Mouse Refurbish

Here, in the Silicon Valley, I know guys who'd rather make money than spend time with their kids, which I think is the wrong perspective.

Likewise, I know people who'd rather pay someone to maintain their car, rather than maintain it themselves - again - which doesn't help them when they actually NEED to understand how a vehicle works.

I know people who wouldn't fix a mouse - nor help a little old lady cross the road - nor pick up a neighbor's kids from school - all because they can make more money elsewhere.

My point is that if it's only about the money - it's generally shallow. o It's also a waste of resources to throw out working stuff.

People are so shallow sometimes... it's irksome.

Maybe the OP likes to fix things? I mean, there is a "repair" group on the newsgroup list, is there not?

A lot of people would rather make money than spend time with their kids.

Some of us enjoy fixing things for lots of reasons. o Sometimes, it just fits right - in our hands, for example.

It's not always only about money. o If it's only about money, it's shallow (IMHO).

For example, I enjoy fixing my car - and the cars of my kids - where I change their oil, replace the clutch, do the brakes, overhaul the cooling system, and even select, purchase, mount and balance their tires.

When you do stuff like that - you LEARN a lot. o You learn a lot that others don't learn who are only out for the money.

For example, I enjoy setting up WiFi access points, for free, for my neighbors. I learn a lot when I do that. In fact, while there's an ongoing thread on that very topic, those who know the least seem to have infested that thread the most in the last few hours.

The fact remains, if the OP wants to fix his mouse ... then we should try to help him (if we can). It's not "advice" to say to pay for a new mouse.

Do you think even for a second that the OP doesn't know that? o If the OP was _that_ shallow - he wouldn't have asked the question.

Sorry for the hiccup. The machine crashed and the scripts must have still run. I don't use a newsreader... it's just vi with telnet scripts.

Mea culpa.

BTW, if the OP needs pictures, I have plenty of my IBM mouse refurbish.

Is that one of the mice that came over on the Ark? Male or Female? :-)

Rene

That's a one-screw mouse, so it can't be that old.

This article, has a picture of the Hawley mouse.

And that was my first mouse. Apparently made around 1975. Steel balls on the outside. A little small for your hand (because it doesn't have a scroll wheel or give a rats ass about ergonomy). And your next problem would be, if you found an old one, the interface is neither USB nor PS/2, and instead, gives "pulses" for +/-X and +/-Y. So you need to whip together some counter circuits to make something a bit better for your OS to use.

But still, a nice mouse, and not surpassed until the second generation of optical mice meant never ever again having to worry about what the mouse was resting on. Or how dirty the place was...

Paul

The micro switches are quite large compared to now, Is that a Pot sticking up where the wheel should be? or is it an actuator for the center button?

Rene

That's assuming the model the OP likes is still available; I think he thought it wasn't, but someone here found them.

I share that hobby: I'll certainly spend more time than a thing is worth trying to fix it, if I think the fault is something simple: the throwaway philosophy bugs me. I'll admit, I give up a lot sooner now than I used to, though.

The IBM mouse above, the microswitches look "normal" sized to me.

The thing in the center, I had to use the mouse cover to guess at the function. It looks like a rubber nubbin, and that would make the thing on the PCB, some sort of 2D strain gauge.

But there's also what looks like a LED next to it, and the LED is not pointed in any specific direction. It could be for illuminating the rubber nubbin, as I don't see any other function it could carry out, considering the angle it is pointed.

This isn't the same item, but it's along the same lines. "Trackpoint mouse"

Paul

OK, that makes sense. Thanks.

Rene

You guys seem to be the type that would appreciate this:

John

I did, sadly.

A couple of minor netiquette matters: when you send someone an email as well as posting to a newsgroup, it's considered polite to indicate you're doing so - usually at the top of your post/email, such as by saying "(posted and emailed)". This is because lots of people read their email first, and reply to emails; if they then find the same thing has been posted, they find themselves having to say the same thing again. The other one: if you use a fake email address, especially in a private email, it's usually considered good form to highlight that you're doing so (usually just above the signature separator - something like "remove XYZ to reply"). Otherwise people might genuinely reply, possibly putting some effort in to it, only to receive a bounce.

Above two points intended to inform, not to reprimand.

No, to me, it would hardly matter whether it was still available. If my mouse died, and was no longer available, I'd find another one that was close enough to the old one, so I would like it just as much. I might even find a new one I liked more.

As an example of what I mean, earlier this year I used a Logitech M500 mouse which I liked very much. If it died, I would have replaced it with the same model, if it was still available. But then I was at someone's office and he was using an Anker 2.4G Wireless Vertical Ergonomic Optical Mouse. I tried it at his office and immediately liked it better than my Logitech, so I ordered one from Amazon ($20). It's now my favorite; I no longer use the Logitech.

Mice are no different from most other things. Newer models are usually better than older ones.

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philosophy

though.

That used to happen to me often, and it's the reason I switched from my real return address to a fake one. Some people would have send both an e-mail message and a newsgroup posting.

And my fake one is purposely a very obvious fake, to dissuade anyone from e-mailing me.

(You must be right-handed.)

So you're a replacer. Some of us see fixing things as a challenge - and one we enjoy, to some extent; there's great satisfaction, for us, in returning something to working order, especially if the fix was something trivial (especially if it wasn't obvious).

I don't deny that there comes a point where further effort is no longer enjoyable, and I just replace; that point varies depending on lots of things - the cost of the item, how much I like it anyway, my mood, and my age (I'm giving up sooner, or not starting at all, more as I age). If there's something, the use of which frustrates me, and it fails, I'll be delighted to have an excuse to replace it.

I don't mind them doing so - as long as they _say_ they are doing so, ideally as the first line!

Yours more than the one that provoked me into writing the above, certainly. Though sometimes I just hit reply without seeing where it's going, which is why I like a warning just above the .sig line; one I quite liked was someone who inserted dragon into the email address, and ended with "emulate St. George to reply", or something like that.

And I suspect you don't use the fudged one for private emails.

My whole life has been spent fixing things, 17 years as an Auto mechanic, 30 years as a Power engineer, Boilers, air handlers, pumps and fans plus many years concurrently as a sideline Doing radio, TV, computer and all other electronic repairs. So, Yeah, you might say I enjoy fixing things. Coincidentally a couple days ago my son complained that his Logitech M510 mouse was getting very stiff to turn the scroll wheel, naturally out came the screwdriver set and 2 screws under the AA cells had it apart. Well what I found was a pile of accumulated lint wrapped around the shaft of the wheel, Cleanded it all out and added a small shot of contact cleaner to the bearings and reassembled it and now it works like new again.

Rene

That's normal maintenance. Just like cleaning the gunk off the three bearing points on a trackball.

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their

I would certainly have minded less if they said so, but I would still prefer that they didn't.

You use Turnpike. I've never tried it and know nothing about. Might it send an e-mail reply rather than a newsgroup reply without your choosing to do so? I use Agent and it won't do that.

If that's not exactly right, it's very close. I've also seen her messages, in another newsgroup.

But she's inviting people to reply by e-mail, and with a very occasional exception, I don't want to do that.

No, of course not. It's only for newsgroups.

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Yes. It wouldn't work for a left-handed person. I don't know if there's a left-handed equivalent available.

I'm almost 82. When I was a lot younger, I used to like to repair some things, if I could. But I was generally poor at fixing most things.

I strongly agree with all of that.