How to replace your Litter-Robot's Cat Sensor | RobotShop Community

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The cat sensor may be small, but is still an important part of your Litter-Robot Open Air III. Without this small component, your robot won't detect when your cat is inside the litter. Although the sensor is not prone to defects, it is pretty sensible and you could find yourself one day with a Red Flashing Light on your Litter-Robot. No need to worry, you can easily handle this situation, thanks to our pieces of advice!

Josué and I decided to create this easy step-by-step tutorial in order to teach you all the secrets of the cat sensor and how to replace it by yourself. This guide is not only good for the replacement of the cat sensor but will also show you an easy and step-by-step way of disassembling your Litter-Robot. Let’s get started!

Watch us do the repair in our video!

 

What you will need

  • A new Cat Sensor
  • Ratchet
  • 9mm socket
  • 1/4 nut driver
  • About 15 min of time
 

Step 1: Disassemble the Litter-Robot

  • Turn off your unit by pushing the power button
  • Unplug the power cord
  • Locate the clips on each side of the bonnet
Locate the clip on the side of the bonnet
  • Push the clips and pull out the bonnet
  • Remove the globe
  • Pull out the drawer
Pull out the drawer

 

Step 2: Remove the Cat Sensor

  • Locate the foot under the base
Locate the foot under the base
  • Locate the nut inside the base
Locate the nut inside the base
  • Use the 1/4 inch nut driver to unscrew
  • Use the ratchet and the 9mm socket to hold the inside nut
  • Remove the foot, the nut, and the sensor's cover
  • Locate the cat sensor and gently unplug it
Locate the cat sensor and gently unplug it

Step 3: Install the new Cat Sensor

  • Plug the new cat sensor
  • Install it back in its spot (Make sure the sticky surface is down and the black plain surface is up)
  • Use a little plastic piece to hold the bolt in place inside the foot
Use a little plastic piece to hold the bolt in place inside the foot
  • Put the foot in its emplacement
  • Put the sensor cover back on top of the sensor (double check the orientation)
Put the sensor cover back on top of the sensor (double check the orientation)
  • Apply pressure on the base and make sure the bolt comes out through the hole
  • Put back the nut
  • Screw everything back together
  • Check how much you need to screw the nut according to the color of the foot White foot (and the bolt is 1 7/8'' 47mm): you need to screw for the bolt to be about ~1/4" (6.35mm) from the bolt. Black foot (and the bolt is 1 5/8'' 41mm): you need to screw for the bolt to just be a mm from the bolt.

Step 4: Reassemble the Litter-Robot

  • Put the drawer back in
  • Put the globe back
  • Lock the black key back in place
  • Insert the rear tabs of the bonnet first then clip it
  • Make sure it's clipped securely

Here you go, now that you know all the secret of the cat sensor, you should be able to replace it by yourself. For any additional pieces of information, and if you purchased your Litter-Robot through RobotShop, do not hesitate to contact our support center: click here.

This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://community.robotshop.com/blog/show/how-to-replace-your-litter-robots-cat-sensor
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I had to disassemble the globe to put a new liner in. After I put it back together, I found two rectangular magnets left behind. The litter robot no longer works. Do you have any idea where these magnets are from and how to put them back?

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Hi Gil,

We suggest you contact us via the support center in the Domestic Robot department. We will be able to send you further information to fix your globe.

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what exactly do you mean in your instructions for screwing the bolt in? I have a black foot, so do you mean to screw it in until the bolt sicks up above the nut about 1mm

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Hi Lauren,

Exactly, the bolt needs to be screw only 1mm above the nut.

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My has a black foot but the bolt is only 31mm or 30mm including the washer. My serial number is #000065. How much should i screw the bolt?

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Hi Bruno,

With the black foot, screw the bolt so you only have a millimeter or so of the screw over the nut.

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What is the “little piece of plastic” that is black that you are using to hold everything in place when screwing everything back together?

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I just disassembled my Litter-Robot 3 s/n LR3136670.
The black foot bolt is 1.5 inches long (the standard, from under the head measurement). The NEW bolt is exactly the same.
----This length does not match the written:

  • Check how much you need to screw the nut according to the color of the foot White foot (and the bolt is 1 7/8’’ 47mm): you need to screw for the bolt to be about ~1/4" (6.35mm) from the bolt. Black foot (and the bolt is 1 5/8’’ 41mm): you need to screw for the bolt to just be a mm from the bolt.

The locking crown nut was exactly 5 mm from the end of the bolt.

So, I reassembled it exactly the same way. 1 1/2" bolt, and 5mm of bolt end exposed.

If I had a black foot and a bolt that was 1 5/8" and placed the nut 1mm from the end of the bolt, it would compress the spring a lot less that it is now, with les force on the sensor. I assume that would make the sensor measure the weight differently, too.

I assume the factory setting is correct, and don’t understand why the instructions above don’t match at all.

Can you explain this please?