Mouse silencing mod

[Easter]

I have a Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer 4. The left click mouse button was getting flaky - it often required a second click or harder press in order to register. I had two choices: 1) try to obtain a warranty replacement or try fixing it myself. Naturally I choose the latter. If anyone is interested, I'll try to host some pictures.

1) remove the bottom 2 pads and remove the screws underneath.
2) remove the bottom mouse assembly (don't try to remove the top)
3) locate the circuit board and remove the cables and the wheel assembly.
4) remove the board
5) desolder the switch (optional)
6) locate the 4 tiny plastic stubs flanking the switch and shave them off with a knife.
7) remove the top
8) parts in order from top to bottom: cover, black switch, rubber thing, metal disk, bottom assembly with contact.
9) I saw a white haze on the bottom of the metal disk and shaved it off with a knife.
10) applied some grease in between bottom assembly and the metal disk. I used a special grease whose designation eludes me, but it had the consistency of vaseline and is supposed to help conduction between mating metal contacts but it itself was not conductive. Note, the more goop that you apply, the more the sound and tactile sensation is dampened.
11) reassemble the switch assembly and attach the top back on (I used my fine solder gun tip to remelt the stubby posts a bit)
12) resolder back into board (optional)
13) reassemble mouse
14) Voila, enjoy a very quiet mouse. You literally have to hold the mouse to your ear in order to hear any sounds. It is more of a soft thump than a click. I attacked some self-adhesive foam tape to the plastic stump on the top assembly of the mouse in order to have any tactile sensation.


revised instructions for ease - no solder method

1) remove the bottom 2 pads and remove the screws underneath.
2) remove the bottom mouse assembly (don't try to remove the top)
3) locate the circuit board and remove the wheel assembly.
4) locate the 4 tiny plastic stubs flanking the switch and shave them off with a knife.
5) remove the top of the switch
6) parts in order from top to bottom: cover, black switch, rubber thing, metal disk, bottom assembly with contact.
7) If you see a white haze on the bottom of the metal disk, shaved it off with a knife.
8) applied some grease in between bottom assembly and the metal disk. I used a special grease whose designation eludes me, but it had the consistency of vaseline and is supposed to help conduction between mating metal contacts but it itself was not conductive. Note, the more goop that you apply, the more the sound and tactile sensation is dampened. Apply a tiny dab (1/2 the size of a grain of rice)
9) reassemble the switch assembly and attach the top back on - use soldering gun to melt the posts or use some glue
10) reassemble mouse

[Mar.]

I have also modded my mouse... I call it the "Get Rid of the Damn Annoying Taillight That Keeps Me Up At Night And Is Totally Unnecessary" mod.

1) Crack open the mouse.
2) Find the extra LED, and wrap it in electrical tape.
3) Build a sort of "skirt" around the optical sensor and its light, using electrical tape.
4) Put the mouse back together.

Build time: 2 mins

Works great, too.

[Ralf Hutter]

Come on man, we gotta have pics!

[rpsgc]

The left click mouse button was getting flaky - it often required a second click or harder press in order to register.

Hey man, I have the same problem but on the right mouse button! I'm using a Logitech MX510 and it just sucks... damn San Andreas!

And I don't even know how to open it!

[Vulcan]

The left click mouse button was getting flaky - it often required a second click or harder press in order to register.

Hey man, I have the same problem but on the right mouse button! I'm using a Logitech MX510 and it just sucks... damn San Andreas!

And I don't even know how to open it!

yep. Tell that to logitech. Acordign to them they "never" get problems with these mice , but somehow I managed to have 4 all with the same problem. the problem is that the mouse button clicks twice when you press it down. Sounds minor but it is highly anopying, ecspecialy on a mouse that cost 50.00 All of the mice developed this problem at some point, and I have spoken to people with mx700s and mx900s with the same problem.

Logitech replaced them all without a hassle (and very fast), you don't even have to send the defectivem cie to them! After the 4th replacement failed they began to give mea hard tiem and told me I would need to show them a proof of purchase and that they coudl only send me one more replacement.

I left my number and asked that a manager call me back. About a week later a manager called me, he was atleast willing to work with me. I told him I would send them 2 of the failed ones so they could check them out if they sent me a mx518. He agreed and said that he would cross ship the mx18.

I went ahead and bought a mx1000 because it has a different design (hopign it woudl prevent the failures.) as I was tired of the failing mx51X mice. I got the mx1000 on sale for 50.00, so I figured I could recover most of that by selling the mx518.

