How to Charge Roomba Without Home Base

Roomba docking station is a reliable device designed to help vacuum self-charge and self-empty, but plenty of factors can prevent the dock from charging Roomba or not working correctly.

In case your Roomba dock is not charging your Roomba, you can set your Roomba without the home base.

How to Charge Roomba Without Home Base

To charge your Roomba without the home base, you need to insert the power adapter into the port of Roomba located at the side ( Read the user manual for your Roomba model to find the dedicated charging port ). Then, plug the adapter into a power outlet and turn on the switch, and after two hours, Roomba will be fully charged and will cease charging automatically. But you have to unplug it and press the CLEAN button so that it can start cleaning where it left off.

Tips for Charging Roomba Without Base

When you want to charge Roomba without a base, ensure the power cable isn’t physically damaged or plugged correctly into the power source.

Roomba will flash green light and turn off or keep flashing in the morning, depending on your current model.

Never keep the Roomba plugged into the electric outlet unless it’s the first night of the battery, which you are supposed to charge overnight.

Always charge Roomba after a cleaning session and never leave the battery uncharged to prevent the battery from degrading.

How long does it take Roomba to charge the first time

Roomba typically takes two hours to charge the batteries fully. After that, it ceases charging automatically, but without the dock, the cleaning schedule of Roomba is disrupted, so you are required to unplug it and press the CLEAN button for Roomba to start cleaning again.

Replace Roomba charging contacts

When you have figured out that your charging contacts are pushed in or not working correctly even after cleaning, you have to replace them. Here’s how you can return the charging contacts of Roomba.

Flip over the Roomba and remove the yellow brush head
Remove the battery plate as well as the battery with the grey pull tab
Unscrew the bottom plate or Roomba and turn Roomba face up
Press the release button and get out of the bin
Use the opening tool, remove the retaining band and then face the plate
Lift the top plate off, and there you will see electric poles and wire connections
Release the connector and remove the charging contact backings
Gently pull the bars from the side beside the cliff sensor

How do I know if my Roomba is charging

Roomba comes with a light indication system and an error messaging system giving you alerts about the battery levels and errors it encounters.

Roomba flashes green light, but the green light has different behaviors for different Roomba models like for
Roomba 500 and 600 series green light blinks every four seconds
Roomba 700, 800, and 900 series, green light blinks after 60 seconds
Roomba models of series i3 and i7 have no blinking light, and the lights go off after four seconds and never turn back.

Roomba, like other battery-operated devices, gives you other light indications about charging levels or charging status and helps you understand the remaining battery or dead battery. For example, the blinking green light means Roomba is fully charged, amber means it’s partially set, pulsing amber means its charging, a red light means discharged, and finally, red light flashing means Roomba battery is going to be dead.

Similarly, Roomba gives error beeps with narrated voices to help you figure out what’s wrong with the Roomba. For example.

If Roomba

Blinks once mean the battery is not connected.
Two, three, or five blinks, a charging error is occurring
Six blinks mean the battery is too warm
Seven blinks mean the battery is too hot or cold
Eight blinks mean the battery is not connected
Nine blinks mean Roomba has an error related to the battery

Why Roomba isn’t charging on the base

As mentioned earlier, a charging base or docking station is a reliable electrical device that can face problems over time. Issues arise when the dock doesn’t get proper treatment and care, so let’s see what can make the port not charge the Roomba.

Power cycle the dock: A power cycle is the most prominent and straightforward approach to getting the dock to charge Roomba. All you need to do is remove the port from the power source and the cable from the port, and after a few minutes, plug back the wires into the pier and the wall; the dock should work and must start charging Roomba.

Check to charge poles: Roomba cleans our homes, but it uses who needs to clean the Roomba as well as the dock because after vacuuming, dust can reside on the charging poles or electrical poles of the pier, and over time, the dirt or gunk layers can build up too severe that bars may not be able to make contact with the charging contacts of Roomba preventing it from charging. So either use compressed air or vacuum to blow the dirt off, a wet/dry napkin, a microfiber cloth with alcohol, or a melamine foam sponge to scratch off the stains or dirt so that the charging entries can make contact with the charging plates of the Roomba.

Check Sensors of Dock and Roomba: Roomba won’t dock if the confinement sensor is not working correctly or if there is a lot of dust or dirt on it. On top of the vacuum is a small nub that detects IR ( Infrared ) signals from the base. To test this out, you can put the Roomba at six feet from the dock and press the dock button manually to see how Roomba reacts. Do clean the sensor before doing that so that the sensor can detect signals coming from the dock and can scoot itself over to the base. If Roomba cannot see the bottom, the RCON is damaged, and you may have to replace it.

On the other hand, dock sensors can be covered in dirt, and build-up ground could block the signals from reaching Roomba and preventing Roomba from returning to the dock for charging, or the sensors could be faulty and may need replacement.

