Roomba Side Brush Not Spinning? Best Fix Method

If your Roomba side brush not spinning, we have the best solution for you!

By the end of the guide, you will get familiar with all factors that might prevent your Roomba’s side brush from spinning as well as the best fix methods recommended by the users!

First of all, run maintenance on your Roomba for potential garbage in the internal hardware and side brush. Next, check the side brush, stop the module from jamming and lubricate the side motor shaft.

Before we proceed with the troubleshooting guide, let’s take a look at what might be the origin of the issue.

Why Is My Roomba Side Brush Not Spinning?

Sometimes it is all about your Roomba’s schedule. If you’ve set up the cleaning schedule wrongly, your side brush might get stuck, hence, it will not spin.

You must also take Roomba’s charge into consideration and the batteries it is running.

Here are some of the potential causes that might impact your Roomba’s side brush:

1. Debris in the Hardware

First of all, you must take into consideration the device’s state on the side of garbage and debris.

2. Stuck Side wheel

A stuck side wheel due to an obstruction or internally broken part might also result in not spinning side brush.

3. Side Brush Module Fault

A fault with the side brush module could eventually harm the wheel’s functionality.

4. Battery Problem

A battery or charging issue might result in an inactive cleaner or brush of your Roomba cleaning robot.

5. Hardware Damage

Lastly, if something lethally damaged your side brush, it might be due for a replacement.

Now that we have taken a look at what might be causing the issue, let’s proceed with the best solutions to fix your Roomba’s side brush.

How To Fix Side Brush On Roomba Not Spinning?

If your Roomba’s side brush isn’t spinning, we will mainly be targeting your device’s hardware.

Even though the issue could be related to an inappropriate setup of your Roomba settings, it is good to go through your device’s whole hardware first.

Having that said, let’s begin the troubleshooting session with a firm hard reset on your Roomba device.

Solution #1 Discharge Your Roomba Robot

Even though the issue is most likely to be related to the hardware, a firm discharge might manage to resolve the issue for you if there is a temporal glitch.

This process will power cycle your device and provide it with a cold boot during the next startup.

Here is how to discharge (hard reset) your Roomba robot appropriately:

1. On your Roomba robot, locate the CLEAN button.
2. Hold the CLEAN button for 20 seconds until your Roomba’s LEDs start blinking.
3. Release the button and wait for around a minute.

If the side brush still doesn’t turn on, plug your Roomba into the power adapter, and let it charge for a couple of minutes.

If that doesn’t help either, please proceed with our next solution.

Solution #2 Clean The Side Brush

If the side brush doesn’t turn on while your robot is cleaning, it is possible that it got stuck in place due to some obstruction particles that went in.

The side brush will be located in the left corner of your Roomba robot and you will be able to disassemble it and check the wheel’s compartment.

Grab a vacuum cleaner and clean the compartment to remove any larger obstacles that might be obstructing the wheel’s movement.

Once you’re finished with the vacuum cleaner, complete the cleaning by wiping the compartment’s walls with a slightly wet napkin.

Solution #3 Loosen The Side Brush

If you’ve reinstalled your Roomba lately, it is possible that you’ve screwed the brush too tightly, preventing it from spinning properly.

Since the brush as well as the wheels are sensitive to the screws, over screwing even a little bit might cause a whole bunch of trouble.

Here are some steps to accumulate your side brush properly:

1. Grab a screwdriver matching Roomba’s screw in the middle.
2. Rotate Roomba upside down and turn it off by holding the cleaning button for 20 seconds.
3. Unscrew the screw completely but don’t remove the side brush.
4. Put the screw back and screw it in intervals as you test the brush’s ability to spin after each screwing.

Your side brush should be able to spin by itself for around 2-3 seconds after giving it a good push.

If it does not move even with your artificial inertia, then take a closer look at what’s preventing it from spinning.

Solution #4 Clean The Gearbox

Dirt inside of your side brush might not be the only thing obstructing the wheel from spinning.

As you probably know, underneath the side brush, there is a gearbox that controls the side brush’s spinning. Any dirt gathered inside of the gearbox will prevent the side brush from spinning at all.

Here is how to clean the gearbox in a few easy steps:

1. First, remove the side brush by unscrewing the screw.
2. Underneath, there should be the gearbox that is in the blue-purple color compartment.
3. Locate the gearbox’s screw and remove it.
4. Inside of the gearbox, there would be two cogwheels which must be free of any debris.
5. To clean the gearbox, we suggest using a vacuum cleaner again and spinning the cogwheel around until all kinds of remains come off.

Remember that before reinstalling the compartment, the cogwheels must be spinning freely, like with the side brush.

Solution #5 Change The Route

It is possible that Roomba is struggling to initiate the side brush due to obstructed or impossible routes for Roomba to go around in the first place.

For this solution, we advise taking a good look at your router and the objects/furniture on your Roomba’s way.

Make sure to set up the route accordingly for Roomba to go around freely.

In addition, place some dirt in front of Roomba and test out the brush with the new route.

Solution #6 Reset The Roomba Robot

If nothing worked and the Roomba side brush not spinningafter all of the solutions so far, then perhaps the issue might be related to Roomba’s software.

Don’t worry, we have the best solution to fix software issues.

For this solution, you will have to factory reset your Roomba via a specific combination of buttons.

Here is how to reset your Roomba easily:

1. Locate the Home, Spot, and Clean buttons on your Roomba.
2. Hold all buttons simultaneously for 20 seconds.
3. Wait for the orange light of your Roomba to come on and let go of the buttons.
4. Roomba will now restart.

After a couple of minutes, Roomba will notify you of the factory reset and that it is done.

At this point your Roomba side brush should be working as intended otherwise you might be dealing with a hardware issue.

You can still contact Roomba’s developers for a quick conversation but if solutions don’t work, we are pretty confident that your robot’s side brush is broken.

Read Next: How To Fix Roomba Error 7 In Minute!

Bottom Line:

To fix a side brush on Roomba that isn’t spinning, first hard reset and charge the device. Next, clean the side brush and the gear panel, change the route appropriately and make sure that the brush is not screwed too tightly.

Lastly you can reset your Roomba robot.

Now that you know why the Roomba side brush not spinning, with our solutions, you shall face no trouble on your way to fixing the brush.

In the end, if the route damaged your Roomba’s side brush accidentally, you might have to consider repairing the device!