I just got my robot vacuum. I have downloaded the app, connected to WiFi, and have the latest firmware updated. When I try to do the initial cleaning routine the vacuum goes straight into the charger and errors out for the wheels not touching or not being on a level surface.
I’ve tried moving the vacuum to different areas including white carpet and dark hardwood. I’ve checked multiple times for packaging or tape still on the vacuum that could be causing the error and found none. I’ve tried the quick mapping before the cleaning cycle and got the same errors.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen this one mentioned before. Maybe some internal sensor is broke? I’d call support and see what they think. Didn’t know it had to be level, they do allow slopes?
Did it manage to quick map or just give up immediately and re-dock? Is the Lidar rotating? I’d imagine the pick-up sensing / levelness is done by the gyro. I don’t think it would even be able to dock if the cliff sensors were erroneously being triggered.
I’d try a factory reset. Don’t re-add it to the app right away, just hit the power button and see if it will start working normally (*). (May need to remove it from the app first to be sure. I haven’t seen what a factory reset actually does in that regard.)
(*) At least I think it will work standalone.
Perform a factory reset…
To factory reset your Wyze Robot Vacuum, press and hold the home button for 5 seconds. You will hear a voice prompt for “Factory reset will begin”. Release and then press and hold the home button again for 5 seconds.
When you hear “Factory reset was successful”, it means that the reset is complete.
If it still bails out when standalone (assuming that even works), yeah probably a hardware issue, time to go through the support/troubleshooting in the Wyze app and get in contact.
Ended up contacting customer service and getting a new vacuum sent to me. Started it up and it works great. Never did figure out what was causing the leveling error on the original vacuum. Thanks to Wyze customer service for painlessly resolving the issue!
Did you get resolution? My vacuum gives this error … I can’t get it to work. I’ve cleaned all sensors. I’m trying to avoid factory reset so I don’t have to remap.
I have the same issue, multiple factory resets, paired and unpaired on the phone. Moved to different surfaces, checked everything is clear, vacuum worked great for months. Guess I’m going to try and tear it apart to see if it’s a physical issue.
Wyze customer support is useless if you are outside of warranty, they offer no troubleshooting and try to throw a $20 gift card at you.
I added an update to my posting above. Most notably that it appears to have some kind of angle sensor in addition to the drop sensors. What is the exact error message that it is reporting?
The error is, “please move me to a level surface and start again”. It says the same thing whether I do a vacuum command or quick map. I’ve also tried after a factory reset starting the vacuum without setup on the app.
Also weird glitch right after that it says starting to charge, but doesn’t go back to the home base.
Thanks for the video. That message is triggered by the internal tilt/angle sensor.
If I prop mine off the ground and at a steep angle, the drop sensor triggered message plays first, "Please check that my wheels are touching the ground”. If I cover the 4 drop sensors with foil, the “Please move me to a level surface” message plays instead.
So your drop sensors are probably working okay.
Try disconnecting the battery for a few minutes to force a full hardware reset. Let me know how that goes.
I tried having the battery removed for 4 hours no change. I did notice that interrupting the vacuum physically during the startup actually got it to get past the glitch and vacuum. However I think this screws up the main map quite a bit. Also seems like a short term fix because when you stop the vacuum and try to restart it has the same “place me on a level surface” bug.
Yeah I tried smacking it, didn’t do anything. Thinking back it’s possible the start of the cause was when my vacuum tipped over once, but I’m not confident in that. Also, I think there is still a larger software issue going on with other sensors because it is always confused where home is, says it’s charging when it isn’t, and doesn’t listen to physical button commands. I’m just gonna take out the battery and send this to e-waste unless you have any other last minute ideas. It’s not worth my time, I’ll be switching to a more reputable smart home brand.
I was having the same return to level surface error. Tried everything you all have talked about. I think I “accidentally” found a fix when I was about to start disassembling it since customer service didn’t have any fix or additional trouble shooting.
I did the factory reset and could not get it to run for more than about 3 seconds. Then, I did the following:
With the vacuum powered on, turn it upside down. Now, turn it off while it’s upside down by pushing the power button on top. Flip it right side up and power it back on. Pick it up off the ground. The lights should be red now. (I moved the wheels up and down at this point, but I don’t think that was necessary.) Set it on the floor. Lights should be white or amber now. Push the home button. To my surprise, mine did exactly what it was supposed to and returned to the base. I then did a quick map and it worked as it should. I then told it to vacuum the whole level and it did.
Please let me and others know if this worked for you. Hopefully, this is a permanent fix. Even if it’s temporary and needs to be repeated occasionally, it’s better than throwing it in the trash.
