Showed that the brushes of my Roomba i7 needed checking, because it kept leaving debris, where before it easily caught everything. I overturned the device, and the AeroForce system with those separate green rubber rollers immediately "looked at" back at me. First I grabbed the side brush on the left.
That tiny three-armed bit gathers a lot of hairs and dirt over time, so it obviously had to be cleaned. I used a little screwdriver to remove the single screw that kept the side brush. The screw came out alright, and the brush came off quite easily.
It was not a nice scene below. Tangled hairs were rolled around the hub, where the side brush is set. I took a tiny tool to dig out the whole debris that tightly wrapped itself around the mounting point.
The hairs came out in clumps, and it was clear that that buildup stopped the brush from twisitng freely.
How to Replace and Clean Roomba i-Series Brushes
After I pulled and loosened all that garbage, the hub of the side brush looked almost like new, and the motor pole now could connect correctly, because everything was clean.
Next I moved to the two rubber rollers in the centre. The green tab to the right of the brush compartment was the key to get in there. I pressed it down, and the whole cover of the brush module clicked upward, showing the two green rollers sitting in there channel.
I pulled out the first roller, raising it at both ends. The rubber roller came out flat, after I found the right angle. I pulled out the second roller the same way.
Only after pulling out both rollers the brush compartment became fully visible. I used a blue cloth to wipe the channel, where the rollers sit. Dust and fine debris was packed in that space, and that certainly would be interfering with the new brushes.
I also cleaned the corners near the wheels, where dirt and dust tends to build up.
It turned out that putting in the new rollers was easier than pulling out the old ones. I lined the end caps with the guide parts at every side and pushed the first roller in place. There was a nice tap, when the ends seated in place.
Both green rollers sat side by side in the cleaning head, and it was obvious that they would spin freely, because they no longer had the sticky slime that the old ones had. I closed the green tab to lock everything, and the brush compartment closed again.
Before fully finishing, I used the tiny cleaning tool that came with the Roomba, a little brush with white teeth and green base. I swept debris from the narrow places around the wheel holes with the brush, because it reached what a cloth could not.
I turned the Roomba right side up and let it do a test round. It worked correctly, without any problems.
