Roombas do their tasks with minimal supervision.
When you have one, cleaning by hand is finally over..
Until your Roomba Home Base stops working that is…
But, don’t give yup on your Roomba yet.
Instead…
Continue reading to find out:
- Why your Roomba Home Base isn’t working.
- 7 easy and fast fixes to Roomba Home Base not working.
- How to perform a soft reset or a factory reset on your Roomba.
- Whether your Roomba’s Home Base needs cleaning and how to do it.
- And so much more…
Why is my Roomba home base not working?
Your Roomba home base is not working because of dirty contact points, a faulty outlet, or interruptions with the power adapter. This problem also happens if your Roomba’s battery needs repositioning or a replacement. In some cases, you may have to reset your Roomba to its factory settings.
Roomba home base not working: 7 quick fixes
#1: Clean the Home Base and charging points
It’s much important to keep the charging dock squeaky clean.
I’m not talking about periodic cleaning and dusting. It’s best to do it weekly, at least.
Does your Roomba vacuum every day?
Then the least you can do is dust off its Home Base, too.
Like you, the Roomba doesn’t want to go home to see dust and dirt.
That’s why the charging points need to be spotless. These points are the small metal strips that allow your Roomba to charge.
But what happens when debris and gunk build up?
This prevents electricity from flowing freely to the charging points. And your cleaning robot won’t get a power charge.
This could be why your Home Base doesn’t work.
To clean your charging dock, you’ll only need:
- Rubbing alcohol.
- Melamine foam or Magic Eraser.
- A soft, dry cloth or microfiber cloth.
Follow these steps to clean your charging dock:
- Unplug the charging dock.
- Dab the melamine foam or Magic Eraser with alcohol.
- Wipe both charging poles with the damp melamine foam.
- Use the microfiber cloth to completely dry up the charging points.
- Clean the dock’s hardware and the Roomba’s charging entries as well.
Watch this video to learn the proper way of cleaning the charging dock:
Make sure to not completely wet the melamine foam or Magic Eraser. And let it dry for a few seconds before plugging back the power cord.
This is to assure you don’t get into any electrical mishaps.
After this, try to recharge your Roomba in the Home Base.
#2: Power cycle your Home Base
Another basic solution is power cycling the charging dock.
“Erm, what the heck is power cycling?”
Power cycling is a fancy term for turning off any electrical device. And powering it back on.
The classic turn on and turn off.
This is often used to correct malfunctions among electronic equipment.
Power cycle your Roomba’s Home Base to actively discharge excess electricity from the device.
Here’s how you can power cycle your Home Base:
- Unplug the charging dock’s adapter.
- Disconnect the other end of the power adapter as well.
- After 5 minutes, re-plug both ends of the power adapter and test.
Note: You’ll know when the dock has completely discharged when it feels cold to the touch.
After power cycling, charge your Roomba to the Home Base to see if it fixes the problem.
#3: Reposition the battery
You might have thought,
“The charging dock light went off. Is it broken?!”
It’s normal for the charging dock light to go off once the Roomba is home and charging.
This is actually your Roomba’s way of telling you:
“I’m turning the lights off because I’m resting. Now, go away.”
But, if your Roomba is still not getting enough charge after docking, the problem might not be with your Home Base.
It could be because of the misplaced battery pack in your Roomba.
Fortunately, you can fix it in a breeze.
Here’s how to reposition the Roomba’s battery:
- Turn off the Roomba and flip it over.
- With a screwdriver, remove the screws of your Roomba.
- Remove the battery cover and push the batteries down to ensure they’re in place.
- Put back the battery cover and put the screws tightly back in place.
If this solution doesn’t help, you should consider buying replacement batteries for your Roomba to fix the charging problem.
Note: iRobot only recommends using original iRobot replacement batteries. Using a third-party pack can nullify your Roomba’s warranty.
Reading recommendation: Roomba Not Charging: 9 Ways To Fix It In 30 Seconds
#4: Change the power outlet
Try to change the outlet where you plug your Home Base.
Sometimes, minor interruptions can change the electrical flow. As a result, the charging dock isn’t receiving enough electricity to charge the Roomba.
Note: Better use a wall outlet and not a charging strip to charge your Home Base.
Unplug the charging dock’s power supply from the current outlet. Transfer this to another wall outlet.
Check if the robot vacuum will now charge from the dock.
The Home Base’s power cord may also be causing this problem. Consider replacing it.
#5: Factory reset the Roomba
If nothing’s working so far, you can try resetting your Roomba to its factory settings.
Resetting will also eliminate the possible glitches in the OS that prevent the Home Base from charging.
This has a pretty good chance of fixing the problem.
Warning: A hard reset cannot be reversed. It’ll wipe out your Roomba’s memory, preferences, and other settings.
To factory reset the Roomba in manual mode:
- Look for the “CLEAN” button on your Roomba.
- Press and hold the CLEAN button for about 10 seconds.
- When the Roomba’s LED starts flashing, release the button and wait.
The Roomba takes about a minute to perform the factory reset. Just re-configure the settings once it’s done.
To factory reset your Roomba 600, 800, 900 series, E-series, and I and S series:
- Open the iRobot Home App.
- Your smartphone device and Roomba should connect to the same Wi-Fi network.
- Look for Settings in the drop-down menu.
- Choose factory reset.
- After your Roomba restarts, the reset is complete.
#6: Charge your Roomba directly
Did you know that you can charge your Roomba directly into the power source?
It doesn’t need a charging dock!
Simply grab a power adapter and plug it into your Roomba’s independent charging port.
If the Roomba is charging on its own, the problem is not with your vacuum bot.
This also brings us to our final solution.
#7: Replace the dock
Surprise!
You can definitely replace the charging dock, similar to a battery.
While both the Home Base and battery can be maintained, sometimes, old age just catches up.
If you’ve been using your Roomba for a while now, you should consider changing the dock (especially if it doesn’t work well anymore).
Faulty Home Bases are no good. Especially if cleaning, resetting, and changing the power cord or outlet don’t work.
Save yourself all the hassle, and replace the dock.
Or better yet, get a new Roomba.
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