Assistance with Trackball Mouse 1.0 PS2

[joggerjayne]

Okay, the title with "Carry On" innuendo got banned ...

So I've parked my sense of humour for the time being, and I'll do it the boring way.

Can anyone please tell me if I should ... (tries to think of a word other than "lubricate") ...

... the round, red bit (not "ball", obviously) on my Trackball 1.0 PS2.

Or will the, err ... stuff (not "lubricant" obviously) get into the workings of the Trackball?

And would it make it even more slippy for my fingers?

(couldn't think how else to ask that).

I've tried wiping the ball, and the inside of the socket, with ...

Kitchen paper

A duster

The bottom of my tee shirt.

Any help from anyone who uses a Trackball ?

I've wondered about talc, but I guess that would get inside the workings.

[defenstrate]

sounds like the rollers that the ball sits above are dirty, dirt on these normally effect either left/right or up/down however can't do any harm giving it a decent clean.
Pop the trackball out and pick any crud out on the rollers, ideally use tweezers but a pin worked for me.

[joggerjayne]

Aaah ...

I've just looked inside the socket, defenstrate.

The ball's not actually touching the inside of the socket, is it !

So trying to clean the whole socket was a bit daft.

[joggerjayne]

OMG and Wow !!!

Just picking the crap from around the tiny rollers has made a REAL difference !!!

Thank you SO much, defenstrate.

Hey, waddya know ... I got an answer on AnswerBank.

Yaay !!!!!

[ChuckFickens]

I soo wish I'd seen the original version of this!!

Anyhow, consider in investing in a optical trackball, they don't get fluffy rollers like yours and are a lot more sensitive generally (and the balls normally have really funky patterns on them)

http://www.okobe.co.u.../1000005217?ref=1q4bs

[joggerjayne]

Okay, thanks Chuck.

Shame you weren't around for the original.

=0(

[scotman]

I still recommend you dump that old technology and get a graphic tablet and pen. Much easier and faster and no moving parts to wear out or get dirty.
Now you know what to do with trackball do it regularly and it won't be so yucky. I used to hate cleaning inside mice.

[joggerjayne]

Yes, yuck.

Well ... bed time.

SYL ... x x x

[rojash]

"The ball's not actually touching the inside of the socket, is it ! "
Wot, it's just floating in space?
My Logitech optical trackball sits on a number of bearings which are similar to the tips of very fine ballpoint pens (ie a tiny cone with a ball in it). Once you get grot in that region, the bearings no longer rotate. Cleaning them with a mild solvent helps.

[joggerjayne]

Rojash ...

Yes, that's what I meant. I KNOW it's not "floating in space" ... !

(althouth, technically, I believe it might be ... given that solid matter accounts for a miniscule fraction of a per cent of the volume of all molecules ... I suspect that the imagined physical contact inside the socket is an electrical one, rather than a material one. But anyway ...)

What I meant was ... the ball only sits on the three small bearings inside the socket. It's not resting against the inside of the socket. So, my efforts to clean the inside of the socket were a bit pointless.

Thanks for the solvent suggestion. I'll do that.

Chuck ...

On the bottom of my mouse, it says Trackball "Optical". And the ball does have a funky pattern on it. Is that any better?