Neato Botvac

[glnc222]

shileded bearing left, sealed bearing right
metal vs black rubber

Replacement sealed bearings are available at Vic7767.com.

[djos]

Cheers, I think mine is the old style.

[vic7767]

There is only one stock bearing that is shipped with the Botvac models. That bearing is Shielded not Rubber Sealed.

[susantx3]

I just received a Botvac 70e direct shipped from Neato. The bearing is Shielded not Rubber Sealed. Has anyone received a Botvac brush with a factory installed sealed bearing?

I know Vic recently answered this question that all stock bearings are shielded not sealed, just checking to see if anything changed.

Thanks in advance

[glnc222]

Did your 70e come in old or new packaging (shown at http://www.robotreviews.com/chat/viewto ... 14#p127214)

The combo brush sold separately has a sealed bearing. Hard to imagine they are packed separately than brushes in units. However, older stock can still exist from before changing the bearing. The separate brush has not been available until very recently. There might also be a decision that pet owners use the combo brush (called a Pet brush when introduced for XV models), and that only this case warrants a sealed bearing.

I will test the scheduling off the dock at midnight -- waiting off the dock... (another thread).

[susantx3]

Thanks for the reply
I received the old packaging and the bumper does not appear to be damaged. (I am charging overnight and have yet to run the unit)

If there is a Botvac blade brush with sealed bearing I will call Neato support and ask for the newer blade brush. However, it is my understanding that as of this date no one has verified a blade brush with sealed bearing.

[dcjenkins]

Combo brush vs. Blade brush

Can anyone speak of their personal experience with using both of these brushes with the Botvac? I don't have a pet, but it would still seem that the combo brush may be a better brush if I had a lot of area rugs on wood floors.

[NeatoDorito]

I ran my botvac 85 twice and forgot about checking the brush.. I have 3 cats and one is long haired.. afraid of what I might find now lol. IS there a tool that can be brought for cleaning the brushes easier? I know the Roomba comes with one.

[ventureforth]

Wondering out loud if the Roomba tool works on the Neato brush (ie: is diameter close enough)?

[vic7767]

What works for me is a pocket comb. I use it for both the Roomba and the Botvac.

[Loshki]

I just checked the Botvac 65 I got from Costco, which comes with
the combo brush, and it has the black rubber sealed bearing.

[hal9000]

My Botvac 85 came the other day and the combo brush had the shielded bearing, while the beater brush had the sealed one:

beater brush with sealed bearing

combo brush with shielded bearing

[glnc222]

These bearings are becoming like a shell game. Guess which box has the bearing. But where's the prize?

The real defect is failing to clamp the outer edge of the bearing so when it seizes up it cannot spin in the plastic,tearing it up, and just generate a blocked message from the brush motor. Or mount it in metal, or in a replaceable plastic mounting piece. It is so strange such details are ignored when so much other fine work is done.

[mfortuna]

The brush is a replaceable plastic mounting piece

The life of a sealed bearing is as follows:

sealed -> shielded (as the seals wear) -> seized.

I think a two piece metal bushing or a metal shaft in bushing is key for this application.

How many of us roomba owners have had a yellow brush bushing fail? Very few if any.

Maybe a sealed bearing will last the life of the vacuum. I am not sure. I have seen RC vehicles destroy sealed bearings when exposed to dusty conditions.

[vic7767]

Rubber sealed bearings will perform quite well as long as any debris build-up is removed from the bearing area after each cleaning run, not at the end of a complete cleaning session. If the debris is allowed to remain then the heat developed by the friction of the spinning brush on the rubber shield will cause it to fail.

[NeatoDorito]

Wow, mine was already packed with hair and started to sieze up. Just got the sealed bearing installed. So after every cleaning I have to empty the dust bin, clean hair from the brush and clean debris from the bearing. Seems like a lot of work for something that is supposed to clean on it's own. They should have done something to keep hair and dirt out of the bearing area.

[djos]

I just pop the bearing off, remove any Crap and haven't had any issues as a result.

[NeatoDorito]

I just pop the bearing off, remove any Crap and haven't had any issues as a result.

Awesome for you.. I have 3 cats in a 4000sqft house.... Neato takes care of my downstairs which is 90% tile.. it was badly infected wiht hair in the bearing after 3 runs.. the brush its self didn't look bad at all and the bearing was already getting harder to spin compared to the new rubber sealed bearing. I personally think it's a design flaw and should have come with nothing but rubber sealed bearings.. honestly that area should have been setup so no hair entered it at all. I truly love my botvac but already see improvements the company COULD have made. Either way the tech is way better than that of Roomba... we just need the quality to be above roomba and then Neato has the Ultimate vacuum bot!!! I invited everyone over to checkout my new house and gave the Neato a rub before they got here... tile floors looked awesome.. I could not be happier. I just hope the quality remains this good minus the bearing problem they probably know about by now!

[johnnyh]

I just pop the bearing off, remove any Crap and haven't had any issues as a result.

Same here. I've been running the Botvac once a day, every day. I have a 2,000 sq ft loft with two cats, a dog, and a wife with long blonde hair. Every night I spend five minutes prepping the bot - flip it over, pop the cover off, clean the (pet) brush, pull off bearing, clean stuck hair strands off bearing and base of bearing shaft, shove clogged lint ball back down "throat", flip bot back over, pull out bin and said hair ball, empty bin, place "pre filter" (three squares of singly ply toilet paper) behind filter, put bin back in, put robot back on charger. Done. Five minutes. Muscle memory. No effort. No fuss. No problem.

[djos]

@dorito So I have 1 less cat than you, after every whole house clean i remove the hair from the brush and empty the bin. Adding the bearing to this isn't a major imposition.

That said, I reckon Neato should send us all replacement bearings.