Friday, September 12, 2008

For Mac Eyes Only Quick Tip Weekly - "Clean the Mighty Mouse Scroll Ball"

Quick Tip #025

Make your mouse Mighty once again! Tips for cleaning a gunked up scroll ball.

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FMEO-QTW025-091208 (5'00, 2.37MB, 64kbps)

3 comments:

Justin said...

Yesterday my mighty mouse decided it didn't want to scroll up anymore. This wasn't the first time, as I've had it for about a year and a half. I tried the Apple approved method of rolling it upside down on a microfiber cloth. I sprayed it with compressed air. I rolled it on paper, I even "gasp" lightly moistened a microfiber cloth with alchohol and rubbed the ball along it but nothing seemed to work. It seemed like my Mighty Mouse was done for. After getting frustrated with spending almost 2 hours trying to get it fixed, I determined it was hopeless and went to bed. When I got up, I decided to tear it apart and see what was clogging the ball, and see if I could fix it. I found the hardest part was seperating the grey base from the mouse, this took a little more pressure than I thought it would. I was successful with a thin exacto knife. Then I seperated the top from the bottom and found the box where the ball is housed. I opened this and found gunk on all four sensors. I cleaned all four and put the mouse back together. I put a small dab of superglue on each end of the grey casing and put the batteries back in the mouse. It worked just like new and you can't even tell that I took it apart. The whole "Operation" only took about 5-7 minutes. The next time my mouse decides it doesn't want to scroll I know what I'm going to do.

Mike, ESC!Cast Network said...

Glad you're scrolling again Justin!

Taking apart the Mighty Mouse is certainly one way to clean all the gunk out, but obviously I can't condone anyone take apart their $69 mouse to clean it. :)

Fair warning: Disassembling the Mighty Mouse does void the warranty and it may very well not work again when put back together.

Speaking of warranties, I didn't mention this in the tip, but it's worth pointing out that the Mighty Mouse IS covered by your Mac's Apple Care if it shipped with your Mac (both wired and wireless) and I have had success getting it replaced by Apple when the normal methods of cleaning don't work.

Justin said...

Mike,

Very good point. I did know that opening the mouse would void the warranty, but since it was out of warranty (and out of commission) I took the risk. I wouldn't have taken it apart if it was still under warranty.