Magic Mouse Loses Connection

I found a different issue though still battery related. The recessed (+ve) terminals are engineered for a certain width and depth of the battery positive terminal. My rechargable batteries (Ansmann 2800mAh) have a wider, shallower terminal and this is right at the limit of the engineering of the terminal recess. If I use regular alkaline batteries the terminal is taller and narrower, even though the battery itself is 2mm shorter than the Ansmann cells. Obviously cleaning terminals is always sensible but in my case there was a definite issue with the fit of the battery at the +ve end.

I suppose I could have put some aluminium foil into the recesses, cut back the plastic recess material (or even dabbed some solder onto the Ansmann cells, taking care not to get them too hot!) but in the end it was just as simple to switch to the disposable cells, of which I have a fair number.

I would guess the Apple rechargeable cells don't have this issue with the +ve terminals by design so getting them will likely be a good fix as well.

On a related note: Although there could be interference with an iPhone, Bluetooth is supposed to be able to cope with that and the iPhone wouldn't pair with a mouse anyway. If turning off BT on the phone works, or simply keeping the phone on the othe side of the desk then great, but the battery is a measurable problem you may have as well.

The terminal looks to be the same length. It's just that some batteries have a taller shoulder (for want of a better word) that has the same effect as if the terminal is shorter.

That explains why -

i) some batteries work fine and don't have the problem, and

ii) shoving some silver paper in cures the problem when using batteries that have the larger shoulder.

I've taken a photo of two batteries - one with, the other without, the nuisance shoulder.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/11373233/MacDiscussions/Magic%20Mouse%20fold er/Battery%20Tops1.tiff

Beats me why only rechargables have this thing to watch out for, not alkalines.

BTW - I also have a very small amount of Blu-Tack on the mouse cover over each battery to stop them moving when the mouse is moved. Not had in any trouble for several years now.

Message was edited by: El Deanio

I read in another forum listing that it is a problem with the design of the mouse. Some batteries are slightly smaller and rattle around, loosing contact. The fix is to jam a wad of paper between and under the batteries to keep them fixed in position. I had this problem and this solution fixed it instantly. How high tech can you get :-)

I find a little sausage of Blu-Tack under each battery sticks them into their cradles perfectly. Don't put padding on the outside, it will curve the access door outwards, making it more likely to drag on your desk and even get permanently out of shape. Just glue them in!

PROBLEM: The problem is that the batteries are wavering and losing touch, take a test by placing the mouse in front of a subwoofer with a loud song, the mouse will fail.

SOLUTION: Remove the cover of the mouse and place a folded piece of paper a few times on top of batteries, enough to increase the pressure between the cover and the batteries, thus eliminating any wobble. Ready!! Problem solved.

An error engineering that could be solved very simply by Apple engineers, it was enough that they would use the mouse for a few days to verify the problem.

After two years of reliable service my Magic Mouse started experiencing this same problem of losing it's Bluetooth connection. I tried a few solutions suggested on this board but none of them solved the problem permanently or for any substantial length of time. Finally I decided to try cleaning the battery contacts to see if that would solve the problem. I took the batteries out and cleaned the contacts using a Q-Tip and isopropyl alcohol. I cleaned the negative and positive terminals until I could feel some resistance from the contacts. When I finsihed I noticed there was a yellowish residue on the Q-Tip after cleaning. When I replaced the batteries in their compartment the green power light came on before I even had a chance to put the cover back on. It also regained it's Bluetooth connection in mere seconds and hasn't lost it since.

After one year my Magic Mouse starts to loose the connection to my 27" Mid-2011 iMac for about 10 seconds and then reconnects automatically. The Problem started after I bought a Magic Trackpad. However the Magic Mouse doesn't disconnect from my MacBook Air. I'm not using the MacBook and iMac simultaneously.

Don't fold the paper and wedge it betwwen the batteries there until you have tried this.

