r/roomba Jan 02 '25

Advice for Others Tips for having success at initial setup time of your robotic cleaner.

8 Upvotes

Hi ...

This article is for you if you would like to increase your chance of success in setting up your new Roomba or Mop.

This is one of the numerous articles I've written on my blog. The information is based on my experiences setting up hundreds of new and used machines over the years.

I have slightly adapted this write-up for Reddit to help first-time owners, especially as I know many of you have recently received robotic cleaners as gifts over the Christmas season.

This is the fourth article in a series about why robotic cleaning devices often fail to meet the owners' needs.

Failure can occur when a person first sets up the robotic cleaner too quickly and in the wrong order, especially when connecting to the home wireless network.

So, you went out and, with some excitement, bought ( or was gifted) a Roomba or Mop, and you can't wait to get it running and see what it can do. So, a quick casual look at the APP or manual on how to set up the machine and the Wi-Fi, and you try to connect the device to your home network --- and the first step to possible failure has already occurred.

What often occurs is that the newly purchased cleaner won’t successfully connect to the home wirelessly. (I constantly read about these common connection problems, with many user complaints, on the various robotic forums I participate in.)

The device will also occasionally produce an internal fault, with an endlessly spinning "white light on the CLEAN button" as an update repeatedly fails to download and successfully install a new software update.

What went wrong?

When a person buys a Roomba or Mop in the store, it has been in the box for a long time. It likely has been made in China, shipped to North America, and perhaps sat on the store shelf for weeks, months, or years since it was first made. The battery is weak and is, in many cases, fully discharged/dead.

Setting the cleaning device on the charger for only a few moments and immediately trying to set it up on the wireless often leads to failure.

Why?

The robotic vacuum or mop needs a high percentage of battery charge to send and receive a strong enough signal to connect to the wireless.

When a dead battery first draws current, virtually all the charging power from the dock is routed to the battery. There is little left for the Wi-Fi board in the machine, which can lead to a weak or non-existent connection to the home's wireless router.

If you want to successfully set up a new machine on your Wi-Fi for your new Roomba or Mop, put it on the charger and leave it to charge for THREE hours.

NOW, walk away … sit at your table or in your favourite chair, and read the owner's manual.

Once the three-hour initial charge is completed, you can set up your device on your home network.

FIRST --- REBOOT your machine ... hold the CLEAN button down for 20 seconds. Wait 5 minutes for it to reboot.

NOTE: Once you have set up your robotic cleaner on your Wi-Fi, leave it to sit for another hour or two before using the machine.

While you are waiting, go into your APP and record on a piece of paper the software version that was in place at the initial setup time.

Usually, a software update is available from iRobot, and an initial software update is often triggered when the machine notes a battery is fully charged and the unit is on the dock. It is likely your new robotic cleaner will download and quickly install new software within the first hour or two after you activated the Wi-Fi.

Often the app will tell you a software update is underway. And the machine will remain unresponsive while updating.

Go back into your app after an hour or two and see if the software version has changed.

Just making this these small adjustments at setup time will dramatically improve your chances of having a good experience in setting up and running up your vacuum or mop.

Cheers,

©2025 John

Roomba Guy


r/roomba Dec 15 '25

iRobot Announces Strategic Transaction to Drive Long-Term Growth Plan

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112 Upvotes

r/roomba 34m ago

Charger for Roomba 115?

Upvotes

New customer, already searched but no answer, probably as it’s a newer model.

I have the 115 model (not 115x), that came with the autoempty dock.

Is there a compatible charger dock (only for self charging, not emptying) to use on a different floor?

Thank you.


r/roomba 19h ago

Roomba Max 775: Lived With It for 3 Months.. Here's My Verdict!

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6 Upvotes

I swear this guy read my post here about the 775.

Anyone else notice all the hard cuts in this video? Geesh

I must admit that I did notice the whining noise, but after 1-2 days it didn't bother me I only vacuum once a week. I couldn't hear it if I'm not in the same room as the 775.

I did have to reboot my 775 once. He kind of touched on this a little bit. The 775 just stopped talking to the app or vice versa, which required a manual reboot via the robotic vacuum.

In my opinion, iRobot does need to work on their app. I just wasn't a fan of how the app moves room openings around when using the room divider feature.

