Simple fix for the biggest annoying error Roborock made with the S50

The Roborock S50 is a great cleaning robot with a great price. I have been using it for quite some time. Unfortunately it is always trying to climb on small ledges (like chair bases) just to get stuck there. Why did Roborock not make the front bumber height adjustable? Anyways I found a fix for this problem.

The robo trap

In theory it is a great feature: the Roborock S50 is able to climb over height differences of more than 1cm. This can be really useful when you have high door steps between rooms.

If you are looking to also get the Roborock S50 consider buying it via my affiliate link here. No additional costs for you and I get to pay the servers 🙂

Unfortunately in practice this means that it will try to climb onto a lot of small ledges in my apartment. Flat chair bases become traps for the robot as it climbs onto them just to get stuck there. Even for the door steps this it not really perfect as the will get quite damaged over time.

Then one day I found the solution to my problem while browsing Ebay.

Adjusting the bumper height

Some had created a small 3D printed part that can be screwed onto the existing bumper making it a little bit longer. It also has cutouts for the charging contacts so that the robot can still properly drive into the charging bay.

Installation was pretty easy: just remove the existing screws unter the screw holes of the bumper and mount the new part with the included longer screws. I feel like the part was a tiny bit too small but with some force I was able to properly install it.

If you are looking for the same bumper extension via german ebay
or a similar one via Amazon (affiliate supporting this blog)

The longer bumper works really well. It is still height enough that the robot can climb over small obstacles but just low enough to avoid getting stuck on robo traps like the one in the picture above.

It does not seem to inhibit any other functionality of the robot from my tests so far. Automatic charging and wiping the floors still works as before. Because it is only screwed into the robot the bumper extension can also be removed again at any point.

Adding ramps

The longer bumper comes with one drawback though: the vacuum can not climb one of my (height) doorsteps anymore. Fortunately there is a nice solution that also protects the paint on it from the robo: a ramp.

If you need a similar ramp consider buying it here via my affiliate link to support this blog.

You can find many such ramps in all sizes and materials online. They are mainly made for old people but they work just fine for young robots 😉 Installation is pretty easy as the material can be cut with a sharp knife.

After cutting the piece into the right shape it can be secured to the floor with some included tape. It blends in well enough and is actually nicer for human feet too. The robot can now easily enter the room.

The combination of the longer bumper and the ramp is pretty cheap (<50€) and makes my Roborock S50 so much better. Now I can truly “fire & forget” it and it will do its work without getting stuck. I hope manufacturers will include height adjustable bumpers into future models.