Comments on: Revive Your Mighty Mouse Scroll Ball

By: Barry

Barry — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 16:57:31 +0000

OK I had tried the pressing down method … nothing happened , then went to your site and felt you gave me the back up to press down really hard . Yikes it worked …. Thanks for the support …. Barry

By: Brian

Brian — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 01:23:07 +0000

Another vote for the upside-down smush it on your desk for 5-10 seconds! Thanks!

By: Joao

Joao — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 11:24:03 +0000

It work perfectly thanks for the advice

By: Dan

Dan — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 00:07:54 +0000

Rolling around on paper worked, just had to get a little aggressive with it.

Best of Luck

By: oleg

oleg — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 09:52:42 +0000

Worked for me. Cheers

By: Mirko

Mirko — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 20:51:30 +0000

My mighty mouse stopped scrolling down after a few months, too, and after reading several of the posts here I simply decided to blow hard onto the scroll ball — and it did the trick

By: Charles

Charles — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 15:37:00 +0000

Having replaced 2 MM under guarantee rather than taking them apart - the second one the scroll ball was pushed down into the mouse from too much pressure while trying to clean it by rubbing upside-down on paper - I wasn’t too hopeful, but I lay a few sheets of white paper on the cloth that came with the computer (to provide a little cushioning) and after 10 minutes of rubbing the mouse upside-down in all directions the scroll-ball finally began working again.

By: OWEN

OWEN — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 22:20:58 +0000

Thanks a lot!:-D

By: dave

dave — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 07:34:57 +0000

The upside down trick works best.

By: Ramacher

Ramacher — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 21:56:36 +0000

Whichever method you use (wet ones, alcohol pad, damp cloth, etc) make sure its not too wet!

The apple store instructed me to lay down a alcohol pad and push the ball down onto it moving it in different directions. I did that and later noticed that clicking down on the ball wasn’t working. Rather than taking it in for a warranty replacement i decided to open it up.

I found that liquid had gotten inside and damaged the part that detects the clicking of the ball.

SO just a heads up i guess. Other than that, great tips.

By: Revive el Scroll de tu Mighty Mouse — maclatino.com

Revive el Scroll de tu Mighty Mouse — maclatino.com — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 15:23:13 +0000

[...] A mas de uno le ha pasado que la bolita (Scroll) de su mighty mouse deja de funcionar, ya en los foros hemos hablado del tema. Y bueno aquí una mas, con toallitas humedas antibacteriales se puede también y las conseguimos en cualquier farmacia o supermercado, ya me había olvidado pero las use en su tiempo y funcionan sin problemas, no tengas miedo de frotar la bolita con algo de fuerza que no le pasa nada, dale duro y veras que en nada tu Scroll vuelve a la vida. Vía | AppleBlog [...]

By: Aristotelis

Aristotelis — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 12:14:03 +0000

For me the upside down trick works very good, especially when I use the black piece of cloth that apple includes with every mac. Works even better if you spray on it some cleaning class spray

By: Craigiebaby

Craigiebaby — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 08:45:20 +0000

I’m on my fourth MM now - all have had to be replaced because of the scroll ball.
I’ve tried all methods of cleaning (don’t work) & if you take it apart - well… lets just say it’s never quite the same again.

Luckily - work pays for the new ones… : )

By: Kevin

Kevin — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 07:43:26 +0000

To all you posting up above about the mouse not registering right-clicking, it’s not a defect, it’s the way the mouse was engineered. Because of the pressure sensors on the left click spot, whenever there is a finger there, it will register it was a right click. You have to actually lift your finger off that side of the mouse for clicks on the right to register as a right-click. Try it.

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By: John Pash

John Pash — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 11:05:30 +0000

I’ve tried anything and everything to clean my mouse balls (I have two mice). What I’ve found that while the paper trick and the rubbing it on your leg trick and the compressed air trick do sometimes work, but are not a long term solution. You MUST take it apart at some time. The amount of gunk, oil and fibers clogging those tiny little magnet wheels could be rolled up and shaped into a mouse (the fuzzy kind). It was absolutely disgusting. And I’m not the type of person who has sweaty hands or eats at my computer. In fact, I’m a bit of a clean freak. So get out those razor blade and super glue and get ready for a long evening of squinting and cursing. But remember, the first time is the worst. It gets easier by the 5th operation.

By: Jasper

Jasper — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 09:28:04 +0000

Rub it on your jeans! It’s the only way!

(it probably isn’t the only way)

By: James Kendrick

James Kendrick — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 01:56:17 +0000

All you need is a blank piece of white paper:

http://www.jkontherun.com/2007/05/how_to_unstick_.html

By: Ben Drucker

Ben Drucker — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 00:39:51 +0000

I found cleaning with a microfiber cloth by putting a lot of pressure on the scroll ball and rubbing it back and forth kept the Mighty Mouse working, as long as I did it every one or two weeks. Sometimes I’d use some rubbing alchohol. After about 6 months, that didn’t even work. I took the mouse apart using some online instructions. The magnets around the scroll ball were so completely covered in dirt that they just looked like brown clumps, and none of the magnet was visible. I totally cleaned the magnets and the scroll ball, haphazardly put the mouse back together, and voila, it worked. It’s really not the scroll ball that’s getting the dirtiest, it’s the magnets. I guess when they are covered in ernough dirt they don’t work correctly.

