How To: Fix a Lousy Mouse Scroll Wheel

Is your mouse has a scroll wheel on top of it? Are you experiencing some lousy scroll with it lately? Have every wondered what's the life span of the Mouse wheel for its effective function? Now, don't just throw away your mouse, if, it has been such a headache when you try to scroll over a page.

The symptom is intermittent, actually, and I will share to you a clever tweaks or repair that have I done to similar defect. The root cause with such defect actually is a worn out rotary scroll wheel axle socket. The fittings were already “lossy” and the axle cannot grip the socket to drive the rotary switch into motion.

You will need a Precision Screw Driver, and a couple of thin strips of adhesives and a scissor for cutting a tape into strips.

The Instructions

1. Opening up the Mouse casing. Usually, it is bottom and top casing only with a single screw joining it together. But, before opening, try to examine the assembly for there might be some minute details that could just fall un-noticed.

2. After opening up, basically, you will see the entire board assembly already, try to scroll the wheel and observe. If I was right about the worn rotary socket, when rotating the wheel you will not hear any stepping sound in the rotary movement.

3. Slowly, pull off the wheel from the rotary socket. Be careful in pulling for you might end up bending the rotary terminals. It's not a bad thing though, for you can put back into its original upright position, just being cautious in not breaking those terminals.

4. Observe how the socket looks like. If it is already worn-out, you will no longer see its original shape, which is a hexagon. You may also want to compare it the opposite side. Usually, the socket is through the other side of the rotary.

5. Now, the key actually, is to insert something, through the socket to serve as fitting. The socket is relatively small that you need something small and thin like to be inserted through it. And that's when the strips of adhesive come in.

6. In my case, I use the thin adhesive strips because, it is much easier to insert it. The adhesive will ensure that it sticks to the sockets surface.

7. Insert back the Mouse wheel. This time make sure its axle and the adhesive strips will stay firm and fitted compactly through the socket. Now, with the right adhesive thickness, I'm sure that will do the trick. Try to scroll the mouse wheel and observe that difference it motion before and after you have fixed it.

What could lead to that defect? It's due to successive scrolling over a long page. You know, it would be more convenient than using the Vertical Navigation bar. In such case, where you have to scroll over, a very, long page, why not try to tap the mouse wheel rather than scrolling. When you tap it, you will activate its scroll lock. You will observe that with double head vertical arrows on both ends as a mouse pointer. Instead of scrolling the mouse wheel, drag up and down in a free motion.

Hope you'll find the tips useful not so neat though, but, it will do the trick.