If your Roomba isn’t holding a charge, clean the charging ports with a cloth and some rubbing alcohol. Remove any build-up of dust, hair, or gunk. You may also need to replace your battery or charging dock. If those don’t work, try resetting the Roomba to factory settings.
There isn’t any area left that technology can’t simplify for us: Robotic vacuums like Roomba are yet another proof of it. If you are a working individual with little to no time to devote to house cleaning, this is an ideal solution for you. But what if your newly bought Roomba isn’t charging on the charging base anymore?
To explore the reasons behind your iRobot Roomba not charging and learn how to troubleshoot it, keep reading this guide:
Why isn’t My Roomba Charging at the Base Station Anymore?
You will have to look at multiple reasons to investigate why your Roomba isn’t charging at the charging station. The most common reasons are the electrical metal plates on the device and the charging base getting dirty.
As a result of prolonged usage, if the devices aren’t cleaned regularly, a layer of gunk formed of dust, oil, and moisture develops on the metal contact plates, which doesn’t let the charging happen when the Roomba docks at the base.
Other reasons why your roomba won’t charge include dent or shifting of the charging contacts plate. Often, while delivering, if the packages aren’t handled carefully, the charging station can suffer a lot of impacts resulting in dents forming on the contact plates. (1)
These are some of the frequent reasons that result in users getting charging troubles with their Roomba:
- Dirty metal contacts on the Roomba and the charging station
- Dent on the metal plates of the charging station
- Depleted or dead battery
- Hardware defect
- Tripped power outlet
- Worn out power cable
Whenever a problem occur, the device say “uh-oh” and a troubleshooting light will begin blinking.
The number of blinks will tell you what the problem is and device will speak out the error code.
How To Fix Your Roomba Not Charging?
I have researched and compiled troubleshooting methods that have helped users fix the charging problem on iRobot Roomba vacuums.
Go through the below troubleshooting tips and apply them to get the issue sorted on your iRobot: (2)
Clean the Electrical contacts
If you regularly utilize this robotic machine’s services for cleaning your house, you must know the charging mechanism behind it.
It has a dock station where the robot vacuums return when it needs charging.
Two metal plates underneath the Roomba make direct contact with the station to initiate the charging.
In some cases, after extensive use, these metal plates get varnished with grime and oil, which prevents charging as the metal contact is prohibited because of the layer of dirt.
To avoid such an issue with your Roomba, take an alcohol-soaked rag and fiercely brush the metal contacts to scrub them off all the gunk. Make sure to clean the contact points on the dock station as well.
Clean Roomba wheels
To ensure that your Roomba is charging effectively, it is equally important to keep muck and sludge out of the wheels because sometimes that gunk and grime gets accumulated in such massive quantities in the wheels that it attains a significant height preventing roomba’s charging contacts with the metal plates to the charging station.
When cleaning the wheels of the Roomba, be sure to include the one caster wheel between the plates because while it may look small, it can gather a lot of dirt as it is situated inwards in the disk.
Reset Your Roomba
What do you do when nothing seems to be working out? I suggest you do the reset.
Whenever I have faced such an inexplicable problem and am drained trying multiple fixes, I turn to this hack, and 99% time, it works.
Roomba is a robotic machine that works on a software program that can get glitchy and corrupted with time and usage. A reset wipes its memory and ensures that the robotic vacuum cleaner starts with a clean slate.
People are wary of resetting their devices because it erases the earlier settings, so you should bear it in mind and remember any previous settings you intend to keep so that you can later program the device as you wish.
Though the steps to reset the Roomba vary in detail, they are generally the same.
Follows the basic steps mentioned below in bullets to perform a reset on the Roomba:
- Press and hold the Home & Clean button on Roomba.
- You will hear a beep sound, and after a while, you will see indicator lights flashing around the clean button.
- You have successfully reset your device.
The other models of Roomba, like the 700 and 800 series, have a reset button that you can hold for 10 seconds to reset the vacuum.
Reposition the iRobot’s Battery
Remember to check the battery positions if your Roomba arrived recently and not responding at the charging station.
Sometimes, they are loosely inserted, or their orientations need to be corrected. This happens during shipping and delivery, or if you are already using it, the batteries might have loosened while cleaning or moving.
