[PLUG] Trackball ball movement not smooth

Chris Schafer xophere at gmail.com
Fri Sep 20 21:22:50 UTC 2013


Most made in recent time have been optical.  Usually a laser against a ball
and the ball just floats on little bits of plastic.  If yours is mechanical
it could be quite old.


On Fri, Sep 20, 2013 at 12:01 PM, Dick Steffens <dick at dicksteffens.com>wrote:

> On 09/20/2013 11:52 AM, Rich Shepard wrote:
> >     I've used only trackballs for more than a dozen years. Now and then
> they
> > become less responsive so I know they need a cleaning. I blow and pick
> out
> > whatever is visible, usually dust bunnies. Sometimes I need to use
> splinter
> > forceps to pick the lint off the sensing points in the base or from
> crevices
> > in the unit. I never use alcohol or any other liquid.
> >
> >     Take out the ball and rub it with a microfiber cloth or lint-free
> towel.
> > There are no lubricants on trackballs; it's plastic against plastic and
> > usually as low speeds. You can wash and thoroughly dry the ball if you
> wish;
> > it's solid plastic so it will not be harmed by the water. That removes
> > finger grease and snack residue quite well.
>
> Hard to say what the "dirt" on this thing was, but it was all stuff that
> was stuck to the plastic. No loose debris. It was free, and I was in
> need of an extra "mouse" so I thought I'd give it a try. I think I'll
> stick with mice and pick up a couple the next time I'm down at Free Geek.
>
> --
> Regards,
>
> Dick Steffens
>
> _______________________________________________
> PLUG mailing list
> PLUG at lists.pdxlinux.org
> http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug
>



More information about the PLUG mailing list