Review on 🐱 PetSafe Simply Clean Self Cleaning Cat Litter Box: The Ultimate Automatic Solution for Clumping Cat Litter by April Mitchell

After five years of manual collection I decided to enter the world of automated cat waste disposal. My buddy had the previous version of this tablet for about a year and loves it. That was enough for me to try. The only thing he mentioned of the possible downsides is the possibility of engine burnout, as stated in the comments and reviews of many other users. The solution to this problem is simple: use an output timer (very similar to what you use for Christmas/Holiday lights) so the tray only runs about 50% of the time. This new version has a built in timer - trust me, it runs for 90 minutes and then pauses for the same amount of time. Also, it has a carbon filter slot above the bin to reduce odors. Mine worked most of the time. At first I had an issue with the "box" not spinning properly (I heard the pinion "clap" as it tried to spin the box), but it was my fault for not turning the box properly from the start too much garbage had built up. Once I removed a bit and lowered along the indicated line, the tablet worked fine. It's very quiet when running (the only sound I hear is debris being sifted and falling through the back of the deflector leading into the ramp) and my cats at least put up with it. ***UPDATE*** Well after about a week I started flashing red light as did the other reviewers. This indicates a problem with the bowl motor. A little observation showed that the bowl actually froze within minutes of plugging in the power cord and I could hear the "popping" I mentioned in my original review. In fact, when I gave manual assist to the bowl, it continued to spin for a few more minutes before eventually ending up in the same state. After a few minutes of no rotation, the control board appears to shut down the drum motor completely until a power cycle is complete. As an electrical engineer by trade, I have a habit of picking up my seemingly non-working devices by tearing them apart. in them to see how they work, and more often than I care to admit they disable them forever. However, I have a chance of success, so I decided to start digging. Before proceeding, I must preface that all of the following points will without a doubt void the warranty 100%. Please be careful if you decide to reproduce any of my attempts. First, it was obvious that the drive gear under the bowl just couldn't turn the bowl itself. There are small plastic wheels on the bottom of the bowl body to allow the bowl to rotate freely, but the bowl also makes contact with the center pin/axle of the body. First, I applied a solution that has proven fruitful in many other instances in my life: lubrication. I used general purpose automotive lube on all of the small wheels and around the underside of the center pin. It definitely improved things, but after waiting long enough I still encountered the blinking red light. Then I disassembled the gearbox housing. In addition to the large gear visible at the bottom of the bowl body, there is a smaller idler gear with a lug that actuates a small switch (this allows the controller to "know" that the bowl is not spinning) during rotation and the motor. Upon closer inspection, I saw that the tooth tips on the idler gear were a bit worn. The "popping" sound I heard as the bowl stopped turning was actually a tiny gear on the drive motor shaft slipping past the teeth of the idler gear. A complicating problem is that this behavior simply exacerbates the general bowl non-rotation problem as it becomes increasingly difficult for the geared motor to transmit power to the idler gear as it also wears the idler gear teeth in the process. The fact that these two gears were slipping against each other led me to believe their teeth weren't meshing as well as they could. Of course, by removing the bolts holding the drive motor, I was able to push it a little further into the intermediate gear. Also the shape of the teeth on the drive gear doesn't quite match the teeth on the idler gear (although this may be intentional as mechanics isn't my area of expertise). So I modified the pinion housing so I could mount the drive motor a bit closer to the idler gear to get better gear mesh. This involved sanding/cutting off some mounting tabs, filling in one of the factory screw holes (epoxy would be perfect; I used JB Weld because I had it on hand), drilling a new screw hole (I started with 1/16 inch). Bits and increased it to 3/32"" and then reinstalled the drive motor. After putting everything back together and applying a little grease to the wheels and center lip of the bowl body, my modifications proved effective. It's Just It It's been a few hours since I put everything back together, but I've had a solid green light and a constantly spinning bowl the whole time (except when the built in timer shut things down of course.) Understandably, a few stars have been removed from my Deducted original rating.The concept of this automatic litter box is great and the waste conveyor system works perfectly.But there is clearly still room for improvement.***UPDATE*** Unfortunately I have to deduct one star and admit that I am throwing away this particular automatic tray .I have already gone through two of these boxes and am constantly experiencing some kind of setback, the last one was, that the bowl motor made a squeaking/grating noise that was loud enough to keep me up at night. The overall concept is solid, but cheap components and bad design choices have forced me to look elsewhere now.