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Disassembling Mighty Mouse (wired)
- Thread starter Sesshi
- Start date
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You're in for a good time 
disassembly walkthrough - this one is special because it doesn't involve ruining the base ring.
Read through first - the mouse is glued together and not really intended to be opened.
disassembly walkthrough - this one is special because it doesn't involve ruining the base ring.
Read through first - the mouse is glued together and not really intended to be opened.
Sesshi said:
Yeh, dont!
I tried and its sealed all the way round and you cant disassemble it without breaking stuff inside. I think thats why when people have a MM problem Apple just replace it instead of fixing it. Plus I doubt there is any room to add anything if you could get in.
EDIT: Well I stand corrected! I couldnt figure it out with out breaking stuff.
How to take apart and re-assemble a mac mouse - I just did it
Okay. I have just successfully taken apart and re-assembled an Apple Mac mouse.
1. You need to take a butter knife and pry off the oval ring. Be sure you have superglue handy. It won't snap back on. You have to glue it.
2. Be careful not to remove the side buttons like I did. They are hard to get back on.
3. Be super careful not to separate the top and the base too far or else the ribbon wire will come undone (like I did) and it is real hard to plug it back into place.
4. You can take the screws out of the trackball unit. The ball won't come out very easily but you can still blow on the ball and get the dust out
To put back together:
1. If you accidentally removed the side-buttons you need to put them back on. There appears to be a very slight curve toward the front of the mouse so I believe each one can only go on it's own side of the mouse. Slightly unscrew the circuit board near the side-buttons so you can get the two notches on the two flanges that stick up. Be sure to re-tighten the screw(s).
2. If you accidentally unplugged the ribbon cable, firmly plug it back in being careful not to bend the cable.
3. Gently snap the top onto the bottom unit making sure the two plastic side pins snap into the two slots.
4. Be careful to put the cord into the proper alignment with the plastic slot.
4. Put LITTLE dabs of superglue on connection points of the big plastic oval ring that is visible from the outside bottom of the mouse. Then press and hold the oval ring onto the mouse.
If you have done it right, all should work.
Okay. I have just successfully taken apart and re-assembled an Apple Mac mouse.
1. You need to take a butter knife and pry off the oval ring. Be sure you have superglue handy. It won't snap back on. You have to glue it.
2. Be careful not to remove the side buttons like I did. They are hard to get back on.
3. Be super careful not to separate the top and the base too far or else the ribbon wire will come undone (like I did) and it is real hard to plug it back into place.
4. You can take the screws out of the trackball unit. The ball won't come out very easily but you can still blow on the ball and get the dust out
To put back together:
1. If you accidentally removed the side-buttons you need to put them back on. There appears to be a very slight curve toward the front of the mouse so I believe each one can only go on it's own side of the mouse. Slightly unscrew the circuit board near the side-buttons so you can get the two notches on the two flanges that stick up. Be sure to re-tighten the screw(s).
2. If you accidentally unplugged the ribbon cable, firmly plug it back in being careful not to bend the cable.
3. Gently snap the top onto the bottom unit making sure the two plastic side pins snap into the two slots.
4. Be careful to put the cord into the proper alignment with the plastic slot.
4. Put LITTLE dabs of superglue on connection points of the big plastic oval ring that is visible from the outside bottom of the mouse. Then press and hold the oval ring onto the mouse.
