Magic Mouse Loses Connection

I am very sorry to know that, because i have produced more with my mac in 3 months than I did with my PC in three years. So I can only encourage you to persist in getting a replacement. As for the the not-so-magic mouse I eventually decided to try Duracell batteries instead of the rechargeables I got with my MMouse charger, and it has not let me down since. Even if I close my MacBook Pro and open it hours later the mouse is ready to go. I dont even bother to turn the mouse off when not in use. I cant see a reported difference in the length of the positive Duracell battery terminal/nodule when comparing it to other AA batteries but all I need to know is that Duracell batteries made all my MM problems disappear. As a creative type I suggest you do everything you can to get your Mac replaced, it will be worth it.

animist08 wrote:

...I cant see a reported difference in the length of the positive Duracell battery terminal/nodule when comparing it to other AA batteries but all I need to know is that Duracell batteries made all my MM problems disappear...

Hi animist08

It's not the length of the positive terminal as such, it's the height of the shoulder of the can surrounding the +ve terminal that varies between battery type and make. All Apple needs to do is make the black plastic 'bulkhead' between the battery compartment of the MM and the +ve contacts slightly thinner to accommodate all types and makes of battery.

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/11373233/MacDiscussions/Magic%20Mouse%20folder/Battery% 20Tops1.pdf

See my photo. The rechargable battery on the right of the photo clearly shows a raised (like a shrugged) shoulder where the can has been pinched. This stops the +ve terminal protruding through the hole in the plastic bulkhead as far as it needs to.

When purchasing batteries in a shop, one can carefully look at the batteries to assess the height of the shoulder - best done when comparing one that you have already that you know doesn't have this raised shoulder.

Of course, this can be quite difficult to check in the shops not only because the difference is very slight, but also because the batteries will no doubt be wrapped in plastic packing (if they are visible at all). But its worth trying and, if you find a make of rechargables that don't have this shoulder and thus work, then you can stick with them.

Here's another photo of these batteries

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/11373233/MacDiscussions/Magic%20Mouse%20folder/Result.j pg

This time the cell on the far right is (yes, you guessed it) a Duracell. No one seems to have trouble with these

Message was edited by: El Deanio

slothead wrote:

Not so folks. Duracells are all I use and I have problems every other month or so.

Try setting your MM as a 'Bluetooth Favourite' in the Bluetooth Prefs Panel. But honestly your problem (if indeed you have one) could be due to any number of reasons not necessarily battery related. Why not give some information about you system? No one here is psychic after all.

Today I'm unsubscribing from this Magic Mouse post because I found that Duracell batteries did indeed solve all my problems. Prior to using Duracells I had all the classic Magic Mouse connection issues. I did the folded paper thing, I ensured a snug battery fit, I used batteries with reduced shoulders (so the positive end made good contact). If you haven't done so, at least try Duracell AA batteries. I still don't know why, and I don't care to. I'm just happy that I never turn my Magic Mouse off and it still works immediately. Thanks little Duracell bunny.

You may not see this unless you actually hung around (rather than immediately unsubbing), but I think you will be unpleasantly surprised. The Duracells don't always work for me (well enough that I can live with them, but I still get the ocassional disconnect) but YMMV. Good luck.

animist08 wrote:

Today I'm unsubscribing from this Magic Mouse post because I found that Duracell batteries did indeed solve all my problems. Prior to using Duracells I had all the classic Magic Mouse connection issues. I did the folded paper thing, I ensured a snug battery fit, I used batteries with reduced shoulders (so the positive end made good contact). If you haven't done so, at least try Duracell AA batteries. I still don't know why, and I don't care to. I'm just happy that I never turn my Magic Mouse off and it still works immediately. Thanks little Duracell bunny.

Did you see my photo? A duracell is like the smaller one on the left.

Yep, that's true. I might have only have 1 disconnect a month but I usually find that only happens when the battery dips below 15%. Maybe the Duracells have more of a consistent power delivery to keep Bluetooth working 95% of the time, maybe they experience less drain, maybe Apple Labs designed,built & tested the MM using Duracells, it doesn't matter. People: if you're having problems with your MM try Duracells and fit them snugly because I think the folded paper thing is relevant. It's worth paying the extra for minimal anxiety.

