Cleaned Trackpad....doesn't work now??!!!

[sjjordan]

I'm about to send my powerbook off to a friend and cleaned the screen with a cleaning pack for electronic stuff. I gave a good wipe to the trackpad and now it doesn't work. The cursor just moves about 2 inches and then goes right back to the starting position.

Any clues?? Did some alcohol absorb and cause this? I've got an external mouse plugged in for now.

Any thoughts?

 

[MoparShaha]

Sometimes residue from cleaning products can get onto the trackpad, and block/interfere with it sensing your finger. Wipe it down with a damp cloth, and dry it.

 

[sjjordan]

I did. It still acts funny, but not as bad. I think that maybe it absorbed into the trackpad and I should wait a couple of hours and look for improvements.

 

[Powerbook G5]

One thing, sometimes when I touched my trackpad with damp fingers, it would act like that. Generally, I had to shut down, wipe off, then restart for it to work like normal. I'd say let it dry or wipe down but definitely shut down or restart because almost always I had to restart for it to work like normal. Just be careful because trackpads don't do well with moisture.

 

[RBMaraman]

It'll start working again in a few hours.

About a year and a half ago at 2am, I decided to clean my iBook's trackpad with some Windex. I then proceeded to have a nervous breakdown when my trackpad stopped functioning. Once I got myself calmed down, I decided to go to bed, and when I got up the next morning, my trackpad was working fine.