Mighty annoyed at the Mighty Mouse
Now I understand why so many people have complained about Apple’s Mighty Mouse.
I had noticed for months that I sometimes would have trouble using the tiny scroll ball atop the Mighty Mouse. Vigorous rolling with my finger usually cleared up the problem, presumably a speck of dust or dirt that got stuck inside.
But last week I could hardly get the scroll ball to work at all. Since I use the scroll ball constantly when browsing the Web, this became a big problem very quickly.
This Mighty Mouse, which came with the Mac Pro I bought in January, is barely 10 months old. I think that’s too soon for a mouse to go south; most mice I’ve used have lasted at least two years.
So I trolled the Mac Web for answers. In addition to a lot of other frustrated users, I found a good bit of useful information.
The folks at the Web site AppleMatters had a photo gallery on how to disassemble a Mighty Mouse. At first I thought this was great – if I could get inside the mouse I could clean the balky parts.
But when AppleMatters tried to remove the collar that’s glued in place on the underside of the mouse, it snapped in half. Another blogger claimed he had used a razor to separate the collar from the mouse, but I wouldn’t recommend it.
In any case, getting to the scroll ball involved several more tedious and risky steps with no guarantee of getting everything back together correctly.
Does anybody remember the old-style (pre-optical) Apple Desktop Mouse with the roller ball in its belly? Remember how whenever that mouse got fussy all one needed to do was twist the ring on the bottom, remove the ball and scrape the crud off the rollers with your fingernail? It could be done in two minutes. No tools required.
The scroll ball in the Mighty Mouse is roughly the same mechanism, except the user has no means of accessing the innards for cleaning. And for a Mighty Mouse to function optimally, it needs its scroll ball cleaned every few months or so.
After some poking around in forums, the best advice I found was to turn the Mighty Mouse upside down and roll the scroll ball firmly against a clean surface, such as a piece of paper.
In my case that only helped a little, so I tried a more extreme version recommended by another user. Instead of paper, I used a lint-free cloth dipped in alcohol. (To be totally honest it was an old dried-up baby wipe. But it served the purpose.)
That worked amazingly well. My Mighty Mouse now scrolls like a champ up, down and sideways.
Eventually I found a Knowledge Base article on Apple’s Web site that suggests cleaning the Mighty Mouse with a lint-free cloth, and rubbing the cloth on the scroll ball with the mouse upside down to dislodge any troublesome particles.
But I’m still annoyed at Apple for designing the Mighty Mouse in such a way that the scroll ball becomes difficult to use in an appallingly brief time. Can’t they figure out a way to provide scrolling without a physical rolling ball?
Apple already has solved similar engineering challenges. The famed iPod click wheel doesn’t actually move, for instance.
I bet it can be done, and Apple is just the company to do it.
in Mac Pro
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Comments
I found the best way to clean the Mighty Mouse is to very slightly dampen a micro fiber cloth and clean the whole mouse with it. Pay special attention that you get to all sides of the scroll ball. I don't even want to know what has been on my kids hands when they are using the mouse, but this has worked every time.
Posted by: Deanna Rankin | November 4, 2008 10:21 AM
i got this tip from a macgenius and it works each time. every time.
put a bit of isopropyl alcohol on a paper towl. turn the mouse upside down and run the sticky ball back and forth until it moves freely again.
it will make your mouse work like it did out of the box.
Posted by: david r. | November 4, 2008 1:43 PM
a little less scientific: lick the ball, roll it upside down on clean paper.
Posted by: Anonymous | November 4, 2008 2:08 PM
Your advice worked for me. Thanks a million.
