4500mA Battery with 500 series

[dixie chicken]

Anybody used one of the 4.5A aftermarket batteries for sale on eBay? Do they really extend runtime significantly? Do they have an abbreviated lifetime compared to the OEM batteries?

I'm using a 3.3A battery right now and get about 130 minutes out of it in my 570 (black CHM, aerovac, all hardwoods in the house). I'm currently fixing a 560 I bought on eBay (9 beep error) that came without a battery to give to my parents (Mom) for mother's day. Their house has a much bigger footprint than mine and I figured they could use the extra run time, but I don't want to shell out the extra cash for 4.5A battery if it's not worth it or the battery will have to be replaced in a year.

[sageman]

it will extend runtime but is not recommended as the motors will heat up and die prematurely

ideally i thing a roomba should not run for more than an hour without having a 15 minute break to cool off

[dixie chicken]

ideally i thing a roomba should not run for more than an hour without having a 15 minute break to cool off

I've never heard of the 15 minute rule before. Is that something an iRobot rep told you? Not trying to doubt you, but I've never heard that discussed before and I'm a little confused. It doesn't make much sense that iRobot would sell the APS battery which has a stock run time of close to 2 hours if that were the case. I'd really appreciate some clarification.

Thanks.

[roboroomba]

I have never heard of the motors heating up and dying or the 15 minute rule. have I missed something?

[mfortuna]

There is no firm rule but the longer you run a roomba the hotter the motors will get. If you decide you only want to run 1 hour then do it. It will probably improve motor life.

[Sc0rPs]

Not to doubt the above, but granted motor does get hot but it will not continue to get hotter & hotter the more you run it. Once peak is reached it will level off there, so as long as it and all components in close proximity are designed to withstand such heat it shouldn't make a difference if it runs for an hour or two hours.

I have had mine run for almost 2.5 hours without any issues.

[Xamindar]

it will extend runtime but is not recommended as the motors will heat up and die prematurely

ideally i thing a roomba should not run for more than an hour without having a 15 minute break to cool off

Please cite or link your iRobot source for this information. Personally, I would think it would have already reached a max heat within an hour. Any longer shouldn't matter unless that max heat is already at damaging temperatures.

I'm sorry I doubt you, but I come across a lot of people just posting random crap on the internet that has no basis other than they "thought so". Please link or explain your source and I will shut up.

Regarding me personally, I would gladly buy a larger capacity battery. You and some others may not know this but most Roomba 500s do not run until the battery is depleted (unless you tell it to find a dock with no dock available). They will actually stop on their own when they have determined the room is done. Because most budget batteries slowly lose their capacity as they are cycled over and over again, a larger initial capacity will allow your roomba to cover it's full route longer. A 4.5A battery at half capacity will still have 2.3Ah of power. That's still quite a lot.

[roboroomba]

I have had a motor on my 510s brush deck fail because of heat and cat hair, and one time right after my 440 ran, I took it apart and the motor on the brush deck was so hot I got burnt a little, there was not even much hair in there that time.

I do think that under the right circumstances running it for long enough could burn up motors, especially the brush deck motor.

[vic7767]

A large capacity battery will last long enough (hopefully) for the Roomba to find the homebase after a cleaning mission is completed. Running a Roomba for over an hour without stopping it to clean the dust bin and brushes may lead to debris damage to the brush deck motor and gear assembly and other components.

[mfortuna]

Here's one issue. If a motor stabilizes to a temperature that is above the recommended maximum the motor will suffer accelerated brush/commutator wear and magnet damage. Extreme heat can cause windings to fail. I don't have a 500 series but on my 400 series the brush deck motor gets above 160F. And that is measuring after taking apart the robot. Most screws were out but it still takes a couple minutes. In radio control car racing I try to limit temps to 130. If I overheat a motor with wrong gearing/binding the damage to the commutator, brushes and magnets (which I can measure) is apparent when I dyno and take apart the motor.

