Roomba 960 keeps playing start tone over and over, and will not respond. Will not stop the sound unless battery is removed.

Is this a Roomba with, 1. low power, 2. one that had low power, but is now charged up and ready to go or 3. did your power go off briefly the night and when it came back on Roomba got a power surge and "responded". You might want to try unplugging Roomba when not charging or being used. I did this but it seemed to affect how long by Roomba could run later between battery recharges.

Go to their website, they have diagnostics available to help you... http://homesupport.irobot.com/app/home.

Hey
if it's 5 beeps it says: Drive wheel is stuck
You should clean both , push both in and out and confirm it turns freely

Good luck
Avi

Generally the unit will beep or play the "uh-oh" tone or do something. I wish I could tell you what's going on with this Dirt Dog, but it's not communicating the problem. The best thing to do would be to give us a call when you have the robot with you. That will enable us to do any necessary troubleshooting as well as set up any orders that might be necessary. We're here M-F, 9a-7p, and Saturdays 9-6, EST. 1-877-855-8593 Look forward to hearing from you!

bbaker58,
When you press the "clean" button after charging, does the Roomba give you any audible tones? Those tones are the key to understanding failures in the 400 series. See chart below to decode those tones
If you get no tones at all, then either (1) you're not getting power from the battery to the main circuit board or (2) the main circuit board is dead. You really have to open the unit up to figure out which it is. Circuit board replacement is a pretty involved procedure since it requires disassembly of almost the entire robot. If you are brave and want to try it, replacement PCAs are available from places like www.RoboticVacParts.com. They are my favorite shop because they sell parts tha iRobot refuses to sell to consumers and they're prices always beat what iRobot charges.

Roomba Says
What It Means
What You Should Do
Plays 4-note song as Power button blinks RED
Play sound The battery is low and needs recharging
• Connect the robot to the charger or Home Base® and recharge the battery. “Ehh”
Play sound The Cliff Sensors are dirty or malfunctioning
• Pick up your robot and turn it over.*
• Check for any debris that might be caught underneath the front bumper, around the Cliff Sensors.
• Wipe the Sensors with a lint-free cloth or use compressed air to clean them out.
"Uh-oh"
A wheel is stuck or is not touching the ground
• Lift the robot and place it down again.
• Press the Clean button to restart the cycle. “Uh-oh” plus 1 beep

The robot's main brushes are stalled
• Pick up your robot, turn it over* and remove the wire guard.
• Look for something blocking the brushes; you may need to remove and reinstall the brushes to remove the obstruction. “Uh-oh” plus 2 beeps
The robot's Side Brush is stalled
• Pick up your robot and turn it over*
• Check to see if something is wrapped around the Side Brush.
• Remove the Side Brush with a screw driver and check for string or hair wrapped under it.
• Replace the Side Brush, place Roomba in the center of the room and press Clean to resume cleaning. “Uh-oh” plus 3 beeps

The robot's vacuum is stalled
• Remove and empty the Dirt Bin.
• Use a flat-head screwdriver to remove the grill at the back of the Dirt Bin.
• Spin the Vacuum Impeller around, shaking out any debris that may be stuck.
• Replace the grill and the Dirt Bin. “Uh-oh” plus 4 beeps

Play sound
The robot's Drive Wheels are stalled
• Your robot may be stuck, or something may be caught in a wheel.
• If it's stuck, place it in the center of the room and press Clean. It should resume cleaning.
• If it is not stuck, lift the robot, turn it over* and look for something caught in the wheels. Test the wheels by pushing them in and out and making sure they rotate freely. Place robot in the center of the room, press Clean, and it should resume cleaning.
If this continues to happen every time you clean, you may need a software upgrade. Contact iRobot Customer Support.
“Uh-oh” plus 5 beeps
The robot's Cliff Sensors are obstructed
• Pick up your robot and turn it over.*
• Check for any debris that might be caught underneath the front bumper, around the Cliff Sensors.
• Wipe the Sensors with a lint-free cloth or use compressed air to clean them out. “Uh-oh” plus 6 beeps

The robot's Wheel Drop Sensors are overloaded (robot is stuck in a bumpy area)
• Pick up your robot, place it in the center of the room, then power it off and then on again.
• Select the cleaning cycle you prefer and let it go to work.
“Uh-oh” plus 9 beeps

The robot's Wheel Drop Sensors have failed at startup
• This failure requires you to contact iRobot Customer Support. Click here to send us an email. “Uh-oh” plus 10 beeps

The robot's bumper is not registering obstacles
• If the robot travels for a long distance without bumping into anything (which would be unusual), it might think it’s stuck and can’t move; press Clean again and it should resume cleaning.

If you have a 400 series Roomba, try removing the battery, then holding down the power button for ten seconds, then recharging the unit before you run it again.

If you have a 500 series Roomba, don't take out the battery-- just press and hold the "spot" and "dock" buttons for about fifteen seconds. The Roomba will play a tune, and you can then charge it and try running it again later.

go to roombaexchange.com and send it to them to get it ran through a battery of tests.

I thought my brushes were clean, but here is what I discovered, and it fixed my Roomba.

The yellow bearing on the opposite end the brush rollers from the gearbox will pull off the shaft. These bearings spun freely and looked clean, but when I pulled them off there was hair and junk between the end of the brush and the back of the bearing. When installed in the Roomba this gook warms up and gets sticky causing friction and stopping the brush from spinning.

Use a toothpick to pull this stuff out and the brushes spin free again. I was very frustrated, and this fixed it, works like new again.

unfortunately the batteries on the roombas can go bad and not hold a charge and need to be replaced, also you should check all the brushes and wheels on the bottom, if they are bound up it would stop the roomba from working. the two brush rollers can be removed by pushing on the two tabs just above them, try and clean any hair from them. if its real bad you should buy the maintance kit from them witch gives you both brushes and filters as well.

No matter your model Roomba, this occurs when Roomba has gone "crazy." Its brain is no longer working properly and you can usually tell this when you've cleaned the dickens out of it a few times and the behavior is still the same. There's only one possible user fix and that is to take out the battery, hold down the power button for 20-30 seconds then reinsert the battery.

If that doesn't do the trick, IRobot might send you something called an Ozmo which you put in the data port to rewrite Roomba's brain. Unfortunately this requires it to be under warranty unless you get lucky. Good luck, all!