Dock clogged with dirt: If you have a self-emptying Roomba, you must keep an eye on the pier because Roomba can empty itself, not the port, and you must open the dock, so it doesn’t clog. In case the port is blocked, you would be able to see it from the bottom transparent tube, and you can remove that tube to unclog it, and the port will start working and charging Roomba again.

Outlet or Power adapter issue: Chances are the charger cable gets damaged, and the outlet isn’t functional, causing the dock not to charge the Roomba because there isn’t any power supply from the power outlet. Always plug the port in a wall outlet, not an extension cord, strip, or divider. Double-check outlets with other electrical appliances to ensure the socket is working fine or check if the breaker isn’t tripped in the electrical box. After this inspection and investigation, you should move to the following steps to see why Roomba isn’t charging on the dock.

Check for virtual walls: You must cross-check for virtual walls because the lighthouse must be placed within 2.4m ( approx eight ft. ) of the home base to stay out of the infrared beam.

Roomba must not leave the virtual wall or dock, won’t be able to call it back, or Roomba won’t be able to find the port. Therefore, the beam must face toward the area where the vacuum has to operate so then it stays in the base’s parameter and can easily trace itself back to the home base. The dock can detect Roomba if it’s within the six-foot range, but if it can’t locate the port, you can manually press the dock button.

Base Placement: You must not place the base in a well-trafficked room or where there are many obstacles, like shoes, books, and furniture, around the dock. There must always be a distance of 1.5 feet around the pier of space for it to perform well and call the Roomba back.

Roomba starts charging, then stops

If Roomba starts charging and stops, there are three possibilities for why it’s happening.

Wheels are Dirty: Roomba cleans your home, and you have to clean the Roomba, especially the wheels, because over time, dirt and debris can get stuck in the wheels and starts to pile up, resulting in an increased height of the Roomba, and which creates a problem for Roomba to maintain a connection with the charging points of the dock because the wheels are dirty and the somehow the relationship between the electrical poles of Roomba and port isn’t secure due to which Roomba sometimes picks up the charge and sometimes it doesn’t

The battery is displaced: Roomba comes pre-assembled, so as soon as you receive it, remove the yellow pull tab from the bottom of the Roomba and put it on the charge. However, if the brand-new Roomba starts charging and stops, the battery inside it is displaced during the shipping process. The deposition of the battery can also sometimes bend the charging points. Still, you can quickly fix that by removing the battery compartment, adjusting its original positioning, and putting the case back in its place.

The battery is dead: An original Roomba battery takes 2 hours to charge and is supposed to last for 400 charging rounds; if batteries die after that, it means the battery can no longer hold the charge. But I think you have recently bought the battery, and it starts acting strangely. In that case, it could be an unoriginal battery from any third-party vendor selling used batteries. You may have neglected to take care of the battery because the battery demands proper maintenance and will degrade over time. Roomba light indicators help figure out if anything is wrong with the battery.

If nothing helps, then the last option you have is to reset the Roomba.

A quick reboot or restart can fix software-related problems, and the rebooting process can differ for different Roomba models.

Soft reset of Roomba is much like a reboot, but it can remove software bugs but cannot remove hardware issues; to do that, you can press and hold the dock button and leave when Roomba beeps.

Hard reset will revert Roomba to default settings. It will remove all configurations and customizations done with the robot and all the bugs and errors with the Roomba, and after the update, you get to have a brand new Roomba model.

To Hard reset Roomba, press and hold the clean button for at least ten seconds, and when the light indicator flashes, release the button, and Roomba will restart like a new model.

Is there another way to charge a Roomba?

Using a charger, you can charge Roomba either with the dock or with the power supply.

Can Roomba work without the home base?

Roomba goes to the dock to recharge the battery, which you can do with a Roomba charger in case the port isn’t responding or charging the Robot due to any issue. But, for Roomba to work without the pier, you have to manually unplug it from the power source and press the clean button so that Roomba can continue the cleaning session where it left the last one.

Can you directly plug in a Roomba?

Yes, you can directly plug a Roomba into the dock or the wall outlet using a power adapter.

Can I plug Roomba into an extension cord?

You can only plug Roomba in a power strip, divider, or wall outlet to support the voltage requirements that an extension cord cannot provide.

Does Roomba get caught on cords?

Fortunately, the latest Roomba models are equipped with an anti-tangle mechanism that allows the Roomba vacuums to avoid cables, power cords, or rug fringes to cross them efficiently. Still, sometimes it can get stuck in a complex wire structure, so make sure to keep the area clear where Roomba has to hurry.

How does the Roomba know where the base is?

Roomba hurries back to the dock only when the battery starts to drain, and Roomba wants to recharge the battery or empty the dust bin. To get back to the pier, Roomba locates the infrared signal emitted by the dock, and for that, Roomba must be within six feet of distance, and there shouldn’t be any obstacles blocking the way of Roomba.

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Robert Smith

Robert Smith is a technology lover and loves to write about laptops, monitors, printers, tablets, Apple products and anything that's related to computers and games. He is passionate enough that he maintains this blog regarding tech updates on a daily basis.