Anyone else have a Roomba?

[shardian]

We've had one for 2 years today, and we still absolutely love it. I did have to replace the battery pack a month ago, but it was cheap. I opted for the rebuild kit that reuses the original housing.

Why do I say 2 years to the day? Because it was a birthday present to the wife back then. Yes, I violated a fundamental rule of marriage: I got the wife a vacuum AND she loved it.

[ark_ader]

Dude maybe you wouldn't weigh 300 pounds if you didn't buy robots to do your housework.

 

Naughty!

[ChadTower]

He's talking about a vacuum... he never said his wife weighs 300lb.

[ratzz]

I love it!!

I think my wife is going to be a lucky girl next anniversary!

[Ginsu Victim]

Our cat hates the regular vacuum enough. I can't imagine her around a roomba.

[shardian]

Our cat hates the regular vacuum enough. I can't imagine her around a roomba.

Our little girl chases it around to press the buttons and beat on it. On that note, I should mention that the power button doesn't work quite like it used to. 

[AtomSmasher]

Our cat hates the regular vacuum enough. I can't imagine her around a roomba.

My cats also hate the regular vacuum, but oddly enough they don't care in the slightest about the roomba.  They don't even move when it comes right at them, they usually wait until after it runs into them before moving.

Anyways, my regular vacuum doesn't work very well, so I pretty much exclusively use my roomba, and I really like it.  I've had it for about 3 years and am going to need to replace the battery for a second time pretty soon, but overall it's still working great.  The only slightly annoying thing is that I have to clean the cat hair out of a few of the gears (like the little thing on the front that spins) after every 2 or 3 uses, but that only takes about 5 minutes to do.

[shardian]

Did you do the diy battery kit, or just replace the whole battery? I did the diy route, and the case was next to impossible to open up.

[saint]

My Roomba never worked worth a flip, but we had a Siberian Husky. Now it's just dead. How much is a DIY battery kit?

[Hoopz]

My Roomba never worked worth a flip, but we had a Siberian Husky. Now it's just dead. How much is a DIY battery kit?

If the dog is dead, I don't think the battery kit will help....   

 

[AtomSmasher]

Did you do the diy battery kit, or just replace the whole battery? I did the diy route, and the case was next to impossible to open up.

I replaced the whole battery, which was $40 at the time, although checking amazon now it looks like the battery prices have jumped to $70.

I'd appreciate any info on the diy kit now that official batteries are so expensive.

[shardian]

I got this battery pack: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001AG4EHI

The battery lid was definitely a pain to remove. I did chip off a small piece at one point that I used my soldering iron to weld back together. Once that was done, it was all downhill . It is now just as powerful as the day it was brand new - and surprisingly powerful for its size at that. The list price was $35 for the battery pack, but I had Amazon GC's.

Pay attention to the MA-h ratings if you buy a diy kit. I am pretty sure the replacement I got is even higher rated than the original hi-power battery.

[Ed_McCarron]

My Roomba never worked worth a flip, but we had a Siberian Husky.

Ditto.  Two retrievers kinda negate the usefulness of the Roomba.

[SavannahLion]

My Roomba never worked worth a flip, but we had a Siberian Husky.

Ditto.  Two retrievers kinda negate the usefulness of the Roomba.

iRobot used to sell Roombas that were specifically designed (probably more like marketed) to pet owners. The pet models were supposed to be more resistant to pet and child abuse. I couldn't find them on the website though.

I considered buying a Roomba about half a dozen times. Usually when they go on sale at places like Home Depot.  But I always tend to find an excuse not to spend the money. First it was because I lived in an apartment and I never cleaned it anyways. Now it's because I have four dogs, three cats, two kids and a girlfriend. I figure I'd be spending more time cleaning hair out of the gears than I would actually vacuuming myself. 

I suppose I'll look into it as a Christmas present for the girlfriend.

[Ed_McCarron]

iRobot used to sell Roombas that were specifically designed (probably more like marketed) to pet owners.

http://store.irobot.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3203440

The pet series.  I've been waiting for these to evolve.

In the time I spend de-hairing the normal Roomba, I could have vacuumed twice with a normal vacuum.  Plus, the hair gets wound into the bearings, they heat up, and melt the housing.  Really.  I've had the bronze bushings melt out of the yellow carriers.

[ChadTower]

I'm waiting for the Pac Man model before I buy one.  It has to be yellow and say WAKKA WAKKA as it rolls around.

[AtomSmasher]

I'm waiting for the Pac Man model before I buy one.  It has to be yellow and say WAKKA WAKKA as it rolls around.

[SavannahLion]

iRobot used to sell Roombas that were specifically designed (probably more like marketed) to pet owners.

http://store.irobot.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3203440

The pet series.  I've been waiting for these to evolve.

In the time I spend de-hairing the normal Roomba, I could have vacuumed twice with a normal vacuum.  Plus, the hair gets wound into the bearings, they heat up, and melt the housing.  Really.  I've had the bronze bushings melt out of the yellow carriers.

It looks different than what I remember from last time, but yeah, that's the idea.

I find human females are infinitely harder on my vacuum than any animal though. I've had my Panasonic for twelve years and the poor thing has seen more abuse in the last two than it has in the first ten. I've already gone through four drive belts, have a bent accessory and lost another. My HEPA filter add-on has gone missing and there’s evidence of severe damage to the wall bumpers. I’ve pulled it apart six times to clean huge quantities of human hair out of the bearings and I suspect the relief valve might need replacing.  There’s also a short that developed in the light as well.

It boggles me why she loves to use my plastic Japanese Panasonic vacuum over her American made all steel vacuum. Hers has far more accessories, has more power, has a drive transmission, uses an air powered geared rotor, but she loves to use mine

Panasonic still makes my line of vacuum but I really don’t want to go and replace it. It’s tough to find a vacuum that lasts more than three years anymore. Buying a Roomba might be a good incentive to save the life of my beloved vacuum.

[Vanguard]

MY kids and I really want one of these.  We were in a store that had them last week.  We sat and watched the video that was playing for 20 minutes.  However, we have too much Lego that ends up on the floor.  With the price of Lego, I can't see letting the robot eat it.

[Mauzy]

MY kids and I really want one of these.  We were in a store that had them last week.  We sat and watched the video that was playing for 20 minutes.  However, we have too much Lego that ends up on the floor.  With the price of Lego, I can't see letting the robot eat it.

The reason I never vacuumed my floor (or allowed anyone else to do it) from the ages of 5 till about 2 weeks ago (12 years later). 

[shmokes]

I had a Roomba and absolutely loved it, but its battery is dead.  It only lasts for about one minute.  Someday I will replace the battery.  I can't freaking believe that they cost $70 now.  What's that all about.  Now I wish I had bought one when I first needed it and they were only $40 or $50 (which struck me as expensive).

[Samstag]

I buy my Roombas from Woot.com.  They're refurbs and older models, but $100 is about all I'm willing to spend on them.  When my first battery died I just bought another Roomba since for $100 it's nice to have another set of brushes, rollers, bearings, motors, etc.

I like my Scooba even more.  Other than tight corners, that thing does a great job.

[shardian]

I got mine off of Woot, but it was brand new.

[ChadTower]

I had a Roomba and absolutely loved it, but its battery is dead.  It only lasts for about one minute.  Someday I will replace the battery.  I can't freaking believe that they cost $70 now.  What's that all about.  Now I wish I had bought one when I first needed it and they were only $40 or $50 (which struck me as expensive).

The cost of lead.  All heavy batteries are going up like crazy.  I replaced the battery in my Civic the other day - over $100 for a battery for a 4cyl 1.6L.