I require your help regarding a problem I’m encountering.
Description: I bought a brand new Litter Robot 3 from Robot Shop. It just arrived today. I set it up according to the manual, got everything connected properly, including the app. Powered the robot on for the first time and it went through the first cycle. As it finished the cycle, the three lights started blinking in succession, showing the Dump position error. I tried the Fresh Reset, checked all the connections, checked the magnets etc. Put everything back together, powered on, it cycled through properly again, but in the end showed me now all three lights blinking at the same time, the Home & Dump position error.
Hardware concerned: Litter Robot 3 Connect, serial number: LR3CI405152
Software concerned: none
Troubleshooting steps already taken:
Fresh Reset, all 10 steps
Checked magnets for attraction (all good)
Made sure the set screw on the motor is tight (it was)
Checked Hall Effect sensor wires, they were properly attached and in the correct position
Made sure the floor the robot stands on is level
Checked motherboard for any visible issues, none found
Motor works properly as indicated by the full cycle finishing properly before the error pops up
Additional information: I combed through this whole forum and tried everything that people suggested - nothing worked. This is a brand new product straight out of the box - I’m appalled that it has probably wiring or circuitry hardware problems from the get-go. I paid a lot of money for it and expect it to work if it’s new.
Also one thing that I noticed is that the Globe seems to “jump” a bit in it’s tracks during the cycle turning, and I read that this could mess up the magnetic positioning. I have made sure that the track it runs in is empty and clean, as well as the grooves on the Globe itself. It still keeps jumping and I have no idea what is causing it. It seems to happen the most when the connecting parts of the Globe (so the grooves where the plastic pieces meet) get to around the area where the motor sits. Perhaps the plastic is not sitting together properly and thus causes the Globe to jump, messing up the positioning? Again, not something that should happen with a brand new product. I made a video showing the whole cycle and the problems and uploaded it to Google Drive, so you can see it with your own eyes (the link is public so you should have no problems opening it): VID_20211125_204242.mp4 - Google Drive
Please respond to me ASAP! I really need to get this up and running immediately!
I checked the adapter earlier as well (sorry, forgot to add that to my initial post) and it is the correct one - output 15V, as it should be. Any other ideas?
So the specification on power supply says 15V 1000 mA?
Cycle seems a little bit slow on the video. Is the power supply plugged directly into the wall or it is plugged into extension cord? Did you try different wall power outlet?
Here’s the image, and yes, it is the correct power supply. It was powered into an extension cord before, but I just tried it with a regular wall outlet as well (different outlet from the one the extension cord is plugged into) and it’s exactly the same as previously.
Okay, so I removed a bit of the litter and made sure that it is just a tiny bit underneath the marked line, to be absolutely sure there is not too much litter in it. Still the same exact problem persists. Should I perhaps try taking out the litter altogether and seeing if the cycle completes perfectly then, or do you think it’s something else?
Also when I was watching the globe turn right now, then it did seem that the motor may be slightly struggling, but it couldn’t be about the weight anymore since I made sure I had less litter than needed inside. The little “jumps” that occur also seem to move not just the globe itself, but the whole robot along with the base seems to move very slightly during the jumps.
Sorry about the video being low-quality - my phone camera hates me apparently.
Yes, a test with empty globe would tell us something.
But also checking of the gear on the motor is important now.
Please remove the globe and check the black gear connected to the motor. When you press on the black gear with your finger, does it seem loose or free‐spinning?
I will test with empty globe in a second, but I can say immediately that the gear is all good. I made sure it is fixed and it does not seem loose nor does it free-spin. But I will make a video of me checking the gear again if the empty-globe test shouldn’t change anything.
Can you take a photo of the top of the base when the globe is removed? Are all glider buttons and seal strips there? Is black key on the back of the globe positioned properly?
Alright, tested out the empty globe and now it is indeed giving me a new error - the Home Position fault. The app shows this error and the lights are now blinking in succession: red - yellow - blue. Made a video of this as well: VID_20211125_221121.mp4 - Google Drive
All the glider buttons and seal strips are there and positioned as they should be. The black key is also positioned properly whenever I set the globe back onto the base.
Ok. I would suggest that you unplug your robot and leave it like that over night (strange but this solves some issues sometime). Tomorrow, try again to plug it and use it. If the same issues are happening we will exchange it. Is that OK for you?
Alright, I’ll leave it sitting overnight unplugged, but before we finish for tonight, I did make one more video. I had this nagging feeling that perhaps the motor is not quite alright after all, so I opened the control panel and made a video of me checking the motor and the gear. Check it out, please: VID_20211125_222939.mp4 - Google Drive
Nice video. Yes, the motor has a little “play” on the shaft. This would explain the “wobbling” of the globe. Anyway, wobbling is normal, if it is not too much.
But, three blinking lights shouldn’t appear because of that. The problem is that the root cause for 3 blinking lights can be power supply, globe or hall sensor inside the base, so the safest option in the end would be to replace complete robot.
Alright, got it. I’ll see what happens tomorrow and if nothing changes, then I guess we’ll have to do the replacing. I’ll write again tomorrow, and thank you so much for your patience and help so far! I was quite frustrated in the beginning, but your assistance came pretty fast and calmed me down some
I tried the robot again today, and unfortunately it is still showing the Home position error (blinking succession of red - yellow - blue), the last error we saw from yesterday. I guess I will have to ask for a replacement after all. How do we continue from here?
