Today I had a problem with my Roomba 655 Pet Series vacuum. I hit the button, and it would move about a foot out then stop and turn around. It would then repeat this over and over. Many things can cause this problem, but in my case the front wheel was sticking and not spinning properly, causing the Roomba to act like it was hitting a wall. The wheel had to be cleaned. Here’s how you can go about cleaning it out.
- Pop the wheel out. It should come right out using only your hands.
- Slide the rod out of the wheel. I needed some needle-nose pliers to do this in my case.
- Here is what the metal rod looked like when I pulled it out. Rubbery gook all in the middle.
- Using my hands, I was able to scrape the dirt off. Here’s what it looked like after cleaning.
I put the rod back through the wheel, and replaced the wheel on the Roomba. Now it runs just fine. I hope this tutorial helps somebody else out. It may seem simple, but this problem actually baffled me for a bit.
The front wheel appears to work the same way with all models of the Roomba. So if you have a different model that sticks, you can follow this same advice. The problem can also be caused if something is caught in the side wheels or in the brushes in some instances.
Colm says
Thank you! Fixed it for me
Joanne Bonner says
thankyou! fingers crossed, problem seems remedied – the wheel housing was very clogged up!
Dan M says
We’ve had ROOMBA for a few years now. If you’d like to avoid even bigger head-scratching problems, I strongly recommend 2 things: clean this wheel and pull the brushes before every cycle, but, most importantly, modify the part that holds the brushes with sealed bearings (or buy one already modified). Google search this. Eventually, the gears that turn the brushes–covered but not totally sealed–get all clogged up and render the thing useless. This takes a very long time, but it happens. It’s so gradual that a related problem starts first. I’ve been through it: replacing batteries due to shorter and shorter run time (actually caused by heavy drain from turning clogged gears in the brushes-box). Forget the ‘reset’ procedure. It’s not the dirty wheel or brushes. It’s the clogged gears. You could take this apart and clean it out, but it’s quite the chore.
I googled and bought a cleaning head with modified, sealed bearings. I’m 2 years going on the same battery; same run time. Personally, I believe this is a major design or production cost flaw for these things–this should have come from the factory. It’s a high-maintenance machine–constant cleaning of the brushes, wheel, and even behind the spinner arm–but I agree: helps the daily stuff.
Cody says
This problem had me scratching my head and starting to regret my purchase, since I’ve only had it for 2 weeks. Thank you for the assistance the wheel cleaning worked like a charm
Aaron says
thank you for taking the time to post this. solved my problem and was faster than calling customer care.
Tracie says
Mine has been doing random turns every few seconds. It was driving me nuts! I couldn’t figure out what was going on. I just cleaned it out as you suggested and it is running smoother than it has for months. I tried searching for the answer before but this article hadn’t been posted yet. Thank you!
Robyn says
SUCCESS! Mine was stuck in the endless backup dance and I had cleaned EVERYTHING, except the rod inside the wheel. Now it works with NO PROBLEMS. Thank you so very much for posting this solution!