iRobot Roomba 530 Robotic Cleaner

The Roomba 530 is a great little machine. But the instructions that came with it were vague and incomplete. Here's some maintenance tips for the mechanically challenged Roomba owner:

The most important thing to do is to keep Roomba clean. When the little black and white front wheel locks up with dirt and pet hair, Roomba has a stroke because it thinks it's not moving. Pry the wheel out and remove the axle. The groove in the middle of the axle jams up with hair and fine dust. Make sure the wheel snaps back in place tightly or you'll be searching your house for that little axle.

Clean the yellow bearings on the ends of both brushes daily. If hair or string wraps around the end of the brush, the ring around the bearing melts from the friction and the bearing jams. Also, the little axle in the bearing end of the brush comes loose, and unless you are able to fix it with epoxy, you'll need a new brush.

Make a little hook out of a paper clip or floral wire and get ALL the hair and dust out of the yellow bearings and the grooves in the ends of the plastic brush body.

Clean the shiny little dirt detector with a soft cloth or Roomba will stay in SPOT mode most of the time.

Get the hair out from under the side brush by removing the center screw with a Phillips screwdriver. BE CAREFUL because it's a very short screw and can easily get lost.

Alternate the filters when you clean the brushes. Warm water and a soft brush will clean the filters and prolong their life. Let the filter air dry completely before using it again or it will clog up with mud.

Believe it or not - those gray drive wheels get PACKED on the inside with dirt, lint, and pet hair. Use the floral wire hook to fish the hair out of the inside of the drive wheels. Point the hook to the left INSIDE the little groove between the wheel and the tire and rotate the wheel slowly to the right. Pull the hook back towards you and GENTLY coax the junk out of the slot. You'll be amazed at what you get out of there! Of course, the manual says nothing about this and when Roomba first announced that his wheels needed to be cleaned, I had to figure this all out.

Once in a while, take your Phillips screwdriver and remove the bottom plate. These screws are "captive" and won't get lost. Brush the dust and lint out of the inside. A wipe with a SLIGHTLY damp cloth is probably not a bad idea. Make sure everything is completely dry before you put the bottom plate back on.

Judging by the packaging of the "accessories" (read: "parts that wear out pretty often") on the irobot web site, you'll be going through another eighty dollars or so in replacement parts before you've had Roomba for a few months. Of course, the three-paks will last quite a while, but selling the brushes and filters in quantity like that tells me the irobot people know something about their durability that I don't- but will find out soon enough...

Hopefully, the irobot people will work on these wear and tear issues. An overhaul of their manual and packaging inserts is sorely needed, too. I am a technical writer, but I had a real hard time following the instructions.

All this having been said, it's a neat machine and well worth the price. Where it's especially good is picking up fine dust. I dust my house much less often now that I have my Roomba. I'd buy him all over again if I had the choice. I didn't go for the scheduling and remote control model; glad I didn't. The 530 is just fine for my average needs.

The new irobot roomba 530 arrived with a defective battery.I already own a older model roomba.This is a warning to anyone thinking of purchasing a roomba from ebay-irobot will not honor the warranty from ebay since they are not approved seller according to irobot.My suggestion is to buy it from a regular retail store because the first thing irobot asks you is where did you purchase it & you have to tell them the manufacturing or serial no. that is on the roomba so they know where the roomba was purchased.I would of never purchased this item from ebay if I would of known.

it's quieter than discovery and work better. Its accesorries are different to discovery series. I couldn't reuse the brush or battery of discovery. My old discovery was out of order in 4 month and I couldn't find a place to fix. The Irobot company doesn't provide to fix it. and I bought it 4 months ago but they said my worrenty was expired. I wonder why. I suggested me to buy new one with a low price but I didn't want to buy same one again. I hope the new model is better than discovery series. I bought a new battery and new brushes for fixing the old one. I spend over $70 for that. I like roomba very much but when it has a trouble I cna't get any help. The new one, Roombar 530, can be replaced every part. I wonder after I spend a lot of money to fix it by myself and I would get same result, buy a new one.

LOVE IT! Fantastic to see a room vaccumed and you haven't done anything. I love the idea of someone else cleaning while I do other things. It has changed my world. I ordered another one. One for each level of the home. I run it couple times a day. I can't believe what it picks up in the carpet that I miss. I particularly like it that it can get under beds. Spent 45 minutes under my bed the first time. I had to empty the bin 6 times! Hadn't been vaccumed for over 2 years under the bed.

