Automatic Litterbox Central

Strange stuff... Our litter robot has gone through partial cycles today unprovoked... On three different occasions. Has anyone else had this happen? Any idea how to stop it? A few times it stopped near the 90-degree position and one time it stopped upside-down. Each time I pulled the plug, plugged it back in, and it reset itself successfully.

Naturally, I'm afraid to find out what might happen if one of our cats encouters it in this state!

Dear Jeff:

I'm not completely sure, but it sounds to me like your Robot may have a malfunctioning circuit board. Please call or email me so we can get it repaired!

Lauren
mailto:info@Litter-Robot.com

Jeff,

Is this still happening? Did the problem fix itself, or did you need a new circuit board? I'm considering ordering a robot, and am curious if this is a common problem and/or if it was resolved satisfactorily.

Thanks!

Rob

I haven't seen it happen in about a week. I'm absolutely sure it's not a circuit board. Either the motor is having trouble or something is interfering with the sensors in the unit (i.e., litter in the wrong place). I haven't contacted the Litter-Robot folks yet.

It's happening again. Whenever I catch the unit in operation, the red "sensor" light is flashing, not the green operating light. When I unplug it and plug it back in, it goes through a complete cycle just fine -- every time. But I noticed that halfway through the cycle it starts blinking red again.

Could it be a weight distribution issue? The front of the unit (including the sensor part) is on some utility carpet designed to keep tracking down and contain spills. I can try to provide a more stable surface for the unit, or I can adjust down the sensitivity of the sensor... What do you think?

Regards,

Jeff

Hi Jeff!

The Robot is made to be on a level, hard surface. To compensate for padding or carpeting, you may have to adjust the sensitivity down a little. It would be helpful to have the tracking mat in front of the Robot, but not under it. It would especially help not to have the mat under just half of the unit. This is affecting the balance of the Robot, and therefore the sensor.

The red light flashing is telling you that the circuit is being held open and therefore the Robot "thinks" there is a cat inside.

Have your ruled out any debris being stuck in between the connections in the censor? A piece of litter can also keep the connection held open.

I'd make the following recommendations:

1) With the drawer removed, press down on the front of the base and visually inspect to see if there is litter stuck between the contacts on the kitty censor. Spray some WD-40 in there while you have the connection open.

2) If you want the tracking mat under the front half of the Robot, I'd suggest finding something of equal height to put under the back half to keep the Robot level and steady.

3) Adjust the sensitivity down a little, say 1/4 of a turn. Instructions how to do this are posted on this site under Adjusting the Sensitivity.

4) If your problem isn't corrected after these actions, please call me at 1-877-250-7729.

Thanks, Lauren! I'll try your suggestions and report back in a few days.

Perhaps future versions of the Robot should be smart enough to ignore the sensor while the unit is in operation.

:?: Jeff, Are you still having problems with your litter robot? Our litter robot was going through partial cycles and emptying all the litter without any of the cats having used it. This happend off and on. We replaced the circuit board approximately 1 month ago, and it seemed to solve our problem. However, the beginning of this week the same thing started happening, and even after unplugging the unit, and plugging it back in, it goes into a funky position with all lights flashing. The unit has been cleaned and siliconed, and we are using less litter than usual, but still, the unit is working haphazardly. Even if we get it to reset properly, it is like it has a mind of its own, and out of the blue, it performs an incomplete cycle, or empties the litter. We were wondering if you had performed the sensitivity adjustment, and if so, if it helped with your problem. Our unit sits on flat tile floor, so I really don't think sensitivity adjustment is the answer for us, but at this point, I'm grasping at straws!!

What was your solution to your LR with a mind of its own? Just curious. I am considering throughing my LM, that i have been using for 3 years, off the tallest building I can break into. The reason I ask is before I order a LR I would like to know of all the problems people have had and the solutions. Thanks!

Hi Smithjas,

The solution to any problem you might have with a Litter-Robot is to contact us because whatever it is, we'll make it right.

>^..^<

The Litter Robot support folks have been top-notch. They have been constantly improving the product, and I am confident that all of the problems Carrie and I have experienced so far have been resolved in new production units. Lauren cross-shipped a new base unit to us when we told her about the "voodoo" problem, and we haven't had any trouble since.