Neato keeps saying open bin and push button down to on

[rainingducks457]

Dust bin switch works fine. On/off switch on the other hand was broke. Fixed it, checked that it worked using multimeter. Now the robot will turn on for 2-3 seconds, beep twice and die. If I put it on the charger it gives the same "turn switch to on" error even though the switch is on and dies if it is taken off of the charger. Does anyone have any thoughts on why it beeps twice and dies?

[TechGuy]

I am working on a 18 months Botvac with a 18 months battery. It keeps saying open bin and push button down.

- The on/off switch in the bin compartment is working as I can turn on/off battery power to/from Botvac.
- I took the battery out. The no load battery voltage was 15V.
- I charged the battery externally using an 18V power supply for 10 minutes. The battery warmed up. Disconnected the external power supply. The battery no load voltage was 16V.
- Put the externally charged battery back to Botvac. Botvac stopped saying open bin and push button down. Left it charging by Botvac overnight.
- Started a cleaning mission next day. The battery ran Botvac for an hour before looking for the dock.
- But Botvac was not working right. It went over the same area over and over again. Sometime, it said please clear my path. But nothing was in front of it. My XV Signature finishes this floor in 45 minute. After an hour, Botvac was still cleaning and was looking for dock. But it was not be able to dock properly. I put it at the dock. It continued to clean for another hour and could not dock the second time. Put put at the dock again. After charging, it went cleaning for another hour. Botvac went over the same area over and over again during the second and third cleaning.
- I was busy and left it charging at the dock. For the last few days, I started it once every day. It did the same thing for an hour.
- After reading about the clear my path and Neato confused threads on this forum, I decided to turn off the Neato for 5 hours by turning off the switch at the bin and hoping it will fixed the Neato confused and clear my path problem.
- After turning the bin switch back on, it kept saying open bin and push button to on again. I took the battery out and the no load battery voltage was 15V again. I charged it for 10 minutes using an external charger. It is charging happily without saying another open bin message.
- After the home button turn green, I hit the spot button. It worked normally like my good XV Signature.
- Then, I started a normal mission. It clean systematically for about 25 minutes. It started to wondering around and went back the location previously cleaned area. After 50 minutes, it only cleaned half of the area. I put it back at the dock and went to bed.

Questions:
1. The battery was able to run the Botvac for an hour at a time. Why Botvac was not able to charge it after the battery was disconnected for a few hours?
2. Can I change some battery parameter(s) using setconfigure command so that it will charge the battery around 15V?
3. This Botvac may be confused by the dining room table and chair. But my XV Signature has no problem navigating the legs.

[vic7767]

There may be a defective cell in the series string causing all the grief. Swap out your battery pack and test.

[TechGuy]

I don't have a good Botvac battery on hand to test yet.

This morning, I ran it in my sunken living room 15'x15'. It ran about 10 minutes systematically and returned to dock without any problem. The battery symbol was still green right after it was docked.

30 minutes after last night ran, I noticed that the battery symbol was empty(white). But it continued to ran until I manually put it at the dock after 50 minutes mission time.

Why Botvac did not detected the battery low condition and went back to dock?

[vic7767]

I suspect that there may be marginal performing sensor components on the main board that are generating false reports to the MCU due to poor battery performance.

[TechGuy]

I suspect that there may be marginal performing sensor components on the main board that are generating false reports to the MCU due to poor battery performance.

This is what I am thinking too. When the battery is low, the battery low sensing circuit is not working correctly. Since Botvac allows itself to continue the cleaning mission at low battery level, the LIDAR will not be working properly and randomly goes over same area over and over again.

Russia forum may have a fix for battery low sensing circuit. Anyone knows. TIA.

[TechGuy]

I did another test tonight.

I moved this Botvac to my basement. Put down magnetic strips on the floor to limit the area to clean. There was no obstacles in this area to confuse the Botvac.

- First ten minutes, as before, it behaved normally and clean systematically.
- After ten minutes, it was moving along the walls again. Then, it moved randomly every where.
- The battery symbol was still green at 20 minutes mark. I stopped the test.

I think the battery is not the problem after reading randomjuice post
viewtopic.php?f=20&t=19076&hilit=botvac+confused#p135858
randomjuice got a new battery and his Neato was having similar behavior as this Botvac.

