The Cleaning Head Module on the 500 Series iRobot Roombas are a sore spot for many robot owners. The problem being errors and maintenance problems caused by the slow accumulation of hair and debris in the gearbox of the Cleaning Head Module. The problem affects basically all the 500 and 600 series Roombas. So this means the 610 Professional, the 570, 572, 560, 562, 532, 530 and 510. As you can see, this includes the Pet Series Robot vacuum cleaners. I’m pretty sure that the 400 Series, 4000 Series, and earlier are also affected. As mentioned in my 780 review, the design of the Cleaning Head Module on the 700 Series Roombas is clearly different, but only time will tell if it has the same problems.

What happens is that the gear box of the Cleaning Head Module collects hair and debris over time and gets jammed up so that the brushes don’t turn while the robot vacuum is cleaning. As a result the ability of the Roomba to clean properly is affected, and the robot may also give errors or refuse to work. While it is possible to order a 500 Series Cleaning Head Module replacement from iRobot, you might be able to solve your problem by following the instructions, below.

First remove the dust bin. Then remove the sidebrush by unscrewing the screw in its center and then pulling the side brush off. Next unscrew the four screws that hold the bottom panel on. They are the screws with the little triangle arrows next to them. These screws don’t come all the way out. You just need to unscrew them until they are loose and the panel can lift off.

With the bottom panel off, you can see the Cleaning Head Module. There are four more screws holding this on. There are two at the top of the module, next to the corners of the APS battery. The other two screws are near the bottom on either side of the module. The Cleaning Head Module looks kind of like a rectangular box with two arms coming off of it. These screws, like screws that hold the panel on, don’t screw out all the way, so you only have to screw them out enough until you can lift the module out of the body of the robot.

Here is the Cleaning Head Module out of the Roomba. The gearbox on this module is on the left side here, and is in the red part of the module. So you see there where the brushes go into the left side? That’s where the gear box is. The gearbox drives the brushes. That’s also where the hair and debris gets into the gearbox. Getting into the gearbox is a little more work. Here’s how you can do it.

Pick up the module so that it’s on one end with the gearbox end pointing up towards you. Here you can see that there are four more screws which are holding the blue side of the module on. We need to take the side off so that we can get to the red part. So unscrew these four screws and lay them in one place.

Here’s the cover on the gearbox. As you can see, we have six more screws that need to be removed and then we can take the side off. Remove and place the screws in a spot away from the other screws you pulled out previously, so that they don’t get mixed up.

And here’s what might be in your Roomba’s Cleaning Head gearbox. My Roomba was functioning just fine, even with all this hair and debris, but you can see that there is some accumulation and that eventually this might render the module inoperable.

While doing this cleaning, I only pulled one gear out at a time so that I wouldn’t lose the proper placement of the gears. I would guess that a person could probably take the gears and place them on a piece of paper with numbers to keep them straight, or find another way of keeping them in order, but I like to keep things simple. So what I would do is remove one gear, pull the hair off of it, and then remove any hair that was under it inside the gearbox.

It bears mentioning that the gearbox also contains a film of lubricant, and depending on your situation, you might be able to get away with just pulling out the hair and leaving most of the lubricant still in the gearbox. Not all kinds of lubricant are safe to use with plastic parts. If you know for a fact that you have a lubricant that is safe to use with plastic, then go ahead and really clean that gearbox out, and then put a little lube back in there. Otherwise, I suggest just doing your best to remove the hair and not wipe the gearbox out. (Note: Your local Radio Shack probably sells a plastic safe gel lubricant which would be appropriate.)

Here’s more area to clean. It’s worth noting that the engineers at iRobot have reinforced the plastic with brass for the holes that need it. I have found instructions online for boring out the insides of the gears in these gearboxes and installing gear bearings, but really, that’s something that a person shouldn’t be doing unless they have access to the proper tools for the job. Obviously, a metal gear train with bearings would be ideal. But nylon, stainless steel and brass have been used to make durable gear trains for a long time and in my humble opinion, the engineers at iRobot have created a suitable consumer-grade gear train. The problem is the holes for the brushes, not the gears themselves.

Once you’ve got the hair and fuzz and everything else out of the gearbox, carefully put it all back together again, and reassemble the robot following the instructions the other direction to assemble all the parts.

Here’s what I pulled out of this gearbox. I did this for the sake of demonstration, so if your Roomba’s brushes have stopped moving, I’m betting that you’ll be pulling a lot more than this out of your robotic vacuum.

More information on the Roomba 700 Series Robots on iRobot’s Website

• iRobot Roomba 760
• iRobot Roomba 770
• iRobot Roomba 780

• Comes with two virtual wall lighthouses
• Rechargeable Battery
• Comes with an Accessory Kit and Case
• Two Brush Cleaning Tools
• Extra Set of Brushes
• Vacuuming Debris Bin
• Sweeping Bin is High Capacity
• Two Extra Filters
• Has three Cleaning Modes
• Covered by a Two Year Warranty
• Weighted Professional Home Base
• Professional Series Power Supply

The iRobot Roomba 610 monitors where it is sweeping with dozens of sensors. It uses this information to adjust its sweeping up to 67 times each second. iRobot has rated the 610 with a “Room Coverage” score of 4, which means that it should be able to clean four normal sized rooms before needing to recharge its battery. The Roomba 610 is one of the iRobot robot vacuum cleaners that is able to charge itself in three hours (the charge time for most of the others is seven.)

The Rhoomba robot vacuum cleaner 610 Professional Series is designed to provide excellent room coverage. It works on hard floors as well as carpeting. The robot vacuum cleaner will avoid cliffs and detect dirt. They feature technology which keeps them from getting stuck and from bumping into objects too hard. The robot vacuum cleaner will be able to find its way to its charger and can be kept out of areas with virtual walls and lighthouses.

Here are the Features of the Roomba 610 Professional Series. (See this page for explanation of all the iRobot vacuum cleaner features.)

• Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
• Warranty: 2 year
• Charging Time: 3 Hours
• Detects Dirt: Yes
• Spot Mode: Yes
• Max Mode: Yes
• Self-Charging Home Base Compatible: Yes
• On-Board Scheduling: Yes
• Voice Demonstration: No
• Light-Touch Bumpers: Yes
• Advanced Anti-Tangle Technology: Yes
• Improved Edge and Corner Cleaning: Yes
• Room-to-Room Navigation: No
• High Capacity Bin: No
• Easier Maintenance: Yes
• Wireless Control: No
• Lighthouse Technology: Yes
• Virtual Walls Included: 0
• Lighthouses Included: 2
• Wireless Command Center Included: No
• Extra Brushes: Yes
• Carrying Case: Yes
• Extra Filters Included: Yes
• Bonus Accessory Kit: No

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