This is driving me crazy. I've tried various suggestions here, but nothing is working. I've lost my mouse connection 5 times already today (and had to reboot to get it back).

I really think the "solution" is for Apple to make a wired version of this mouse, because their Bluetooth approach simply doesn't work.

I recently had to replace the original batteries in my Magic Mouse. I had never had connection dropout problems with the batteries that came with the mouse, but after putting in a fresh set of Eveready Super Heavy Duty (black) batteries, I started having dropouts that were so frequent that the mouse became unusable and I resorted to the trackpad.

I search the net and found the numerous references to the problem being caused by the batteries making a poor connection to the terminals, and the use of paper, tin foil etc to improve the connection.

This got me wondering and I decided to change to a heavier duty battery, and installed new Energizer batteries instead. Since then I haven't had any problems.

I then went back and compared the Energizer and Eveready batteries to see if I could work out what the difference was. It was immediately apparent. When putting the two batteries side by side, the Energizer batteries are easily 2mm longer than the Eveready batteries. This will account for a much more solid and stable connection between the battery and the terminal.

I strongly recommend the Energizer battery ... and this may account for why the Duracell battery seems to be a reasonable fix as well.

I just can't accept the idea of using a specific type of batteries after paying a fortune to a mouse. I sent my Magic Mouse back to Apple and it turned back perfectly working with any batteries though it took 2 months in the service.

Can we please end this discussion? We all know the bottom line:

The battery compartment is not properly designed. The positive contact in the battery compartment is to deep for all AA batteries to make continuous contact. The batteries (if not manufactured with long positive terminals) have to be exactly positioned to prevent some random movements of the battery from causing an interruption of the necessary contact. Apple makes mistakes too and they also can't control the manufacturing tolerances of all AA bateries.

Personally I am unsubbing from this thread because I am tired of hearing everyone's input (that always seems to end up saying the same thing. Maybe if enough of us unsub, it will just go away (there is much less of a chance that Apple will ever get the message that they need to better design the battery comparment of the mouse - even though all they have to do is thin the plastic that separates the battery from the positive mouse contact).

Bye-bye.

slothead wrote:

Can we please end this discussion? We all know the bottom line:

The battery compartment is not properly designed. The positive contact in the battery compartment is to deep for all AA batteries to make continuous contact. The batteries (if not manufactured with long positive terminals) have to be exactly positioned to prevent some random movements of the battery from causing an interruption of the necessary contact. Apple makes mistakes too and they also can't control the manufacturing tolerances of all AA bateries.

Personally I am unsubbing from this thread because I am tired of hearing everyone's input (that always seems to end up saying the same thing. Maybe if enough of us unsub, it will just go away (there is much less of a chance that Apple will ever get the message that they need to better design the battery comparment of the mouse - even though all they have to do is thin the plastic that separates the battery from the positive mouse contact).

Bye-bye.

I agree with you, Slothead. I posted an explanation and solution right near the beginning of this thread and in at least one other thread too. The trouble is this thread is so long now, either nobody has the time or they don't have the inclination to read all the way through this huge thread to find such nuggets of information. So they just see the junk (for want of a better word really - no offence intended) at the end. So, rather than post here, perhaps one might better off starting one's own thread. It's a shame one can't bookmark or, better still, link to individual posts for later reference.

I think ChadwickS's suggestion has a lot of merit.

I know that the voltage numbers don't always indicate the amount of actual power, but lots Mac of connection problems -- with devices that are set up and functioning normally -- are related to power. This has always been a problem with USB, for example.

Rechargeable AAs with 1.5 volts are availabke online. I'm going to try a couple of those.

Thank-you, I read through the first few posts and then went and put new batteries also in my key board as well as my mouse - problem solved, the low connection in my keyboard was stuffing up my mouse - thank-you everybody

This happened to me a lot until I discovered that it only occurred when I tilted the mouse up at an angle after trying to bring it back to the center of my mouse pad. With the new 27" screen, my mouse pad is not large enough for me to span the length of my screen.

Try keeping your mouse completely flat on your mouse pad. If you have to lift it, keep it level.