Litter-Robot II Basic Troubleshooting Guide | RobotShop Community

@Chris Weiss You can follow the wires from the cat sensor until it reaches the circuit board. From there, you’ll be able to find the trace for this sensor.

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@Mathieu Thibault - That covers the sensor part, but how do I AND it with the “in cycle” signal? I don’t want to pull directly from the motor wiring if I can help it, since that’s 12v-18v(?) and I’m hoping to just tie stuff to an Arduino or even a simple gate and not need to voltage change. (Thanks!)

@Chris Weiss When the cat sensor is triggered, there’s a timer starting until the motor turns on. Unfortunately, since this programming is on the motherboard, there’s no way for you to know if the motor is running. We would suggest you to do a separate system in order to keep the integrity of your Litter-Robot and make sure the Litter-Robot isn’t damaged. You can simply hook a sound detector to an arduino and once the motor turns, your alarm would go off for a certain amount of time.

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Hi Mathieu. I’m continuing to have varying issues with the litter robot. These days, the machine won’t cycle the whole way around. All three lights flicker quickly. If I press down on the cat sensor nothing happens. I turn the unit off and on. The yellow light comes on and the unit either makes a tiny movement and stops, or cycles till the doors open, but then on the return direction, stops about half way to the end. It will wait a bit, then move a few inches back towards the trap doors. then waits a few minutes and moves a few inches back toward the end position, back and forth until all the lights start flickering again. If I lift it off the tracks and put the globe in the “end” position, it moves a little and eventually the green light does come back on. This is the only way I have found to get the green light to come on, but once the cat uses the box, we’re back to the same problem again. Can you determine, from the description of these current behaviours, what the issue may be? It seems like there could be many possible causes. I want to make sure I get the right part(s) to fix it. Many thanks, Liz BC

I’m on my second litter robot, this one is a LR2 purchased about 3 years ago. Recently it will sometimes start its cycle by turning the wrong way, will dump litter out the sides and into the base, and then stop with all lights flashing. I have taken it a part, checked the sensor and circuit board (both are clean). I am unable to reproduce the problem, it happens seemingly randomly. When the LR is powered off and powered back on, it will cycle the wrong way (clockwise) until it dumps all the litter and then will stop with the globe upside down.

The only way I have been able to recover the LR is by turning it off and leaving it for a few hours. When I turn it back on it will start spinning the correct direction and finish the cycle normally. It will work properly for a day or two and then start turning the wrong way again. I don’t know if it is an issue with the sensor, the magnet in the base, or the circuit board. It is frustrating because I never know when the thing will stop working and become useless for the cat. Who then has no where to do his business because the globe is either empty from dumping all the litter or is stopped upside down.

@Liz BC Please contact our support center and send us a video (You can have it hosted on YouTube) of the problem you are experiencing. We think you are having problems with the motor and possibly the sensor harness, from what you are currently describing.

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@Phoenix The problem is usually caused by the sensor harness or the circuit board. We suggest you to replace the sensor harness first, you can verify our repair guide for that manipulation.

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My LR, which I’ve had for nearly 3 years, intermittently requires power cycling when it stops in an upside down state and all the lights blink repeatedly. This typically happens once every 1-2 days. I have not done the diagnostics recommended above as I’m not particularly handy. What would take some of your other customers an hour or so might take me half or all of a Saturday, and my Saturdays are precious to me. FWIW, I do know that the felt ring that encircles much of the base unit has peeled off in the past, requiring that I re-glue it to varying degrees of success. That may or may not be the issue here. It seems to be more or less staying in place now.

What I’m really wondering is why you guys haven’t cultivated a network of certified LR repair technicians around the country (I’m in Seattle, btw). I’d gladly forego the self-satisfaction and benefits of a DIY repair and fork over some money to just have the problem solved. As it stands now, the need for near-daily reboots means I have to board my cat or hire a sitter when I go out of town for more than a day. Therefore the cost of paying for a repair is easily justifiable.

Plz I can hasz repair hoomin?? :slight_smile:

Tom

@Tom The reason why we haven’t cultivated a network of certified LR repair technicians around the country is because we are repairing robots that were purchased at RobotShop only. If you do have purchase the robot with us, please contact our support center with your invoice number and we’ll gladly repair it. We would suggest you to verify the troubleshooting guide and let us know how it goes.

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I recently moved and my litter robot will no longer turn on. It was working fine right before the move. I see from reading posts that it could be either the power jack or circuit board. Is there a way to check the power jack? Also, you had mentioned that this replacement part is for sale however I do not see it listed? Appreciate any help! Thanks in advance!

@Schucky We would suggest you to test the power adapter with a voltmeter, to verify if there’s voltage. If so, then you can find power jack and the circuit board on our website.

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Sometimes my litter robot stops mid-cycle (possibly in the same place). If I turn it off and manually turn the globe a bit and turn it back on it completes the cycle just fine.

Sometimes I find the red light blinking, I found that turning it off and picking up the globe then putting it back on the track and turning it back on would work. Sometimes I’d have to do it a couple of times, it would make a noise and move a notch then stop. Once I got it to cycle it would be fine for weeks or even months. But now it’s stopping midway through every cycle.

Is it the sensors or the motor?

@Raquel Does the red light flash? When the red light is flashing, it indicates that the cat sensor was triggered continuously for more than 2 minutes. Make sure there’s no excess litter in the globe. The litter level should be at least two inches below the bottom rim of the cat entry opening. Also, check to see that the Litter-Robot is on a level surface. Test the cat sensor sensitivity and adjust if necessary.

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My litter robot had a bad motor, so i replaced it and now it works fine except it cycles until about 2in away from triggering the opening of the waste port–so it doesn’t dump (checked the safety pinch line sensor as well). Any idea what else could cause this? My thinking was a bad hall effect sensor, but I’m trying not to go on a wild goose chase.

@Alex, yes it could be the hall effect sensor, but before you go ahead and replace this part there is one thing you could verify. Behind the globe there is a pin, it is there to open the waste ports, when the robot is cycling is this pin pushed all the way up the key hole for the waste ports to open? If so than replace the hall effect sensor, if the pin does not go all the way up the key hole than there is a problem with the opening mechanism of the waste ports.

My unit won’t turn on. No power or lights.

@Rene, have you verified this Troubleshooting guide? You can verify if you have voltage coming out of the power supply.

How long is it supposed to take for the LR to cycle? Just took my girlfriend’s LR out of the garage because she said it stopped working. I had to jiggle some wires to get it to power on, but once I turn it on the yellow “cycling/in use” light blinks and it rotates at an incredibly slow pace. Is it supposed to be 10-15 minutes for a single revolution?

@Tim It definitely shouldn’t take more than 3 minutes for a complete cycle. The problem you are experiencing is usually caused by the motor, if the power supply does give ~15V.

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My robot has been having issues with the motor (I think). I sent it back for repair sometime in 2015 before the warranty expired and this one has been intermittently stopping mid cycle with all the lights flashing, not turning, turning the opposite way or just sitting there with all lights flashing. It always seemed to get back to working order after leaving it turned off for a couple of days.
This week it started cycling very slowly and sounding like the motor is struggling. Since yesterday it begins to cycle normally, but stops halfway through and reverts back to the original position, never reaching the opening to the drawer. I know it probably needs a new motor, but does the stopping halfway through mean something else might be amiss?

Thank you