geekhack Projects > Making Stuff Together!

Replacing Mouse Switches

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fohat.digs:
I have received a few PMs about replacing mouse switches, since I noted how much better the Wow Joy Pen mouse is with lighter switches.

Old mice are easy to find for a dollar at yard sales and thrift stores, and you can probably guess how much use they have seen by the shine, or lack of shine.

A lot of ball mice are like new, even if they are 10 years old.

I will not go into assembly and dis-assembly here, since they are all different. If you can't figure out how to crack the case open, you probably shouldn't be doing this, anyway. Often, there are screws hidden under labels, stickers, or rubber feet. The feet usually go back on pretty well, if you are careful.

Inside, you will find some number of switches like the ones shown here. Most are the same size, with 3 connections on the bottom (circuit board) side. Verify that yours are right, they are generally pretty standard. I used Omron switches from a 10-15-year-old Logitech ball mouse in a brand new Joy Pen knock-off.

You will need to un-solder the switches from the boards on both mice. You are probably only concerned with the 2 primary switches. You can wreck the donor board but be careful with your recipient. I use the braid, but a sucker is probably better. I only have a sorry cheap soldering iron, if I had better gear this affair would have been much easier.

Some of the switches have only had 2 leads soldered, the ones in my photos show all 3 soldered.

After you remove the original switches, the others should just substitute back into the same holes. Be sure to clean up enough old solder so that the leads will insert fully.

I have shown a board with the micro-switches attached, and circled one of the switches and numbered the connections 1-2-3 so that you can see how they look from different angles.

This is not a very comprehensive guide, but may be enough if you can figure stuff out on your own. I will try to upgrade it later. Good Luck!

Leslieann:
Some mice, such as the Logitech G700 use a double pcb design that needs to be separated.

Beware, it's quite easy to burn the contacts off trying to separate them.

bpiphany:
I need to crack my mouse open. Set a personal best yesterday when I opened seven new tabs with one middle button click =P I guess that is the single switch in the universe i use the most... They need to make those sturdier =|

fohat.digs:
I think that they make them all the same.

Inside the mice I have opened, 90% of the switches I have seen are the standards like these, and the rest are similar but about half the size, for side buttons and such.

Leslieann:
Some mice, instead of a standard box switch, use tiny button switches, these are usually used for the scroll wheel, side buttons, etc. These tend to be rather generic it seems and can be SMD mounted. I haven't seen any recommendations for good brands on them yet. I have seen the buttons actually smashed from being hit hard by an object, but generally they are pretty tough.

The box switches like Omrons, are susceptible to damage pretty easy, this leads to accidental double clicking. Smacking the switch hard has been known to bend/warp the spring inside and cause it. Be gentle with the buttons and the Omrons will last forever.

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