Posted by: techno824 | November 4, 2008 3:41 PM
I think your comments are overblown. The Mighty Mouse has been out for quite a while. I have had my cordless for 1 year and a half. Reviews soon after its introduction remarked on the difficulty of cleaning & suggested the best way was what Apple soon thereafter published. I clean it every 3+ months with a cloth & alcohol solution, rolling the upside down mouse on the cloth. Does the job and I have no problems. (Batteries for the cordless mouse are another issue: but if you use the right rechargeable batteries like Panasonic, then you can get 1 Month+ battery life.) - AW
Posted by: andy | November 4, 2008 5:20 PM
I don't think that these comments are overblown. I have had three Mighty Mice (Mouses?) and all of them are now in a drawer in pieces. You can clean them by rolling upside down on a lint free cloth but eventually gunk will build up to the point where the ball stops working daily. At this point you need to open up the sealed unit to physically remove any build up. Re-assembling is really fiddly. I must admit that I find it amazing that given the number of these mice that are shipped with all new Macs that Apple haven't solved this problem yet.
I have a ten year old Logitech mouse that has never been cleaned so it can be done!
Posted by: Simon Robins | November 4, 2008 6:32 PM
As an Apple reseller, I've come across many problem mice. Here's what you do:
Dip a Q-tip in rubbing alcohol. Hold the mouse upside down. Hold the Q-tip horizontally pushing up on the scrollball so it goes slightly into the mouse. Rotate the Q-tip quickly with the thumb and forefinger so it spins the scroll ball and cleans the inner mechanism. After 20-30 seconds...perfection! I've cleaned hundreds of mice this way and brough them baack from"death"!
Posted by: stefan oetter | November 5, 2008 12:29 AM
Why can't Apple replace the offending mechanical components with a mini-trackpad just large enough for your index finger? No moving parts and no possibility of gunk getting inside.
Posted by: Rod Young | November 5, 2008 12:58 AM
At first I did not like the mighty mouse - just not used to it.
Then I became addicted to the perfect function and form of it. Thanks for the tip - mine is about 6 months old and has had a hiccup like the one you described.
Posted by: bryanintimonium | November 5, 2008 8:26 AM
I'm late to the party, but why are you worrying about fixing the mouse?
You are within your standard 12 month of hardware warranty (and I'm sure someone like you would have AppleCare too, right ;-) ) so set yourself up an appointment (http://concierge.apple.com/store/R063) and take it to to the bar. They'll swap it out for you as long as it's defective.
Posted by: Stephen | November 11, 2008 10:11 AM
Thanks for the nice read, keep up the interesting posts…..
Posted by: battery | November 14, 2008 9:21 PM
I too have been struggling with a sticky scroll ball. I was on the verge of cracking it open, when I stumbled upon this rather ingenious "laparoscopic" method of threading a thin piece of scotch tape behind the scroll ball. Works like a charm!
Posted by: David Schmitt | November 26, 2008 10:48 PM
I'm on my 2nd MightyM and have had endless problems with the scroll ball/wheel, but still love the little thing. Granted I put a lot of mileage on these, the thing that will happen next is- you will wear out the soft plastic ring on the bottom, I've had to take it out and reverse it to get more miles out of it, it's a bit of a pain because some of the spines get bent when removing it, "don't do this" unless you're technically inclined, because it's a pain if all doesn't go right. But, hopefully they will fix BOTH of these little pains in the Mighty!
Posted by: theartist | November 28, 2008 3:07 PM
Sad to say, but I long ago replaced my Mighty Mouse with a Microsoft mouse. Not as pretty looking, but it works flawlessly!
Posted by: Bob | December 6, 2008 3:39 PM
I fashioned a mouse tooth-pick from a plastic folder tab (slender and flexible), eased it under the ball, gently moved it around the rollers -- you can actually feel them with the pick -- turned the mouse upside down and rolled the ball vigorously (pressing it against the rollers): particle debris shower!
Works like new.
cheers!
Posted by: Azazello | December 15, 2008 4:45 AM
Well, the original "Mighty Mouse" didn't have that problem, only Apple's imitation of it:
http://www.almaden.ibm.com/cs/user/tp/tpmouse.html
Posted by: Mike Jones | December 23, 2008 4:24 PM
Cool Apple mouse!
Thanks for the nice read, keep up the
interesting post.
Posted by: MacDaddy | March 19, 2009 6:38 PM