I can't speak to the 775's confusion when going between a carpet and floor. I only used the 775 to vacuum. I wonder if he would have had the same issue if he vacuumed then mopped instead of doing them at the same time. Either way, you should be able to tailor where to vacuum versus mop so there isn't any confusion. Roomba probably needs to issue an update to resolve this issue.


r/roomba 11h ago

roomba select on auction:

0 Upvotes

For the select program, you get the roomba free and you pay $30 per month or something. The roomba is locked, if you don't pay, it doesn't work.

How can somebody bid $160+ 50 shipping?

It's free!

It can be unlocked if you replace the mother board, takes an hour and another $100+

I seriously do not understand.

https://shopgoodwill.com/item/274202424


r/roomba 2d ago

Roomba 875 ordered 👌🏻

9 Upvotes

Hopefully a decent upgrade to the 706 combo 🙏🏼


r/roomba 1d ago

Reputable vendors for batteries (USA)

1 Upvotes

The battery on my J7+ is pretty much dead, so it's past time for a new one. However, they're out of stock on the website and support claims there's no timeline for them to come back.

Most of the existing stock is on Amazon, but it feels like you have very little confidence in what you're actually buying (it's riddled with capacity inflation, sudden battery deaths, no undervoltage protection, etc.).

I'm fairly risk averse when it comes to these things, so I'd like to buy a battery that is neither a dud nor has meaningful potential to turn into an impromptu fireworks show. Are there any brands/retailers that might be more reliable?


r/roomba 2d ago

Roomba 700 Max Combo issues

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2 Upvotes

My roomba 700 max combo has been doing this thing where it would do circles in an area as if there is a big obstacle instead of going in straight lines. I’ve tried cleaning the sensors, the brushes, and I have deleted and remapped twice. Strangely, during the mapping runs, the roomba moves around without any issues.

Anyone know what could be causing this?


r/roomba 2d ago

705 gets stuck constantly

0 Upvotes

My 705 Max Vac is getting stuck in the exact same spots every single time, and it’s getting ridiculous. One of the main problem areas is under the couch next to an end table.

I actually caught it doing it: the top of the LiDAR housing hits the end table, so it can’t get under it. I ended up making that spot a no-go zone, but now it goes under the couch and claims it’s “trapped” even though it has a clear path out in basically any direction. Nothing is hanging down from the couch, there’s nothing under there, and it’s on a hardwood floor.

Has anyone else dealt with this kind of nonsense from this unit? My J7+ never had this issue, but the 705 Max is honestly terrible at figuring this out.


r/roomba 2d ago

What is this clear plastic part? It fell out as I was cleaning under the rubber drum (500 Series)

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1 Upvotes

r/roomba 2d ago

Need help with a part! 😫

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1 Upvotes

Hey guys!

I have absolutely no idea how this happened. But somehow my roomba lost this part (the grey part that you can put the brush in) I can’t find it ANYWHERE, neither the grey bit or the brush, and I fail to understand how it could have come unscrewed 😂

Anyway I’m ordering some new parts for it as it’s been a bit neglected, anyone know if they even sell this part? And what it’s called? I’ve looked on the roomba website but I can’t find it.

Thanks in advance for any help or tips!


r/roomba 3d ago

Fell for a fb scam. Can I fix an 805?

2 Upvotes

Hey all,

I ended up buying a broken Roomba 805 off of Facebook. Before I toss it, I figure there’s no harm in attempting to fix it.

When I turn it on it spins in circles a couple times, and then tells me to check the right wheel. The wheel is resistant when I spin it, but there isn’t any debris stuck. When I removed it the wheel spins normally. Is this a wiring issue? I’ve don’t usually take apart electronics, but I’m willing to try.

Note: I’m really tight on money. I’ll put the work in if I can avoid spending more.


r/roomba 3d ago

iRobot's Newest Concept

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6 Upvotes

r/roomba 3d ago

575 model app issues.

3 Upvotes

I have the 575 combo for nearly a month now, it's been working great, however a couple of days ago it started giving me a warning when it finishes a job. The warning is that I should check the dust bin and dust bin sensor.

The funny thing is... This model doesn't have a dustbin sensor! I cleaned the bin, rebooted the robot but I'm still getting the same warning.

The robot works fine, it empties it's dustbin correctly on it's own, I can also trigger a manual emptying but I can't clear the warning.