The problem can be caused by lint, interfering with the connection between the battery posts and the contacts in the mouse. Get out your bicycle light and shine it in the battery compartment: you will be amazed at the small debris you will find after a couple of years of use. Put a drop of alcohol or windex on a Que tip, squeeze the tip so there is no excess liquid, then gently clean the contacts. Inspect again with the light. Now shine the light on the batteries, because they attract lint as well. Wipe off the lent with a clean rag, then replace the batteries. Voila! A firm connection is reestablished.

I know this is a really old topic here, but I started having this problem recently, and the fix was really simple, at least for me. I was losing magic mouse connection constantly, looked at some of the solutions on the web but the answers sometimes had all the geeky mumbo-jumbo and I don't what they're talking about with all their initials (reset the PRAM whatever that is and others) . Actually, the problem is quite simple. Bad contacts in the mouse.

Just remove the batteries, look at the battery contacts in the mouse battery compartment. They should be nice and shiny. If not, just clean them with a toothpick (something not metallic that won't damage them) and then with a cotton swab. That's it. Put the batteries back in and back to work.

I am happy, happy, happy,

Since a couple of years (really) I tried to solve my magic mouse connection problems. I bought it a couple of years ago just out of emotions because I thought it was beautifull. And the second reason was that my earlier mighty mouse had connection problems sometimes. The disappointment was that the new magic mouse had the same problems. And Apple gave me a new one. Still the same problems. I read hours and hours on this discussion. Did everything to solve it.

-Bought any kind of new batteries

-Put everyting in the mouse to keep the batteries fixed

-Bought a lithium unit which was definitely more solid.

Finally I bought a new mouse with thread but it was much less comfortable in use than the magic mouse. So I made the conclusion that I did doing so many things on the mouse without any result, there must be a possibility that it was a problem of the internal bluetooth adapter. So I brought my 2007 Macbook to an Apple service center and the conclusion was indead that the internal bluetooth adapter was out of order. And they told me that a new internal bluetooth adapter cost me about € 60. After a few days came the disappointing message that there were no spareparts for my fantastic Macbook white of 2007 anymore. The only solution was buying a (very small and nice) USB bluetooth adapter and so I did and it cost me € 15,99. Plug and play and years of connection problems and spending a lot of worthless money were solved. Totally no disconnections anymore. This happened on my 66 birthday and never got a nicer present before.

I did not want to keep this story for myself.

So after a putting a lot of messages in this discussion and receiving lots of reactions, I say good buy to you all and wish you all a happy live with a fantastic health and lots of love and without any connection problems.

Excellent news.

Sadly recently I also found out about my iMac's apparent 'built-in obsolescence' - the hard way. A shady business practice the Automotive industry was once accused of. I couldn't get a new motherboard to solve a graphics glitch because the parts were no longer available.

Nowadays not being able to get parts for a car because it is over six years old is unheard of. Try doing that with a Mac - even though it cost (almost) as much as a car when new.

After a few weeks of annoyances i maybe found a really simple sollution for the fact that the Magic Mouse is constantly losing the connection. The problem are the batteries that are too narrow so the 'fall' down when you use the Magic Mouse and stop giving power. By putting a folded piece of paper between the batteries and the aluminum plate or simply by using soms thicker batteries the batteries stay in place and the problem should be solved.

Hope i could help someone!

No I am sorry, but I did everthing with the batteries, as you can read in my message of the 8th of february.

In the two months that I use the external USB bluetooth adapter now, I don't have any problems anymore.

The terminal plates for the positive end are held in place by minute plastic rivets. Careful teardown of the mouse revealed that one of these rivets had failed and the palte was moving slightly thereby breaking the connection. A spot of glue resolved the problem successfully. The mouse is not easy to access - it uses the infamous Apple adhesive to secure the alloy bottom!

Hi,

My Magic Mouse was loosing connection. But, now it seems to be working properly since I tried a simple repair.

I turned it off, removed the cover and batteries and cleaned the battery compartment with a compressed air bottle and q-tip. Before gently wiping the glass lens components with the q-tip, I noticed significant dust build up on them. Since re-assembling its parts and turning on the Magic Mouse, it seems to be working ok.