iRobot Roomba Red 4100 Vacuum

Roomba: Tips for choosing and using, December 20, 2005

Roombas have now evolved into surprisingly well-designed machines that provide a surprising amount of vacuuming for the purchase price.

Which Roomba:
- All current models have the same innards and cleaning abilities, making bottom-of-the-line Red a bargain. Even Red's missing 'Max' mode (allows continuous cleaning beyond one...read full review Roombas have now evolved into surprisingly well-designed machines that provide a surprising amount of vacuuming for the purchase price.

Which Roomba:
- All current models have the same innards and cleaning abilities, making bottom-of-the-line Red a bargain. Even Red's missing 'Max' mode (allows continuous cleaning beyond one hour) can be used if you buy the optional remote.
- Color and case design change a bit from model to model, and higher-end models come with more accessories in the box. Cool features described in the higher models can be added later.
- The main benefit of the drive-up charging base, included starting with the mid-line Discovery, isn't actually the automatic charging. With the base in a room, you know where to find the vac when it's done. Without it, Roomba finishes wherever it pleases -- whether or not that's a convenient place for you to retrieve it.
- Because you empty dirt before or after use, the optional, top-of-the-line scheduling capability doesn't really add completely unattended cleaning capability.

Before you buy:
- You can't see one of the vac's best features in the product picture. A front-side brush sticks out the front-right side of the vac, so it gets as close into corners as upright vacs. With this brush and a wall-distance sensor, it hugs the baseboards and puts most vac's "edge cleaning" claims to shame.
- Design changes to recently built units fix problems reviewers report on units made before mid-2005. Check the serial number on the box when you get yours. Build dates June 2005 or later have the fixes. The build date is after the model number (JEN4xxx); six digit date should be greater than '050601', ignore the rest of the serial number after this.
- Roomba works quite differently than other vacs. Brushes pick up hair and larger dirt; the vac gets the dust that the brushes don't get. It doesn't replace a standard vacuum -- it cuts down how often you need to use it.
- On hard floors, the brush seems to give Roomba better results than standard suction-only vacs. On dense-plush or low carpet, it does well; but the big vac will need to come out for periodic deep cleaning.
- 3 1/2" tall and about 13" diameter, it easily gets under furniture and between chair legs. Front bumper clearance (a bit over 1/2" -- about 9/16" or 15mm) determines which rugs and doormats it climbs onto and which it sees as obstacles.
- It's not terribly loud, and not shrill, but the noise is busy enough that you'll likely want to be away or in another room unless you're also doing housework.

Getting used to it:
- Bumping into things first seems a rather crude way for it to find its way around, but it doesn't seem to leave marks, and it's vacuuming right up to things anyway. It takes longer to vacuum than you do, and its often random patterns seem inefficient. Let it be -- it does remarkably well at covering everything this way.
- Expect Roomba to work room-by-room, not to do the whole house unattended. In normal operation, it runs up to an hour for mid-to-large rooms then stops. At least on mostly-hard floors, it can fully clean two of these rooms on a charge.
- If a regular vacuum would choke on something, so will this. The time you normally spend picking things up as you go needs to happen before starting Roomba instead. (At least your hands won't be full with a vacuum as you pick up . . . )
- You do need to empty its dustbin and check its underside after each run -- after all, it's about the size of a couple of Dustbusters, and those don't run unattended over an entire room. Remove and empty the dirt/dustbin, turn the vac upside down on the counter, check the main brush and clear as needed. Yes, you'll be doing this more often than on a full-size vac, but then, you don't have to tend it the entire time it's vacuuming.
- The 'virtual walls' transmit a remote-control like infrared beam that's wider than you'd expect. If Roomba unexpectedly starts to act like it's just run into an invisible force field, that just may be what happened. Reposition, turn off, or turn down the 'virtual wall'.

