hi all, i have read some articles from the site but this is my first time posting. it seems to be a great site, but to be honest a bit above my knowledge.
i have owned 3 4000 series roombas but they all seem to mess up one way or another. the newest one just pooped out on me so rather then buy a new one i decided to make a franken-roomba. orginally the roomba kept backing up so i switched out the cliff sensors and that didnt work. so i switched out the mother board and it still only backs up and does circles. i ran the diagnostic test and could not get the ir bumper sensor to work (or the brushes but one problem at a time. hehe) I used rubbing alcohol to clean sensors and sprayed them with compressed air but no go.
im not very knowledgeable when it comes to actual circuitry, but i can build my own computer and fix my car, so if its just replacing a part i can do it, if its soldering … maybe not so. but please any help will be greatly appreciated.
it doesnt really clean, it just automatically goes backwards. and it doesnt give any error codes. it will just keep going in a circle, stop then start itself up again and continue the cycle until the battery dies. i used compressed air, but when i get a chance i will open up the wheel assembly and use rubbing alcohol to clean the wheel sensor, but im still confused because when i put the roomba in diagnostic mode the 2 lights stayed on even tho i would hit the bumper which as far as i can tell means the sensors are not working properly.
Yes, replacing the motherboard with resolve this issue since the bumper sensors are found on the motherboard. Nothing else is attached to the bumper sensors.
The wheel sensors should not affect the bumper sensors.
The spot and clean were lighting green when touched but, were staying lit? If so, this does indicate an issue with the bumper sensors. But, it does appear bizarre that both your motherboards would have a bumper sensor issue. Are you certain that everything was plugged in properly after the motherboard change?
Cleaning the wheel sensors would be a good idea. If you open the robot up, you might as well also clean the bumper sensors thoroughly with compressed air. They are found on the robots motherboard in two black holders. You will see a black arm moving inside the sensor holder. Please refer yourself to manuals on our blog for how to open and replace parts on this robot.
Replacing parts on the Roomba usually does not require soldering so you should be fine. If you let the robot clean for a few minutes, does it stop with an error code? The number of beeps can give you a good indication of the issue. You have replaced the cliff sensors, and the bumper sensors ( which are found on the motherboard). The other issues could be with the wheels. Once wheel not spinning or the encoders on the wheels are dirty. We suggest cleaning your robot with a compressor or a can of compressed air. Especially the wheels and under the robots bumper.
as far as i can tell yes everything was put together correctly. the lights would stay on no matter if i hit the bumper or not, which like you said would make me think it was the bumper sensors, but switching out the mother boards should fix the problem, unless somehow all the sensors malfunctioned at the same time ( doubtful)… is there any other sensors that would be linked to the bumper sensors, or perhaps a processor or circuit board that normally would receive sensor signals that maybe is not working right that i could check?
i know how to take them apart, as i said in my first post i have already switched out the mother boards and cleaned the sensors. still haven’t had the chance to clean the wheel sensors but if i did the diagnostic and could not get it to pass the bumper sensor test, then it wouldn’t have anything to do with the wheel sensors would it?
