Cleaning an Apple Mouse?

Question

Level 1

26 points

Cleaning an Apple Mouse?

My Apple Mouse apparently has a fine hair or something in it as it will not scroll DOWN. Scrolling up works normally.

In the past, I have remedied this problem by taking a lightly moist sponge and carefully brushing it over and over on the scroll button. Eventually, this has removed the offending obstruction and the mouse resumes normal operation. This time, no luck! I have temporarily replaced this mouse with clunky Logitech mouse that was sitting in a drawer. It works, of course, but has no appeal to me.

Is there a way to more thoroughly clean the Apple Mouse?

For the curious, I am pretty sure of the source of the hair particles - - - as I have a cat that lives to sit in front of my keyboard as I type.

iMac, Mac OS X (10.4.7), running Boot Camp

Posted on May 11, 2008 2:55 AM

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Answer 1

K Shaffer

Level 7

34,972 points

May 11, 2008 3:11 AM in response to NoBite

Maybe you can get the cute kitty cat to use its lil tongue to clean that
little roller thingie in the mouse?

Cats can be so unconcerned, however! 🙂

There are a few similar topics and suggestions in many results, here:

Cleaning Mighty Mouse roller ... - google search
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Cleaningthe+Mighty+Mouse+roller&btnG=GoogleSearch

Here's one that sounds more like a taxidermist's task; but it shows inside the mouse:

"Mighty Mouse gutting and cleaning" - creative bits
http://creativebits.org/toolbox/mightymouse_gutting_andcleaning

edited.

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Answer 2

lakeshore

Level 2

306 points

May 11, 2008 5:47 AM in response to K Shaffer

If your mouse is still under warranty, Apple will replace it, probably no questions asked because Apple knows this is a common problem.

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Answer 3

K Shaffer

Level 7

34,972 points

May 11, 2008 11:50 AM in response to NoBite

A non-invasive way to try and clean the Mighty Mouse can be read in this
Apple Document, which includes a demo .mov link; the article is titled:

"How to clean your Mighty Mouse"
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=302417

If your Mac product has no AppleCare protection coverage and you
need a quick fix, buying a new mouse is an answer; then if you do
decide to try and repair the mouse at your own risk, you may care-
fully try the disassembly page (has some images and comments)
linked to in my earlier post; some of the same instructions can be
found (including safety and warranty disclaimer) elsewhere online.

Another invasive and warranty breaking set of instructions, can be
found here: http://www.mightymouserepair.com/ (has images + .mov.)

Good luck & happy computing! 🙂

edited.

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