Lewiy pointed out that there may be problem with the electrolytic capacitors on the motherboard - from Russian forum.
viewtopic.php?f=20&t=19076&hilit=botvac+confused#p135862

Later, Brett confirmed that replacing all the caps on one of his drunk Neato and it worked perfectly.
viewtopic.php?f=20&t=19076&hilit=botvac+confused&start=20#p135967

I will open this Botvac to examine the electrolytic capacitors when I have more time.
At the mean time, your comments are welcome. I like to hear them - good or bad.

[glnc222]

I have to wonder about any low battery condition as the software detects this, first refusing to run with a "needs charging" msg, and more severely shutting down, to not over-discharge the battery. Standard stuff. Unstable voltage regulation another matter.
The C10 capacitor problem (XV models) applies to the low voltage power supply for the cpu, where at start up the cpu comes on before the memory, causing software to shift into flash-update mode waiting on usb data. Plugging in a USB device may cause an error resetting the cpu which then finds memory up, but some conditions can be too severe. Botvac's may have improved system boards. Other caps are for the other voltage supplies, and with motors one can image heavy filtering required. The optical sensors and mag sensors run on a 5v supply old logic standard. Linear voltage regulators. The 15v XV motor supply comes on whenever TEST MODE is set over USB, and turning it off will take as much as a minute to fall off, with the filter caps. Motors turn only under an RPM pwm modulation signal. (Botvac 12v system, though Connected model with lithium batteries may be back to the higher standard to match cell properties). The charging circuits use a variable voltage constant current buck voltage converter, with some parts in the dock and some in the bot, designs changing over years and different system boards (Botvac's unchanged except for new wiFi models).

[giannis080]

i have an 70e and when it gives me that message i just turn it off, on, select new battery, let charge for a while (in like 30 mins its ready) and then it works

[shirgal]

i have an 70e and when it gives me that message i just turn it off, on, select new battery, let charge for a while (in like 30 mins its ready) and then it works

This is just temporary fix, the Botvac will refuse to charge next cycle or 2.

[giannis080]

i have an 70e and when it gives me that message i just turn it off, on, select new battery, let charge for a while (in like 30 mins its ready) and then it works

This is just temporary fix, the Botvac will refuse to charge next cycle or 2.

i agree its temp fix my new battery is on the way however robot has gone through around 20 cycles since the msg first appeared (with ever decreasing run time and power - but not by much)

[alk]

I have had a similar problem, took the battery out to replace and happened to look at the old battery plug head and compare it to the new one, I noticed 1 of the 4 metal connectors in the plastic plug was missing, on closer inspection I noticed that it had slipped backwards into the plug, obviously this was my problem. Hope it helps others.

[glnc222]

The Molex connectors on the XV models are more prone to this as both connectors are in-line on cables. There are photos elsewhere here, of a pin on the Neato side getting depressed. Just pull it back up with pliers.
On the Botvac, with AMP connectors, the Neato side is mounted on the circuit board, and recessed pins can occur only on the battery cable side.
Careful removing the Botvac battery, opening the latch on the connector, usually pulling with pliers.

[rusty]

same thing happened to mine I have the botvac d75 for about a year. "open dust bin and turn to on" even though it was on? removed battery there are very small pins on the connector that must not have been making contact. Put the battery back in place and works fine now.

[TRJ_DK]

The problem is caused by the battery, after dealing with this problem for several weeks, i decided to change the battery. Bought a cheap Morpilot 4000mAh Botvac battery (unoriginal battery) and now its starts every time without any problems.

[psmedley]

Slightly different solution here. I found that the two pins on the control board that connect to the yellow leads on the battery had come loose and weren't making good contact. Resoldering the two pins fixed the issues I was seeing.

[TRJ_DK]

Replace the battery it will solve the problem.

[Robdog33]

I've had my neato botvac for approx 2yrs. Recently this issue has become worse and worse to a point that the vac would no longer charge.

To fix the issue I decided to purchase a new battery with the exact same specs as the original. It was easy to replace by taking the 2 coverplate screws out and unclipping the old battery. I've just charged the new battery over night and set the vac off with succesful results. Only time will tell if this problem comes back with avengence.