I had to do this every 3 months to keep the scroll ball working. Eventually I got tired of it and bought a refurbished Logitech MX Revolution which cost me $40 at the time (They now run $60). I am much happier with the Logitech mouse, and my Mighty Mouse has now been sitting in a drawer for a few months.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 00:39:07 +0000

I have returned five or six Mighty Mouse™s for this very reason; Apple has always been great to replace it for free. However, the last time I called, I was given their *official* fix for this problem: denim.

You heard me right. Apple’s official response to the “dead scrollball” problem is to turn the mouse upside down and rub it briskly on a pair of jeans. And you know what? They’re right.

By: Ian

Ian — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 00:37:46 +0000

I used the paper method on two MM’s. In the end, I had to do it on a daily basis as It’d stop working over night for some reason.

Finally, on one of them, I totally screwed the mouse ball. It sat semi-depressed inside of its closure. Wouldn’t respond to scrolling or clicking.

I threw it away and purchased a (very ugly, non mac-like) Logitech scroll wheel mouse.

If you do use the paper method, this could happen to you too!

By: Jugger Grimrodd

Jugger Grimrodd — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 20:46:35 +0000

The “turn the mouse upside down and roll” trick has worked for me every time. It’s a solid product design with one flaw - Apple didn’t make it “Snack Proof”.

Damn my Cheezie/chip addiction!

By: Brian

Brian — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 20:36:58 +0000

Wow! Adam, thank you so much. I took a hard paper cover on the outside a magazine ( you know the type that ask you to resubscribe) and it works like a charm again. I thought it would never work again. Thank you! Thank you!

By: Ben

Ben — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 19:23:06 +0000

Wow! Thanks all for your comments, especially Adam. I chose a pad of softer paper and scrolled back and forth and around. Pressing really hard caused the dirt to reveal itself and now my ball scrolls good as new in all directions. No need to buy compressed air nor deconstruction tools. Yay!

By: Jay

Jay — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 19:05:18 +0000

I tried a bunch of things incl. opening up the mouse and hand cleaning the scroll ball.

Best fix for me is using a can of compressed air. Push down the button and a few nice blows of air and my MM works like a charm. I do have to repeat every couple of months though. But since it’s only a 1 minute job, it sure beats opening it up and dicking around with those damn small parts inside

By: Adam R.T. Smith

Adam R.T. Smith — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 18:28:42 +0000

Sick - I’ve been having this issue for a while.. totally thought it was never going to scroll downwards again! Nothing I tried worked… even the upside down on the paper thing.

After reading these comments - I tried again… and stuck with it this time, figuring it was this, which I felt like might break it at times, or get a new one. It took me a good 5 minutes of moving the mouse all over the place, upside-down scrollball to paper, before it started to work… just a bit, then more, then more… then good as new…

Thanks for this! I never knew how much I used the scrollball until it stopped working!

By: gp

gp — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 17:45:23 +0000

This worked for a while too on my MM, but after some months it was not enough. I’ve changed it with a new one, and still the same problem. Being frustrated, i’ve broken it all (now it is without the “ears” ) but i can open it everytime and do a well, deep cleaning iike any old mouse.

The big issue I have since always is that it is still too sensible to my finger “energy”: just put my finger very next to the cover (without touching it) and it starts clicking nevrotically. But it is just the sound, it does not anything on the computer. This seems to happen when the weather out is very dry - i guess, because I still have to figure out why it happens. It is so irritating, you cannot understand how sometimes i hate this mouse… but the feeling using it (when it reacts normally) is so good that I have still to find a better mouse.

By: Jamie Huskisson

Jamie Huskisson — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 17:44:17 +0000

@Josh - I wasn’t implying it, more of a joke. I’m just trying to say that a separate purchase isn’t necessary to clean the track ball Paper and some upside down madness always does the trick.

Being in the UK I’ve never heard of Wet Ones.

By: Karsten

Karsten — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 17:17:13 +0000

i also tried all of these but didn’t find any of them any satisfying. The only thing that helped was to open the mouse and clean the 4 scrollwheels manually. Doing this i realized that they were just to dirty for the other solutions to do the trick. However, if you clean the scrollwheels, please be careful when dealing with the “wires” inside. i had one of mine cut of somehow. i had to replace the mouse back then.

Karsten

By: Alex Muller

Alex Muller — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 17:05:22 +0000

I’ve tried compressed air, a knife, pushing and rolling, and I still find myself having to re-clean it every couple of weeks. Major pain.

By: Alex

Alex — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 16:50:55 +0000

@Ben

Don’t forget a scalpel with a long blade.
The ring around the underside is chemically glued to the mouse on more than eight points.
That was kinda tricky.
I’d suggest u try the sable brush and compressed air way first.

By: Jalopy

Jalopy — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 16:46:55 +0000

i keep a 2″ sable brush by my mouse’s side. when things get sticky, i brush around and under the ball. works better and more consistently than the ‘paper’ trick, and doesn’t introduce any liquids.

By: Ben

Ben — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 16:28:19 +0000

Other than the tape idea, I’ve tried all of these solutions and my MM still fails or struggles incredibly to scroll down, especially without clicking. Scrolling up never fails and is smooth as ever. Any other ideas would be appreciated. (Perhaps I need to get myself a nylon pry tool and open up.)

By: Adam

Adam — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 16:13:55 +0000

compressed air does the trick for me

By: Doug

Doug — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 16:13:18 +0000

@Brett: Mine does that too. It’s a real pain particularly in X11 stuff which doesn’t register the Crtl + left click.

The scroller stopped going upwards after about 4 weeks with mine - not too impressed about that. Hopefully some vigorous cleaning will do the trick.