My Magic Mouse has gone insane

[Silly John Fatty]

So I have the Magic Mouse that still runs on batteries, and I noticed I couldn't push one of the batteries entirely inside the bay, otherwise there would be a contact issue and the mouse wouldn't turn on.

This also means I can't close the lid, so I basically use it without the lid.

I've read somewhere that this is a common problem, has anyone else had this issue?

I feel like I don't have it with some batteries. And sometimes, with some batteries, I can have it both working and not working sometimes (i.e. having the contact issue I mean).

In addition to that, it has also started lagging recently. It works flawlessly when I use it on my jogging pants. But on the table, it starts to lag. Nothing has changed, the table is clean and the lens too. Why doesn't it like my desktop anymore?

I'm thinking of selling the mouse but I want to make sure it works before passing it to someone else. Any suggestions what I could do?

 

[DeltaMac]

What type of table top do you have? Dark? Light colored? glass?
Any improvement or change when you use a mouse pad?
(A mouse pad CAN be just a plain sheet of paper, just something that "interferes" with a bare tabletop.)

Is the battery problem always in the same battery position?
Have you ever had a leaking battery in this mouse?

 

[Silly John Fatty]

What type of table top do you have? Dark? Light colored? glass?
Any improvement or change when you use a mouse pad?
(A mouse pad CAN be just a plain sheet of paper, just something that "interferes" with a bare tabletop.)

Is the battery problem always in the same battery position?
Have you ever had a leaking battery in this mouse?

It's a light wooden table and I've used it with this mouse for surely ten or fifteen years.

I just tested the mouse on a book and it's suddenly super smooth. I don't know what happened. I've always had this desktop and this mouse.

The battery problem is *pretty much* always in the same position. Sometimes it can vary, but not really. I have to pull one of the batteries slightly out. Therefore, I also can not close the lid (otherwise I'd have to push the battery inside completely, and then it doesn't work).

I'm not sure if I've ever had a leaking battery with this mouse tbh, but I'm pretty sure I didn't.

And this is a fairly recent issue, and I definitely did not have leaking batterie issues this year.

 

[DeltaMac]

I suspect that your fairly-recent change to noticeable lagging might be related to using the mouse without the bottom cover in place. I'm thinking that causes the laser to "leak" a little, resulting in a loss of focus to some degree. So, an issue that has always existed with using the mouse on your table, but now more noticeable due to the slight modification to the opening where the laser is located.
Have you tried cleaning the battery contacts, particularly the contacts for the positive (+) ends?
I would try a cotton swab, moistened with 90% alchohol (not drippping, just moist.)
Do the battery contacts appear to be mechanically good?
Which end of the battery has to be "out of position" to make the mouse work?

 

[Silly John Fatty]

I suspect that your fairly-recent change to noticeable lagging might be related to using the mouse without the bottom cover in place. I'm thinking that causes the laser to "leak" a little, resulting in a loss of focus to some degree. So, an issue that has always existed with using the mouse on your table, but now more noticeable due to the slight modification to the opening where the laser is located.
Have you tried cleaning the battery contacts, particularly the contacts for the positive (+) ends?
I would try a cotton swab, moistened with 90% alchohol (not drippping, just moist.)
Do the battery contacts appear to be mechanically good?
Which end of the battery has to be "out of position" to make the mouse work?

I've had the lid open for months, but this issue has been appearing for a week, so I don't think it's the lid.

I haven't tried cleaning the contacts, but that sounds like a good idea, thanks for the advice!

The contacts appear to be mechanically good otherwise, I figured I may have strained them however when taking the batteries out: Since I'm having a hard time taking them out from the (+) first, I'd usually first drag out the (-) side first.

I don't know why, but it works better on the Magic Mouse. And that may have damaged the contacts mechanically over time.

And that is also where the bad contact seems to be, on the (-) side of one of the batteries. So that's where I raise the battery a little.

 

[xraydoc]

I would use this opportunity to replace the Magic Mouse with anything else.

(if you like it, that's fine. just making jokes since the Magic Mouse is thought by many to be horribly uncomfortable)

 

[DeltaMac]

?
I tried removing batteries from my mighty mouse. My removal steps are different from yours.
The (-) contacts are spring-loaded, so my normal process is to "pull" the battery into the negative contacts (compressing that negative contact), which frees the positive contact. That positive end simply pulls up and the battery comes out.
No "dragging" involved.
How do you insert the battery without using the battery to compress the negative contact first? No dragging there, either - as the negative end is already in place, because I use that to compress that negative contact. The positive end just drops into place. Again, no dragging