Broken Mouse / Mouse Repair / Going through several mice a year

Hi. This thread is for people who go through mice quickly.

I find that with games that involve a lot of clicking, mice sometimes degrade over time. You'll click and use the mouse as normal, but instead of the computer registering one click, it might not register the click at all, or you might register two or more clicks per single click you make.

I've found a solution to that that might save you a few hundred bucks, depending on how often you buy mice, and how expensive they are.

This is a guide on how to take apart your mouse and clean the electrical contacts inside the button box on the circuit board.

You'll need:

> A mouse that still feels normal. (Meaning, your buttons still push down, reset to their original position, and make the clicking noise as you expect they should)

> A q-tip

> Isopropyl Alcohol (AKA Rubbing Alcohol) (Ideally at something like a 70-90% concentration. Lower concentrations will need more time to dry)

> A small Phillips screwdriver (any set of machine screwdrivers you can find in a computer store for $15 or less will have the right size. It'll also have other heads, in case your mouse uses different screws.)

> Strong, pointy toothpicks


Directions:

1. Unplug your mouse from the computer. Just to make sure nothing shorts out.

2. Use the toothpicks to run around the friction pads on the bottom of your mouse. You want to pry them up so that they can be removed.
> Use the toothpick to remove these pads. Don't just pry up a corner and then tear them off quickly with your fingers. If you do that, then you might not be able to put the pads back on afterwards. Remove the pads by rolling the toothpick under them. This will take a bit of patience and experimentation. It's possible to remove the pads with absolutely no glue remaining on the mouse, allowing for an easy return of the pads to the mouse afterwards.
> Place the friction pads off to the side, sticky side up if possible. Do not place them on a dusty surface, or on a surface that would leave fibers on them when removed. Do not place them on fabric. Sticking a tiny part of the sticker side onto the clean metal base of a lamp is okay, as long as you're sure you can remove all the sticky gunk afterwards.

3. With all the friction pads removed, you should see all the screws. Unscrew them.
> Save the screws! Try to make sure you know which screw goes with which hole, if you can.

4. Remove the top half of the mouse from the bottom half. If you can't gently pry them apart (possibly running a toothpick around the gap between the halves to widen them), then there may be another screw hidden behind a sticker on the bottom of the mouse.

5. [Locate the components] With the top of the mouse casing removed, you should see at least two black rectangular boxes around where the clicking buttons would be. These boxes have a small white bar across them that clicks when you press down on it.

6. Immerse the q-tip in the Isopropyl alcohol solution, then press down on the button on top of the box. Then click the button with the q-tip.
> The goal is to saturate the inside of the box with isopropyl alcohol to clean the electrical contact. Pressing the button wiggles the inside components and should make sure that the alcohol gets into all the little spaces and dislodges any dirt or grease in there.
> You may need to periodically re-saturate the q-tip in alcohol. You could try pouring some of it into a shot glass, only to a depth of the width of your pinkie finger. You don't need much.

7. Once you see some of the alcohol coming out of the bottom of the button box, give the button on top of the box a few more clicks for good luck, and let it dry.
> You can use the dry end of a q-tip to clean what you can. Be wary of leaving cotton fibers behind if you're rubbing it against rough stuff.
> The drying might take a few minutes, considering that there isn't much airflow inside the box. Give it around 10 minutes to be safe.

8. After it's had time to dry, place the mouse casing back on. Then, screw it back to lock it in place. Finally, take the friction pads you placed off to the side and place them back where they were before on the mouse.

9. Plug it back into the computer, and it should be almost as good as new!

Nice cleaning guide, but in my experience (so far) the mechanism goes FUBAR before it has a chance to get so dirty that a good cleaning could save it. YMMV.

Another cheap-ish solution would be to replace the switch (the little black box / clicking mechanism) in its entirety, if you're up to the task. I believe "Omron" is the brand of switch most big name mouse makers use, and it can be found at places like Amazon. Though I haven't had a chance to give it a go myself, so do your homework before trying something.

Also, DO NOT mess with a mouse that's still in warranty; let the professionals handle it FOR FREE. I know this is just common sense, but still think it's an important reminder.

All the times I can remember my mice failing, they still click. I saved my current mouse and my last mouse that died a few years ago and was stored in a box.

I assume "the mechanism goes FUBAR" means that the mouse no longer physically clicks. Do I have that right?

If the mouse is that far gone, then they'll need around $35 or so of equipment and not be afraid to un-solder things. That's asking for a bit more in technical skills from people.

I just happen to have a set of machine screwdrivers and have a habit of disassembling and cleaning my electronic peripherals once in a while, so this seemed like a simple thing to do. It's been helpful when I buy gamepads from secondhand stores, too. Sometimes, it's an easy fix, sometimes, it's just educational to take things apart.

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LipidSolvent wrote:

I assume "the mechanism goes FUBAR" means that the mouse no longer physically clicks. Do I have that right?

More or less. I meant that in my case, the metal parts inside the switch lost their elasticity / resistance which left me with these weird "ghost clicks" -- no clear line between clicked & non-clicked, resulting in repeated clicks while held down or on single click. Infuriating.


My recommended order of operations would be:

- Sending it in for repair (if it's in warranty)
- Cleaning the switch button
- Replacing the switch altogether
- Have it repaired (for $$$) or buy a new one.