I have two model 530s, both failed with error 6, which is cliff sensor error.
Unit one, I attempted to fix by making all cliff sensors so that the receiver always sees the sender (my house is all one level.) The BIT shows no response to tilting as it should, but the unit still fails with error 6.
Unit two passes BIT 3 and 4 with correct responses, but still fails with error 6.
Can anyone help?
Thanks,
Dave
Hi Jgendron:
The floor is ceramic tile, white, with mostly black grout (dirt). There doesn’t seem to be any particular sensitivity to the location.
If you reset the bot, the error is produced after the bot moves maybe a foot at most. For example, if you place it in front of the charger and push dock, it goes a few inches then stops with the error. But, if you don’t reset, the clean button goes red immediately. I’m thinking it remembers the error, maybe not?
I did clean the cliff sensors. There is no buzzing noise.
Unit one, which has the cliff sensors disabled by feeding the led sender directly to the receiver, shows no response to the Built-In-Test (tilting) in manual mode, as it should, yet still gives error 6. Unit two passes BIT in manual mode, but still gives error 6.
I’m suspecting something on the mother board. Wondering if there is anything there someone could recommend to look at. Also, if maybe there is a history of something like this. Odd the the two units should fail so similarly. Unit one, before disabling the cliff sensors, behaved the same as unit two.
Thanks for the reply,
Dave
Finally found the problem. The batteries. I replaced the batteries at about the same time. They were Ray-o-Vacs (from Batteries-Plus, about $27.00 at the time). Worked fine for a little over two years, then this.
How I found the problem was: Had both units on charge continuously after the malfunction. Had to take one of them off the charger to get it out of the way of some floor work that had to be done. This was for a week or two. When I put it back on charge, it charged to the point that it produced a charge error (4). This condition was resettable to make it disappear, but returned after about 1/2 hour of charging. The voltage was about 18 Volts.
So, I replaced the battery with one out of a good roomba. Everything worked fine. Recharged and tried the good battery in the second unit with the same results. So, I have ordered two new batteries (BatteryMart, about $37.00 ea.) Not ready to pay iRobot prices yet. Have no idea why a battery problem would cause a cliff sensor error. Can’t find any info on exactly what causes a charging error either.
Hi Dave,
What type of floor is your robot cleaning, and what color? A Roomba can pass BIT 3 and 4 and then fail with an error 6 depending on the surface it is cleaning for example black carpet. Does the Roomba get this error after cleaning for a few minutes or in a specific area?
Have you cleaned the cliff sensors? In most cases, robots with defective cliff sensors will make a buzzing noise when clean is pressed and the robot will not start at all since it believes it is on a cliff.
Hi Dave,
It does sound like a motherboard issue. But, it is bizarre that both robots have the same issue. have you tried the robots on a different type of flooring? Just to make sure that it was not the cause?
Have you also cleaned inside the plastic covering for the cliff sensors?
Thank you for coming back to us on how you resolved this issue. We have not seen cliff sensor errors being caused by batteries but, it can certainly help customers. RobotShop does sell Roomba 500 batteries for $34.99 USD. These batteries were proven to work very efficiently.
