With the introduction of Roomba in 2002, cleaning your home has never been easier, but sometimes errors like Roomba not charging occur. So, what do you do when your Roomba won’t charge?

Roombas offer countless benefits over traditional vacuums. They are small and maneuverable, making it easy to clean around tables, sofas, and other pieces of furniture. They are also highly efficient, thanks to their unique spinning brush design and sensors.

However, one area where Roombas can fall short is their battery life. Roombas use lithium-ion batteries, which have a limited number of charging cycles before they need to be replaced. 

If your Roomba won’t charge or is not holding a charge as long as it used to, there are several things you can do to troubleshoot the issue. Read on for our 8 top tips.

My Roomba Won’t Charge — 8 Ways To Troubleshoot This Issue

Your Roomba won’t charge if dirt, dust, or muck has built up on its charging points or caster wheel. Inaccurate battery placement, faulty electrical outlets, and software flaws can also cause Roomba not to charge.

If your Roomba won’t charge, here are 8 ways you can troubleshoot the issue:

1. Reboot your Roomba

Software issues are the most common cause of Roomba not charging. To see if this is the problem, rebooting your Roomba, commonly known as doing a soft reset, can help it rapidly get back up and running. Before you tackle any complex fixes, try this Roomba won’t charge solution first.

Depending on your model, there are many ways to reset your Roomba. If you’re not sure, read your user guide.

You can reset most Roomba models (including the S, I, or 900 Series versions) by pressing the Home, Clean, and Spot Clean buttons simultaneously. Hold on to the Clean button until you can see the light around it before releasing it. With a Roomba 600 or 800 series, you need to hold down the same buttons till you can hear your vacuum beep.

Once you’ve reset your Roomba, plug it in and wait for it to charge. Your Roomba should now charge as normal.

2. Move the Charging Station

If your Roomba won’t charge even after you’ve reset it, the problem could be with the charging station. More specifically, your Roomba’s charging station may not have been properly powered on.

To check this, simply transfer your plug to a different wall outlet. Once plugged in, Roomba’s charging station should emit green light.

3. Inspect Roomba’s Caster Wheel

Your Roomba’s front unpowered caster wheel and the prime driving wheels are its main contact points with the ground. If these Roomba parts are caked in dirt, dust, and debris, they will prevent Roomba from making a reliable connection to start to charge; hence, your Roomba won’t charge efficiently.

To clean Roomba’s caster wheel, start by removing any visible dust, debris, or dirt. Then use a cotton swab dampened with rubbing alcohol to clean the sensors located around the caster wheel. Once the caster wheel is clean, your Roomba should be able to charge properly.

4. Clean the Contacts

Your Roomba must establish a reliable connection with the base charging station to be charged effectively. Two small metal plates are used in this process, one on the Roomba and the other on the charging station.

However, these metal plates can become dirty and coated in muck, due to which the Roomba won’t charge. In more severe cases, the metal can rust, which will also impede the Roomba’s charging ability.

Wipe the contacts and the surrounding area with a soft, wet cloth. Then, polish the contacts with rubbing alcohol until they’re shiny. It is possible to remove visible rust by soaking a cotton swab in vinegar.

5. Battery replacement

If your Roomba has been sitting for a while, its battery may have lost its capacity to hold a charge. Roomba batteries typically last many years of consistent usage and hundreds of cleaning cycles. 

If your Roomba won’t charge and you suspect the battery may be the problem, you can purchase a brand-new battery or Roomba replacement battery from iRobot’s online store.

6. Reset the Battery

Your Roomba won’t charge if the battery isn’t correctly placed within the vacuum. If your Roomba is brand new, you should remove the plastic tab that’s placed over the battery contacts. This will prevent Roomba from running into the same problem in the future.

If you’ve been using the Roomba for quite some time, the battery might have been misplaced. In this case, you’ll need to remove the screws holding the battery cover, flip the Roomba over, and take out the battery. Then, carefully place the battery back in Roomba and replace the battery cover.

