Owners of smart equipment from the Chinese giant often face the need for scheduled maintenance of the device, and replacement of consumables is a key stage of care. Robot vacuum cleaners Xiaomi series Vacuum, Roborock and Mijia have proven to be reliable assistants, but their effectiveness depends on the condition of the cleaning elements. Over time, the pile on the brushes wears, and the pile on the side snowstorms thins, which leads to deterioration of the quality of cleaning and the appearance of passes on the carpets.
Many users mistakenly believe that it is enough to simply shake the garbage out of the container, forgetting about the mechanical wear of the parts. In fact, regular replacement of brushes can return the device to its original suction power and the quality of sweeping the corners. In this article, we will discuss in detail the process of replacing both the main turbobrush and the side brooms, paying attention to nuances that are often overlooked.
You don't have to be an engineer or take the device to a service center to do this procedure. 5-10 It takes a minimum of a few minutes and a minimum of tools, and the key is to understand the design of your robot vacuum cleaner and be careful when working with latches and fasteners.
Diagnosis: when to replace consumables
The first sign that cleaning elements have exhausted their life is the characteristic sound of the engine and visual inspection. If you notice that the device has become louder, but it collects garbage worse, or there are stripes of uncollected dust on the floor, this is a signal to action.
Visual examination reveals mechanical damage to the bristles: lateral snowstorms lose their elasticity over time and stop knocking out dust from corners, and the main brush can be covered with a dense layer of hair and wool that cannot be removed by cleaning.
⚠️ Attention: If the robot makes a grinding sound as the brush rotates, stop cleaning immediately, which may indicate that a solid fraction has entered the bearings of the brush or the brush has deformed and affects the body.
There are several types of consumables that are used in different models, the main ones being:
- 🧹 Side broom - single-engine or three-beam, responsible for sweeping debris from corners.
- 🌀 The main turbobrush - combined (powder) + rubber) or completely silicone, performs basic cleaning.
- 🛡️ Protective grille - often comes in the kit, protects against winding long hair.
Tools and training required
Before you start disassembling, you need to prepare the workplace, you need a flat surface with good lighting, so you don't lose the fine parts, the replacement process is so simple that in 90% of cases, additional tools are not required at all, but having a small cross screwdriver will not hurt, especially if you plan to deep clean the mechanism.
Make sure the robot vacuum cleaner is off. To do this, flip the device over and press the power button, or simply unplug it from the charging station and let it go to sleep, this will prevent the motors from accidentally starting during maintenance, which can lead to finger injury or damage to the gears.
Get original parts or quality counterparts in advance.The market is saturated with accessories, but cheap copies can have an imbalance, leading to vibration and noise.The original Xiaomi brushes undergo strict quality control and have the correct pile geometry.
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Buy brushes in sets (combos), which are usually cheaper and allow you to have a year's supply. Look for kits that include both side blizzards and the main turbobrush.
Replacement of the side brush (blister)
The side brush is the most frequently replaced element, as it is the first to contact obstacles and actively collects debris around the perimeter of the room. In most Xiaomi and Roborock models, it is attached to the screw, which provides reliable fixation during intensive work.
To dismantle, turn the robot upside down. You'll see a round plastic piece with a bristles attached with one screw in the center. Carefully twist the screw counterclockwise. Note that the screw can be long enough, so be careful not to drop it deep into the body.
Remove the old snowstorm, wipe the seat with a wet wipe, removing the accumulated dust. Install a new brush, combining the splints on the inside with the engine shaft. Twirl the screw to the end, but without undue effort, so as not to break the thread in the plastic case.
☑️ Replacement of the side blizzard
There's a nuance to the direction of rotation. Some models have blizzards with different bristles (left and right). If you have a twin-engine robot, make sure you install the right side, although most modern Xiaomi models use a versatile design.
Replacement of the main turbobrush
The central element of the cleaning system is the main brush, located at the bottom of the case under a removable grille, which creates turbulent airflow and sweeps out large debris, and the procedure for replacing it is a little more complicated, because it requires the removal of the protective cover.
On the bottom panel of the robot, find a rectangular grille covering the brush, which is fixed by two latches on the sides. Press them simultaneously and pull the grille upwards. Inside, you will see the brush itself, mounted on both sides on the rotating bushings.
To remove the turbobrush, lift one end of it and take it out of the groove, then repeat the action on the other side. Be prepared for the fact that a lot of hair can be wound on the sleeve - this is normal for the spent resource. Insert a new brush, inserting one end in the gear first, then gently pushing the second.
⚠️ Warning: When installing a new turbobrush, make sure it rotates freely by hand.If the brush is clamped or rotates with difficulty, the motor may overheat and go into error.
Once installed, check if the brush has fallen into the gutter correctly. It should not dangle or protrude outside the housing. Close the grate until the characteristic click. Now the device is ready to go.
Silicone brush nuances
Comparison of brush types and their resource
Understanding the differences between brush types will help you choose the right consumables for your conditions. The resource of the parts depends on the type of floor covering and the availability of animals in the house. Below is a comparative table of the main characteristics.
| Type of brush | Resource (mo.) | For what's better. | Features of care |
|---|---|---|---|
| Combined (season) | 3-6 | Carpets, hard floors | Often confuses hair, requires cleaning with a knife |
| Silicone (V-shaped) | 6-12 | Animal hair, hair | Easy to clean, worse on high carpets |
| Side (1-ray) | 3-6 | Corners, plinth | Strong wear of bristles from friction |
| Side (3-ray) | 6-9 | Large squares | Captures more space per pass |
As you can see from the table, silicone options last longer, but their effectiveness on high-pile carpets may be lower. Combined brushes are better at knocking out dust, but require more frequent maintenance. The choice depends on your priorities.
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The optimal strategy is to have one set of combined carpet brushes and one set of silicone brushes for periodic replacement if there is a lot of wool in the house.
Cleaning and care
It's not enough to just change the brush, because it's important to keep the drive mechanism clean, and the holes where the ends of the brush are attached are often filled with dust and hair, which eventually form a dense felt, and this creates resistance to rotation.
Use tweezers or a thin screwdriver to gently remove the coiled hair from bearings. You can blow the mechanism with compressed air, but be careful not to drive the dust even deeper into the electronics.
It is also recommended to wipe the sensors located next to the brush. Optical sensors can cause navigation errors or false signals about the container being fully loaded. The purity of the sensors is critical for the robot's smart functions.
Remember to clean the removable grille regularly, which is filled with fine dust that can interfere with air passage, and wash the plastic parts with water, but be sure to dry them completely before placing them back into the robot.
Frequent errors in replacement
Despite the simplicity of the procedure, users often make mistakes that shorten the life of new parts, one of the most common is the wrong installation of the side brush, when the screw is not twisted to the end or, conversely, is pulled over.
Another mistake is ignoring the direction of installation: the ends of the turbobrush often have arrows or color markings (for example, red and blue caps), if you confuse the sides, the brush will work inefficiently or quickly fail.
⚠️ Note: Never use lubricant (oil, WD-40) The dust will stick to the oil instantly, turning into an abrasive porridge that will kill the machine in a couple of days.
Also worth mentioning is the misuse of incompatible models: Xiaomi brushes may look the same from different generations, but they may differ in length or shape. Always check compatibility by model number.