[Sc0rPs]

I have had a motor on my 510s brush deck fail because of heat and cat hair, and one time right after my 440 ran, I took it apart and the motor on the brush deck was so hot I got burnt a little, there was not even much hair in there that time.

I do think that under the right circumstances running it for long enough could burn up motors, especially the brush deck motor.

That sounds like poorly made motors, as you made no mention of a longer lasting battery? Plus the cat hair was either responsible completely and for the hotter running motor.

Still pretty positive if the motor is running for an hour straight it's as hot as it will get 55 minutes ago.

[mfortuna]

I have had a motor on my 510s brush deck fail because of heat and cat hair, and one time right after my 440 ran, I took it apart and the motor on the brush deck was so hot I got burnt a little, there was not even much hair in there that time.

I do think that under the right circumstances running it for long enough could burn up motors, especially the brush deck motor.

That sounds like poorly made motors, as you made no mention of a longer lasting battery? Plus the cat hair was either responsible completely and for the hotter running motor.

Still pretty positive if the motor is running for an hour straight it's as hot as it will get 55 minutes ago.

Yes, but the temp it reached 55 minutes ago may be too high!

[iMayne]

I really don't see the point of a 4500mAh battery. No wonder most of you are having CHM issues. Running the Roomba long will heats up the motor; heats travel to the gearbox which heats up the deck and gears. Your call, not mine.

@Sageman, you've made me laugh 'till I cry. Thanks! LOL Making comments like that (15mins cool down) you need to end your sentence with a point, not a full stop but with proof.

[Xamindar]

I really don't see the point of a 4500mAh battery. No wonder most of you are having CHM issues. Running the Roomba long will heats up the motor; heats travel to the gearbox which heats up the deck and gears. Your call, not mine.

Lol, that's pretty funny considering the fact that the only people that have had CHM issues in this thread were using the official batteries.

[iMayne]

I really don't see the point of a 4500mAh battery. No wonder most of you are having CHM issues. Running the Roomba long will heats up the motor; heats travel to the gearbox which heats up the deck and gears. Your call, not mine.

Lol, that's pretty funny considering the fact that the only people that have had CHM issues in this thread were using the official batteries.

I don't see anything funny. Tell me, what's funny? I need to know.

[Sc0rPs]

I really don't see the point of a 4500mAh battery. No wonder most of you are having CHM issues. Running the Roomba long will heats up the motor; heats travel to the gearbox which heats up the deck and gears. Your call, not mine.

Lol, that's pretty funny considering the fact that the only people that have had CHM issues in this thread were using the official batteries.

I don't see anything funny. Tell me, what's funny? I need to know.

The part where you concluded people using longer lasting batteries are the same ones having CHM issues...

[Sc0rPs]

I have had a motor on my 510s brush deck fail because of heat and cat hair, and one time right after my 440 ran, I took it apart and the motor on the brush deck was so hot I got burnt a little, there was not even much hair in there that time.

I do think that under the right circumstances running it for long enough could burn up motors, especially the brush deck motor.

That sounds like poorly made motors, as you made no mention of a longer lasting battery? Plus the cat hair was either responsible completely and for the hotter running motor.

Still pretty positive if the motor is running for an hour straight it's as hot as it will get 55 minutes ago.

Yes, but the temp it reached 55 minutes ago may be too high!

That may be true, and if it is then the fault lies with a cheaply made motor. So then should you shut down your Roomba after 5 minutes of use? I would either push iRobot for motors that can actually do the job they're designed to do or replace it myself.

All I can say is I have extended NiMH batteries, a shedding dog and no problems at all with my 581 running it's daily schedule nor the extended 2+ hour runs.

[vic7767]

This has become a new mod on my Roomba brush motors. In both the 4XXX and 5XX models I plan to install a thermal sensor that will open the power lead when the temperature reaches 170 fahrenheit. Now the brush motor will be protected from overheating during long runs.

[sageman]

http://www.rapidonline.com/1/1/8850-bi- ... tches.html

so somthing like this

[vic7767]

Something like that could work.