Automatic Litterbox Central

The APCP people sent me one of their new Litter Robot 2's for me to try out. After a weekend of use, here's what I've found.

The globe is identical to the previous LR as far as I could tell. Same size, same vinyl liner.

The base has some major improvements.


The drawer is now nearly two inches deeper than the previous drawer. Unfortunately this raises the step an inch or two higher off the floor so if your cat was skittish about stepping up into the LR, you'll have to put a phonebook or something under the step to ease the transition. This also makes the LR2 a couple of inches taller than the previous LR (29") so if your present LR is in a tight location, this may be a problem.

Notice that there is no lip hanging from the top of the drawer slot. In the previous model, this lip compressed a gasket in the drawer that was supposed to reduce the smell, but it also did a great job of skimming off the top of the contents of the drawer when you pulled it out, knocking all of it back into the base. This lip also tended to collect the drawer scrapings and cleaning it was a little tricky because the vulnerable circuit board was just above it. More on how they fixed that later.



Note that the base is finally designed to be safely cleaned! The corrugated bottom which collected any litter that fell out of the drawer and made it impossible to completely clean has been replaced with this slotted but mostly smooth bottom with no unreachable areas (although the area behind the motor base is a little difficult). Note that the motor on the right which was previously bolted onto the side and completely exposed is now sitting on a plastic base. This allows you to clean around it without worrying about getting moisture into it and blowing your circuit board (uh, or so I've heard). The board itself is still behind the control panel but instead of being "protected" by a strip of duct tape, it's now in a sealed compartment making it safe to clean that area too.

Since the motor isn't attached directly to the side of the base, this reduces the noise a little. I ran both LRs with my head between them and while the LR2 was certainly less noisy, it wasn't as less noisy as I had expected. Still, the new motor in both models is much much quieter than the "cordless drill" sound of the original LR with no grinding noise and only a high-pitched whirr that won't echo around your house.

Also the sensor switch, which for some reason has always been totally exposed to collect gunk and fail in previous models, finally has a cover that completely protects it. I always covered it with gaffer's tape.

Here's the old drawer and the new drawer:


The first thing you see is that the step has holes in it to reduce litter tracking. This is a clever idea but I have to say it isn't very effective. The holes are too small, too far apart, and only catch a fraction of the litter tracked out of the globe. By the end of the weekend the entire step was covered in litter except for the spots where litter had found itself directly over a hole. There was actually more litter on the step than in the step.

If your cat has a habit of peeing on the step, the new one will at least keep most of it from pouring onto your floor.

The two corrugated slots which served to strengthen the drawer have been replaced with a triangular slot which also tries to keep the waste from piling up in the center of the drawer. I found this works at first, but once the waste reaches the peak of the triangle, it starts piling up in one spot like it did before. Maybe it would have been better to keep the smaller slots to maximize the drawer volume instead.

The metal clips have been replaced with rubber grommets. You just poke a loose part of the bag into the grommet hole and it grabs right onto it. Now you don't have to worry about the clips tearing holes into the bag when you pull it out.

One concern is that there is no gasket behind the step. In fact I found no sealing at all around the drawer. I don't have stink problems so I can't say whether or not this will be a problem. There is one change to the new drawer that I'm sure will help reduce the stink:



The back of the old drawer has this half-inch gap to accomdate the lip that presses against the gasket behind the step. Did it ever make sense to tightly seal the front of the drawer only to leave a huge gap for the odors to flow freely out of the back of the drawer? It sure didn't make sense to me. This drawer gap also made sure that any waste scraped by that stupid lip when you pull drawer out would have a free path out of the drawer straight into the uncleanable base. I think the APCP people have given up on the flawed gasket system and decided to just minimize the gaps around the drawer to keep the odor in it.

You'll also notice that the drawer is about 1.5 inches deeper than the old drawer. You'll want this if your cat (like mine) creates jumbo-sized clumps that quickly smear over the globe you just cleaned. With the old model I would usually see some residue on the port doors within a day of cleaning the globe because an oversized clump didn't fit into the drawer. After two days I have not seen any gunk on the globe at all. The clumps have farther to fall and large ones are less likely to be sticking over the top of the drawer when the door closes and the globe rotates back.

The drawer is still small enough to fit into cheap tall kitchen bags:


Note how the rubber grommets do a great job of hanging onto the bag.

Two other small features not shown. The LR2 now has an on/off switch. Yes, you read that right. You can actually turn it off without unplugging it now. And speaking of unplugging it, they've made a subtle change to how the DC adapter plugs into the base. The connector is now mounted vertically on the base instead of on its side. This will make it less likely for the LR to become accidentally unplugged by a clever cat or a klutzy human.

THanks for sharing Scott

Thank APCP for sending me an evaluation unit so I'd have something to share.

AH yes lets not forget them! Thanks APCP!!!

If I order online today, which version of the product would I be getting?

I'm not certain, but by the picture, it looks like the new step.

judgecrater wrote:If I order online today, which version of the product would I be getting?

They tell me they're already shipping the LR 2 now.

