20 Most Recent iRobot Roomba 4210 Bagless Robotic Vacuum Questions & Answers

I had the same kind of problem with my model 400 today...after starting it and having it go in a circle for 30 seconds or so it would finally run into something and then back up a few inches, turn, then go forward a few inches, then back up a few inches, turn, then go forward a few inches, etc., etc.. I tried cleaning off the four pairs of sensors under the bumper and blowing out various things underneath (by mouth since I didn't have any canned compressed air). It didn't really help. It then occurred to me that I had a leaf blower! I put the Roomba upside down on the grass, put the leaf blower on high, and blew at it from all directions and up close. More dust came out than I thought would. It has been running normally now for the last 45 minutes.

I have takin several Roombas apart with this problem. Basically the sensors on the bumber are blocked so the roomba thinks it is hitting something. I believe this is a design problem because it is so common. If you could see how the bumbers work, there is an infrared sending unit and an infrared receiving unit (they look like little LED's. when the bumper is pressed, a plastic piece moves between the two infrared led's blocking the transmission. This signals roomba to stop and backup. What happens over time is the sending led thing gets dislodged and moves slightly. The receiving led can't sense the signal so it thinks the bumper is depressed.

Hard to explain, but I have fixed the problem by shimming the led back in place and worst case, I drilled the hole in the plastic piece a little larger. Solved the problem and I have recaimed several roombas that were considered scrap. Irobot should fess up to this known problem and issue a fix for everyone of the defective units.

Hello, this is Ava with Think Crucial. You may find the User's Manual for your Roomba model by clicking the link below. http://homeappliance.manualsonline.com/manuals/mfg/irobot/roomba_discovery_4210.html You can purchase a wide variety of high quality Roomba replacement parts for your Roomba vacuum direct from Think Crucial with free shipping and an exclusive 10% coupon for Fixya.com readers, use code: FIXYA10 https://www.thinkcrucial.com/collections/vendors?q=Roomba I hope this was helpful. Ava B. Think Crucial Customer Care http://www.thinkcrucial.com/

under warranty take it in for warranty repair or exchange you try to fix it and the warranty is voided just tip it upside down and check for threads wrapped around brushes and rollers / wheels

Would it be that you wound up with someone else's problem and that is why they sold it at a garage sell?

To extend Roomba's battery life and keep Roomba cleaning at peak performance: • Always keep Roomba plugged in when not in use. • Recharge Roomba as soon as possible. Waiting several days to recharge Roomba can damage the battery. • For storage off the charger, remove the battery from Roomba and store in a cool, dry place. • Blue or black batteries should be stored after Roomba has been used. • Yellow batteries should be stored after being fully charged.
16-Hour Refresh Charge If Roomba has been left off the charger for an extended period, Roomba will initiate a special 16-hour charge cycle. This extensive charge refreshes Roomba's battery and extends the battery life. While charging, Roomba's "Clean" button will pulse quickly. Note: For best results, do not interrupt this Refresh Charge.

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The only way I can imagine the side brush not staying on is if the screw that holds it on is missing. Find a similar replacement screw. Did you get a package of replacement parts with your's? I did with mine, but I bought it many years ago now. While that brush is off, unwind all the thre4ad and hair that's wrapped in that section The brush will turn more easily without that all packed in there.

How long does it run before docking? One to two hours is normal. 2 minutes means your battery is dying and it's coming back for more power.

I suspect the battery is about dead. It keeps coming back for more power. Run it away from it's charger, force it to run until it dies. Put it onto it's charger and let it charge a long time (Solid green light). Then run it again till it dies and repeat. This will perhaps force the battery to develop a longer memory

It needs to recharge every time it docks. I would suggest that you let Roomba run out of the room where it's charger is. Then force it to run until it dies out. Then put it back onto it's charger.. I suspect that it's developed a memory (short) for charging and you need to force it to totally drain down, then charge for a good while. This should force it to develop a "Longer" memory. Works for me anyway.

I decided to take it apart and see if I could fix it because even if something inside went "SPROING" and I couldn't get it back together, it wouldn't be any worse than it was already.

FIrst, remove the dust bin part and the brushes. Then, there are four screws on the bottom gray panel which have to be removed first in order to get to the gears which hold the brushes. I did not remove the little sweeper brush on the front, but I just slide it through the hole in the gray panel.

Then in order to get out the orange section which actually holds the brushes, there are four screws which must be removed. The orange section is attached to a blue section. This entire unit comes out by sliding it toward the area where the dust bin goes, being careful not to tear the light gray rubber gasket which covers the side.

Once that section is removed, there are two screws on each side. These screws hold the orange thing to the blue thing. Once the screws are removed, lift up only the side which has the white squares into which the brushes are inserted. These are actually the back side of little gears. There is a face plate on the outside of the orange part on this end. The other end contains a bunch of wires and I was careful not to disconnect any of them.

The face plate has six screws which must all be removed. Use caution when removing the face plate. Hold it up so that all of the stuff doesn't fall out. It has a bunch of gears, little brass looking fittings and grease. Take care to only remove the gears which have the squares which hold the brushes AND do it one at a time unless you like working jigsaw puzzles. I used tweezers and a pin to clean the "gunk" consisting of hair, fuzz, etc., out of the little gears.

Reverse the process to put it back together. Hazel, my little Roomba, played me a happy little song and immediately went back to work. She seems as good as new.

Did you fully charge the new battery?

I had the same kind of problem with my model 400 today...after starting it and having it go in a circle for 30 seconds or so it would finally run into something and then back up a few inches, turn, then go forward a few inches, then back up a few inches, turn, then go forward a few inches, etc., etc.. I tried cleaning off the four pairs of sensors under the bumper and blowing out various things underneath (by mouth since I didn't have any canned compressed air). It didn't really help. It then occurred to me that I had a leaf blower! I put the Roomba upside down on the grass, put the leaf blower on high, and blew at it from all directions and up close. More dust came out than I thought would. It has been running normally now for the last 45 minutes.

apparently not ! hahaha