How To Fix Roomba Error 17 | Cannot Complete Cleaning - Smarthome Hut

How To Fix Roomba Error 17 | Cannot Complete Cleaning

Roomba error 17
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Roomba is an AI Robot vacuum cleaner that cleans through an advanced navigational system of your home. But, Roomba may get into minor troubleshooting errors which stop Roomba during its cleaning cycle.

What is Error 17 on Roomba?

Error seventeen (17) means Roomba cannot complete cleaning job due to an issue in the navigational system and it has revoked cleaning.

Potential Problems:

Error 17 can be for a number of reasons described below:

  • Dirty Camera and Floor Tracking sensors
  • Dark Room issue and insufficient lights for the camera and Roomba sensors.
  • Excessive Clutter, cords, and cables on the floor  
  • Can’t physically return due to Roomba going over some transitions like the door threshold which made it difficult to return back.
  • Software bugs in the Roomba Sensors system

Key Solution points

  • Clean Roomba IR Sensors
  • Remove Clutter and Clean the Surface Area
  • Provide Sufficient Light in All Rooms
  • Restart Your Roomba
  • Reset Roomba to Factory

When Roomba is having issues with its navigational system due to a problem with sensors, it stops immediately. For example, Roomba won’t enter a room where it is not sufficient light and Roomba is unable to locate and see through.

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Roomba also stops cleaning when it sees clutter on the floor and when Roomba detects stairs or cliffs, it also stops to avoid any damage.

How To Fix Roomba Error 17

Clean the Sensor properly

Multiple rounds of Roomba for cleaning purposes in the house gather dust and dirt particles in its bags. You should clean your Roomba regularly for about half an hour to make them work smoothly in the house and avoid getting stuck.

Clean the Sensors of the Roomba properly and it will fix most of the sensors’ issues and errors which are hindering the Roomba’s cleaning and allow the Roomba to move all around the home.

Clean Roomba sensors

Cliff Sensors

Cliff Sensors in the Roomba are small rectangles around the edges of the Roomba. Cliff sensors avoid your Roomba from dropping off or falling off steps.

  • To clean them, flip them upside down and clean them accordingly.

Dirt Sensors

Dirt Sensors are rectangular blocks and are present in the right and left areas of the Roomba’s dustbin.

  • To clean it, remove the dustbin from the unit and clean it with a cloth.

Provide Sufficient Light in all Rooms

Roomba is an AI device that uses motion sensors, optic sensors, and Infrared technology. It requires sufficient light in the room to clean properly and identify objects completely. But, not enough light can cause Roomba to stop suddenly.

Roombas clean their house and their rooms very efficiently with their advanced technology and proper navigation system.

Roombas navigation system is operated through the camera installed in the device. These cameras locate the room’s position and its areas with the help of light. In the absence of proper light, Roombas are not able to detect the proper mapping of the house which creates a hassle in cleaning the room properly.

Make sure that all your rooms have adequate lighting installed to make them work and clean efficiently.

Provide Sufficient Light in all Rooms

Relocate Roomba Home Base

Usually, Home base is placed at a point where there is no clutter, and Roomba Base is also away from Infrared radiation such as ultraviolet lights, Radio transmissions, and Bluetooth connections.

Some light-emitting sources have strong IR waves which can cause Roomba Home Base to cause interruptions for Roomba sensors.

Just relocate your Roomba Home Base somewhere else where you don’t have to deal with these obstructions.

Relocate Roomba Home Base

Remove Clutter and Clean Surface Area

It could be possible that Roomba has run over some kind of transition like a door threshold that was hard to get over and it can’t run back. If there is anything like that you might want to Remove the Clutter or use Virtual Wall Barrier to keep it from going there.

Remove Clutter

Different types of small wooden items, clothes, and toys create clutter on the floor which hinders the movement of Roomba.

  • If Roomba detects any kind of these objects, it will stop immediately.

Different household items in the room cause obstacles to cleaning. If you have created a mess of furniture and other decoration items in the room then try to throw them away from the room and try to remap the room and make sure that this time, you make the room clean and simple on its surface.