Getting the most out of it:
- If you want vacuuming to be as automatic as possible, some 'trim' projects may be in order. Clip up hanging cords, and get out the double-stick carpet tape where needed. Consider neutering carpet tassels -- tape 'em underneath.
- Although Roomba can navigate mazes of table legs and other objects, consider small changes in furniture placement that can make big differences in how quickly Roomba gets the job done. Forests of openings that are just a bit wider than Roomba eat time --move some things together so openings are narrower than Roomba; others further apart to speed passage.
- Though it's natural to think first of using Roomba in main rooms, small rooms bring gains too. Drop the vac off in bathrooms, stair landings, and other small areas as you do other housework.
- All rechargeable appliance batteries lose power eventually. Roomba's is easily replaceable, and if a $50 battery lasts you a year of vacuuming -- that's actually quite a good deal in the world of rechargeable batteries. Tip: newer Roombas have a somewhat hidden, built-in 16-hour battery "reconditioning" cycle useful when runtimes drop after some months. To trigger this cycle, take the battery out, press/hold 'power' for at least 30 seconds, wait 10 minutes or so, then put battery back in & start charger. The need for this isn't indicative of a Roomba shortcoming -- other rechargeable appliances should support battery conditioning & replacement instead of forcing you to throw 'em away. minimize

It really works!, September 24, 2004

I don't know what the original Roomba was like, but the Discovery series seems quite refined. There is very minimal documentation to explain Roomba, that's how easy it is to use. Just put it on the center of your floor, press power, and then press the giant CLEAN button and Roomba does its thing. This one only comes with the slow charger, which is ...read full review I don't know what the original Roomba was like, but the Discovery series seems quite refined. There is very minimal documentation to explain Roomba, that's how easy it is to use. Just put it on the center of your floor, press power, and then press the giant CLEAN button and Roomba does its thing. This one only comes with the slow charger, which is fine for my needs. The small battery provides an impressive run time, enough for at least 1000sq ft. It cleans under beds and will go pretty much everywhere it can fit. It DEFINITELY works. My room seemed fairly clean, but Roomba proved it wasn't. Roomba picked up all kinds of lint, hair, and other nasty things. I think Roomba can replace a conventional vac, because you can set it out more often. A lot of thought went into the design, like the rollers and dust bin. Everything in it that needs attention (filter, dustbin, rollers, etc.) comes out VERY easily and goes back together very easily. It has both a brush style roller, and a rubber squeegee style roller. The design of the rollers makes them very easy to clean with the supplied tool to cut and brush out any entangled hair. With its soft knobby tires, it never gets stuck.

There's nothing really bad about Roomba, but there are a few things that I think could be improved. You have to be VERY careful that there is no exposed wiring or anything that Roomba's brushes will snag on. It's also a good idea to put away any rugs that may have loose threads or tassles. A few times, I missed a cord or a rug and Roomba's rollers got snagged on it. Poor Roomba made awful noises till I came and rescued it. This makes me a little concerned about leaving Roomba alone if I'm going to leave the house. An improvement would be a load sensor that senses it's snagged on something and shuts off the motor, perhaps even alerting the owner with a few beeps. Maybe Roomba has this, and I just didn't wait long enough? Another minor issue is Roomba tends to get itself scratched up because it finds edges by physically bumping into things. Roomba also squeezes under counters where there isn't enough clearance and the top edges of it gets scratched up. This bothers me a little, because I'm (...)like that. If you don't mind a few battle scars, then this is no concern.

Overall, I wholeheartedly recommend Roomba for the person who hates vacuuming, and for someone who is just interested in high-tech toys.
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1.5 stars, Very good vacuum when it works BUT it has serious defects, September 10, 2005

