Automatic Litterbox Central

If this is covered in a FAQ, please point me there TY. I looked and saw a number of posts about red flashing light but not all 3 flashing.

Over the past 3 weeks or so I've noticed my LR in a "dumb" state. All 3 lights are flashing and the globe is slightly rotated as if it was finishing a cycle. Unplug it and plug it back in, the robot resets and life is dandy.

I'm heading out of town over the holidays and would like to make sure the LR is good to go. What do I need to pay attention to (cleaning? switch?) so I don't need to worry about this during the holiday?

- RacerChik

You might want to contact the LitterRobot people directly. They are very helpful w/ issues.

I called and left a message on Wednesday. They must be afk for the holiday.

up for Lauren and I'll give them a call again today.

RacerChik wrote:up for Lauren and I'll give them a call again today.

I found mine in the same "state" this morning too..

-Dan

tealcomp wrote:

RacerChik wrote:up for Lauren and I'll give them a call again today.

I found mine in the same "state" this morning too..

-Dan

Update:

I reset mine and haven't seen the problem since; I will keep any eye on it though:)

-Dan

It’s the motor that turns the sphere. There is a safety limit built into the unit that protects the motor from overload. If your unit is as old as mine (4 years) you may have just started noticing this. These units are military tanks to have run for this long. But like all things mechanical they wear down. I sent a request to see if I could decrease the sensitivity or bypass it all together. This modification will most likely require some simple electronics work. If required to do so I will make an electronic interface module to boost performance to the motor and offer it. These kinds of modifications will void any warranty. But in my case it will provide a few more years of service to the military grade litter robot!

I just received a response to the flashing lights issue in just a couple of hours! Wish all companies cared about their clients and products like the people at Litter Robot. In short here is the fix with little to no electronics knowledge. This action may void your warranty? Chances are your unit is old like mine or very heavly used and the warranty passed long long ago.

Step 1: Unplug the power supply.
Step 2: Remove the waste tray.
Step 3: Remove the Cat Ball (The Death Star where the cat goes in to drop the bomb)
Step 5: Peal back the plastic label on the front over the buttons. (Don’t worry it will be sticky enough to go back on later).
Step 6: Using a Philips and a socket (just the socket is necessary not the wrench as it should be hand tight.) remove the 4 screws. There will be poo protection (Duct tape) protecting the board, remove it.
Step 6: Pull out the board and unplug the 6-pin and 4-pin connector.
Step 7: Lightly sand pins with fine grit sandpaper. (Remove any black stuff)
Step 8: I recommend marine grade lithium grease but WD-40 or Vaseline will work, grease all the pins and plug and unplug the connectors a few times.
Step 9: Plug the connectors back in and screw the board back down (Lights on bottom), put the poo protection back on (duct tape) and put the plastic label back on, put the ball back on, put the tray back in, and plug the unit back in.
Step 10: If your unit was like my 4-year-old ones they sounded and performed like they were brand new!!! This fix should keep it going strong for many more years. At 5 uses a day * 365 days a year * 4 years thats 7300 cleanings and all I had to do was clean 2 plugs. Truly Awesome.!

Looks like a 12v 800ma wall adapter fixed the all three lights flashing issue for one of the units. The death star is back in action and ready for Luke Skywalker (the cat) to drop the bomb.

OK the board bit I understand... I might give that a whirl as my LR is an older LR.

What's this with the plug adapter tho?


Nice to hear you got a response. I left 4 messages, sent email, and posted here and got no response to any attempt at reaching LR customer service folk.

- Racer

This isn't the LR's forum, so they only respond to posts here from time-to-time.

Did you try calling during business hours?

RacerChik wrote:What's this with the plug adapter tho?

I'm guessing that as the motor ages and gets full of cat litter, it takes more juice to turn. An 800mA adapter supplies more juice than the 500mA adapter that the LR comes with.

Thanks Scott. I'll give those both a try.

And yes cas, every time I called was during business hours. I got the answering machine every time.

- Racer

RacerChik wrote:If this is covered in a FAQ, please point me there TY. I looked and saw a number of posts about red flashing light but not all 3 flashing.

Over the past 3 weeks or so I've noticed my LR in a "dumb" state. All 3 lights are flashing and the globe is slightly rotated as if it was finishing a cycle. Unplug it and plug it back in, the robot resets and life is dandy.

I'm heading out of town over the holidays and would like to make sure the LR is good to go. What do I need to pay attention to (cleaning? switch?) so I don't need to worry about this during the holiday?

- RacerChik

A little bit of silicone spray (available at any good hardware store or home center) will go a long way to solve this.

Spray it on the four "slides" under the globe, and a little bit on the globe itself where the slides "ride"