly thought up. The ass was made flat and rubberized. Even if there is no cradle, the robot itself can stand upright, which greatly saves space. And also does not allow the wheels to slip.

+ Rubber wheels. A remarkable improvement, the 380 has wheels made of some kind of soft and hollow bullshit, eventually deteriorate.

+ Handle. It is strange that they did not think to do this in the 300th episode. This is a tangible plus.

+ Choice of cleaning area. There are two modes: cleaning a small (up to 14 m2) and a large room. In 380, this had to be regulated by the amount of water in the tank. For example, I have a toilet of 9 squares, if you fill the tank full, the robot will honestly scrape the floor until the water runs out.

+/- Indication of the cleaning process. In the 380, this was realized by blinking on the power button, it was possible to understand just what the robot was doing at the moment (washes or dries). The 450 has a circular indication around the power button, from which you can understand not only which assembly cycle, but also at what stage this cycle. It is useful, but at the same time the button was made with a thin rubber coating, if you hook it with something sharp, there will be a hole. The 380 has a thick film on the buttons, which looks and feels much more reliable than the 450.

+ Charging. Firstly, 450 can now be charged from the roombа, you don't have to spend money on a special cradle. Secondly, if you have a cradle, then it works both as a charger and as a stand, it is convenient.

- Block with a brush. It has become non-removable, which greatly complicates the cleaning process.

In the 380, this block could be simply removed and washed under the tap, in the 450 it was necessary to scrape all this stuff with your fingers / rag for a long time and unpleasantly.

- Filter. Now it is built into the tank, and again you have to use your finger to pull out all the hair and debris inside.

- Buck. Feels like it has become smaller. The attachment system has also deteriorated compared to the 380.

And now about the features of using washing and cleaning robots.

Spring-cleaning. It is impossible to carry out general cleaning with them, i.e. you still have to generalize manually. But! There is one tasty fact: if you use a robot vacuum cleaner every day (which I do), and you use it a couple of times a week, then general cleaning will be reduced to dusting, the floors will ALWAYS be clean.

It is better not to watch the robots clean up, it is better to go for a walk altogether. Observing the process leads to disappointing thoughts that money is thrown into the trash, robots are stupid and slow. But if you compare BEFORE and AFTER, then you begin to realize that a bunch of home hemorrhoids have now disappeared by themselves. The hostesses will understand me.

Correct arrangement of furniture. Furniture should be positioned so that the robot can crawl everywhere. The batteries and the hanging toilet must be at a sufficient height for the robot above the floor, otherwise it will get stuck and the nichrome will not be removed. A separate topic is sofas and furniture with legs, the robot will try to crawl under them and get stuck, it is necessary to somehow plug these places, but it is better to initially plan the situation and select furniture wisely.

Wires. No extensions and floor charging tails. To hide everything in the baseboards, firstly, it is beautiful and practical when the wires are not visible, and secondly, you yourself will stumble less and tear out the equipment along with the sockets. There seems to be an anti-entanglement program in the rooms in the rooms, but in real life it does not work. The robot will definitely find the wires, get entangled in them, ruin the brushes and can burn the motor (I have done this twice).

Large debris. Toys, small things also need to be removed.The situation will be the same as with the wires.

Maintenance. It is required! And not the same as written in the instructions. Once a month I take apart the vacuum cleaner and clean out all the dust and hair. I open the gears compartment, remove my hair and apply a new lubricant. The breakage also needs to be completely disassembled, the pump checked, the dirt removed from the hoses, the tank rinsed and soaked. Only then will the robot work without problems for years and not ask for money for spare parts. My vacuum cleaner has been cleaning daily for 8 years in a row. I'm already used to spending several hours in the first days of the month on servicing my equipment: a robot vacuum cleaner, a cordless vacuum cleaner and a climate station.

Cleaning. I clean the brushes and dustbin of dust and hair at least once every 2-3 days, otherwise the plastic will wear off. The breakage is cleaned after each floor wash.

