Neato XV Signature Pro - Strange Behaviour

Help & Support Domestic Robots
1

On june 31st 2014 I bought a Neato XV Signature Pro RoboVac. It has performed exemplary until this week. It has been used everyday and has not failed - I am (was) very happy with it.

The other day the vac got stuck, and I was in a hurry to go out so I left it beeping. When I got around to helping it some 24hrs later I put it on charge. The next day I noticed it had not done its daily clean, so I pressed the start button, The LCD light up with no text, I got the startup chimes but were very scratchy and the power button is solid orange.

I have taken the batteries out, and put it on and off charge many times. I have had it on charge with a solid green light (same problem) a flashing green light (same problem) and a flashing orange light (same problem) and a solid orange light (same problem)

I have had a on-line chat with a Neato tech, who (same as me) thinks the batteries have failed - I have tested voltage and both show 7.58v - but I realise that having voltage is no use with out the current.

So at the moment I am awaiting some new batteries, in the meantime what do you guys think ? a battery issue or the onboard computer is at fault ?

Does anyone know of a service centre in the UK ?, I was thinking of sending it to roboshop, but they seem to be over seas and the P&P would be too much.

Well - Thanks for getting this far with me

Regards

Ump…

2

It does sound like the batteries were already old and were drained inside the robot for an additional 24 hours which did not help. We do repair robots at RobotShop at our warehouses in USA, Canada and France but, we only service products purchased with us.

We can help you troubleshoot the product though and have parts available for purchase if you feel comfortable replacing them.

3

Hey thanks for the reply.
I will start by replacing the batteries and then if it does not fix it I am screwed. I spoke to neato on the phone today and they said my vac was under guarantee, I can’t see that as I bought it in June 2014 - so its over a year old. Then they said because I may have bought it from an unauthorised dealer I may have no guarantee at all. To top it off she does not think it is the batteries. We did a few tests and she said it needs servicing.

She said to send in my receipt and they will look in to it, I have not heard anything since. That was this morning.

I asked if I am on my own with the vac (no guarantee) who repairs them in the UK and she said no-one I would have to send it to Canada, which is likely to cost a bomb (lots) so is probably not going to happen. Might sell it for spares & repairs. I would like to fix it but without the proper knowledge it would be a case of replacing parts until I hit lucky.

I will buy a new robot vac as I have now become a hoover snob :slight_smile:, but its unlikely to be a neato - simply because there is no support for it in the UK.

4

Let us know if the batteries do not fix the issue. We do sell motherboards that could do the trick. If you are thinking of buying a new robot, buy it at RobotShop. Most robot vacuums come with a 5 year warranty and the ones that don’t you can purchase warranty plans. Your product could be sent to France for repair which could save you a lot of money and trouble.

5

Will do - I should know more tomorrow.

6

Ok, so the new batteries arrived, and for a brief time, like a few seconds - it worked. Then back to normal.

I opened it up to find the main board with the typical water stains. Closer inspection reveals corrosion.

How much for a new mainboard ? inclusive of P&P

the board says revision 11 - BINKY rev 4

Thanks

Edit -

After a clean up with a glass fibre pen, the corrosion is not that bad. I have noticed one area on the underside of the board where I think a surface cap is missing. Does anyone know the value of this cap ? I might be able to revive the board.

I would still like a price on a mainboard just in case :slight_smile:

7

For those of you whom are interested - I have gone some ways to fixing it.

As said earlier I purchased some original batteries and fitted them. It sprang to life telling me I needed to charge it (much better than the blank LCD and scratchy chime). I put it on charge and the LCD went blank again and the status light was solid orange agin with a scratchy chime.

Still no word from Neato support even though they promised to call me back, (whats with the have you named your robot rubbish?) I said it was a vacuum cleaner - lol I may as well name my TV or fridge.

Anyway - I decided to open it up, and I found this :-

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t203/Umpa_EG/20150630_171119.jpg

The underside looks like :-

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t203/Umpa_EG/20150630_171500.jpg

Even the plastic case was affected:-

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t203/Umpa_EG/20150630_171442.jpg

The LCD PCB also was affected although nothing to worry about.

So I removed the boards, and washed them under the tap with some washing up liquid and a soft mail brush. Dried them and inspected under the glass. I saw corrosion on several solder points, so cleaned them up with a glass fibre pen, with the intention of touching them up. On the back side of the board there seemed to be an area where to looked like a surface cap used to be, but looking at pictures on the internet of good boards it seems I was mistaken. After cleaning and re-inspection I could see that the board did not need touching up, and all signs of corrosion were gone. (board sill might be fried though).

Re-assembled and on test :-

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t203/Umpa_EG/20150701_090235.jpg

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t203/Umpa_EG/20150701_090123.jpg

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t203/Umpa_EG/20150701_090104.jpg

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t203/Umpa_EG/20150701_090037.jpg

So I updated to 3.4 and gave it a test.

youtu.be/2YydobxKX1U

A word of caution here - don’t over tighten the screws - not because you will thread them, but because the buttons will stick, and the front bumper will. Making the vac spin like a waltzer before saying its bumper is stuck (quite funny to watch).

So there you have it - my Neato working again, Whilst Tech support was courteous and we went through some testing first - they have not got back to me like they promised they would. There is no support for this product in the UK I have found, (yet they are more then happy to sell you one). Before you buy one of these machines find out it the seller is going to pay for P&P both ways because its no good having a 5 year warranty if you can’t afford to send it - its a heavy item.

In my case I was lucky - I was able to mend it, and because some one (probably me) spilled beer on it) - (probably whist drunk - hence I don’t remember) it would not have been covered anyway and would be expensive to get it back once sent.

Neto need to open a service centre in ALL the countries they sell this thing in as a bare minimum.

Comments ???