How do you clean mouse balls?
Mine keeps getting stuck, and I wiped the dusty-stuff away, but it doesn’t seem to help.
You left yourself wide open there Cran…
Slan,
D.
Well, it’s true. I can’t seem to make it roll smoothly. I used to have an optical one, but it broke.
Must… not… take… bait…
-
Turn the mouse over.
-
On the bottom of the mouse, there is a ring around the ball. Grasp the ring firmly and rotate to unlock, usually counterclockwise.
-
Put your hand under the mouse and turn the mouse over. The ring and the mouse ball should fall out.
-
I use tape to clean the ball itself; masking tape or duct tape work well. Just stick on and pull off until there is no more goop on the ball. If necessary, you can use soap and water, just be careful not to drop your ball down the drain.
-
Inside the mouse there are three rollers. Use a cotton swap moistened with alcohol to carefully clean the rollers. On some mice they are mounted on fairly delicate mechanisms, so be careful.
-
Allow any damp parts to dry, put the ball back in the mouse, replace the retaining ring, and rotate it to lock it in place.
-
That’s it. At this point if you’re still having trouble you’re unlikly to be able to fix it at home; I’d recommend just buying a new mouse at that point, as it’s cheaper than getting the old one fixed.
–James
Cran,
Let the mouse run free…
Slan,
D.
Argh! I just can’t stop myself!
Cran, responsible pet owners get rid of them altogether. Talk to your vet.
I knew it..I just knew it…
Slan,
D.
You all have dirty minds. Shame, shame, shame!
Cran, honey, in addition to James’s wonderful instructions, I’m going to add another.
If you’ve gotten all the dust off, but you’re still getting stuck, it’s probably another problem entirely.
When the ball and retaining ring are off the mouse, look inside. You’ll see a few rollers of varying sizes and colors. The ball turns those rollers.
On each roller, you may see a little dark line right in the middle. It’ll look like it’s supposed to be there. It’s not supposed to be there, though. It’s a build up of greasy dirt. It builds up where the ball contacts the roller and it’s usually so hard that even alcohol won’t remove it.
If you’ve ever used a mouse that “clicks” or “crunches” as you roll it–gets “stuck” or “hung up,” it’s usually because of those lines of dirt.
Scraping it off is a challenge, because the roller is going to roll, but you can do it bit by bit with a side-to-side motion. Grasping the roller gently with forceps or tweezers helps. Small, sharp knives work fine. Scrape off all the nasty goo, then clean the roller with alcohol on a Q-tip.
But at least I keep my balls clean. Mouse balls, that is. 
Cran has gone very quiet…he must be cleaning his PC accessory 
Slan,
D.
He’s probably traumatized, poor dear . . .
The Cranster is a lot tougher than you think..he’ll be back to defend himself soon enough..mark my words.
Slan,
D.
Don’t spray the insides of the mouse with WD-40. Mice don’t like the smell.
The other thing that breaks frequently on mice … mouses … meese … is where the cable comes out of the mouse. The wires inside are fragile (cheap) and break easily with folding/bending/stretching/straining … hmmm, when you think of all the things people do to their mice, its amaizing they’re still so prolific. 
If the wires are broken inside its time to buy a new one. Look for the optical sensor type, which are less prone to gunk-on-the-rollers syndrome, but they still enjoy getting their balls cleaned. 
djm
some scurrying is heard in the vicinity of the keyboard
[mouse]That’s a rather personal question, don’t you think?[/mouse]
Well, now you’ve done it. You’ve offended the Director of Quality Control.
Best wishes,
Jerry
Invest in an optical one. No fuss, no muss.
I used to have one, but it just stopped working all of a sudden.
That’s the downside, optical mice can be touchy. I’ve seen a couple that had “sudden death syndrome.”
On the flip side, though, my wife and I are using cordless Logitech optical mice that are at least a couple of years old now but are still going strong. I did have some trouble with the scroll wheel on mine, but I disassembled the mouse and removed the gunk that had accumulated around the scroll wheel. Good as new.
–James
I had an optical mouse at work, but I missed the sensual feel of the ball moving over the mouse pad and caressing the little rollers inside the mouse. I am more comfortable with mechanical objects that I can easily take apart and fix, like my old 56 Chevy that I drove for years. I wouldn’t dream of working on the engine of my car today.