Greetings.
About a week ago out two year old Botvac Connected was taking the daily tour of the house when she came across some string that our cat had played with and it got thoroughly twined into the brush. The bot beeped and came with messages about cleaning the brush, which we did.
When done, the bot wouldn’t start. It had power and it started humming like it always does at startup, and after a few seconds it stopped humming. This repeated three times and they it gave a message that it was done cleaning.
I decided to give the bot a thorough cleaning. Dusting off all accessible areas and removing all traces of hair from the brush and side-brush. The machine was turned off during this process, and when turned on again the problem persisted.
From the base it rolls out about 10 cm then spin up with the usual humming. It takes the time to scan the area around it… Then grows quiet. Then it start humming again… And quiet. Each time it does this three times, then declare itself finished, but doesn’t back up to the base.
While it is humming and spinning up the sidebrush keeps spinning, but stops when it quiets down.
It’s been updated with the latest firmware.
We’ve had strings, yarn and other things lodged in the brush before and cleaned it out with no problem. I don’t understand what’s different this time.
Anyone have any advice on how to fix this?
I know it’s an old thread, but just experienced the same thing. This was the top Google hit, and it’s not resolved.
My motor worked fine (tested in manual drive) but the robot behaved exactly like OPs robot when cleaning house or spot cleaning.
I figured out it was the laser rotor thingamajig not spinning (or sometimes turning, but not as fast as it should). So if anyone ever has the same issue, use a flashlight to see inside the sensor as the robot starts and see if it spins up like it should. If not it will most likely be the drive belt being broken, or like in my case just being very loose. eBay has new ones for cheap, or just get a big o-ring from you local hardware.
As a sidenote, if you do this repair, get a smaller o-ring too and swap the one on the side brush motor while having the bot in pieces. They’re made of the same stuff and I’m guessing they’re likely to fail at about the same time.
I had the same problem (vac would go out about 10cm then stop while humming). I was able to get it going (for now at least) by using a long probe (like a skewer) to manual turn the laser spinning thing. After a few manual turns, it started turning on its own and the vac took off to clean like normal.
The suggestion of the belt failing is likely accurate. In my case it was probably slipping while trying to start until I manually assisted it.
I’ll have to order the belt and ring mentioned above once I figure out what 6 lobed bit to order to open the thing up.
Just wanted to reply here too after this post fixed my problem!
I have a Neato Botvac Connected. It did exactly the same by rolling out from the station, spinning up suction, spinning up brushes and then kind of “restarting” or “resetting” itself. It did so three times until I was asked to press “OK” to resume cleaning.
I could confirm that the laser wasn’t spinning by shining a light under the “hood” of it when it started spinning up the brushes.
I followed this video instruction for opening up the robot (quite easy actually, only 12 T10 screws (= torx 10 for the commenter above ) for getting into the board and then an additional 4 phillips screws to take the top of the laser off.
Inside here I found the belt to be properly in place, but seeing as people both said it could have fallen off or being slippery, I guess the latter was the case here.
I thus swapped it for a rubber band. I opted for one with perhaps 2 cm. smaller diameter than the original belt because I wanted it to avoid slipping in the future.
After assembling it again, it started up perfectly!
I imagine the rubber band will fail/wear down in 1-2 years, but with that little work, it’s okay to me. Next time I may opt for an O-ring from the hardware store.
Sorry to resurrect this post. I have a D7 exhibiting the same behaviors. I took it all apart to find the laser turret and motor spinning freely and belt not slipping. Here is a video of the startup failure.
Same issue here with a 2 year old Botvac Connected. Turret is not spinning but the issue is not the belt. The motor for the turret doesn’t even spin. Mine also doesn’t even move out of the base, however the wheels seem to be able to move ok. If I give it a push it will move a few inches, turn to one side, and then stop.
Hello, I just had this same problem. I could push it away from the base a little and it would move back to the charger so I knew it wasn’t the drive wheels. I cleaned the brushes to make sure they could spin properly. Laser was spinning fine no apparent issues. I ended up powering the system down then switching off the batter power for 2 min. After switching power back on and booting up it runs as normal. Don’t forget to try the most basic (reboot) first.
I am having this same issue. My problem is that the LIDAR turret is not turning properly. I replaced the turret motor and it now tries to start spinning but will only do so when coaxed by hand. After that the turret spins properly and the vacuum appears to operate normally. Of course, it’s not very autonomous if I have to kick start the turret. I tried lubricating the turret with silicone spray but that didn’t help. My next move is to completely replace the turret assembly but all the parts sellers seem sketchy. If anyone has recommendations on where to buy a replacement LIDAR turret assembly please comment.
So this is the fix if your Neato backs away from the base, all the brushes work, but it doesnt move anymore…
of course its a good idea when the Neato is opened, replace the laser rubber pulley band and clean the dust with a can of air…
So if you notice, on the laser motor (that rotates the laser turret), the plastic pulley gear center loosens from the motor spindle…the motor spindle will spin, but the pulley gear just doesnt have enough friction to pull the band and rotate the laser at 100%…the motor spindle spins, but the plastic gear doesnt spin all the way, its kind of like putting a pencil in sewer manhole and spinning the pencil, the sides if the pencil do not touch the sides of the manhole…thats the only way i can describe while typing. The laser turret spins (making a false appearance that everything is working) but only at 40%.
so superglue that plastic pulley gear to the motor spindle, make sure the distance away from the motor is precise so the rubber band is level with the other gears, let it dry, put a new band on it (highly recommend OEM or similar, not a office rubber band or elastic…amazon has them cheap). your neato will now work and the laser turret will spin at 100% and the neato will now move.
Here is my situation:
Neato d7 leaves the base, spins up the brushes 3 times and fails to move to cleaning. After disassembling, I see the following:
dirty (so I clean up)
rubber band is fine (if i manually spin the turret, the the plastic wheel on the motor spins with it, so there is enough friction, but the motor will not kickstart)
turret motor no starting at all
I’ve ordered a new turret motor, replaced it with the old one, but nothing has changed (probably the issue was not the motor).
Anyone knows what else could prevent the turret motor to start?
this is what worked for me. After I took apart the vacuum and used my wife’s hair band as a replacement ( make sure u see how the belt is placed as if you put a new belt, hair band etc on wrong you will be starting over!!)I put the robot back together and once again robot started and then stopped immediately. the problem is the laser circle that rotates is not rotating. So I use a shish a bob stick or something long and thin enough to actually get into the hole the laser shoots through and give it a spin/flick of the wrist. Neato starts rotating every time and off to the races she goes. ( yes you will have to do this 85% of the time you start your neato) I can hear a different sound when the laser is rotating so you know its working.
) for getting into the board and then an additional 4 phillips screws to take the top of the laser off.