To clean roomba: canned/compressed air or better a vac?

VFM · Post by **VFM** » January 13th, 2008, 5:37 pm

I've reading the archives and faq and the common advice for routine cleaning seems to be to blow canned or compressed air at the roomba.

Would not be better/faster to use a vacuum cleaner to clean the robot internals? I have a dyson with some accesories that let me access small zones without to much suction.

Thanks, again and sorry for so many questions. I am a real newbie to this roomba thing.

Ventura.

youbrokemytaco · Post by **youbrokemytaco** » January 13th, 2008, 6:18 pm

I personally use a vacuum (a Dyson DC14 actually) for cleaning my Roomba, I'd rather pull the dust out the way it went in than use compressed air and shove it further into the machine. Plus you don't get dust in the air, it's all contained.

vic7767 · Post by **vic7767** » January 13th, 2008, 9:42 pm

I live in the country and use a Craftsman air compressor on all my Roombas and Scoobas. Of course I also take mine apart just a little more than the casual user.

_JP_ · Post by **_JP_** » January 13th, 2008, 9:59 pm

For right now I'm blowing out only the filter and the bin with canned air (the type that is refillable with a portable compressor). After a month of daily use I removed all of the modules to check for debris. There was surprisingly little up inside the body of the robot. But my environment is for from extreme. I haven't needed to clean the main brushes since the second week of use. Once the 560 had it's way with the place for a while it now keeps it under control!

THX-1138 · Post by **THX-1138** » January 14th, 2008, 12:03 am

I would also recommend using suction but with a brush to lift off any stuck dust.

youbrokemytaco · Post by **youbrokemytaco** » January 14th, 2008, 12:07 am

Exactly what I use...

I use the crevice tool on my Dyson when I'm just sucking under the bumper and around the wheels etc, and then when I do a more thorough clean I use the soft brush tool to brush off dust so it can be sucked up. My Sage looked completely grey inside when I opened it, after 30 mins of careful brushing and vacuuming it looks sparkly new

bob_ninja · Post by **bob_ninja** » January 14th, 2008, 1:06 pm

In general air compressors can produce a very high velocity air stream that pushes out more dust. Vacuum pull air in which accelerates only at the narrow entry point. Therefore compressed air can disturb far more dust. On my old generation roombas there are plenty of openings so that air will always escape carrying with it dirt. Even wheel hubs work well as air must escape some place else.

In general dirt doesn't get stuck or pushed further into a bot because dust and hair is light so keeps being carried by air flow which eventually escapes out.

The only problem is that it is best done outside. I do it in my garage and promptly run away to let all the dust settle down and avoid inhaling it. Afterwards I just use a broom and sweep it out as part of regular garage cleaning.

_JP_ · Post by **_JP_** » January 14th, 2008, 3:51 pm

You manually sweep the garage? Where's your Dirt Dog?

debugger · Post by **debugger** » January 15th, 2008, 4:33 pm

youbrokemytaco wrote:I'd rather pull the dust out the way it went in than use compressed air and shove it further into the machine. Plus you don't get dust in the air, it's all contained.

Good to find someone that thinks the same way as I do.

I've just bought one of these:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Vacuum-cleaner-ad ... dZViewItem

Wasn't sure if it was just a gimmick, but thought I'd try it anyway - I dont' grudge my Roombas anything

Arrived today, so far very impressed - good for getting into the bits that the Dyson Crevice tool can only dream of! Also, very good for cleaning the filter,