This is the third Roomba I have purchased, I am in a wheelchair but still like to do as much of my own house work as possible. To vacuum or sweep from a wheelchair is just about impossible. With my little helper I can keep my carpets and hardwood floors spotless and dust free daily. Not only does Roomba do a good job but it's fun too. I just purchased my second Roomba which is much improved over the first. It's more powerful, easier to clean and has a larger capacity dust bin.I will buy a new battery for my old one and pass it on to my mother-in-law. I also bought a Roomba for my daughter. She uses it to clean under her large king sized bed. It is very helpful if you have shedding pets in the house.
I enjoy my Roomba very much and couldn't do without one.

OVER THE SUMMER I GOT HARD WOOD FLOORS, THIS IS THE REASON I GOT MY IROBOT. IT IS SO EASY FOR HIM TO DO THE FLOORS IN BETWEEN MY BIG WEEKLY CLEANING. I JUST SET HIM UP AND OFF HE GOES. I LOVE IT. HE IS MORE DEPENDABLE THAN MY HUSBAND OR MY SON WHEN I NEED A LITTLE EXTRA HELP. I HAVE 2 DOGS AND A CAT SO THERES ALWAYS FUR FLYING AROUND AND THE ROBOT GETS IT ALL. THANK YOU FOR THE DEAL ON IT. I WOULD RECOMMEND IT TO ANYONE WHO ASKED.

I purchased my Rooba after my wife was injured and I had just laid a wood floor. This machine does everything it advertizes it does. Very little maintenance and frankly fun to watch. It goes from room to room sucking up my dogs hair and doesn't miss a spot. It doesn't like speaker wires but lamp cords are not a problem. Great product not just some gadget. Buy one - You'll love it!

This is GREAT....We have a wood floor in the main part of the house.....and a dog! It was very hard to keep this large area clean. Now in the morning and last thing of the day...we let the Roomba do all the work for us. Our floor stays nice and clean. I will soon buy the liquid one and retire the 1st one to the bed rooms. I am very happy with the Roomba. The only thing bad is the small rotating brush has to be replaced too often (sort of expensive). Something tells me that they had a bad design and hopefully they have corrected it.

THE 530, WHICH WE PURCHASED NIB, IS GREAT...WE HAVE A GOLDEN RETRIEVER WITH LOTS OF HAIR AND IF YOU USE THE ROOMBA EACH DAY IT KEEPS UP WITH THE PET HAIR ON BOTH WOOD FLOORS AND CARPET........THE BIG PROBLEM : IF YOU PURCHASE THE ROOMBA ON E-BAY, IROBOT WILL NOT HONOR THE FACTORY WARRANTY. THEY CLAIM THAT THE WARRANTY ONLY GOES TO THE FIRST PURCHASER AND THAT THEY MUST MAKE ANY WARRANTY CLAIM...FAT CHANCE FIGURING OUT WHO THE ORIGINAL PURCHASER WAS. IF YOU CHECK THE IROBOT WARRANTY ON-LINE ON THEIR WEBSITE, YOU WILL SEE THE EXCEPTION, EVEN THO THE OWNERS MANUAL DOESN'T STATE THIS

Two cats, a son and two full time working parents ... we LOVE "Spot" our Roomba. Spot is a lifesaver keeping our two cats pet hair under control while finding it's own way back to the recharging dock.

What can I say ... I'd MUCH rather be skiing than vacuming.

Denis

This transaction was great....but the Roomba vacuum....I love it..

It does a thorough cleaning. The first time was after I had been confined to a wheelchair and had not vaccum well. I have carpet and laminate floors

I emptied it 2 time. Love it. I am looking at the floor scrubber next.

This is now my 6th or 7th I Bot product and as always I am in love with it. I own a Dirt Dog as well as Scuba. If I had a pool or gutters, I would own the complete line.

I have up to five dogs who feel that my house is there home and are welcomed inside very often. The daily cleaning of my Roomba more than keeps up with the dog dirt. After all, the dogs are just giving me the coat off of their backs. Scooba runs almost daily over different areas to remove the fine dirt. I have aranged my furniture to make the house more Roomba friendly.

My first Roomba was a Discovery purchased about six years ago. I liked it so much that I gave one to my ex wife. I have given Roombas to several other people includeing my infirmed mother who loves the daily clean up.

Not only is Roomba a wonderful tool to keep up the housework, their customer support has been astounding. Of late the phone lines have been long but, once you get through the customer service, who speak American, are the best I have experienced. The web site has improved over the years. Their product knowledge is terrific. I have had two Roombas which have quit. One time the replacement Roomba was delivered before I could even ship the broken one back!

I agree with one of the other reviews in that the "manual" is not as informative as I would wish for. Often when I have contacted customer support for some trouble shooting, I have recieved a solution that could have easily been in a manual. Both my time and theirs could have been spared.

Beware that some Roombas purchased on EBay are not covered by factory warrenty. As a rule, this hass not been a problem for me in that I am quite familiar with the workings of Roombas. Often I am able to fix my own problems. If this isn't your strong point I may suggest you buy from a source where the factory warrenty is available. This machine is worth the little extra and not deserving of a bad experience because of no warrenty.

