Apple Mouse scroll ball not working

Question

Level 1

61 points

Apple Mouse scroll ball not working

I am have an extremely hard time keeping a mouse on my computer with working scroll ball. I just attached my SIXTH Apple Mouse to my three year old iMac 20" and every one of them the Scroll Ball ceases to work. I have attempted to clean the ball using the micro-fiber cloth (I have two from two different peieces of equipment) and they do absolutely NOTHING whatsoever to aleviating the situation even though the BALL looks clean under an 8X 8" lighted jewelers magnifyer.

The problem here in El Paso, Texas is the extremely fine dust that can filter through the finest of hairline crack. I suspect this is what has happened with this dust accummulating on the contacts for the ball and there is no way to clean that area without destroying the mouse. BTW. I also had the same problem with a PC style mouse on my old iMac Flat Panel (Dome) maching but I could open those up and clean them quite easily.

Will there ever be a mouse that will last more than six months in this kind of atmosphere?

Sparkgapper

iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.7), Intel Duo 20" flatpanel

Posted on Jan 20, 2012 12:56 PM

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Answer 1

fvd

Level 1

8 points

Jan 20, 2012 1:44 PM in response to Sparkgapper

This may help. Try a clean, lintless cloth dipped in rubbing alcohol and clean the ball. This was done for me at an Apple store, and I have done it several times myself. It works for me.

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Answer 2

Jan 20, 2012 1:46 PM in response to Sparkgapper

I suffered for years with the ame kind of problem you're having with the ball mice. I finally bit the bullet and purchased a laser based mouse (obviously non-Apple brand) from Logitech and I've been a very happy camper for years now. It never stops working properly.

Hope this helps 🙂

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Answer 3

Sparkgapper Author

Level 1

61 points

Jan 20, 2012 3:28 PM in response to fvd

I'll give that a try as soon as I can get come alcohol and will use one of my MicroFiber cloths as that is about as lintless as you can get.

Sparkgapper

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Answer 4

Sparkgapper Author

Level 1

61 points

Jan 20, 2012 3:31 PM in response to Radiation Mac

Mac: I have already TRIED that gemick as you should have read. The problem is the atmosphere here at 4000 feet desert country where wind can whip up a dust storm in a hurry and that dust is so fin you can only see it when it comvera a large area then it looks, but not smell, like your SF Smog and just as penetrating.

sparkgapper

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Answer 5

Asatoran

Level 4

2,532 points

Jan 20, 2012 4:25 PM in response to Sparkgapper

See if the isopropyl alcohol trick I mention in this thread works for you. What I describe has saved my mother's Apple mouse several times.

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Answer 6

Sparkgapper Author

Level 1

61 points

Jan 22, 2012 6:33 PM in response to Asatoran

No JOY! Absolutely NO up/down scroll whatsoever but can feel a tiny bid of what feels like scrapping so suspect the inside area is totally jammed in these directions. Right-Left are good . I have spend quite some time with the Isopropyl Alcohol on a small MicroFiber cloth that looks lint free. About the only thing left to try would be to see if I could get a little bit of the Alcohol inside to see if that could loosen it but then that would probably not work as there would be no place for whatever it is (microfine dust probably stuck together with oil from my finger) to go and nothing to removed it from whatever it is stuck to. The problem here in El Paso is two fold. First is the micro fine dust the wind whips up anytime there are gusts above 20 MPH and second the extremely low normal humidity, 20-25% is normal and I have only seen it over 50% ONE time in 2006 when we got five years of rainfall in one day that is being called our "100 year flood".

sparkgapper

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Answer 7

fvd

Level 1

8 points

Jan 23, 2012 5:30 AM in response to Sparkgapper

While I advocated here the rubbing alcohol approach, still, from time to time, I still do have the "up-down" problems--probably as dirt and finger oils accumulate on the ball. I would definitely look into it (and I may as well) the suggestion made in this thread by Radiation Mac. Check out a reliable non-Apple mouse such as that made by Logitech. See if you can investigate its use in the climate you are in. After all, the mouse (regardless of the brand) is central to your computer use.

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Answer 8

jhanri

Level 1

0 points

Jun 13, 2012 9:42 AM in response to Sparkgapper

hello! Thank you for your comments and discussion here! 🙂 I have had the same problem a minute ago, and while searching, i found this discussion, and applied the tips IMMEDIATELY.

What worked for me is, using an alcohol, i put a small amount on a lint.free cloth and rubbed the ball (by turning the mouse upside down) onto the damp cloth thoroughly.. (of course i removed it from the usb port)... I tried this several times. At first, only the upward scroll works but not smooth.. I tried again, and again until both scroll motions worked smooth..

Thank you mates! 🙂

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