Anyone have a scooba? Thinking of getting one - have a few questions

[Al Neri]

Im thinking of getting a scooba 5800 (refurb on amazon for like 179) however -

my kitchen is, basically, a galley which is 12 feet by 3.5 feet and then an open room which is 10x10 - it's all connected and i have tiled floors.

The problem is most of the stuff that needs to be mopped up bunches up by the corners and the edges -- how is the scooba with that in particular?

That's basically my biggest concern.

 

[NuclearNed]

I have a roomba, and love it. I think the wife would like a scooba, so I'm also curious.

 

[PingSpike]

How well do roomba's deal with say small rugs?

 

[Gooberlx2]

They do fine with small to medium thick rugs, so long as there are no fringes or other frilly things (no shag). Both the roomba and scooba do "OK" with edges, but they won't be able to get the corners. My wife and I had two roombas. We found that after some time they'll lose their programming...or something (I dunno how else to explain it...they'd just go batshit crazy: run backwards, run in circles, etc...). We had roomba send us a reprogramming key once to fix it (under warranty), which it did for awhile. Still, they both died after about two years of use which, at their price, is disappointing....basically one year of useful life per roomba.

Roomba maintenance is also a pain. If you have pets expect to have to clean the brush often.

They don't do a fantastic job...certainly not comparable to using a real vacuum cleaner (much less any vacuum that would cost $250 retail....we got our roombas in a fire sale though), but it certainly was nice to be able to run it, do errands, and your house is acceptably vacuumed by the time you get back.

It seems, though, that they've come out with improved version of their robots since we had ours...so I can't comment on if they've really improved on some of those problems or by how much.

 

[Kaido]

Make sure you get one of the newer models, the older models seemed to have some issues. There is also a fair amount of cleaning involved. I've considered getting one, but I have a small kitchen so I just use one of those electric WetJet mops. I do toss my Roomba in there before mopping though. Also be sure to check out the alternative cleaning solution thread over at Roomba Review:

http://www.roombareview.com/ch...&postorder=asc&start=0

 

[Kaido]

Originally posted by: PingSpike
How well do roomba's deal with say small rugs?

It depends on how thick the rug is, if the Roomba has to climb onto it. There is a bumper with maybe 1/4" clearance, so if your rug is thicker than that the Roomba will have problems getting onto the rug.

I have a small fleet of Roombas and love them. Like Gooberlx2 said, they're not a replacement for a real vacuum, but I've found is you deep-clean using your vacuum first and then run the Roomba a few times a week, you can go months without having to use your big vacuum. It's really a surface cleaning model.

You can avoid most of the problems that happen (running backwards, in circles, etc.) with regular maintenance. That means emptying the dust bin after every run and doing maintenance at least once a month. By maintenance, I mean:

1. Empty the dust bin
2. Remove the air filter, shake the dust off, wash off in the sink and let dry
3. Remove both brushes and use the comb and an Exacto knife to remove hair etc.
4. Take it outside and use canned air to spray the dust off the sensors and intake area

If you have pets, be sure to get the pets model. My brother has a dog and he got the pet model for his home; it has a different brush system and cleaning comb that is geared towards dealing with hair build-up. I would say do maintenance like once a week if you have a lot of hair/fur on your floor, or at least clean off the brushes once a week.

 

[Juno]

you should've bought roomba from woot.com.