martyl@bucket.UUCP (Marty Lee) (09/04/87)
The wire that goes to the mouse button has decided to go open. Now the button will not work unless I wiggle the strain relief. After taking the mouse apart, it can only be in the strain relief. (I have a Mac+, the mouse is NOT an ADB type.) Any suggestions? Apple wants $100 for a new one! Any good second source mouses around? Thanks in advance, Marty Lee -- tektronix!reed!omen!bucket!martyl (Marty Lee)
preese@dewey.soe.berkeley.edu (Phil Reese) (09/05/87)
In article <486@bucket.UUCP> martyl@bucket.UUCP (Marty Lee) writes: > >The wire that goes to the mouse button has decided to go open. >Now the button will not work unless I wiggle the strain relief. I've had very good luck fixing flaky mouses. You need a bit of experience with a soldering iron and some electrical tape. All of the mouses that I've fixed have had one or more broken wires in or near the strain relief coming out of the mouse shell. The simple way is to disassemble the mouse and remove the wire from the mouse inards. Now carefully but firmly twist on the strain relief to move it up the cable. The strain releif is not permanent on the wire though it may seem that way on first attempt. Some lubricating oil, sparingly applied may help. Once the strain releif is further up the cable reconnect the mouse wire to the internals. Now by moving the mouse on a running Mac try to determine where the break is in that first 4-6" of wire. Pinpoint it and then dissassemble the wire again. Cut off the wire just above the break, strip the insulation back and strip each wire. On the piece cut off will be the connector for connecting to the socket in the mouse, carefully cut the wires near the socket and switch components. Leave enough room to strip the wires and solder and tape the joints, about 2+" is ok. Strip these wires and match colors with the long wire and solder the connections. Carefully tape each connection and test out the fixed wire. Did it work? Reassemble and happy mousing! Use this suggestion at your own risk! Not responsible for 'beyond repair mouses'. Phil Reese SESAME/School of Ed UC Berkeley preesse@violet.berkeley.edu
graifer@net1.ucsd.edu (Dan Graifer) (09/06/87)
In Article <20504@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU> preese@dewey.soe.berkeley.edu (Phil Reese) writes: >...The simple way is to disassemble the mouse... So how do you do this? I've tried removing the screw at the center bottom of the underside. But it wouldn't open. Do I have to peel off the serial number sticker to expose more screws? I didn't pry very hard, as I wasn't sure and I didn't want to break the case. Thanks in advance... Dan Graifer graifer@net1.UCSD.EDU Disclaimer: Nobody ever listens to me anyways; Why should they start now?
earleh@dartvax.UUCP (Earle R. Horton) (09/08/87)
In article <486@bucket.UUCP>, martyl@bucket.UUCP (Marty Lee) writes: > > The wire that goes to the mouse button has decided to go open. > Now the button will not work unless I wiggle the strain relief. > After taking the mouse apart, it can only be in the strain relief. > (I have a Mac+, the mouse is NOT an ADB type.) > > Any suggestions? Apple wants $100 for a new one! Any good > second source mouses around? The same thing happened to me about a month ago, only it was the ground wire instead of the switch wire. If you gently flex the strain relief, twist the cable around, etc. you can loosen up the cable in the strain relief after a few minutes work. Do this after removing the cable and strain relief from the mouse and unplugging from your Mac, of course. After you have the cable so you can slide it back and forth in the strain relief, pull/push a couple more inches into the strain relief. Some dish detergent may help here (do NOT use oil). Strip the cable casing back until you find the place where the wire is broken, and repair the wire. To avoid replacing the connectors on the unbroken wires, just route the extra length of wire around the inside of the mouse, tucking it in carefully so it doesn't interfere with anything else. You wind up with a mouse cable that is a couple inches shorter, but I hardly notice it with mine. -- ********************************************************************* *Earle R. Horton, H.B. 8000, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755 * *********************************************************************
russ@oakhill.UUCP (Russell Schwausch) (09/11/87)
In article <3796@sdcsvax.UCSD.EDU> graifer@net1.UUCP (Dan Graifer) writes: >>...The simple way is to disassemble the mouse... > >So how do you do this? I've tried removing the screw at the center bottom >of the underside. But it wouldn't open. Do I have to peel off the serial >number sticker to expose more screws? I didn't pry very hard, as I wasn't >sure and I didn't want to break the case. > >Thanks in advance... > Dan Graifer > graifer@net1.UCSD.EDU No, you don't have to peel anything. Warning! You can break your mouse if you force things. Yes, the mouse can be taken apart if you are careful. I have done it. Here's the trick. After removing the screw at the bottom of the mouse, pry the top and bottom of the housing apart just a LITTLE bit, less than 1/4 inch. (If you try to lift the top more than about 1/4 inch you will BREAK OFF some plastic tabs in the mouse and it will die a horrible death.) Now push the top housing toward the strain relief. I said gently! The top housing will pop free. Once you get one apart you can see how things work, clean the mouse's feet, oops rollers, and put it back together using the same procedure in reverse. This is the procedure for the newer Mac and Mac + mice with only one screw located at the opposite end of the mouse from the strain relief. I don't know anything about the older mice with two screws near the strain relief or the ADB mice on Mac SE's or Mac II's. By the way, I had a wire break on my mouse too. I opened the mouse, carefully slid the strain relief up the cable a couple of inches, slit open the cable, patched the broken wire with a half inch splice, closed things back up, and saved myself about $70 to $90. If this becomes a common failure mode, it would be nice for Apple to make available a replacement cable. The only replacement part currently available for the mouse is the ball. Geez, what are people doing to their mice, dragging them down the street behind their cars, using them on concrete desks, taking the ball out and playing with it, or what??? Is there an undocumented feature concerning the mouse ball that I don't know about? Seriously folks, the most obvious point of failure in a mouse seems to me to be metal fatigue in the cable and $70+ to fix a broken wire seems a lot like the Air Force paying hundreds of dollars for screws and diodes and such. So do us Mac fanatics right and give us genuine Apple replacement parts so we don't have to turn into hardware hackers ... disgusting. This has been part 14 of "As The Mouse Rolls". Tune in next week and hear the keyboard say "Keep your fingers off my ... ". -- Russell Schwausch, Motorola Inc., OakHill, Tx. (A suburb of Austin) UUCP: {harvard,ihnp4,seismo,gatech,nbires}..!ut-sally!oakhill!russ Ma Bell: (512)440-2426 It's a ticket agent, it's a fare collector, no ... it's SUPERCONDUCTORchan
graifer@net1.ucsd.edu (Dan Graifer) (09/12/87)
In article <979@oakhill.UUCP> russ@oakhill.UUCP (Russell Schwausch) writes: >... >By the way, I had a wire break on my mouse too. I opened the mouse, carefully >slid the strain relief up the cable a couple of inches, slit open the cable, >patched the broken wire with a half inch splice, closed things back up, and >saved myself about $70 to $90. If this becomes a common failure mode, it would >be nice for Apple to make available a replacement cable. >... >-- >Russell Schwausch, Motorola Inc., OakHill, Tx. (A suburb of Austin) >UUCP: {harvard,ihnp4,seismo,gatech,nbires}..!ut-sally!oakhill!russ A local electronic "junk house" here in San Diego has surplus "Apple Mouse Cables" that at least look like the one in my mouse. It don't remember the name of the store, but it is on Convoy St. in Kearny Mesa, right next to Little India restaraunt. If there is a lot of interest, I can get the name and address of the store, but I doubt if they mail order. Check out your local electronic surplus stores! Dan Graifer graifer@net1.UCSD.EDU Disclaimer: Nobody ever listens to me anyways; Why should they start now?