About a month later I still had no mx518 so I called them. They forgot to ship it out and they promised me it would be to me in a few days. Well, a few days later a box shows up... I open it up and its a mx510 (!) I call them up, they apologize for the mistake and tell me that a mx518 will be on its way to me soon. A few days later I get a package and its a "cordless mouse for notebooks"! I call up CS again and the lady had no idea why I had that mouse sent to me. She double checked everythign and confirmed I was still set to receive a mx518. Next day the mx518 (finaly) showed up.

wow. I think I may have been rambling a bit, so I hope you can understand it All in all I didn't make out too bad, I got a mx518 and two bonus mice (the mx510 and notebook mouse) I gave the notebook mouse to my mom and sold both the mx510 and mx518 on ebay. The person who bought the mx510 emailed me a day after they got it and reported that the left mouse button didn't feel right as it was harder to press and sometiems it clicked twice. Ugh, figures they contacted logitech for a replacement... Hopefully they have better luck than me.

I will post some info on how to take the 510 apart after I eat dinner.

[rpsgc]

I will post some info on how to take the 510 apart after I eat dinner.

Bring it on.

[peteamer]

Another 'Mod' that works very well with optical mice (IntelliMouse Explorer 3.0 here) is using a couple of stacked sheets of paper rather than a mouse mat or the desk. It provides a nice smooth surface for the mouse to glide on ehancing the 'feel' tremendously.

Nice shiny smooth 'Colour Copier' paper felt really svelte... However the surface was too smooth for the eye to 'bite' into resulting in a very erratic/unusable device...

Better results for the 'eye' are usually found with cheaper 'rougher' surfaced paper, though smoother gliding is lost...

As a copier engineer I have a plentifull and varied range of papers at customers to experiment with, though have yet to find really smooth and bite in a single paper...

Pete

[chylld]

i did a few mods to my mx700, so since ralf is so keen on pics i made a quick one of what i did. essentially my problems were:

1) main left button was too itchy, i.e. opposite of Easter's problem
2) battery cover was loose and rattled.
3) mouse makes a scratching noise when moved



(left to right, top to bottom)

1) take the cover off and batteries out
2) take out the screw inside the battery compartment
3) take out the screw from the top under the sticker. (don't have to peel the sticker back, just stick a screwdriver into the '+' and turn, the screw will come out)
4) pull it apart
5) pulled apart
6) here's the underside of the top part. the white 'I' in the centre of this image is the left click thing that reaches down to the button on the circuitboard. i put 2 thin strips of masking tape over the centre part of it, problem #1 solved
7) a piece of paper folded 8-thick, between the batteries and the battery cover to stop the rattling
8 ) it's the same size as the battery compartment (lucky). problem #2 solved
9) replaced the battery cover. notice that the sticker on the battery cover is removed, that was the cause of the scratching noise. problem #3 solved.

now my mouse is silent (or at least when it should be). hope this has been of use to someone

[E M F]

Another 'Mod' that works very well with optical mice (IntelliMouse Explorer 3.0 here) is using a couple of stacked sheets of paper rather than a mouse mat or the desk. It provides a nice smooth surface for the mouse to glide on ehancing the 'feel' tremendously.

I do much the same thing, save I use a top-adhered pad of fine-square quadrille drafting paper (10x10 per sq. inch). Very smooth, and the lines give the optics something to bite on.

[nomoon]

Would someone ellaborate on how they "cracked open" their Microsoft Mouse? I gave up trying to do that because it appeared that it wouldn't open without breaking. I managed to open up a Logitech farily easily.

I needed to find a hardware method of converting a right-handed mouse to a lefthanded mouse so that I could have simultaneous right and left handed mice via a spliter. I severed an electical trace on the Logitech's circuit board and jumpered it so that the button were reversed. I have now converted to a wireless mouse setup (I ABSOLETELY LOVE MY WIRELESS MOUSE AND KEYBOARD) and I'm looking for a way to do this for a MS mouse.

Jason

[peteamer]

Would someone ellaborate on how they "cracked open" their Microsoft Mouse?

Under it's paws ( ) are four screws, at least on my IntelliMouse Explorer 3....

Remove these and it will... 'fall' apart with a little bit of... 'shaking'.


Pete

[Mar.]

Would someone ellaborate on how they "cracked open" their Microsoft Mouse?

Under it's paws ( ) are four screws, at least on my IntelliMouse Explorer 3....

Remove these and it will... 'fall' apart with a little bit of... 'shaking'.


Pete

You have to take off those little black feet on the bottom, they peel off and don't worry, they go back on fine, at least once or twice. So don't go pulling them off and sticking the back on all the time, or something moronic like that.