Arlec Grid Connect robot vacuum mop doesn't sleep

[Kassy]

My Arlec Grid robot vacuum doesn't go into sleep mode! I was wondering. 

1. is this a defect?

Page 4 of the mental under "LED LIGHT INDICATOR" says "sleep mode - light off" but mine stays in "green light on", even when I've turned it off underneath.

2. Is this going to shorten it's lifespan?

3. Should I return it?

Thanks in advance 

[MitchellMc]

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @Kassy. It's great to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about the Arlec robot vacuum.

If the unit is at the charging cradle and the green light is on, it is either charging or in standby or sleep mode. Contrary to what the manual indicates, a green light will still be present if the unit is on the cradle and you've switched it off underneath. The green light should not be present in sleep mode if the unit is off the cradle. To shut the unit down completed with no lights present, you need to switch it off underneath and then press and long-hold the power button on top of the unit.

Let me mention one of our experienced members @CSParnell to see if he has any thoughts.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell

[CSParnell]

Hey @Kassy thanks for asking the question, there is certainly nothing wrong with the unit the lights mean it's on fully charged, Wifi connected and ready to go.

Having trickle charge to your lithium battery is a good thing or any rechargeable battery it puts it into Float mode which maintains a constant state of the battery cycle. Without this float mode a battery will slowly loose charge over time.

Lithium batteries can take an absolute beating compared to their older brother batteries, they can discharge to 0 volts and recover, have many more charge cycles, handle more torque excursion that is why they are the battery of choice these days.

I hope that helps some.

[Kassy]

Thank you both for your prompt response. Both your responses have been very helpful.

I was concerned about this because when I first got it, I charged it and then let it run. However, it only ran for under 10 minutes died and went back to the cradle. I charged it again and it did the same thing. Then it seemed to be fine but I thought these things might be related.

Then I had to go away and the same thing has happened today! @CSParnell Is this normal?

@MitchellMc you said 

"To shut the unit down completed with no lights present, you need to switch it off underneath and then press and long-hold the power button on top of the unit." Should I be doing this when I go away?

Thanks in advance 

[MitchellMc]

You can do it if you're going away for an extended period of time, say, more than a few days, @Kassy. 

Hopefully, @CSParnell might have some idea about the unusual behaviour. Are you getting any messages in the app that would indicate the reason for the short run time? Or is it saying it needs to be recharged? I'm just wondering if it's going back to the cradle for some other reason like it needs to be emptied.

Mitchell

[Kassy]

Thanks, I tend to go away for about a week. Do you think I should shut it right down when I do or just switch it off underneath? 

It just needs to be recharged. The orange or maybe red light goes on and it goes back to the cradle. All 4 times its happened the bin was empty.

Thanks in advance 

[CSParnell]

@Kassy when you say it died, did it run out of battery and stop or did it return to base due to low battery or did it go into another error which is only visible via by clicking on the robot cleaner icon and checking the status.

Just trying to figure out for you if it's battery related, network related or sensor related.

Carl

[CSParnell]

@Kassy you can also set up a scene that will send you a notification when your cleaner is in standby mode or any mode for that matter.

For instance I have one when Alice starts and one when the battery percentage gets low but is still cleaning meaning that it's stuck and then I trigger the find me siren and an alert message as well.

Also enable network off-line notification that way you know if you are having network drop outs mid clean.

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

See below as an example.

[Kassy]

Thanks Carl @CSParnell. I've checked the app and there are no error messages. 

It appears to of returned to base due to low battery. 

It did my head in but have set up the scene notification to let me know when it is in standby. And enabled network off-line notification.

[CSParnell]

@Kassy if it does return early again just check the status which might be hard to capture as it could hit charging status before you get to see.

The other option if you know the average time it takes to clean the house you can set up the following alert.

I selected aprox 1/2 my clean time and then 2% Battery time which is the state it will be heading home. 

If you find this is happening frequently and no error messages the  I would return it for an exchange of another one, I have no issues with mine at all and been running it for around 4 or so months only time it gets an error is when it eats a sock.

It is no Rolls Royce's but it does the job intended for the price point.

Let me know how u go with this automation.