I bought this Roomba because like everyone else the idea of having a little robotic vacuum do the work for me was just too good to pass up. The little Red Roomba worked very well for the first 3 days and then it quit... it would just go around in circles. I returned the original purchase to Target and came home with another because I was...read full review I bought this Roomba because like everyone else the idea of having a little robotic vacuum do the work for me was just too good to pass up. The little Red Roomba worked very well for the first 3 days and then it quit... it would just go around in circles. I returned the original purchase to Target and came home with another because I was addicted to having this little guy run around the house sucking up all the dirt for me. It did not last... after 1 week this one did the same thing. Both times I followed the directions on the Roomba chat groups and tried to clean the blocked wheel sensor (there is an optical sensor in the wheel assembly that, when blocked by dust or dirt, causes the roomba to spin around in circles). I also called up the irobot customer support and they ran through a diagnostic procedure with me that showed it was the wheel sensor... I did what the support technician told me and blew compressed air on the wheel sensor only to have the roomba work for about 10 minutes before doing the "circle dance" again. After calling the support technician again she advised me to take it back to Target because they were on back order at irobot. Once again I returned the Roomba and picked up another one... this was going to be me last try. Again it worked for about 2 weeks and after that KAPUT... the circle of death was back and my experience with Roomba was over. I returned it for a refund and bought the Hoover Empower from Amazon... a great vac that won't ever do the circle dance.... unless of course the sensors built into my legs ever get dust on them.

*** Plus points of the Roomba include:

- Good cleaning despite its small size
- totally automatic and is actually kind of fun to watch as it cleans
- has a sensor that tells it when it goes over an area with a lot of dirt so it just keeps going over that area until it is clean
- much less noise then a normal vacuum.
- can clean underneath furniture and beds
- comes with a "virtual wall" that you can use to block it from going into unwanted areas


*** Negative points include:

- you have to remove obstacles that might otherwise get the roomba stuck
- although it is bagless, the filters in the roomba have to be replaced about once ever 1-2 months
- it takes several hours to fully charge and the charge will drain pretty quickly if you have high carpet (although for the most part it will be able to finish average sized houses without a problem)
- cleaning the roomba is a bit of a chore. It seems like the time you save by not having to vacuum the floor, you end up using that time to clean out the roomba. You have to take apart the brush and a few other pieces to fully clean the Roomba and keep it running well.
- it takes much longer to vacuum a room then a normal manual vacuum would so it is not good for those last minute cleanups before guests arrive.
- THE WHEEL SENSOR PROBLEM IS TOO COMMON AND FREQUENT AND PREVENTS THIS FROM BEING AN EXCELLENT PRODUCT.


Please make sure you do your homework and go to some Roomba user forums and check out the complaints that other users have before buying it. It appears that most users do have the blocked wheel sensor problem and this is a serious flaw in this product. Although a lot of workarounds have been posted... they all entail opening up the roomba and cleaning out the sensor directly... this will void your warranty. If Irobot can fix the wheel sensor problem this would be an excellent product but until then you are better off with manual vacuum.

UPDATE: This review was based on my experience with the Roomba Red Discovery model in April-May 2005. Apparently there is a new model that has been released as of June called version 2.1. Hopefully this new version has the wheel sensor problem addressed... make sure you check with some of the user forums to see if things are better... and if you do buy make sure you get the new model with the upgrades because a lot of vendors still carry the older models!! minimize

Notes from a technohobbiest, November 9, 2005

From: J.R. III

One year old roomba red--after having read about two hundred reviews about roomba I bought one last year.

Basicly, all of the problems mentioned by the customers seem to have been designed out of roomba red. Even the dry cracking of the wheels is no longer a problem. After checking everything else all I...read full review From: J.R. III

One year old roomba red--after having read about two hundred reviews about roomba I bought one last year.

Basicly, all of the problems mentioned by the customers seem to have been designed out of roomba red. Even the dry cracking of the wheels is no longer a problem. After checking everything else all I have to say is...apparently I Robot people like working for I Robot. It seems they really actually enjoyed designing and sometimes redesigning roomba red. I can find no design mistake. Even the battery still takes a charge.

I feel the cord that wraps around the motor that turns the two brushes should be designed out. I have seen it's upgrade years ago. The cord, I think, is an inherited weakness.

Nevertheless, I used mine everyday. Since you suppose to use it maybe twice a week this means I got about three years work out of it.

All of the earlier reviews speaking of leaving dirt, the spin of death, etc., I saw none of these. Unlike you people, when it vacs the living room I am there. It is therefore my considered opinion that with the exception of the before mentioned cord wrapping around the motor--roomba seems to be defectless.

