So disappointed with my new neato

[snav]

Got my XV-25 Neato replaced because of "stuck wheel".
My old one cleaned my apartment 64 m2 in about 45 minutes in one charge, the longest a saw it run was for 75 minutes. The first run it ever made took 54 minutes.

My new Neato managed around 18-20 minutes before it wanted to recharge.
I know the battery time gets "better" after a few runs.. but I doubt it will increase three times the initial value.

Emailed support about it...
It must be able to clean my apartment in one go.. otherwise its pointless to me.

I usually set in on "clean the house" and take my dog for a walk.. when i get back it's finished this wouldn't be possible with this runtimes.


*EDIT*
Runtimes:
First run: 20 min
Second: 22 min
Third: 20 min

[snav]

It also seems to be charging very strangely.

First charge: 40 minutes

I did the first cleaning and needed to recharge before continuing.
It charged exactly 40 minutes before it started cleaning again. The strange thing is that it never got to green.. It was blinking red when starting.
Finished cleaning, and charged for exactly 40 minutes again till it got solid green.

I then removed from the chargestation and put it back... then it started to charge again?!?
This time it charged for 1hour even when it just been fully charged 5 minutes ago.

Any idea wats happening, why doesn't it charge the batteries fully every time?

[invenio]

I would give it at least a week. When I first got my XV-11 it did 10 minute runs. By the end of the week it was doing 45 minutes.

If not improved in a week, contact Neato CS.

[snav]

Will try it more.. My first Neato did 50+ minutes out of the box so something isn't right compared to my old one.

But its very strange that if i remove it from the station and put it back it suddenly can charge another hour even though it was just fully charged.

[vic7767]

When the Neato is not connected to its power source it is constantly in a state of discharge from active circuits on the main board. When it is connected to its power source then the charging firmware is always in a state of charging the battery pair. It cycles between full charging and float charging but it is always on.

[snav]

i can understand if it had past some time... but i tried this the minute after it was fully charged.
i removed the neato and placed it in the charger again, and it started to charge for an hour instantly.
We are talking 1-3 minutes after it was fully charged.. it shouldn't be able to charge for an hour instantly if everything was correct??

And when i say i remove it from the charging station, i only pull it away a couple of centimeters and then put it back so we are talking seconds without power.

[vic7767]

It would appear that your Neato has never been able to complete a full charging cycle. The Neato should be left alone and charged uninterrupted for at least 12 hours even though the charging indicator is not flashing and is Green.

[snav]

Before the first run it was left to charge 24 hours even though it showed full charge within 40 minutes.
BUT today it doesn't charge when being removed/attached to the charger. will do some test-runs later today

[robocleaner]

@ snav: Reading through your earlier comments, it seems that you're maybe assuming that a Green light means the Neato is fully charged.

IIRC, Neato Special Guest said in another post that the Green light coming on doesn't mean that the battery is fully charged - it only means that the battery has a BARE MINIMUM charge sufficient to do one room? Ergo, Neato needs to be left a whole lot longer between runs to finish properly charging before it then trickle charges. A 24 hour initial charge should be a full charge, but your earlier comments of starting your Neato as soon as the Green light came on means the battery likely hadn't then been fully charged?

[snav]

first charge was about 24hours.
And i assumed that when the battery charge icon wasn't moving and i got a green arc it was fully charged.

Just did my second run.
It's been in the charger for 22 hours since last run.. and it increased the runtime by a couple of minutes, now 22 minutes. It cleaned about half of my 64 m2 apartment.

[snav]

@ snav: Reading through your earlier comments, it seems that you're maybe assuming that a Green light means the Neato is fully charged.

IIRC, Neato Special Guest said in another post that the Green light coming on doesn't mean that the battery is fully charged - it only means that the battery has a BARE MINIMUM charge sufficient to do one room? Ergo, Neato needs to be left a whole lot longer between runs to finish properly charging before it then trickle charges. A 24 hour initial charge should be a full charge, but your earlier comments of starting your Neato as soon as the Green light came on means the battery likely hadn't then been fully charged?

Either the Specialist or the manual is wrong, or they are talking about the pulsating green light??
I meant the solid green light the whole time.

According to the manual:
"Recharging the batteries takes 2-3 hours"
"Solid green - Fully charged and ready to clean"
"Pulsating green - Charging but ready to clean"

[robocleaner]

My misunderstanding I think. What Neato Special Guest actually wrote in that other thread seems to support what is said in the manual:

When the pulsing ring light around the Start button changes from amber to green the Neato has approximately enough charge to clean a single room. It will immediately begin cleaning if the Start button is pressed.

If the light is amber and the start button is pressed, the Neato will wait until the light turns green and then start cleaning.

[snav]

Got an response from the support, they suggested charging it directly through from the main outlet.


1.Before trying it, i checked the display. The battery-bar showed a full battery-icon
2. plugged in the neato directly the the wall outlet. let it sit for about an hour.
When i came back there was no light on "arc" at all.
3. Pressed START once and after a few seconds the arc flickered and showed a green light. But now the battery icon is showing approx 30% charge.
4 Let it sit docked to the wall-outlet for 2 hours. No arc-light. Press START once again. The arc light flickers and goes green. The icon is still showing 30%.

What should i be expecting.. should the icon move up to full battery again when charging directly?
Does it even charge now, no visible aid to show that it is charging??

[vic7767]

Get in contact with Neato CS again and share your experience with their suggestion. There is something not working correctly in the robot.

[mfortuna]

Recently many users reported the direct charge port didn't work and you had to charge from the dock.

[snav]

Recently many users reported the direct charge port didn't work and you had to charge from the dock.

You are so correct.
It's been connected 20 hours directly to the main.

It managed 11 minutes on one charge.
After that i plugged it in the main again. After 2hours it doesn't have power to move an inch.

So it cant be charging at all with "direct-connect"

[mfortuna]

Try a couple more 16-24 hour on the dock charges followed by cleaning missions. If the battery doesn't improve ask Neato for a new one.