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Bissel Spinwave Plus Robotic Vacuum - mops and cleans

 I had a Roomba when they were first introduced in the early 2000s. When it finally bit the dust, I wasn’t willing to give over the $299 (when I bought it was $199) to fix the battery or get a replacement unit (as a note, the original Roombas were not $599 as they are now). 

I have held off on looking at other vacuums until recently. I liked the idea of the Scooba but wasn’t that sure about a dedicated mopping vac. I then saw the Bissell Spinwave that could do both and said “that’s something to look into.”

I’ve only had it a few days but am really enjoying it. It only has two modes : automatic and spot. It would have been nice if it had a way to manually redirect it but the app itself does work fairly well. Unlike the Roomba, it starts going in straight lines, wanting to move to the left (so always start it on the right wall). I say that with some trepidation, however, because when in mop mode, I just let it go and it made its way through our “open floor” main level which has lots of separate rooms and hit every room over a two hour period. I have seen it get stuck every now and then on bar stools with the feet on the bottom but it works very well. In mop mode, it also did a great job recognizing when there is a carpet and backs up so as not to mop the carpet.

As with most robotic vacuums, there is no real suction - it works by brushing and picking up the dirt. One of the things that is annoying is that the app (and web site) has these sections for help and support, and there is no real content there. So as a way to get by, I’m posting various troubleshooting tips (from the manual - which you would think would be in the app), so I can easily find them if I lose the manual.

Here’s a link to the vacuum


Spinwave Plus Troubleshooting Tips


Flashing Red, One Beep - Robot is trapped / cliff sensors are dirty. Move it to  clear location. Turn it off and clean the three sensors.


Flashing Red, Three Beeps - Front Caster Wheel Sensor is blocked. Turn it off and remove the front wheel assembly. Clean the debris and reinstall wheel.


Flashing Red > Solid Red, One Beep. One of the wheels is stuck. Remove the debris from the wheel.


Flashing Red > Solid Red, Two Beeps. Edge cleaning brushes are stuck. Remove the hair.


Flashing Red > Solid Red, Three Beeps. Brush roll is stuck. Remove the brush roll and clean it.


Flashing White, Two Beepers. Bumper is stuck/trapped. Move it to another area or tap the bumper several times to move it off.


Flashing White, Three Beeps. Low water. Refill the mop tank and refill within three minutes.

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