The process of resetting a battery is also called deep charging or a 16-hour reset since you would need to put your unit to rest for 16 hours to ensure the Roomba is fully charged.

7. Factory Reset Your Unit

If your Roomba won’t charge despite all your troubleshooting efforts, you may need to factory reset Roomba. Factory reset, as opposed to rebooting, deletes all of your files and customized settings, so you’ll have to set Roomba back up again after doing this.

Before resetting your Roomba, be sure to create a backup of all your Roomba files in the mobile app so you can easily restore your Roomba to its previous state.

You can reset the factory settings on your Roomba in two different methods: either directly via the unit or by using the iRobot Home app.

You can manually reset your Roomba by clicking and holding the CLEAN button for 15 seconds. Roomba will emit a series of beeps to indicate that it’s been reset.

Roomba can also be reset using the iRobot Home app. Here’s how:

• The iRobot Home App needs to be launched.

• Go to Settings.

• Select “Remove/Factory Reset.”

• Then click on your Roomba’s name.

Once Roomba has been reset, it will no longer be connected to your iRobot account or the iRobot Home App. You can now reconnect Roomba to the iRobot Home App and set it up as if it were a brand-new unit.

8. Contact iRobot Customer Support 

Lastly, if your Roomba won’t charge at all and you’ve tried all of the solutions listed above, it’s time to contact iRobot’s customer support.

As we mentioned earlier, most of the time, your Roomba won’t charge because of software issues which can be easily resolved by following the tips above.

However, if your Roomba vacuum still isn’t charging, it’s possible that there’s a hardware issue with the internal power component or the charging station, and you probably won’t be able to repair it yourself. For assistance in this case, contact Roomba’s customer support.

You can contact iRobot’s customer support via email or phone. To find Roomba’s customer support contact information, go to iRobot’s website and scroll down to the bottom of the page. You will be taken to the Roomba help center page if you click the “Contact Us” option.

Make sure to explain the issue as clearly as possible so the customer support representative can help you troubleshoot the problem and resolve it as quickly as possible.

Roomba Won’t Charge and Displays Error Codes — How to Fix This Issue

Robot vacuum cleaners like the Roomba can occasionally encounter problems that force them to emit vocalized error codes or send you a notification through the iRobot Home app. These error codes are generally very easy to interpret, as they almost always point to a specific problem that you can address without too much difficulty.

Here are some of the most common error codes you may encounter when your Roomba won’t charge, as well as what you can do to fix them.

Roomba Charging Error 6

If your Roomba won’t charge and sends you an error message that says “error 6, transfer Roomba to a different location,” perhaps one of your cliff sensors is either dusty, broken, or confused by the surface you’re intending to use it on.

To fix Roomba Won’t Charge issue, try the following:

• Check to make sure you are using a genuine battery. Counterfeit batteries can cause charging issues.

• Wipe the cliff sensors clean with a dry cloth.

• Make sure the Roomba is not charged close to a boiler, baseboard heater, or heating vent. A temperature-controlled environment is the only place where the Roomba should be charged.

Roomba Charging Error 8:

If your Roomba gives you an error code 8, it means that the motor and filter have malfunctioned. Your Roomba won’t charge unless you fix this problem.

Here’s how:

• Ensure that the battery is a genuine iRobot one.

• Make sure the Roomba is charging at room temperature.

• Place Roomba on the Home Base and wait until Roomba’s status light turns green.

• Remove Roomba from the Home Base and press the “Clean” button, holding it for 20 seconds.

Roomba Won’t Charge — The Bottom Line

In most cases, your Roomba won’t charge if you’re using the wrong types of battery or if there are troubles with the power source. Problems with the Roomba battery can usually be traced back to grimy charging contacts, an old battery, or a Roomba that hasn’t been properly reset after a firmware update.

If your Roomba won’t charge, follow the tips and solutions listed in this article, and you should be able to get Roomba up and running again in no time. In the rare event that you can’t fix the problem yourself, make sure to contact Roomba customer support for assistance.