The short version
- 01Turn the robot over and find the two large side wheels.
- 02Push each wheel up and down several times and shake out loose debris.
- 03Turn both wheels briskly by hand and compare how freely each one moves.
- 04Cut away hair or thread wound around the axle where the wheel meets the body.
- 05Check which wheel your model is naming, since the i Series separates left and right.
- 06Contact iRobot if one wheel still resists after cleaning, as the module may have failed.
Raw message
Error five (5). Spin Roomba's side wheels to clean. Clear the wheels, then press Clean
Likely causes
- Hair or thread wound around the wheel axle inside the wheel well.
- Debris compacted into the wheel housing, stopping the wheel turning freely.
- A wheel that cannot travel up and down in its housing as it should.
- A wheel module that has worn or failed, if cleaning changes nothing.
- On older models, a bumper that is not registering obstacles, reported as error 10.
Which wheel, and which chart
This is the code where the generation matters most. On the 600 series, iRobot's chart gives error 5 the message “Error five (5). Spin Roomba's side wheels to clean,” with the likely cause simply that a side wheel is stuck — it does not say which. On the i Series the message is “Clear the wheels, then press Clean,” and the cause is stated precisely: right wheel stalled, right wheel is jammed.
The i Series splits the job across two codes: error 4 is the left wheel jammed and error 5 is the right. So on a newer robot the code already tells you which wheel to work on, and on an older one you check both.
That difference is worth knowing before following advice written for the wrong generation, because the 600 series uses errors 5, 7 and 10 for stuck side wheels while the i Series gives 7 and 10 an entirely different meaning — a wheel that is on the ground but which the robot cannot sense.
The check iRobot describes
iRobot's own steps are physical and specific: check the side wheels for obstructions, push the wheels up and down several times, and shake out any loose debris trapped in the wheel well. The up-and-down movement matters as much as rotation — the wheels are sprung so they can drop as the robot crosses thresholds, and a wheel jammed in its housing fails even if it spins.
Then turn both wheels briskly by hand, checking that each turns freely and that both show the same amount of resistance. Comparing them against each other is the useful part: a wheel that feels noticeably stiffer than its twin has found your problem without any need to guess.
The usual culprit is hair or thread wound around the axle where the wheel meets the body. It builds up slowly, tightens under load, and is easy to miss because the wheel still turns by hand — just not freely enough under the weight of the robot.
When cleaning does not fix it
A wheel that still resists after a thorough clean points at the wheel module rather than debris. These are wearing parts on a robot that has done a lot of hours, and they are replaceable — but that is a parts-and-service conversation rather than a maintenance one.
Before concluding that, rule out the surface. A robot repeatedly reporting wheel errors in one particular place may be catching on a threshold, a deep pile rug or a cable rather than failing, and the code is describing a real stall that happens to have an environmental cause.
If the message persists, iRobot's instruction is to contact Customer Care, with the robot charged and with you, its serial number ready, and proof of purchase if you are making a warranty claim.
Sources and review notes
Checked on . Based on iRobot's published error message charts for the Roomba 600 series and i Series. The same number means different things on different generations — check the chart for your own model rather than assuming. The surface-related explanation in section 3 is editorial. iRobot's support pages render only in a browser, so they cannot be checked by automated fetching. Glitchary is independent of iRobot.