Hello there.
I’m new to the forum and hope I’m not breaching any etiquette, but I’m hoping someone can help me identify this part.
It’s found in the charging base of an iRobot braava 380 T.
It’s a very simple board with only this one component on it.
Though it doesn’t appear I can attach any photos in this forum.
You should be able to add a picture using copy and paste or by using the attach function when you hit reply.
-Robert
Thank you Robert.
That was a great help. Here’s the mysterious little component that has rendered my charging base useless. Rather than trash the entire thing I would love to replace this little component if I knew what it was and where I could source it.
Thanks very much, and all the best
So the part you are looking at is a reed switch. The hard part is that most of these glass body reed switches don’t have any part marking to help with knowing the values. More so not knowing what the part was are you sure it is bad? The reed switch is probably normally open and then when a magnet is close it would complete the circuit. If you jump the switch does that solve your problem?
A similar type part might be RI-02GP1015 for reference.
-Robert
Reed switch. Ok I thought it was a switch of some sort triggered by current draw.
I removed everything else as far as the charging block and old battery from being the issue and there’s no other component on the board.
Guess it could be the board?
The little robot will charge for a very short period of time then indicates it’s fully charged and quickly reverts back to charging.
This had me thinking the reed switch was activating prematurely. I think?
I will find some small gauge wire and jump the switch and test it. Great idea. Thanks very much for the suggestion.
The reed switch will activate based on the presence of a magnet. My guess is that when the robot docks there is a magnet in the robot that triggers the reed switch and allows the charging to happen.
If the base is charging for a short period and indicating it is full it is more likely that you have a bad battery on the robot, or at a minimum if it is charging for a short period would indicate that the reed switch is working when the robot docks. If that is all there is on the board of the charger then it is likely that the actual charging circuit is on the robot itself.
-Robert
Great explanation
The thing is, the robot charges and runs fine when plugged directly in.
I wonder if the magnet in the robot has somehow degraded.
Could I simple place a magnet near the switch?
And would you assume if the switch can no longer disengage, would over charge?
Sorry, i know I’m now delving further then board components.
I am assuming the switch is there simply so there is not live power to contact when the robot is not at the charging station. Depending on the voltage it is a safety feature that would prevent a human or animal from touching a live positive and negative terminal. It is hard to verify without seeing the circuit or schematic for sure. My best guess is that if you bypass the switch it would simply allow the contact to be live all the time.
It is very unlikely that this is more than a “dumb” switch that says the robot is here. There is would be a current sensor somewhere on the robot that would tell when the battery is charged.
I don’t think this would be the case. If it was it would be like someone was putting it on the charger and taking off. Like flipping the light switch. It would not say that it was fully charged.
I am not sure about this model however, the Roombas use separate circuits for the charging station vs the direct plugin with separate current sensors.
