Introduction
This guide will show you how to clean your iRobot Roomba 4100’s optical encoder. The optical encoder is used to detect cliff edges and tell the robot to back up when nearing these. When the encoder is obstructed by debris it will cause the robot to continuously back up in a circle, aka the “circle dance.” Also, make sure to remove the battery before attempting to repair. Steps 1-3 cover removal of the battery pack.
If this guide does not fix your problem or a new problem emerges, check iRobot Roomba 4100 Troubleshooting.
What you need
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Begin by removing the rear particle bin.
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To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.
To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.
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4 Comments
Thanks for your advice. I cleaned the sensors on the wheels and still the unit was having a circular dance. From another site mentioning another model there could be a problem with the sensors behind the front bumper bar and yes that was the problem. They needed blowing out with a strong air gun. Now after extensive cleaning my Roomba is running like a dream :-)
I have a Roomba from 2002 (before the 400 series. This tutorial looks like it might apply, but I can only get 2 of the 3 screws off the hubcap of the wheel. The other one is blocked by the top cover.