Robot vacuum not working: common errors and faults

Your robot vacuum (Xiaomi, Roborock, Dreame, iRobot or another) shows an error, won't return to its dock, or drives in circles. A lot of this you can fix yourself.

Won't charge on the dock

• Wipe the charging contacts on the robot and the dock with a dry cloth.
• Make sure the dock sits level against a wall, with 0.5 m clear on each side and 1.5 m in front.
• If the robot is 2–3+ years old and drains fast, the battery is worn.

Drives in circles, bumps into things, can't find the dock

• Wipe the sensors: the lidar on top (on many models), the cliff sensors underneath, the bumper.
• Check that the lidar turret on top spins; if not, it needs repair.
• Restart the robot and update its firmware in the app.

Wheel or brush error

• Remove the main brush and cut away tangled hair and threads — a frequent cause.
• Check the wheels: hair wraps around the axles.
• Clean the side brush and its shaft.

If the error persists after cleaning, the wheel or brush motor may be faulty.

Poor cleaning and weak suction

• Empty the bin and clean the filter (filters should be replaced every few months).
• Check the suction channel for stuck objects.

Won't turn on at all

Battery, board or power button. It needs diagnosing.

What we do

We replace batteries and wheel and brush motors, clean sensors and repair boards. More: robot vacuum repair. Send the model and the error (the error number from the app helps) on Telegram.

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