However, if you have recently replaced the machine’s batteries, be sure to check the terminals.
Often people do not connect the cell to the right terminal and complain about the device going down. Like every other equipment that runs on battery, the Roomba battery compartment has two terminals, ‘ +’ and ‘–’; you should accurately connect them to the respective battery terminals.
Move the charging station
Sometimes, your Roomba may not be getting enough electricity. Check the outlet your charging station is plugged into.
You can use your phone to check whether the wall outlet is perfectly supplying demanded electricity or not.
If the wall outlet isn’t providing enough voltage to power the charging station, consider moving the charging station to another power socket.
If you can’t find an outlet where you can station your Roomba charging station, you can use a wire extension board to reach a new wall outlet while your Roomba charging station is still maintained in the same space it was.
Clean the Docking Station
As we previously mentioned, nothing should interrupt the metal contact between Roomba and the docking station. Now that I have asked you to clean the Roomba thoroughly, you should be aware that the dirt might be on the docking station too.
Since the docking station is a static entity, there is a higher chance of sludge accumulating on its electrical contacts.
You must ensure that the charging station is earnestly wiped with alcohol (to remove the oxidized residue). Make sure you do it regularly to prevent any build-up or charging issues.
Use Another Power Outlet
There is a power light on the charging station, indicating whether or not the dock station is receiving sufficient power supply!
Monitor that status light; if it isn’t lit, you must use another outlet to power your Roomba.
Sometimes, power sockets in our homes malfunction, confusing us to believe that the device itself is faulty. Refrain from being trapped in such thinking and keep a constant eye on the power light of the charging station.
Another thing to remember is that you should properly connect the plug to the outlet. Sometimes loose connections prevent the electricity flow creating the charging issue.
Contact iRobot Customer Care
Given how much knowledge I have of the device derived from my experience using it for years.
If you couldn’t fix the charging problem of your Roomba still, then it’s an internal hardware defect you can’t solve yourself.
My best advice in this situation is to contact the customer care personnel. iRobot customer support team is prompt and effective in solving user complaints, and you are likely to get results when you contact them.
However, if your roomba is not returning to its Home, check this article “Roomba Can’t Find Home: Why It’s Not Returning?”
Frequently Asked Questions
How Long Does a Roomba Battery Last?
Your Roomba should offer 15 to 20 minutes of cleaning service with one charge. After every usage, it should return to the charging station as soon as possible.
The roomba’s battery life is around 2-3 years before you need replace it. You should always buy a new replacement battery from an authorized seller.
How do I know if my Roomba battery is bad?
When the Roomba battery is low, the Home Base or charging station will show flashing red light, and Roomba will return to its base station whenever there is such light.
Before returning to the dock, it should work for a minimum of 15 or 20 minutes. If the Roomba frequently returns to the charging station, it has a bad battery.
Can the battery on a Roomba be replaced?
You can change the battery of a Roomba once your existing batteries are dead and don’t work anymore. You can remove the old batteries and replace them with new ones. You will need a small star-shaped screwdriver to do the job.
To replace the Roomba batteries, loosen the five screws of the battery compartment, remove the old batteries, insert the new batteries and screw the battery cover back into place securely.
How do I reset my Roomba battery?
To reset your roomba’s rechargeable battery, make sure the robot is disconnected from any power source and has been allowed to cool for at least an hour. Now, press and hold the Home button on the robot for 10 seconds until all of the lights on top flash once and then remain solid.
Conclusion
If Roomba is not charging, you should check the lithium ion battery orientations and ensure they are connected to the correct terminals. Insert the batteries tightly if they are loosely placed. You can check the batteries by inserting them in a TV remote, and if you discover that they are worn out, you should immediately go for replacement batteries.
You should also clean the docking station and the machine using a damp cloth and some rubbing alcohol to scrape off oxidized debris from the metal contacts of the Roomba.
Please remove the caster wheel and rake out all the sludge amassed on it.
If the above steps didn’t help you enough, you should dial the support team of iRobot. You can even write them a mail explaining the issue elaborately and the methods you tried to fix your device; the customer support people will reach out to you accordingly.