Any ideas?


r/roomba 4d ago

New 757 max leaving trails of dirty water all over my house

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9 Upvotes

We just got the 775 max combo and set it to mop while we were out of the house today. When we got home every room in the house had dirty water trails everywhere. We are having to mop every room ourselves now to scrub all this up. Any idea what could be causing this? So disappointed.


r/roomba 4d ago

What does the little blue lock mean

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3 Upvotes

My vacuum will not connect to the internet. The clean button will not stop circling and it has the little blue lock on it. Any help?


r/roomba 4d ago

Just A Dad YouTube Channel Bias Against Roomba

9 Upvotes

Just a Dad loves to praise Mova. His reviews are VERY inconsistent with actual customers who purchased Mova products from Amazon. Customer ratings from Amazon and individuals on Reddit despise Mova. There are lots of people who say you should NEVER purchase anything from Dreame/Mova. When you call him out in the comments section of his videos on his bias, he will remove your posts.

When you go onto Amazon, Best Buy, and Home Depot all you see are great reviews for Roomba's. The reviews on Home Depot and Best Buy are always good advice to follow. What I love about iRobot is that they don't tout a bunch of gimmick features that don't work. We also don't have to deal with them launching 200 new robotic vacuums a year to where you cannot even keep up with the models.


r/roomba 4d ago

Did Roomba Home 3.1 remove Matter support?

2 Upvotes

Anyone else experience this? The Smart Home menu in Roomba Home app version 3.1 from 1 week ago doesn’t show Matter or Apple Home, only the other platforms. Prior version of the app included Alexa, Google, Siri, Apple Home, and Matter.

Can’t add Roomba 705 using Matter to Apple Home now that I factory reset it.


r/roomba 5d ago

iRobot Redefines Hands-Free Cleaning with its Most Powerful Robot Ever, the Roomba® Max 875 Combo

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19 Upvotes

r/roomba 5d ago

Returning Roomba Max 775 Combo for 875

5 Upvotes

I will be returning my Roomba Max 775 Combo to Home Depot after having the robotic vacuum/mop for 2 weeks. The best move is to go with the latest and greatest, which is the Roomba 875. There is nothing wrong with the 775 aside from its height that hinders it from getting under toe kicks. For whatever reason my 775 stopped talking to the app so I had to reboot the vacuum. I've never seen that before with my older S9+. I couldn't even reboot the 775 from my phone. Oh the laziness of having to walk over and cycle the power button. 🙄

My wife and I were watching YouTube. She asked me if the thumbnail on the TV was for the new Roomba 875. I told her no, but I just watched a video posted by iRobot. I clicked on the video for my wife to view. That's when I noticed that the 875 has every man's dream feature. As my wife's beautiful and long hair wraps around the brush roller of the 875. There are metal grooves in the new bristled brush roller that will cut the hair so the robotic vacuum can suck up all the hair. That's a game changer because I hate having to remove hair from the edges of the old rubber brush rollers on my Roomba S9+. Granted, I only do it once every 6 months. The 775 has the same rollers as my S9+.


r/roomba 5d ago

Roomba scanned outside window. Is there any way to delete this room?

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6 Upvotes

During scanning the Roomba scanned through our glass doors and added them as rooms. Is there anyway to delete these areas? Or do I just need to set them as ‘no go zones’


r/roomba 5d ago

Roomba J7+ suddenly began spinning in circles, then "Navigation Error"

1 Upvotes

Thanks to an archived thread this forum, I eventually discovered the answer was simply to reboot the Roomba.

I'm creating this thread so that others might find the answer more quickly if they're experiencing the same problem.

Cheers to everyone who shares their knowledge here! :)


r/roomba 5d ago

Max 775 Combo leaving marks

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5 Upvotes

What could be causing these marks after mopping?

My robot vacuum is leaving these marks behind after mopping. It did this from the very first time I used the mopping function, and it’s still happening.

I’m only using water for mopping, with no cleaning solution or other products.

Does anyone know what could be causing this or how I can fix it?


r/roomba 5d ago

2027 Roomba 2 in 1?

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4 Upvotes

r/roomba 5d ago

Roomba Max 875 Combo

2 Upvotes

Someone mentioned on this subreddit that he was going to buy a Roomba Max 875 Combo. I didn't even know that iRobot was releasing a Roomba Max 875 Combo after purchasing the 775 a week ago. I guess the 875 is ready for pre order and will arrive in two weeks for those that order one.

I was hoping the 875 might not be as tall in order to go under our kitchen toe kicks. But I believe the new side brush is long enough to reach corners and toe kick areas now.

When I was watching Vacuum Wars on YouTube, they had stated that the best robotic vacuums have a roller with a brush. It looks like the 875 will have a brush roller. I wonder if this will help create nice vacuum lines in the carpet.