Charge Scooba on a timer?

[S-F]

I'm about to install an outlet right next to where I keep my robots so it's easier to plug them in. I can install an outlet that is Z-Wave enabled so I can control when it has power. I was thinking that I could simply always leave Scooba plugged in and have it charge for 3 hours every night so every day it would be ready to go. I'm finding my self often in a position where I want to run it but the battery hasn't charged. The only problem I see with this is that I don't run it every day. Would this reduce it's battery life? I know that trial, error and many prematurely dead batteries have taught us to only charge it when needed.

[vic7767]

That plan may work for you. You may need to adjust the on time higher after the Scooba has completed a mission in order to completely charge the battery.

[S-F]

Oh really? I was under the impression that it generally took three hours for the battery to charge "completely". What is the general consensus then on how long it takes?

[vic7767]

How about 4 hours? Oh and I forgot, additional time may be required depending upon the mAH capacity of the battery being used. So therefore your time of 3 hours may possibly be correct but is dependent on battery capacity.

[mfortuna]

The robot figures out how long to charge a battery and is not based on a fixed time. A fast three hour charge may get a depleted battery to almost full but the slower trickle charge is what tops it up.

No matter what, 3 hours on charge and any amount of time with no power results in the battery depleting. The battery will always lose charge in the 21 hours when the timer is off.

There is a good chance the battery condition after the first 3 hour charge after a mission may result in less run time.

If you run 3 hour charges 24 hours apart the 2nd charge after a mission will probably leave the battery in a pretty full state.

But there is a catch. The robot firmware will try a fast charge until it determines the battery is full and then will switch to trickle charge. You will probably heat up the battery and it will lead to slightly less life.

What I do after a mission is let the battery cool, charge it, then take it out of the robot. I then re-charge it before a mission. But I only run once a week missions. If you want to run everday or every other day then your timer solution should be fine.

[vic7767]

One more option to consider would be to obtain an external charging brick for your Scooba, and once the charging is complete and then power is removed from the external charger there will be no additional discharge of your battery other than normal NiXX cell behaviour.

[S-F]

I do have an external charger. So I can just put it on there until it's done and then leave the battery out for a couple days with no/minimal loss of charge? I have generally been using it for charging any way as I usually take the battery out after every mission for cleaning.

Thanks for the responses guys! These batteries aren't cheap and I understand that lots of people have issues with them going south pretty fast.

[vic7767]

Yes, it would be better to leave the battery out of your Scooba after it has been charged via the external charger. If the battery were to be placed back into the Scooba then a small discharge would immediately begin due to the IR monitor circuit being activated inside your Scooba.

[S-F]

OK guys. Thanks.

I think I'm just going to skip the timer all together and just charge the battery with the external charger after each mission. I popped it on there yesterday after having it sit in scooba for a couple days and it's dead as a door nail. It's been giving me the double blink since yesterday afternoon. I was unaware of how just keeping the battery in there depletes it so much.

[Brigita]

Hi, I'm new scooba owner. My question is how correctly maintain scooba battery ? After scooba is done cleaning, I charge it on outer charger, and then what ? What do I do with charged battery between uses ? Lets say I'll use it again in 2 days .. Do I leave it on charger all the time, or charge it and store it somewhere ?

[vic7767]

You should charge it after a cleaning mission then remove it from the Scooba or external charger and store it in a cool dry location like a pantry. I have left batteries on a shelf for over a month and then install one and run a mission without any issues.

[mfortuna]

My procedure is to let the battery cool after a mission, throw it in the scooba for a charge, take the battery out, and place it on the shelf. Just before a mission I will charge the battery in a scooba and then run the mission,

This dates back to my RC racing days with NICAD and NIMH batteries. I always would peak (top up) just before a race. I think the peaking is useful for the scooba as well. The longer a battery sits without peaking, the lower it's mission time.

I try to get two missions out of a battery, sometimes I fall a little short even with the peak charge.

[Brigita]

Thanks

[marquesalan]

I only use my Scooba once a week. I read that you should fully charge it and then remove it if you do not leave your charger plugged in all the time. Does anyone know if it would be all right for me to put a timer on my charger for 2 hours a day? Would topping off the battery each day degrade the life of the battery or should I go through the hassle of taking it out? My third option is to just leave the unit plugged in forever but it seems like an energy waste since I do not run it every day like my Roomba. Thoughts?

[a1robotrepair]

Which model Scooba? Which battery?