Product Review: iRobot Braava Jet 240 Robot Mop

 

I have used this a couple of times in a smaller half-bath/powder room which has tile flooring. I fully admit I hate cleaning floors so the floor had dust bunnies and hair in the corners. So, I went over it with a stick vacuum and then used the dry pad (which is akin to a dry Swiffer duster) and then I used the wet cleaning pad on the mop. Note, that there are three types of pads, wet, damp, and dry. All the pads themselves are actually dry. The damp and wet refers to how much water the unit will spray while cleaning. When the damp pad is connected the unit will spray less water than with the wet pad connected. The robot knows which pad is connected based on holes in the pad attachment that slip into the base of the robot. They look like old-school programming punch cards (for those who are old enough to remember what those were) and based on the configuration of the holes, the robot knows how much, if any, water to spray while cleaning. The robot holds 150 mL of water (so just over half a cup), which is strangely not in the documentation provided with the unit but can be found on the iRobot website. 

The first time I cleaned the bathroom it took quite long. It probably took 30 minutes with the dry pad and another 30 with the wet pad. The second time, just using the wet pad took about 15-20 minutes. After the cleaning cycle, the floor was damp, but not extremely wet. So, the pad did a good job getting up most of the water that was sprayed. How clean it will get your floor will largely depend on how clean you kept it up to the point of using the mop the first time. After the first use of the wet pad, I had to pick up some wet dust/hair clumps that were left on the floor. After the second use, there were almost none of those and the floor was cleaner. So, if you use it once a week or once every two weeks, it seems like it will do a great job keeping the floors clean.

Here are some pros and cons I have noticed after the first couple of uses:

Pros:

1. It is small and can maneuver around tight spaces. It had no problems getting around the back of the toilet and between the toilet and vanity in a small bathroom.

2. The pads are reasonably priced for replacement disposable pads, and there are washable pads available as well, so it ends up being very cost-efficient.

3. The pads can be ejected after you run it by a slide-type button, so you do not have to touch the pad to get it off the unit. Definitely a plus after cleaning a bathroom.

4. It is very light, even with water in it, and has a handle so you can pick it up without touching the bottom.

5. It has a rechargeable battery. While it does not have a docking station that the unit reconnects to and charges from like the more expensive units do, it does have a battery that pops in and out of the unit and plugs into a charging dock (which itself plugs into a regular wall outlet) to charge. It takes a couple of hours for the battery to charge, and when the robot is connected to the app, it has a battery indicator so you know how full the battery is.

Cons:

1. It does not have all the bells and whistles that the higher-priced units have, like a docking station, the ability to schedule times to clean, etc. It does have some "smartness" to it, such as a virtual wall feature that will allow you to set it down and not clean anything behind where the unit starts out, but that is about it. Personally, I just put it toward the back wall of the bathroom and shut the door, and do not bother engaging the virtual wall. It will stop cleaning roughly where it started, so if you do not start it in front of the door, you will be able to open the door when it is done without it blocking the door (if the door swings into the room being cleaned).

2. It does not turn off on its own right away after the cleaning cycle stops. It is just a small point, but it would be nice if it just powered down right away after it stops so it does not waste battery power needlessly.

If I think of any other pros or cons as I use it, I will update the review. But, so far, after just a couple of uses, I really like this, and definitely recommend it, especially if you are not cleaning large areas.

Replacement Parts for iRobot Roomba i7 i7+ i3 i3+ i4 i4+ i6 i6+ i8 i8+ j7 j7+/Plus E5 E6 E7 Vacuum Cleaner

 

This is a kit that has replacement parts for the Roomba j and i series of vacuums. The kit has six edge brushes, plus a mini screwdriver to get the old brushes off and screws to put the new ones in, four replacement filters, four replacement bags, and replacements for the main rollers. Basically, you get, depending on how often you run the vacuum, a good couple of year's worth of replacement parts, at a much lower price than you would get buying the iRobot versions of the same things. 

Personally, if your unit is still under warranty I would still use their parts so they cannot void the warranty on you if something goes wrong with the vacuum, but once it is out of warranty, I would definitely not spend (at least) twice as much for the same replacement parts. The parts fit exactly as they should and are as easy (or as hard) to install as the original parts that come with the vacuum.

Product Review: HEPA Roomba Filters Replacement for iRobot Roomba E I & J Series Vacuum Cleaner

 

This is a pack of six filters that fit the i7 series of Roomba vacuums. They are the exact size and shape and look and function exactly like the "official" filters, at a much lower cost. The only difference is that they do not have iRobot printed on the side of it. It also has a brush that allows you to clean out the dust cup and the depression that the filter mounts into. I definitely recommend these.

Product Review: iRobot Roomba i7+ (7550) Robot Vacuum with Automatic Dirt Disposal

 

The Roomba i7+, when it works, works well. The problem is, if you get one that goes faulty, then it is a total pain. Mine has an issue in which it thinks that the bags, which if the design were better, would not be necessary, are full even when a brand new bag is in the unit, and/or thinks there is a clog in the tube that runs from the base where the robot docks to the bag when the dust bin empties. When I go to clear the clog I almost always find that there is none. Each of these causes the unit to go into kind of a locked mode. Thankfully, if I remove and then reinsert the bag the unit will unlock and it can be used again. Apparently, per an email exchange with their tech support, this is caused by an issue in which the robot and the dock do not communicate with each other correctly. If the unit is under warranty you are all good. If not, you are stuck spending $250 for a new dock/base. Of course, tech support could not assure me that the issue will not repeat itself, so for now, since I can get it to work with the removing and reinserting the bag trick, I will not purchase a new base. So, as far as pros go:

1. It has good suction power and will pick up most dirt on the floor, including edges.
2. The mapping feature is very good.
3. The app makes scheduling cleaning on a regular basis very easy.
4. It has voice assistant integration so you can use an Amazon echo (or similar) device to tell it to start cleaning.
5. The app makes it very easy to figure out how to perform maintenance like removing the brushes and so forth.

As for cons:

1. The issue with the base/dock and the robot is a big pain (if you experience it).
2. The bags are costly and, as I said, should not even be necessary. There are other self-empty robots that empties into a bin that you can just open and dump the dust into the trash.
3. The dust cup does not always empty properly which requires you to remove it and empty it by hand, which kind of defeats the purpose of the self-empty function.
5. It often gets stuck in the same place and does not learn where it gets stuck on the next run.

Overall, if you do not experience the issue with the base and the robot not communicating properly, then I would give this a solid 4 stars (as there still are enough cons to keep me from giving it a five-star rating). I rate this 2.5 stars because I can work around the issue with the base, but it does make using it harder than it should be, which definitely knocks it down from my otherwise four-star rating. For a unit that is as costly as it is, it should not have nearly as many issues as it does.

Product Review: iRobot Authentic Replacement Parts- Clean Base Automatic Dirt Disposal Bags, 3-Pack

 

I have no problem with the bags, they are small, but they do what they are supposed to. My main issue is that you need to use them at all (other robot vacuums with auto-empty features do not use bags and just have a bin that you empty when it gets full, and you can tell when it is full without having to be told through the app or via the clean base), AND, that the clean bases often experience problems in which it thinks that the bag is full even if you have just replaced the bag. So, ultimately, the bags are an unnecessary expense in the first place, and if your clean base goes on the fritz they may ultimately become useless because it will think a brand new bag is full.