Automatic Litterbox Central

Hi all, I've been a LRII owner for more than a year and it is the best purchase I have ever made. It's worked flawlessly for me. My maintenance on the robot has been pretty spot on. I empty it every week when trash goes out and I will usually always (some weeks will skip) wipe down the interior and exterior with rubbing alcohol (Globe, Base, and Drawer). About every couple of months we'll hose it down good with soap and water. The wife and I have begun to notice that the unit just stinks now and the odor is just getting stronger. Rubbing alcohol, cleaning, etc. just isn't helping with the problem anymore. It just seems that the smell is absorbed into the plastic. We love the unit and don't want to get rid of it but it's getting pretty bad.

Anybody else have this problem? If so, has anything worked?

Couple questions: When you hose it down, are you hosing up and behind the screen? Sometimes soiled litter will get caught up in this area.

I wasn't quite done with that post above and ran out of edit time (??)... To diminish the odor, I would likely really clean the globe with plenty of hot water and some strong shampoo (like Prell) and concentrate lots of hot soapy water up under the area behind the screen. Here's some other stuff to consider. You are lining the drawer to catch the soiled litter?? Have you tried using a different litter? Are you replacing litter during the week when/if it gets low? Before I use rubbing alcohol on the inside of the globe, I generally wipe it out first with a damp cloth or paper towel. And I have a spray cap on the rubbing alcohol bottle and I will spray a bit inside the drawer (which I empty about 2/day-- I have a little tub in the drawer to catch the waste) and inside the globe after I dump the waste.

I had e-mailed Litter Robot earlier re: the same question.

Here is their excerpted reply.

"Is there a possibility that the carbon filter in the waste drawer underneath the step has some urine on it and that is what is happening? My recommendation would be to remove it, rinse it out and reinstall it.

As far as the globe is concerned, you can try using bleach with water. This should help and it obviously can be used in the waste drawer we well.

Following are some other suggestions:
Using a moisture absorbing litter in the bottom of the bag in the drawer (http://www.ultimatepetproducts.com/) helps immensely as well as using garbage bags with a deodorant impregnated in the plastic - these should be available at your local grocery store.

Another odor absorbing product that our customers have used with success is 'ammo-carb', (http://www.petco.com/Shop/Product.aspx?familyid=1967). Just pour some in the bottom of the drawer and pour some in the bag itself. We have heard, however, that some cats do not like the smell (or lack of smell?) of ammo-carb and may avoid using the box.

Please keep in mind that we are passing along suggestions provided by our customers. We do not endorse any of these products nor are we affiliated with the companies that produce the products."

You can be sure I'll be trying these out this weekend and see how I make out.

Thanks for the feedback. I do clean up behind the screen when I hose out the globe - and did so this weekend actually. That helped a ton with the globe and the drawer. I've noticed that it's the base that's really wreaking up the joint and there's very little I can do with that. I tried cleaning it as best as I could, wiped it down with rubbing alcohol, and let it sit in the sun for a few hours. That seemed to help but it's still pretty bad. I'm going to try that Nature's Miracle Spray next time as I've heard good things about that. There's another supposedly ar better (and far more expensive) odor eliminating product out there called Scoe 10x that will be my next attempt. I'll try the cheaper Nature's Miracle first though.

I'll let you guys know how it turns out.

Did you notice if the gasket that is physically on the base of the unit is in good condition and not broken or shoved out of shape?

If that gasket isn't properly in place, I could see any open areas being a pipeline for any nasty smell.

Hmmm.... You might try cleaning with a solution of Borax and maybe sprinkling baking soda in the base afterwards. I like Nature's Miracle for most things but one time ended using something different on the carpet in the living room. I didn't like the odor of it but it did the trick-- called Fresh & Clean. I used it several times on the carpet until the poopy smell was gone. It's own odor dissipated with time. Used it on a basket this summer. Didn't work on that!

Good luck!

I have a spray bottle of the Fresh and Clean stuff . . . just looked online -- didn't realize it was available in large sized containers too.
http://www.lambertkay.com/products/prod ... Prod_ID=48

i've been having similar problems lately. cleaning with bleach did no good. changing out the carbon filter did no good. upon close inspection i found a little piece of poop stuck on the sifting grill, and obviously, removing that helped. though i haven't tried it yet myself, i do have an idea.

my dog once had bladder stones and peed all over everything, and hard plastic was he hardest thing to get odor out of. from that experience, i learned it's important to know whether the stuff you're using to clean the surface is acidic or basic. in the case of the dog urine, i used, in sequence, acid-based, basic, and then anti-microbial cleaners, rinsing thoroughly between each different cleaner. now, with cats, their urine tends to be basic. ammonia is a base, and stale cat pee smells like, surprise, surprise, ammonia! so the best thing to do might be to use an acid-based cleaner to combat the urine odor on hard plastic. i'm thinking i'll try vinegar first.

I have experienced this also. I removed the carbon filter all together (to me, it retains the smell), I use lysol spray and lysol wipes to clean my drawer between montly hose-downs (lemon or orange scent to counter balance the fumes, it removes fish odor- why not cat pee), I also throw a fresh wipe in my clean replacement bag (in the drawer). Unfortunately, the odor sometimes comes back but I have four cats too. I have tried the scented garbage bags, but they are pricey and the combo smells might make you sick (trust me). Try citrus. You could try putting the fresh wipe in the drawer under the clean bag too. I have a friend that put a piece of charcoal in her drawer. She found it at a kitchen store. Apparently, the activated charcoal has so many grooves it absorbs the odor. She said her box doesn't smell, but its also newer too. I never found the charcoal, but if I ever do, I'll let you know.