Dealing with Old Roomba Robot Vacuums: Easy Tips

There are several ways you can deal with an old Roomba Robot Vacuum, it mostly depends on if it’s broken and unrepairable or if it’s just old and you would rather upgrade to a newer model with more features. Dealing with an old Roomba robot vacuum can be a real pain. If it’s not cleaning well anymore, or if it’s just stopped working altogether, what can you do?

Tips before you dispose of your Roomba

Tip #1

First, check the brushes. Over time, they can become clogged with dirt and debris, which will prevent the Roomba from cleaning effectively. Be sure to remove any blockages and give them a good cleaning.

Tip #2

Next, check the dustbin. If it’s full, then the Roomba won’t be able to vacuum up any more dirt and debris. Empty it out and give it a good cleaning.

Tip #3

If the Roomba still isn’t working properly, then you may need to replace the batteries. over time, they can lose their charge and will need to be replaced.

Tip #4

If you’ve tried all of the above tips and the Roomba still isn’t working properly, then it may be time to buy a new one. Fortunately, there are plenty of great Roomba models on the market today that will suit your needs.

How to deal with a broken Roomba

Is your Roomba completely dead or broken to the point it’s unrepairable? If you’re in such a scenario there is not much to do other than dispose of it properly or get it recycled.

How to dispose or recycle your Roomba and its old Battery:

How you should dispose of your Roomba depends on where you live. In most of Europe and North America, you’ll have to deliver it to a recycling center. At the recycling center, they’ll dismantle your Roomba and sort everything properly so as much of your Roomba is recycled as possible.

Most of the plastics, microchips, and batteries are recycled today, but mostly in North America and Europe. Globally only about 5% of all lithium-ion batteries globally are recycled, according to Paul Anderson from the University of Birmingham. However this will greatly improve year by year, so no reason not to just throw your Roombas battery in the trash.

If you don’t have a recycling center nearby, you can check with your local curbside collection service to see if they can dispose of it properly. The next best thing you could also try is going to a Household Hazardous Waste Facility. They’ll also be able to dispose of your Roomba and its battery properly.

Avoid your data getting stolen before you sell or dispose

When you get your Roomba you use the app to create an account for your Roomba and here you’ll also install your home WiFi onto it. There also might be personal data like your name, address, email even your password might be attached to it.

Roomba promises that everything is encrypted and secure, and nothing will be able to leak, even if someone was to gain access to your old Roomba. But still, as the same old advice with getting rid of old smartphones and hard drives, erase everything and reset to factory settings before you throw it away or resell it.

If your Roomba is completely broken and you cannot even reset it to factory settings, I would dismantle the robot and take the strongest magnet I can find, and run it over the storage chip.

Alternatively, just let it rust in water for a day.

If you are not able to do any of the above, just take the risks. It would be extremely unlikely for anything to happen.

Trying to repair an old broken Roomba

There might be a good chance that nothing serious has been broken, especially if it hasn’t taken any beatings or similar. If your Roomba has been performing increasingly worse like if it only runs 5-10 minutes at a time before needing a recharge, there’s a good chance that it’s just a dead battery.

In case of a dead battery

You’ll be able to get a new battery relatively easily and cheaply. Search your model name for your Roomba followed by “battery” on Amazon or eBay and you’ll probably see many sellers. You don’t need a battery specifically made for the model of your Roomba, but you do need to take caution anyway.

The battery needs the same specifications and dimensions or else you could break the battery or the Roomba itself. My suggestion is, to buy an original Roomba battery that specifically states the model name of your Roomba. But if you have a good understanding of technology and know what to look for, you might save a couple of bucks going for third-party batteries.

Visibly broken like wheels, shields, buttons, etc.

You can get many spare parts for Roombas, especially on Amazon. Here you can get most of the basic stuff like brushes, filters, bags, etc. You can also be lucky to find whole modules and frames for sale like the cleaning head module, which is the whole cleaning part with brushes and suction.

If buttons, shields, or wheels break I would go for eBay. I have seen people selling old parts from their old Roombas as spare parts. I’ve also even seen people selling completely new modules like wheels.

Please be aware that to replace these things, you need the ability to take stuff like this apart and assemble it again. There are not many tutorials online to be found. However, I don’t find it overly challenging so don’t be discouraged.

If you don’t like doing it yourself you’ll surely be able to find a local repair guy who is comfortable with such things. Also maybe a good thing to do firsthand is take it to an expert and make him decide if it’s beyond repair or fixable.

If you just wanna sell your old and upgrade to a new Roomba

If your Roomba works perfectly fine and maybe just needs a new side brush, a good clean up and maybe a new battery it can easily be sold. Many people who have never had a Roomba before often look for second-hand robot vacuums, so they don’t have to spend as much to try it out before buying a more expensive one.

In my experience, you should try Facebook Marketplace as the first option. My old electronics are always selling like sweet candy. I don’t know what makes it better, but give it a try. If it doesn’t work, then try something like eBay or maybe a local second-hand market.

Before you put your Roomba up for sale, give it a good cleanup. Get all those long human and pet hairs out of there. Make sure there is no dust left, not even in the bin. People will not buy something that looks recently used.

A Roomba can easily handle a moist cloth, don’t be too scared of the water. When you’ve clean it just let it be for a couple of hours without turning it on and all the water will have vapored away. Take note: do NOT put it underwater or in your dishwasher, it’ll completely break it.

After a good sale, use the money to get a newer upgraded Roomba.

A good thing to consider before selling your old Roomba is if you can use some of the parts from your old Roomba in your new one. The most likely thing you can reuse is the battery, maybe it’ll be nice to keep the old battery as a backup for the new Roomba. Another thing that you might be able to reuse is the side brush.

FAQ

What is the other way to get rid of waste from your house?

A lot of people struggle with waste. Maybe you’re doing a home renovation, some DIY, just moved in, or moving out? Then you might notice that you have a lot of excess waste. Dealing with that can be hard, do you take it all to the tip? Well, that would be a lot of trips back and forth and you might not have time to do that. One way that can be the easiest and most cost-effective is hiring a skip. You have access to a skip for a week or so, it sits on your driveway, you fill it up with all your waste, and then you’re done! The company comes and collects it and all you had to do was fill it. They often recycle the material as well. However, you should note, that not all waste can go into a skip, so makes sure you speak to them about what you intend to use it for first. Other people also use grab hire services, this is when a grab truck comes and collects all the rubbish from the front of your house. This is good if you want the waste removed in one day. For Grab hire in Solihull, contact C&R Lewis today.

Conclusion

If you have an old Roomba at hand and need to dispose of it somehow there are multiple ways forward. I would recommend starting by trying to sell it, selling parts of it, or considering trading it in for a new one. If it’s broken beyond repair I suggest you dispose of it properly, the best way here is to go to your recycling center, they’ll know what to do with it.