I ordered my second one last week.

Since I know people sometimes buy according to these reviews let me add; if you like vacuuming--add some more money and get youself another Hoover. But, if you are indifferent to cleaning the carpet and especially if you like gagets, I recomend Roomba Red.

I see no reason, other than poverty, to wait a moment longer.

P.S. I empty my dust bend after each use, and each week I use my cordless aircompress to blast the dust out of the entire machine including the filter. This includes the sensor holes. Perhaps this is why I had no problem with the circle of death and other problems. minimize

Worth Buying, February 15, 2006

I purchased the Roomba Red four months ago with the intention of writing a review after operating it for several months. This is what I've observed:
1. The product works exactly as described by the manufacturer in the user manual, which is available on line. If you have any questions about what to expect - read this first. Many of the...read full review I purchased the Roomba Red four months ago with the intention of writing a review after operating it for several months. This is what I've observed:
1. The product works exactly as described by the manufacturer in the user manual, which is available on line. If you have any questions about what to expect - read this first. Many of the negative reviews I've read stem from the reviewer being uninformed and having unrealistic expectations.
2. Typical operation: We have six people, two smallish dogs, an indoor cat, and six guinea pigs (none of the pets have a problem with the vacuum cleaner). I typically divide my house into three zones, using doors and the free 'invisible wall' to make the Roomba 'concentrate' on one area at a time. I usually get a ***very*** thorough cleaning of the boys' room (zone 1) and the hallway/bathroom (zone 2) on one charge. The boys have six guinea pigs that put out lot of fur and small wood shavings and food pellets on the wood floors and short-pile rug in their room. The Roomba does a great job picking up all of this, but sometimes leaves a few shavings on the floor right next to the rug. In poor weather, I pour the "container" (for lack of a better word) into the toilet. However, during dry weather, I prefer doing this outdoors to avoid releasing the fine dust into the air of the house. Then I recharge the unit and repeat the same operation the following day in zone 3, the living room/kitchen area. The Roomba does an exceptionally good job cleaning around the edges of a room and under low furniture, such as a chest of drawers, where dust-bunnies usually gather.
3. Benefits: I'd have to say that one of the best things about the Roomba is the amount of dust and fur it picks up. I didn't realize how much of it was around before. Because we use the Roomba on more frequent basis than the upright vacuum cleaner - there's a lot less of it around than there used to be. Most of my family occasionally gets low-grade allergic reactions when the house gets dirty (tickly nose and itchy eyes), and this phenomenon has almost completely disappeared since we started vacuuming more frequently. I still use the upright vac once a month to deep clean the rugs in our living room.
4. Maintenance: My unit has performed reliably without much cleaning or maintenance. I just dump the dust/dirt, shake out the filter, and put it back together. I haven't had any problems with erratic behavior (running in circles) reported by other users. Occasionally, I remove the brush (easily by hand - no tools) and remove threads and hair that have become entangled. If you remove the brush/roller assembly, don't do it above a toilet or drain! When I did, a small roller bearing fell off and disappeared into the nether regions of my toilet, never to be recovered. I'd like to see iRobot redesign this part so this doesn't happen to other users. But it was my mistake for doing maintenance above a toilet. I put the roller without the bearing back in the Roomba and it seems to operate just fine without.
5. Snags: There is one corner of the entry hallway that has a heating grate. On a regular basis, the Roomba would find itself above the grate, sense it as a falling hazard (like stairs), back itself into the corner, and shut down after getting stuck. I solved this by placing a laundry basket on the heating grate.
Also, although it isn't as loud as a normal vac, it makes a somewhat shrill mechanical noise that I prefer not to be around. For this reason, I close the door to the area where it is working, or start running it just before I leave the house.
6. All in all: The Roomba is worth buying. It works reliably and has made a very significant improvement to the cleanliness and appearance of our house. It's easy to operate and maintain. It saves significant time and effort spent cleaning. minimize