We live in the future. Yeah, I don't have a flying car, but I have a _robot_ maid! Sure, it may not clean as well as a Dyson, and it's pretty random (watching it go EVERYWHERE in the room BUT the spot with the crumbs is not for the OCD)....but hey..robot vacuum cleaner, and I don't have to vacuum!" />
We live in the future. Yeah, I don’t have a flying car, but I have a _robot_ maid! Sure, it may not clean as well as a Dyson, and it’s pretty random (watching it go EVERYWHERE in the room BUT the spot with the crumbs is not for the OCD)….but hey..robot vacuum cleaner, and I don’t have to vacuum!
But like every new technology, it wasn’t fully baked, and I’m okay with funding a company with continuous improvement and a drive to make the future today. iRobot’s one of those companies.
After a couple years use, the battery pack died ($75 for a new one, $50 for just the batteries and an afternoon with a dremel).
Then three weeks after that, the geartrain for the beater brushes gave it up. Since I’d _just_ spent money on the battery pack, I was reluctant to just pitch the roomba and set it aside for more time and money to come around.
The replacement nylon gears were $40 shipped from ebay with is a corollary:
The most important parts are the smallest…and cost the most
I’m trying not to think I’m $100 into a repair for a $150 vacuum.
As can be seen in the gallery, getting access to the gear train required a nearly complete disassembly of the robot. 12-18 screws, two panels, several electrical connections, and a whole lot of dust and carpet fluff. At this point, I still had to remove the yellow part and disassemble _it_ to get to the gears. 
It had occurred to me, about 2/3rds into the project, that I could post it here, but I hadn’t taken any photos up to that point, and so I figured I’d just take a pass on it, until I ran into another gadgetrule:
Don’t put the tools away, It’d not fixed until you take it apart…again.
Upon reassembly, I found the power to the brush desk wasn’t making it to the motor. Time to disassemble…again. Which meant I could take some photos this time.
iRobot discovered people were using these guys a LOT more than they ever expected. So when they went back to the drawing board to improve the unit, they made some major changes in design. The new Roombas are all sealed, have a single bottom plate that coveres everything, and all of the components are modularized…so, to fix the current model takes 5 or 6 screws for the bottom plate, and 4 trapped screws for the brush-desk module.
The old roomba has been put on notice. He knows his days are numbered. Until then, he’s looking busy and cleaning the diningroom.
