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Home » Roomba Vacuum » How To Fix A Roomba Won’t Dock (Guidelines For 2023)
Home » Roomba Vacuum » How To Fix A Roomba Won’t Dock (Guidelines For 2023)

How To Fix A Roomba Won’t Dock (Guidelines For 2023)

By Jaskaran Curtis | Last updated on January 3, 2023

How to solve when your Roomba won’t dock?

Maintaining your robovac in a good state is not a simple task.

The most common issue with Roomba robot vacuum is its battery – there may come a point when the unit won’t charge at all.

button

Don’t worry if this robotic vacuum cleaner does not act probably. If you are looking for the best Roomba for your home, the following guidelines here provide tips on how to troubleshoot and maintain the machine.

Get the iRobot unit run again!

Table of Contents

  • What to Do When My Roomba Won’t Dock?
  • Why My Roomba Does Not Turn on?
  • How to Reset My Roomba Cleaner?
  • Conclusion

What to Do When My Roomba Won’t Dock?

solutions for the roomba to return its docking station

Keep in mind problems with robot vacuum cleaner will happen at times, especially if it’s not cleaned frequently. However, cleaning the house is much easier with the assistance of iRobot Roomba.

You find that your robotic vacuum cleaner doesn’t come back to its Home Base when finishing the cleaning cycle.

How to deal with this problem? Check all the ideas below:

  • Have a thorough look at the charger line cable to see if there’s any potential damage.
  • Plug the charger into a wall socket and make sure the power indicator displays the solid green color.
  • Connect the charger with the home base and make sure it fits once being inserted substantially. Designed for energy efficiency, the power indicator usually exposes solid for 4 seconds before shutting off.
  • Double-check for no virtual wall; actually the unit’s virtual wall lighthouse will stay within 2.4 m (approx. 8 ft.) of the home base which could stay away from infrared beam hindrance.
  • Insert the home base in an open area.
  • Avoid any of exotic objects on the bumper as well as docking station.
  • Use a dry cloth to remove debris from your iRobot Roomba filter; plus, also clean the charging contacts on the home base.
  • Place this robotic vacuum cleaner within 6 ft. of the home base and then hit Dock button for it to come back.

The solution above can apply to Roomba 650, 860, 880, and 980 only.

In case Roomba leaves the virtual wall for a cleaning cycle, make sure you activate the virtual wall and adjust the beam to face the exact approach of the robotic cleaner’s proposed area to close off.

iRobot Roomba can give a cleaning tour to multiple rooms in one cycle. Sometimes it may fail at tracing the home base when reaching the end of a complete mission.

Why My Roomba Does Not Turn on?

tips when your roomba unit does not turn on

Despite the convenience, iRobot vacuum usually encounters different issues, such as not charging, not docking, not responding, or not turning on.

If your new Roomba happens to not turning on, let’s check and see whether it’s been activated yet. Maybe the battery probably has been displaced during the shipment process. Usually the battery will be detached from the unit; only put it back in the robot after the unboxing.

Plug in the docking station and authenticate its indicator light displaying once every 4 seconds. In case the light turns off, you can consider charging in a second outlet and test either the home baseline cable or charger is damaged. Find a replacement once the charge base seems unable to open.

How about the light illuminates but the robotic cleaner is not yet charged?

Look at the charging communications and see if they have any debris or dirt. If available, then simply remove them away using a soft dry cloth.

First and foremost, take your Roomba away from its charging base. Next, turn it over in order to remove the caster wheels – make sure there’s no dirt in the caster wheels or the robot cannot approach the charging contacts. As soon as you find your Roomba unit won’t dock, quickly check the caster wheel.

Just place the robotic vacuum cleaner on the home base and charge it for at least one hour. Instantly keep an eye on the charging error messages display once Roomba comes up with an error message during the charging process as well as the home base’s troubleshooting indicator keeps flickering.

Here come most commonly potential problems when your iRobot Roomba won’t get charged on base or simply won’t hold a charge:

  • Power source issues
  • Contact dust
  • Wrong type battery

Whenever there’s an error, our robotic cleaner will demonstrate an error code which makes it easy for consumers to solve the problem without causing much trouble.

How to Reset My Roomba Cleaner?

give your roomba a hard reset as maintenance

You just spot that your Roomba robot doesn’t work during your observation, then maybe its productivity and performance as well have been reduced. In this case, it’s a must to reset the unit.

Do not quickly give its battery a change when you’re not sure if the battery is the main reason. Actually, a reset is an accurate confirmation about whether or not the problem for everything is the battery.

When something is wrong with the iRobot Roomba, the first thing you should do is to give it a hard reset.

Follow the steps here:

#1: Put your robot on the home base or directly contact the charger to the robotic cleaner.

#2: Press and hold the CLEAN button for up to 10 seconds and wait for the blue-colored text ‘r 5Y’ to show up

#3: Release the CLEAN button when you see the test ‘r 5 P’ on the display; after your Roomba turns off, there will come a BEEP sound – this means you’re successful with the reset

#4: Never force the unit to load nearly 20 hours; in fact, you can improve the performance of your Roomba by giving it a reset after each cleaning section. The better maintenance, the longer it will last.

Please note that the operation of Roomba robotic vacuum cleaner depends mainly on the manufacturer settings. Therefore, whenever you need a reset, remember to reprogram everything again, including the clock, language, and even task scheduler.

Read more: Roomba not connecting to WiFi

Conclusion

Hope you find the article about Roomba won’t dock helpful and informative enough for your problem with Roomba robot vacuum to be solved. Now, you may somehow diagnose the reason behind the unit’s low performance.

