My scooba starts, goes in circle for few seconds, then stops. Afrer another few seconds it starts again , but stops after 2-3 seconds. During this time only "power" and "clean" lamps are on. After several such sycles, the "i'm stuck" light turns on.

SOURCE: Scooba 5800 Power button Red Blinking

You probably have the manual, but here's the link to the Scooba 5800 manual anyway - just in case this would be useful to you: --> http://www.irobot.com/images/homesupport/5800_Scooba_Manual.pdf You could use a voltmeter to check the battery, but only a few months use shouldn't be enough to wear it out. If you don't have a load-tester to verify the battery's load-capacity, then you can check the voltage drop. (Assuming you can get it to contact the Scooba's circuits.) To do this, just check the battery voltage, apply a load by inserting it in the machine and turning it on, then check the battery voltage again. An excessive drop in voltage may indicate the battery needs replacing. However, the red blinking light is Scooba's indicator that it doesn't detect the battery at all. The first thing to do in this case is to clean the electrical contacts on the battery and in the Scooba. Use a damp cloth and a bit of toothpaste to rub the contacts clean on the battery and in the machine. (Toothpaste has mild abrasives in it and will clean the electric contacts without damaging them.) Make sure that both the battery and the Scooba are clean and dry before re-inserting the battery. Also, if the electric contacts in the machine are flexible matal tabs then verify that the tabs are standing up high enough to make good contact with the battery contacts. Hopefully the battery just needs it's contacts cleaned for your unit to work, but test the battery if you are sure that they are clean and seated properly to the contacts in the machine. If the battery appears to be failing, then contact www.irobot.com to cheack and see if they are still covered under your machine's warranty. Hope this helps! :)

We Are The Robot Company

irobot.com

iRobot designs and builds robots...

SOURCE: my roomba starts going backwards

I had the same kind of problem with my model 400 today...after starting it and having it go in a circle for 30 seconds or so it would finally run into something and then back up a few inches, turn, then go forward a few inches, then back up a few inches, turn, then go forward a few inches, etc., etc.. I tried cleaning off the four pairs of sensors under the bumper and blowing out various things underneath (by mouth since I didn't have any canned compressed air). It didn't really help. It then occurred to me that I had a leaf blower! I put the Roomba upside down on the grass, put the leaf blower on high, and blew at it from all directions and up close. More dust came out than I thought would. It has been running normally now for the last 45 minutes.

SOURCE: Irobot scooba 5800 spins quickly then sets off backwards

Remove and clean all of the wheels, and make sure the cliff sensors under the bumper are clean. Tap the bumper with your hand-- really smack it a couple of times. It sounds like the Scooba believes it's stuck against an obstacle.

SOURCE: Scooba circles and only goes backwards.

ours did that, the other persons post helped, we took everything apart and cleaned every inch of it. there was some dog hair trapped inside of it right in front of the sensor. we put everything back together and it works great now! we just google "how to take apart a scooba" and followed the description and pictures, just be careful when you do it, we still had 4 screws left over afterwards, dont know what we missed but it works so that works for me! good luck!