BEWARE!!!! Once you have owned one you will not be without one. I presently have two 500 series working in my house. Partly because I am to lazy to move one to different floors. But, mostly it is because I like to be sure at least one is always working. I have even modified my kennels so the Dirt Dog can clean around the dogs. The machine is addicting. Wondefully so. I would much rather spend my time doing other things than cleaning my floors.

Buy one and enjoy. Be patient with Roomba. A little adjusting to furniture, wires, etc. will make your experience better. The filter washes well in the dishwasher. I have the original still in use.

I bought this for my wife for Christmas, and she loves it. This thing does an awesome job on our laminate florring. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!!!!!!!!!

I bought the irobot roomba 530 robotic vacuum. It works well as a fill in when I'm tired and don't want to vacumm. Also, goes under the furniture, which I don't get to very offten. It's nice that it returns to it's home base and you can leave the house and come back to a nicely vacummed home.

I decided to buy a Roomba because I was tired of taking out my Kirby to vacuum everyday. I have a dog that sheds quite a bit and two younger children that keep the floors a mess. I run the Roomba everyday and I am very happy with the results. It is great for general cleaning and I only have to take out the Kirby for a deep clean every two weeks or so. I am very happy with the product and like the fact that it docks itself when the power is low.
It was a great purchase!

I love my new Roomba. It actually works the way it is advertised. It manuvers up over rugs, even with fringes, and doesn't get hung up. It also does not suck up chords or rather it spits them out when it does cross them. It doesn't go down over steps. And it sucks up things as large as dog food and bottle caps. I am truely impressed. The only draw back I have found is that it gets stuck under some things that are wedge shaped and gets caught. It is smart enough to shut itself off and wait for me to come release it though. It returns to its charging base when it is done vacuuming. I look forward to purchasing a Scooba and hope it works as well.

Rentcollector added shipping of $20.00 after stateing that there would would not be shipping if I purchased "BUY NOW"

The original Roomba Discovery by iRobot was a fantastic little robot vacuum. The new 530 is an improvement on the original. The device is redesigned to not slam into the wall or furniture before it changes like the older models. It seems to have a smarter mapping system; I noticed it cleans my main room faster, despite the awkward furniture placement. A pair of "lighthouses" help to cordon off rooms you don't want the machine to clean. It will not fall down stairs. This new model doesn't tend to get caught up on changes from carpet to bare floors or on cords like the old version.

This isn't the model you can program to operate independently -- that's the 550 or higher. However, if you want a cheap and efficient alternative to vacuuming, the Roomba is the way to go. There's a reason that people name their 'bots (you can find a whole robophilic community on the iRobot website.)

There's still some room for improvement on the AI and brush design -- the side brush seems awfully weak, compared to the old design -- and iRobot encourages tinkering and reprogramming of the machines; the only stipulation seems to be that alterations be available open-source.

If you're even thinking of buying one, do it.

It's exactly as it was discribed by the seller and works great. The seller sent the irobot promptly.

It helps a lot, i mean a lot...it recharges very fast and it is able to clean my home in few runs...all i have to do is sweep the floor myself afterwards for 5mins and it is done. I can't believe cleaning can be that fast and efficient.

Virtual walls works great as well, i've got a pet so i've to stop roomba from entering some pet areas in my house, and it just turns back when it reaches those area...all in all, i say its an excellent buy

I really like this product. I dust 1 room at a time and place the roomba in a room while I am dusting the other. It is very quiet. It has good suction power and is very user friendly. This was a good purchase. It was priced well and I highly recommend it.

Better than the model I borrowed from a friend! This Roomba 530 makes it over my bathroom rugs with ease! I liked her model but it is slightly smaller and would either get caught under a table or bounce away from some rugs. The 530 is large enough to not get caught and can go from a wooden floor to bathroom rugs with ease. I do have to watch that it doesn't get caught in some tighter areas. It tends to go in too many circles some times.
I've also noticed that if I place the tower to close to the base it has a hard time docking. Lessons learned though. I just put the dock in the center of the area I plan on blocking with the towers.
A friend (has own flooring business) says they are not good for carpet since they don't clean deep enough. It won't replace my regular vacuum for deep cleaning but for keeping up on the high hair (I have cats) areas so I'm not vacuuming everyday it is well worth the $$$.

I BOUGHT IT BECAUSE I NEEDED A REPLACEMENT FOR THE ONE THAT I HAD, AND I WANTED AN UPSCALE ONE.

THERE IS NOTHING TO DISLIKE ABOUT THIS PRODUCT.

I WOULD BUY THIS PRODUCT AGAIN AND FROM THE SAME SELLER