Follow the guidelines here and you can bring your Roomba back to its elatedly working state.

Don’t think about buying a new one immediately if you sense something wrong occurs; instead, all problems can be fixed if you have enough patience and the will to make it run again.

Filed Under: Roomba Vacuum

Avatar for Jaskaran Curtis

About Jaskaran Curtis

Jaskaran Curtis is the executive editor of Reliable Technologies. Back then, he’s had the experience of coordinating a group of approximately 20 editors and writers based in New York. He is the professional of studying and analyzing the latest products in technology area. He's started his career as an editor since 2008.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Avatar for Kevin YapKevin Yap says

    January 18, 2020 at 5:32 pm

    Good guidelines!

    Reply
  2. Avatar for Raymond HallRaymond Hall says

    February 10, 2020 at 8:14 am

    My Roomba 980 loses its front wheel and cannot mount the home base platform to recharge. I have to search the house for the wheel. It is usually under a chair with a metal ring base or under the beds in the master bedroom with several electrical chords underneath. How do I keep the front wheel from falling off the Roomba. It didn’t do that when it was new.

    Reply
  3. Avatar for Alfred AmentAlfred Ament says

    July 26, 2020 at 10:48 pm

    HOW DO YOU MAKE new ROOMBA E5 go to the docking station !?

    Reply
    • Avatar for Jaskaran CurtisJaskaran Curtis says

      December 29, 2020 at 4:40 pm

      Hi,

      How to Send Roomba Home to Dock
      – Verify that the home base is plugged in. If it’s not, your Roomba will be unable to locate it to dock.
      – Pick the Roomba up and set it down within five feet of the home base.
      – Press the “Spot” and “Clean” buttons simultaneously. The Roomba will now drive into the home base to dock.

      Sincere

      Reply
  4. Avatar for Suzanne walkerSuzanne walker says

    October 26, 2020 at 12:09 am

    Worked. Thank you. Contacts dirty.

    Reply
  5. Avatar for LinusLinus says

    December 29, 2020 at 10:53 pm

    It’s idiotic that one buys a Roomba to save themselves the chore of sweeping floors and end up spending time maintaining the machine.

    Reply
  6. Avatar for GeneGene says

    October 10, 2021 at 12:37 am

    My Roomba E Series loses traction going up the ramp, just a small amount of help is all it needs. This just started a couple of weeks ago.

    Reply
    • Avatar for RickRick says

      October 14, 2022 at 10:54 pm

      I’m having exactly the same problem…. Looking for a solution.

      Reply
      • Avatar for Jaskaran CurtisJaskaran Curtis says

        October 28, 2022 at 2:05 pm

        Hi Rick,

        Check the wheels for obstructions.

        Push the wheels up and down several times and shake out any loose debris that may be trapped in the wheel well.

        Make sure the wheels turn freely.

        If there is uneven resistance between the wheels, hold down Roomba’s SPOT and

        DOCK buttons for 10 seconds to reset the robot and try again.

        Check tires for wear and tear.

        If tire treads are no longer visible, or if large tears are present, replace wheel modules.

        If wheel module problems persist on flat surfaces when there are no obstacles present, replace wheel modules.

        The other thing to consider is dirt/grime at the optical encoders that sense wheel motion. Take a look at those and clean those with some isopropyl alcohol. Last but not least, you can also check the drive motor on the module.

        There are two wires, a Red and a Black one that connect to the motor.Find those two wires on the connector that plugs into the connector on the main board, apply power form a 9V battery to those wires, the motor should turn in one direction. than reverse the wires, and the motor should turn into the opposite direction. If it does not, replace the motor, if it does you may have a bad component, either a diode or a power transistor (pretty common) on the H Bridge.

        Hope this helps, good luck.

        Reply
  7. Avatar for CindyCindy says

    October 17, 2021 at 12:00 am

    Should the green button on the base stay lite up while iRobot is charging?

    Reply
    • Avatar for Jaskaran CurtisJaskaran Curtis says

      December 3, 2021 at 3:08 pm

      Hi Cindy,

      Solid green means a full charge.
      Any other solid color means the battery is not charged fully and is not charging.

      Sincere

      Reply
  8. Avatar for CJCJ says

    November 11, 2021 at 12:05 am

    My Roomba I7 gave out Error 26 after leaving docking station. I aiir pressure cleaned, and removed hair and dust from all wheels and dust bin. Dry cloth cleaned all censors. Also removed cleaning head module and followed online cleaning instructions. Now I’m getting docking error message when roomba leaves docking station. I’ve tried a reboot several times.

    Reply
  9. Avatar for Norm DykesNorm Dykes says

    October 6, 2022 at 1:20 am

    My IRobot i&+ will not mount the charging base. It starts to mount the base but then hangs up and the wheels spend. Any suggestions?

    Reply
    • Avatar for Norm DykesNorm Dykes says

      October 6, 2022 at 1:21 am

      IRobt i7+

      Reply
    • Avatar for Jaskaran CurtisJaskaran Curtis says

      October 28, 2022 at 2:03 pm

      Hi Norm,

      Dirt or built-up debris may be preventing your robot from charging. Please unplug the base and grab a clean, lightly dampened melamine foam, such as a Magic Eraser to clean the contacts on the robot and base.
      Note: If you do not have melamine foam, a lightly dampened cloth will do.
      These are the only two acceptable materials that should be used to clear the contacts.
      Damaged contacts could also prevent your robot from charging. If the contacts are green or copper colored, they are damaged and the robot or base with the damaged contacts needs to be replaced.
      Please contact iRobot Customer Care.

      Sincere

      Reply

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