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.