Batteries. I advise you to replace it with Li-ion, not immediately, of course, but when they die, and they will definitely die. The manufacturer specifically makes it so that you buy batteries more often. By default, robots are equipped with metal hydride batteries, and they have a strong self-discharge and a memory effect. Plus constant non-disconnecting low current charging. Plus a program that makes the robot crawl to charge when there is still enough charge. As a result, you should buy batteries once a year or two.

But now I will sit down as much as possible to deceive the manufacturer and extend the battery life of the scooba 450.

As I already wrote, the manufacturer makes it so that the battery dies faster. In 450 it is implemented as follows: after the end of cleaning, the robot automatically switches to the “I will not clean, charge me” mode, although there is still enough charge, thereby increasing the “battery memory effect” and decreasing its volume.

1. Press all three buttons with three fingers and hold until the red light under the “i” button lights up.

2. Press the “room size selection” button 7 times. How to do it: After the first press, it will beep, then press it 6 more times, it will make the same unpleasant sound all 6 times. And then the robot will turn on the blue illumination of all buttons, while the charge indicator will turn emerald, that is, "fully charged"

3. We put it to clean again until it dies. Only after that we put on the charge. If the battery is already dead enough, he will not finish cleaning, deliver water or not dry enough, so it is better to drop him off in the toilet or any small room, so that it is convenient to manually wipe everything behind him. If the battery lasts for two or more cleanings, we repeat steps 1 and 2 until the battery is completely discharged and only then we charge it.

This will reset the battery memory effect. If you do this regularly, you can restore the volume of the batka.

In custody. Robots are very useful in the household, they are great time and energy savers, but they also require careful maintenance like any complex technique. Do not be afraid to buy robots, for 8 years that I have a vacuum cleaner and a scrubber, I have never regretted the money paid for them.

If Scooba is stuck, the robot will notify you with the sound "ooh"
followed by a certain number of signals. In count
signals using the table, determine why the robot has stopped, and how
release it. Usually, when the I’m Stuck indicator comes on, there is
It is enough to restart the robot by placing it on a level surface.

one of the wheels
does not reach the floor
(1 beep)

Check out the Scooba casters. move them and
restart the robot by pressing Clean.

front wheel for
lost or dirty
(2 beeps)

Turn the front wheel to
make sure it can rotate freely.
It can be easily pulled out if necessary,
to clean or replace.

bumper problem
(3 beeps)

Move the bumper, make sure it's
mobility is not impaired if its edge
dirty, wipe it off.

dirty or
sensor does not work
height difference
(4 beeps)

Wipe the sensors with a dry soft cloth,
blow with air.

malfunction of the right
or left wheel
(5 beeps)

Check the right and left wheels. Twist
wheels, they must turn with effort. If
they scroll without resistance, or
do not scroll at all, contact
to the service center.

indicator is on
malfunctions

In the event of a system malfunction, Scooba will report this via the
a malfunction announcer, then a 4-tone melody, then
a certain number of signals.

pump malfunction
(1 beep)

Contact the service center.

malfunction vacuum
noah turbine
(2 beeps)

Contact the service center.

battery malfunction
lator
(3 beeps)

Contact the service center.

system malfunction
battery control
(4 beeps)

Contact the service center.

battery overheated
(5 beeps)

If you have filled Scooba with hot water or
stored in a very hot place, give the robot and
cool down the battery and try to start it
again.

You quickly get used to the work of useful household appliances and its breakdown disrupts the course of ordinary life. The iRobot Roomba vacuum cleaner keeping the house clean suddenly stopped collecting garbage. This is another breakdown after many years of work. The road to the service was not impressive for its unreasonable spending. It was not possible to find out on the Internet a specific way to repair the rotation mechanism of the brushes of a rumba vacuum cleaner. I had to disassemble the mechanism at my own peril and risk. The repair was successful and Roomba is working again. Read and watch a detailed report on the successful repair with photos and videos.