Batteries Included: 0
Binding: Kitchen
Brand: iRobot
EAN: 0853816049004
Feature: Accessory to Roomba Discovery Series models of floorvacs
Label: iRobot
Manufacturer: iRobot
Model: 4900
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: iRobot
Release Date: 2004-09-15
Studio: iRobot
MPN: 4900

• Accessory to Roomba Discovery Series models of floorvacs
• Fast-charging power supply; APS Fast Charge included
• Recharges a Roomba APS battery in less than 3 hours
• 2 convenient lights indicate power and charge function
• Measures approximately 13 by 4 inches

Recharges Roomba battery in less than 3 hours / Roomba automatically returns to home base when low on battery or when finished cleaning / For all Roombas

Customer Rating:
Summary: Works Like it should
Comment: The product description is accurate and easy to understand, plus it works as it says it will. It is lightweight so pay attention to the instructions and place it against a wall,especially on hard slippery floors. Just plug it in, follow the brief instructions and 30 seconds later your roomba is on it's new home/charger.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Entertaining and convenient
Comment: The self charging base is great. It fun just to watch the Roomba find the base and attach itself. It doesn't hurt that it's really convenient to just let the Roomba go vacuum, then find it docked and charger after it's done.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Work well with some common sense.
Comment: I have used this charger with my Roomba Discovery for a few months now. It works well if you read and understand the directions and have a little understanding of how it works.

1- The Roomba can be in a room other then the charger and fail to find it if the battery runs out. If this is a problem try the virtual wall they give you to limit the area in which it is working. Or buy a second base for other rooms or for very large rooms. You can have more them one. Just place them so they don't interfere with each other.
2- The limit on the distance that the IR can be detected is about 10ft and must be line of site to the Roomba. So place the unit where you vac will pass through the beam, ie: If you room is L shaped, place it in a corner with a path between both areas looking into the room. Or place it in an area looking into the largest area in the room. The beam is like a flash light beam, so it will not pass through furniture or other obstacles. Obstacles will create shadow areas where the vac can't see the beam, keep this in mind when you place it.
3- The base does not stay put when the vac moves off of it. Try a piece of double stick foam tape on the bottom on wood floor or carpet tape on carpet. Problem solved, they should put a piece with the unit.
4- You should be cleaning your unit after a few runs, so clean contacts should not be a problem if you are taking care the way they suggest. The vacuum is not maintenance free.
5- Place it in an area with the clearest possible view into the room. It still won't work every time, but I found that it works fine about 90% of the time. The other 10%, I bend over and pick it up. Or, you can press the spot and clean buttons together when the battery indicator turns yellow and it will start to look for the dock right away while it continues to clean. Doing this in yellow instead of red will give it much more time to find the base and still provides good cleaning for the average size room.
6- This unit works with the Discovery units only, so don't try it with others. If you do, failure is guaranteed.
7- Hope this helps you get the most out of your unit. I gave it 4 stars because they should give you the tape to secure it to the floor or wall.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Just ok
Comment: This might work better with a newer Robot... will save for when I upgrade... On the red unit... the charger that came with the unit is easier to use, and doesn't take up any room... but love the robot vacuum.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Works, but with flaws
Comment: The way this dock works is infrared. Roomba doesn't know where the dock is until it is in the dock's vicinity and it catches the IR signal. You can tell this is so because Roomba will actually go out of its way to avoid the dock when its battery is well charged. When the battery is low, however, if the Roomba catches the IR signal, it will attempt to dock. This will work just fine, but only under a pretty narrow set of circumstances:

1) Your house must be small enough and/or uncluttered enough that the Roomba catches the IR signal on a pretty frequent basis.
2) Your dock must have roughly 4 feet of clear space on all sides for the Roomba to maneuver into the dock well.
3) The contacts on both your dock and the underside of your Roomba have to be absolutely dust-free.
4) The dock wasn't turned cockeyed by Roomba's reversing out at the start of the cycle.

The dock needs to be heavier and/or have the ability to be screwed into the wall. I have found that Roomba will frequently drag it along sideways until it finally just starts its cycle and by that time the dock is in a position that makes it difficult for Roomba to dock.

All that said, if you have the right set of circumstances and keep your Roomba pretty clean, it really does work, so it's not all bad. It's just not quite the hands-off miracle it is portrayed as. Perhaps the next generation will have some kind of radio triangulation that the Roomba can actually work toward and therefore dock with more frequency.

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