Setup Virtual Wall

Roomba users must have seen the virtual wall feature, it is really a handy feature through which you monitor and control the Roomba movement in the house.

By using the virtual wall feature, you can disallow Roomba to go to a specific area of the house. If you don’t have enough light n the room, you can disallow Roomba to enter your room. Turn off virtual if Roomba keeps cleaning the same area.

Most people use the virtual wall feature to:

  • Stop Roomba from entering restricted rooms.
  • Avoid them bumping into unstable objects.
  • Cleaning around delicate furniture.
Setup Virtual Wall

Restart Roomba

A short restart can give relief to your Roomba from bugs and refreshes its sensors to enable it to function again. Restring Roomba helps it to resolve many other errors like Error 15

Because, sometimes, there may be a software malfunction that is stopping the device from working properly.

For S and I series models,

  • First of all, press Clean and hold it for about 20 seconds until the white LED starts spinning wait for a few seconds.
  • Now, let the Roomba turn on and check if it is working properly.

For the 700, 800, and 900 series, 

  • First of all, press Clean and hold it for about 20 seconds until you hear a beep.
  • Now, let the Roomba turn on and your device will be rebooted.
Restart your Roomba

Factory Reset

It means that you are about to start a brand-new cleaner that has no maps, no settings, and no customizations. It will remove all of your data saved. But, it has worked in many similar cases such as Roomba not charging

So I recommend it to everyone if they have not got rid of the Roomba error which is not cleaning due to sensor issues.

  • First, connect your iRobot Home app with your Roomba.
  • Go to the iRobot Home app.
  • Click on Settings > Factory Reset.
  • Click on Prompt to continue Factory Reset.

Reset Roomba

If you are unable to get the solution from all the above-mentioned methods, you must try resetting your Roomba which will surely help you.

  • First of all, hold on to Spot and Doc for almost 10 seconds until it gets off.
  • Now, turn it back on without the cover.
  • So, you will experience a bigger light without the cover.

(I have done this reset for my model 560 series but it is almost the same for other models as well.)

  • You should leave the button when you hear a special beep.
  • Now, your reset will be completed.

Make sure that you keep the Roomba on the charging base for a little longer time.

iRobot Roomba E5 Robot Vacuum

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iRobot Roomba E5 Robot Vacuum

Contact Support

If you have tried all the approaches mentioned above and cannot find the solution, this indicates that the problem is in your device by the factory. You must contact the Official Roomba Support. They will surely guide you to the best and resolve your problem.

Related Thoughts:

Your Roomba may find issues with its internal system due to the battery not charging and causing error 2. So, first Resolve Error 2 in case none other steps worked for you.

Enjoy Reading Too:

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is my Roomba i7 not emptying?

If your i7 Roomba is not emptying even when you press the bin button, you need to restart your Roomba by pressing the Clean button and hold it for about 20 seconds. Now, you can retry emptying your Roomba. 

Must Follow Roomba Error 14 which is all about bin issue in Roomba.

Can I wash my Roomba bin?

First of all, remove its filter and now you can rinse it in warm water.


About Author

Hamza Munir

Originally from Pakistan, being a young lad in Tech industry, Hamza has a keen interest in PC games, and Windows OS Security Systems. He loves technology and Alexa products and he has used multiple automated gadgets at home, with almost every version of the Echo and Rumbas especially. He is recently studying advanced AI and Machine Learning at ITU Pakistan. Now, He has also involved himself in Aurdino products to study advanced Robotics. His degree is Bachelor's in Computer Science but his Specialization has taken him to a higher positions at various job positions. Now, He writes detailed information on every issue and feature of Alexa, Echo, and other smart and automated gadgets and also reviews them according to my use and personal utility experience. Hamza has been providing people with different troubleshoots related to robotics, and AI since 2020 and He has attached himself with <a href="https://smarthomehut.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">smarthomehut</a> in 2022 You can find him @ <ol> <li><a href="https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100052732758107" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Facebook</a></li> <li><a href="https://twitter.com/HamzaMu31587055" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Twitter</a></li> </ol> More Info <a href="https://smarthomehut.com/about/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">About Smarthomehut</a>

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