If you have done it right, all should work.
come on now
if you have 10 minutes, yes ten minutes, and the slightest bit on control of your hands with a butter knife and a screw driver, you can do this just fine. simply pry off the dark grey oval then carefully and slowly pry off the hard plastic white ring. as long as you dont go kimbo slice on it, it will come off in one piece. then tilt the gut down and unclip the hinge point. the ribbons come out like any other ribbon (and go back the same way). the track ball, after unscrewed, can be easily removed and cleaned by pulling the white retainer clip off. the real thing you need to clean are the little white rollers under the track ball, they tend to be caked in rubber and dead skin (awesome). then its a simple matter of working in reverse. super glue is needed to put the white oval back on, sorry.
if you have 10 minutes, yes ten minutes, and the slightest bit on control of your hands with a butter knife and a screw driver, you can do this just fine. simply pry off the dark grey oval then carefully and slowly pry off the hard plastic white ring. as long as you dont go kimbo slice on it, it will come off in one piece. then tilt the gut down and unclip the hinge point. the ribbons come out like any other ribbon (and go back the same way). the track ball, after unscrewed, can be easily removed and cleaned by pulling the white retainer clip off. the real thing you need to clean are the little white rollers under the track ball, they tend to be caked in rubber and dead skin (awesome). then its a simple matter of working in reverse. super glue is needed to put the white oval back on, sorry.
Why disassemble?
If you are going to disassemble your mouse to clean it, think again.
Yes, if you are careful and dextrous you can successfully disassemble and re-assemble it - with a risk of breaking the ring, unsightly over-glueing, etc.
And how long will it be before you have to do it all over again (hoping you didn't use too much glue the last time...)? 3 months?
I had the scroll problem and thought I'd have to disassemble, as my vigorous cleaning didn't work. I tried again, and now it's fine.
The process I used (found on the web) was to place a sheet of photocopy paper on a flat surface and rub the (up-side down) mouse scroll wheel over it in every direction - back & forth, side to side, clockwise circles, anti-clockwise - tilting the mouse at different angles. I was very vigorous.
You can see if it's working - the paper collects little dots of grunge. Keep going until the scroll wheel works or grunge stops coming out.
If it doesn't work the first time, keep trying. I did, and it saved me some fiddly work, some time, and the risk of wrecking the mouse.
If you are going to disassemble your mouse to clean it, think again.
Yes, if you are careful and dextrous you can successfully disassemble and re-assemble it - with a risk of breaking the ring, unsightly over-glueing, etc.
And how long will it be before you have to do it all over again (hoping you didn't use too much glue the last time...)? 3 months?
I had the scroll problem and thought I'd have to disassemble, as my vigorous cleaning didn't work. I tried again, and now it's fine.
The process I used (found on the web) was to place a sheet of photocopy paper on a flat surface and rub the (up-side down) mouse scroll wheel over it in every direction - back & forth, side to side, clockwise circles, anti-clockwise - tilting the mouse at different angles. I was very vigorous.
You can see if it's working - the paper collects little dots of grunge. Keep going until the scroll wheel works or grunge stops coming out.
If it doesn't work the first time, keep trying. I did, and it saved me some fiddly work, some time, and the risk of wrecking the mouse.
Disassemble because...
I would be skeptical about being able to thoroughly clean the trackball without disassemblng it.
After a year or so of constant use, I found that my trackball assembly had fibers actually wound around the rollers.
The only way to restore the original trackball feel was to take it apart and clean it, just like on this video:
http://technorati.com/videos/youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DJet7488UoSE
I would be skeptical about being able to thoroughly clean the trackball without disassemblng it.
After a year or so of constant use, I found that my trackball assembly had fibers actually wound around the rollers.
The only way to restore the original trackball feel was to take it apart and clean it, just like on this video:
http://technorati.com/videos/youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DJet7488UoSE
rub a dub dub...
worked a treat.. true, I had tried disassembly two or tree times prior to this, with mixed results and now own a fine collection of every mouse ever made... but this is so simple and non-invasive, I heartily give it three thumbs up... don't knows who the third thumb belongs to but I'm sure it will be fine.
...think again...
...a sheet of photocopy paper on a flat surface and rub the (up-side down) mouse scroll wheel over it in every direction...
worked a treat.. true, I had tried disassembly two or tree times prior to this, with mixed results and now own a fine collection of every mouse ever made... but this is so simple and non-invasive, I heartily give it three thumbs up... don't knows who the third thumb belongs to but I'm sure it will be fine.