APCP...

What are you going to do for current owners who would like to upgrade to the newest version? I KNOW that we can use the deeper drawer & base.

Basically, I can't stand scooping and cleaning the litter box. So, my non-economical solution has been to use cat liners and simply trash all the litter at once at the end of a week when I know its totally wretched inside the box. This strategy, although good at keeping my exposure to litter at a minimum, is very costly in litter itself. In two weeks or so I've used up a 25 pound box of litter.

I'm thinking the Litter-Robot will allow me to use less litter and save money, as well as maintain my safe distance from messy litter.

So, am I right? Is the Litter-Robot for me? What do you guys think?

judgecrater wrote:Basically, I can't stand scooping and cleaning the litter box. So, my non-economical solution has been to use cat liners and simply trash all the litter at once at the end of a week when I know its totally wretched inside the box.

The main reason I got the LR was because my one cat would mess up a litterbox in less than a day and often proceeded to use cleaner areas around the house to do his business. During the weekends I could scoop the box three or four times a day and he had no problem using it all the time. I could never go a day without scooping, much less a week.

I think the problem is that he feels no reason to bury anything. He just wiggles his paws in the clean parts of the litter and jumps right out. This of course made the box stink like crazy. No wonder he wouldn't use the thing!

The LR solved these problems by giving him a clean box to use all the time and also "battering" the unburied stink bombs in litter before dumping them into the drawer (in other words, doing his job for him). That's why I've passed on getting a CatGenie since it runs on a timer instead of a sensor.

This strategy, although good at keeping my exposure to litter at a minimum, is very costly in litter itself. In two weeks or so I've used up a 25 pound box of litter.

Even with the box I didn't have hardly any exposure to the litter. I used a scoop with a long handle and it went straight into a garbage can. Cleaning litterboxes is easy, especially if it's just replacing a bag of used litter with a new bag of clean litter.

The LR's globe has to be cleaned every once in while. Eventually litter will get stuck to the liner and has to be washed off. You'll probably find that procedure pretty gross unless you use a pressure washer like I do. Some people use toilet brushes.

The LR would save you money on litter but maintaining it will be messier.

Well, I just ordered one today! I will post my review in the next couple of weeks.

I bought two Litter Robots a few weeks ago and I think I got two of the Litter Robot 2's.

You don't mention under the picture of the drawers with the lips - if the one on the right is the NEW ONE, but I am assuming it is because I have the drawers with the rubber places to push the bag into.

I am very happy with this Litter Robot so far - in fact, so far - so good!

I haven't taken the other one out of the box yet. I am saving it for if and when something goes wrong with this one. I do not want to be without one while waiting for parts or whatever!

I have back and neck problems and this LITTER ROBOT sure beats the roll over Omega I had. It was a great little invention but not for a CRIPPLE! I figure that is what I am now... I can't keep bending over and or get down on my knees to do the things I used to be able to do.

I really think I got Lucky and got the new ones. I am really really happy with it.


OH... and the step isn't too high for my 5 and 6 month old kittens.

alienlady wrote:You don't mention under the picture of the drawers with the lips - if the one on the right is the NEW ONE, but I am assuming it is because I have the drawers with the rubber places to push the bag into.

"The back of the old drawer has this half-inch gap to accomdate the lip that presses against the gasket behind the step."

So the NEW one is the one that doesn't have this half-inch gap I mentioned.

A second clue is that the new one is clearly larger in the picture as I had described. A third clue is the new one has the single triagular wedge down the center of the drawer instead of the two corrugated curves which I also described. The rubber grommets are yet another clue. I never guessed anyone could possibly be confused over which one is which. Obviously the larger one is the new one.

I've used the LR2 for a week now. I've emptied the drawer twice (my cat is the equivalent of two normal cats). Both times I've been happy to see the waste stays in the drawer when I pull it out instead of the top of it being scraped and dumped into the base. The base is perfectly clean with no waste falling anywhere but into the drawer.

Best of all, the globe is still clean. Read my thread from two years ago about how I was finding it impossble to keep clumps from smearing all over the globe within a day. In fact the globe from the other LR, after only a day after being pressure washed, is a mess right now. The deeper drawer gives even the largest clumps plenty of room to fall away from the globe. I'd say the LR2 has solved this problem.

Here's an unexpected benefit from the LR2. I have always had the problem of my cat taking a dump on the step. For two years I've used the method of putting a "duct tape rope" across the middle of the entrance. This makes it slightly more difficult for the cat to get into the globe but that somehow encourages him to turn around once he gets in there.

A couple of times I've left the duct tape off of the globe after cleaning it in the hope that he's "learned" to turn around now. Both times he took a dump on the step in less than a week and naturally tried to bury it by kicking half of the litter out of the globe.

I decided to leave off the duct tape and see how long it would take him to soil the step of the LR2. For some reason, it hasn't happened! I'm approaching the fourth week and he's been turning around every time. I think this is because the LR2 is higher than the LR and that's enough to make him jump to get into the globe and make him want to turn around.