My Robot Doc

Known issue

Automower 220 AC: leaves the station but ignores the guide wire to a remote area

A 220 AC with a guide wire to a far part of the lawn can stop going there. It leaves the station, turns, and either mows beside the station or wanders off the wire. Two owners report it, with different fixes. The 230 ACX has the same menus, and no owner has reported it on that model.

Status Open

Models
Automower 220 AC (the 230 ACX has the same menus; no owner reports it)
First reported
06 May 2026
Last updated
22 Oct 2026
Affects
Robot body — not the app
Automower 220 AC (the 230 ACX has the same menus; no owner reports it)First reported 06 May 2026Details
Models
Automower 220 AC (the 230 ACX has the same menus; no owner reports it)
First reported
06 May 2026
Last updated
22 Oct 2026
Affects
Robot body — not the app

What to do next

  1. Check the remote area settings in Follow loop out. Open Follow loop (3-2), then Follow loop out (3-2-1). Set Direction to Guide 1, Distance to the number of metres along the guide wire from the station to where mowing should start, and Proportion to 100% while you test. Put the mower in the station and run Test OUT (3-2-5): it shows the distance on the display.

    More about this step

    Applies when: the mower leaves the station but mows near it, or circles, and never reaches the remote area.

    Worked if: the mower is told the right wire, the right distance and to take it every time.

    Didn't work? Next: step 2 — Reset the mower to factory settings, then lower the guide...

    Method: the 230 ACX/220 AC operator's manual, pages 51 to 52 and 55; the owner's own settings were 72 m and 100%

  2. Reset the mower to factory settings, then lower the guide corridor. Switch it off for two minutes and on again, set the remote area again, then lower Guide 1 corridor in Follow loop (3-2), Corridor width (3-2-3). The default is 10 on a scale of 0 to 20; a lower value keeps the mower closer to the wire.

    More about this step

    Applies when: the settings are right, the guide wire is intact, and the mower still turns away from it.

    Worked if: the mower turns onto the guide wire as it leaves the station and follows it.

    Didn't work? Next: step 3 — Measure the resistance of the guide loop with the station off...

    Method: one owner, who set the corridor from 10 to 1 after a factory reset and saw it work at once; the manual describes the setting but not this use

  3. Measure the resistance of the guide loop with the station off and the wires unplugged. Measure it between the guide connector and the right boundary connector. A forum regular gives 10 ohms as the most the mower can read, and 20 ohms for the boundary loop. If it reads higher, replace the connectors and look for damaged insulation.

    More about this step

    Applies when: the corridor change made no difference.

    Worked if: you know the wire is not the cause.

    Didn't work? Next: step 4 — Ask a dealer to test the station and the mower's board. Do this...

    Method: one forum regular's figures, which the owner measured and found fine; the manual gives no figure

  4. Ask a dealer to test the station and the mower's board. Do this if the settings, the corridor and the wire all check out. The second owner's station was an early model with a separated plate and a corroded antenna; a used station cured it.

    Stop and get help if

    the mower will not switch on, or the next step would be opening the mower or the station: that is a dealer's job.

    More about this step

    Applies when: everything above has been done and the mower still ignores the guide wire.

    Worked if: a dealer finds the failed part, or confirms the mower and station are sound.

    Method: one owner, who swapped the station for a used one

On this page
  1. What to do next
  2. What the two owners report
  3. What the manual says about the settings
  4. What we do not know
  5. Sources

What the two owners report

A guide wire that stopped working: one owner. The wire ran from the station to a part of the lawn 72 m (236 ft) away. The mower had found that area for a while, then stopped mowing there. With the remote area set to 72 m and 100%, it left the station, turned almost a full circle on the spot and started cutting beside the station. A factory reset and new settings did the same. In the remote-area test it left the station, turned and went left of the wire, away from it. Carried to the far area and told to go home, it did not find the guide wire1.

The owner had checked the wire for breaks, and the loop readings were under 20 ohms. The connectors were not corroded. Its main board had been replaced a short time before, after corrosion from a failed seal1.

What fixed it for that owner. After another factory reset and two minutes switched off, the owner turned on the remote area at 100%, chose the guide as the output, and set the guide corridor from 10 to 1, leaving the distance at its default of 50. The mower left the station, turned and locked onto the guide wire at once, drove its 50 m and began mowing. The owner then set the real distance and share. The owner notes that the reset or the corridor, or both together, may have done it1.

A second 220 owner, a different fix. In the same thread another owner wrote of having had the same trouble. That owner's station was one of the earliest models, with a separating plate and a corroded antenna, and the fault was most likely on its board. A used station from a classifieds site cured it1.

What the manual says about the settings

In Follow loop out, each remote area has a direction (right, left, or a guide wire), a distance in metres along that wire from the station, and a proportion for how often the mower takes it. The 220 AC has three areas and one guide wire. Test OUT shows how far the remote area is on the mower's display.

The Corridor width setting runs from 0 to 20, with a default of 10 for the boundary wire and for each guide wire. The manual says a lower value keeps the mower closer to the wire, and a higher value makes it vary its path, which reduces tracks in the lawn but can make passages harder to enter2.

What we do not know

Two owners are not enough to say how common this is. Neither names a firmware. We cannot tell whether the factory reset or the narrow corridor fixed the first mower, and nothing here explains why a corridor of 10 failed on a mower that had worked.

Sources

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