I have been using the neato xv-15 for almost a month now and I'm very happy with it. Except for the matter I noticed today when I got home.
The plastic around the metal charging strips on both the robot and the charging station have melted and become deformed. Just a cosmetic issue ( disregarding the fire hazard) on the robot but on the charging station this has resulted in that the upper charging strip doesn't spring back. I stays stuck all the way in after the robot has made a docking attempt. The metal strips on the robot can't get any contact with the strips on the charging station anymore. The neato really freaks out trying to dock, keeps jumping up and down on the charger.
I'm just glad my house hasn't burned down and killing my pets. obviously my xv-15 has a really serious defect and I hope this is a very rare issue because with faults like this theres more at stake than just the robot. Be aware of this and check your robots!
/stahl
Last edited by stahl on September 17th, 2011, 10:31 am, edited 1 time in total.
Thank you for sharing your experience with us. You are the first to report this type of incident. And, I'm sure you have already called/emailed where you purchased it from to get a replacement. Could you take some pictures to share with us?
Chris
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Thank you for sharing your experience with us. You are the first to report this type of incident. And, I'm sure you have already called/emailed where you purchased it from to get a replacement. Could you take some pictures to share with us?
Yes, I have contacted Neato support but they probably won't get back to me until monday. I will try to upload some pictures this weekend.
If you can't keep your hand on the strips due to the heat, it's too hot! They will get warm (Mine did), but not hot to where it will melt the plastic, or too hot to touch.
Chris
Website Question? Check out the FAQ section. Roomba/Scooba Question? Check out the READ FIRST section. Before posting, check out the improved Search engine. Your question might have been answered already.
My new Neato XV-15 arrived last week. I´ve used it only 5 times and today exactly the same happened to my Neato (the plastic around the metal charging strips on both the robot and the charging station melted and deformed). In my case it was not just a cosmetic issue, because the robot couldn't operate after the "overheating" had happened. The following text appeared in the display: "My battery has a critical error, pls contact web support".
Instead of contacting the web support, I contacted the retailer, who was unfamiliar with this kind of problem...but of course promised to replace the robot immeadiately with a new one.
I hope these two cases are extremely exceptional, since the severity of these kind of defects of the robot can be dramatic.
I assume the charging contacts rely on the Neato resting against the base via a mechanical force from the spring loaded contact. On the roomba, the contacts are aided by gravity so the robot pushes down on them. Despite all its other issues, I have not heard of a Roomba melting its contacts. I wonder if the neato is not making good contact between the metal strips. If just a small area of contact was made, the resistance will be higher and the contacts will get warmer.
Mike
Reds x 3, Dirt Dog, Disco (now a parts bot), Create, Scooba 350, and Security Dawg
Evolution Mint
Neato XV-11
Shark Ion 750
I am new too and I wish I had better subject to start with in this forum. My XV-15 did the same. I consider this a very serious danger!
I am waiting for reply from support. I'll keep you posted...
This is a very serious issue that needs to be addressed, and quick!! I'm glad that it hasn't started a fire (yet).
Neato,
What have you guys found out about this, and what is going to be done?
Chris
Website Question? Check out the FAQ section. Roomba/Scooba Question? Check out the READ FIRST section. Before posting, check out the improved Search engine. Your question might have been answered already.
After 7 months of ownership, i'm affected by this issue as well. I have contacted Neato CS and i'm told to ship my XV11 back for a new replacement. As i'm located in Singapore, it would be costly to ship the entire package back to US. I have asked for Neato to ship me the spares instead (its just a small plastic vent piece with the charging contacts) but they told me they do not have it. It would have saved time and $$$ as the part can be replaced by the user easily. As such, i would like to know if the new replacement XV11 will face the same issue after a period of usage.
mfortuna wrote:I assume the charging contacts rely on the Neato resting against the base via a mechanical force from the spring loaded contact. I wonder if the neato is not making good contact between the metal strips. If just a small area of contact was made, the resistance will be higher and the contacts will get warmer.
I agree with this. How exactly does the Neato rest against the dock? The Roomba is gravity assisted, the Karcher maintains some forward pressure on the driving wheels to hold it. So there must be some form of aid for the Neato, and this could possibly be faulty?
So far it happen with the XV-15 and dinkykong's xv-11 which had been recently upgraded to 2.1. Could it be this version that had issue with the docking and melts the cover? The wiggling of neato into the dock misalignment it??
Neato CS came back today with this answer (only a few hours after the initial complaint):
"The unit will be collected tomorrow during business hours. Attached is an
invoice that you will need to put with the unit in order for the unit to
clear customs."
Now this is what I call customer support! If only they had the same quality management...
yes only seems to happen with xv-15 which basically all have 2.1 and an xv-11 that has upgraded to 2.1 2.1 comes out then 5 on this site alone how many have done this without our knowing is only a guess but could be into the hundreds nobody has known about it until 2.1 came out
iil be getting my replacement within the next 2 weeks (probably) (wheel bound up unable to finish house stopping with err message loosed screw but something possibly got inside it so will report on any changes to docking or charging contacts (making them wider may stop this due to heat distribution better
I think it has nothing to do with the way the bot docks. IMO, its possibly due to a manufacturing defect that leads to this issue. Part of the metal charging contact may not be protruding far out enough such that when the bot docks for charging, some parts of the surrounding plastic comes into contact with the charging plates on the dock. In time, the surrounding plastic gets heated up and starts to deform. When that happens, the metal charging contact sinks in further, making matters worse. This is clearly illustrated in the above pic from Wasy. Look at the top metal charging contact. The left side of the contact is properly seated but not for the right side. Coincidentally, my right side of the metal charging contact is sunken in as well but for the lower charging contact. If you look closely, there are place holders inside that serves as guides for the metal charging strips and the sunken end has the metal strip sitting above the guide.
What the hell, this is serious. I dont know if i dare to use the docking station anymore. Im afraid it might burn down my house. Mine does get very warm if its not docked straight on..
