1. Home
  2. General Electronics
  3. Cure for Mouse Probs

Cure for Mouse Probs

My mouse was giving me problems, the left switch was double clicking when it wasn't supposed to, and getting bitchy and a bit harder to click. A few days ago I opened it up and replaced both switches with ones I scrounged out of old meeces; no, not the left or rights, which I threw away, but the center switch which gets seldom used. While I was at it I cleaned out the dust bunnies and gunk from the rollers and ball, etc.

I put it together and used it for a day or two, but the left sw was still bitchy and double clicking. So I pulled it apart again and took a look at the top half, with the buttons that press against the switches. Looked like there was some depression or wear in the plastic tabs, so I removed the left sw and replaced it with another, but this time I soldered it in just a bit off the PCB, so that it has a bit more height.

I put it back together and it works a whole lot better. I guess the plastic on the buttons was getting worn and the added height made all the difference. So I figured that I might save someone a few hassles and let them know that sometimes the switch may not be the problem or the whole problem, there might be a problem with wear on the plastic buttons.

But then many people may consider the mouse as a consumable and just toss it and buy a new one. Whatever makes your day..

Oh, BTW, some of the meece, like microsloth, may look like they're impossible to get apart. That's because they hide the screwhole underneath one of the slider pads on the bottom, so if you peel up the slider pad, you can get to the screw(s). Then replace it when you're done. Just another hint..

-- @@F@r@o@m@@O@r@a@n@g@e@@C@o@u@n@t@y@,@@C@a@l@,@@w@h@e@r@e@@ ###Got a Question about ELECTRONICS? Check HERE First:###

formatting link
My email address is whitelisted. *All* email sent to it goes directly to the trash unless you add NOSPAM in the Subject: line with other stuff. alondra101 hotmail.com Don't be ripped off by the big book dealers. Go to the URL that will give you a choice and save you money(up to half).
formatting link
You'll be glad you did! Just when you thought you had all this figured out, the gov't changed it:
formatting link

Reply to
Watson A.Name - "Watt Sun, th
Loading thread data ...
[snip]
[snip]

When I find a mouse I like (like my current Logitech Wireless Wheel Mouse). I just buy a few extras.

They're no longer available but I still have one spare on the shelf.

(I use a mouse so much, drawing schematics, that I wear out the skid pads long before the switches go ratty :)

The new Wireless *Optical* looks enticing.

...Jim Thompson

--
|  James E.Thompson, P.E.                           |    mens     |
|  Analog Innovations, Inc.                         |     et      |
|  Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems  |    manus    |
|  Phoenix, Arizona            Voice:(480)460-2350  |             |
|  E-mail Address at Website     Fax:(480)460-2142  |  Brass Rat  |
|       http://www.analog-innovations.com           |    1962     |
             
I love to cook with wine.      Sometimes I even put it in the food.
Reply to
Jim Thompson

We use track balls almost exclusively. They were easier for the kids to learn than mice, and _much_ easier to clean when they get gunked up with peanut butter & jelly.

Track balls also go well with the Dvorak keyboard in a corporate environment -- not only will they speed up your work by a few percent once you get used to them, but the IT folk will _never_ just sit down and start using your machine.

--

Tim Wescott
Wescott Design Services
http://www.wescottdesign.com
Reply to
Tim Wescott

Ya got TOOOOOOO much time on your hands! for a 3 buck replacement from goodwill, you did 25 bucks worth of work. My time is much more valuble than that. PLUS I use a marble (not a track ball) .. you clean or fix it with your FINGER most of the time!

Reply to
oldsoundguy

Yeah, I use one of those optical meeces at work. They're fine, but every once in a while the cursor of that one jumps half a page, and I have to scoot it back down. I've kpt the mouse pad clean, and all that stuff. I think the mouse gets some kind of reflection or whatever and in the confusion just puts out a lotta junk.

But what's cool about opticals is that you can use your pant leg for a mouse pad, so if you're using a laptop somewhere where there's no table, it's easy to do. Like when I'm up on a ladder with the laptop plugged into a port on the cisco switch, in a cabinet, in a closet..

Reply to
Watson A.Name - "Watt Sun, th

to

with

We had one PC that was kind of like a community PC, so a couple guys tried that shenanigan. Since we had a lot of dead keyboards with coffee or whateer spilled in them, they even pulled the keycaps off a bunch and made every key the same letter to confuse people. I plugged another keyboard in and avoided their shens. They got PO'd and changed the keycaps to spell F--- YOU for awhile, but I still just pulled out the spare keyboard and plugged it in. ;-)

Reply to
Watson A.Name - "Watt Sun, th

Who said anything about changing the keycaps? I use a QWERTY keyboard but have Windows mapped to Dvorak. About the only thing that's slower to spell is "QWERTY".

--

Tim Wescott
Wescott Design Services
http://www.wescottdesign.com
Reply to
Tim Wescott

The thrill of victory is worth much more than $25. :)

--- sam | Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ Home Page:

formatting link
Repair | Main Table of Contents:
formatting link

+Lasers | Sam's Laser FAQ:
formatting link
| Mirror Site Info:
formatting link

Important: Anything sent to the email address in the message header is ignored. To contact me, please use the feedback form on the S.E.R FAQ Web sites.

Reply to
Sam Goldwasser

A guy in the shop just got one, and it's actually quite nice. The first time you use it, you notice the weight of the batteries, but you get used to that in less than a second. And the wirelessness is definitely handy.

Cheers! Rich

Reply to
Rich Grise

Yup. Been there; done that. With the Logitech Mouseman Wheel that came with my sister's Gateway(?) She had called tech support and they sent her another. I grabbed to old one and opened it for study.

Just as you reported, the plastic that the microsw actuator bears against (underside of the button) had been dimpled. Somebody had

*pounded* that mouse! Maybe two teenage boys and a pre-teen boy? Ya think? I smoothed the dimple just a tad, filled it with plastic filings from an unobtrusive spot inside the mouse and heated with soldering iron (then polished), slightly flattened the actuator so that it was no longer pointy, and .. shazam! ... got me a wheel mouse. Which I am using now and which has worked flawlessly these past 24 months.

I'm with you, Watson; hate to just toss stuff. (The PC I'm using right now was rescued from trash pickup. 300 MHz; 64MB; 6GB)

Reply to
Michael

ElectronDepot website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.