View Single Post
  #59   Report Post  
Posted to rec.woodworking
DerbyDad03 DerbyDad03 is offline
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 14,845
Default Anybody use a Roomba in the workshop?

On Tuesday, June 8, 2021 at 12:44:37 PM UTC-4, Leon wrote:
On 6/7/2021 5:53 PM, Bob D wrote:
On Monday, June 7, 2021 at 12:51:32 PM UTC-5, Leon wrote:
On 6/5/2021 4:01 PM, Patrick Denker wrote:
Zombie post, but I was Googling this subject out of curiosity. The
answer is yes, absolutely. I've been using a Roomba 960 as my
overworked, much-abused and utterly stalwart shop-sawdust helper for 3
years. It fills up fast and sometimes chokes on nails and wood scraps
but keeps on chugging. I use it in combo with a large shop vac connected
to table saw dust port + overhead shop air filter. Roomba can't clean up
huge piles of sawdust but is always scurrying around my feet keeping it
under control. Emptying bin now and then way easier than shop-vaccing
whole floor. Plus you can set schedule so it cleans dust every day as it
settles. Recommend the newer self-emptying models so you don't have to
dump the bin so often.

We have had a Roomba since 2008. And we will likely always have one.

If I ran a Roomba in my shop I would not get anything done between
emptying the bin and waiting on it to get out of the way.

With that said, self cleaning to empty the bin may work but not as
quickly as simply sweeping or blowing the dust out.


We got our first roomba about a month ago, a model 8+ from Costco. It has the built-in vaccuum in the base that automatically cleans the Roomba bin when it docks. It's working well. I am still figuring out the mapping and setting up the clean zones and barrier zones. I think we will be happy with it, but I am not getting rid of our Kirby Vacuum cleaner. It does the industrial clean. The Roomba is a maintainer.

You being new with the Roomba, I would advise that you take it to the
shop/garage and clean it weekly. I pull the sweepers, rotating ball
wheel, side 3 prong sweeper, and dust bin out. I blow the vacuumm and
the dust bin out and then witrh a damp microfiber towel wipe the entire
under side and front bumpers. ALSO wipe the 3 prong brush clean.

Especially wipe the front bumper and the 3 prong brush. If left dirty
they will leave/transfer dirt lines on your base boards.

I have been doing this for the past 13 years and seems to keep things
cleaner.

We still have our pro vac too, but it pretty much only gets used with
the hose and wand to do the ceiling fan blades.

And we only have hard floors, no carpet or rugs.


I think that your final statement is key.

I can't imagine that even the best made autonomous robotic vacuum
cleaner could clean a carpet as well as it needs to be cleaned. Only a
quality upright has the weight, power and brush configuration to remove
the dirt at base of the carpet fibers.

While the *surface* of the carpet might look clean after using a robotic
vacuum, the sand and dirt particles are still doing their damage. When
the abrasive dirt - especially sand - settles into the pile and then gets
walked on, it abrades the fibers. Eventually the carpet begins to look thin,
dull and flat. Carpet doesn't just wear directly because people walk on it,
it also wears - thins out - because the base of the fibers are being cut by
embedded dirt.

As Bob D said: "The Roomba is a maintainer." Tossing your quality, yet
unwieldy upright is a really bad idea. Depending on how much traffic a
carpet sees and how dirty the overall environment is, a deep vacuuming
should be done at least once a week if you want your carpets to last - not
just *look* clean.