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#16
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optical mouse malfunction
"VanguardLH" wrote in message ... snip You were right, Paul--it's a broken wire. Unfortunately, the mouse may be TOO well made. There are five wires in a cord or sleeve (not sure what to call it); and at the mouse end, besides their being taped together and to the sleeve, each wire is crimped into a separate hole in a plastic piece. I suspect they'd all have to be carefully taken out of that piece, cut far enough back to get past the break in the one wire, wherever it is, and then recrimped (assuming the plastic piece survives). Moreover, there's a plastic "buffering" piece on the outside of the sleeve at the entryway to the mouse, and it doesn't come off. I'm very tempted to write to the company to ask if it can sell me another cord... Jo-Anne A picture posted online somewhere and given a link here would better help for others to know what you're trying to describe. I had a hard time getting close enough with my camera to do a clear shot, but I tried. The result is he http://tinypic.com/r/v418ph/6 Jo-Anne |
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#17
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optical mouse malfunction
Jo-Anne wrote:
"VanguardLH" wrote in message ... snip You were right, Paul--it's a broken wire. Unfortunately, the mouse may be TOO well made. There are five wires in a cord or sleeve (not sure what to call it); and at the mouse end, besides their being taped together and to the sleeve, each wire is crimped into a separate hole in a plastic piece. I suspect they'd all have to be carefully taken out of that piece, cut far enough back to get past the break in the one wire, wherever it is, and then recrimped (assuming the plastic piece survives). Moreover, there's a plastic "buffering" piece on the outside of the sleeve at the entryway to the mouse, and it doesn't come off. I'm very tempted to write to the company to ask if it can sell me another cord... Jo-Anne A picture posted online somewhere and given a link here would better help for others to know what you're trying to describe. I had a hard time getting close enough with my camera to do a clear shot, but I tried. The result is he http://tinypic.com/r/v418ph/6 Jo-Anne http://oi45.tinypic.com/v418ph.jpg Does the plastic grommet on the left, split into two pieces ? Sometimes, items like that consist of two parts. They squash the wire to prevent it from moving through the grommet. As for the thing on the right, that's not going to be a lot of fun. Four of the connections would be ordinary wires. The fifth is "shield", and could be made from twisted braid off the shield. I can't really tell what kind of connector that is on the end. If the pins could be backed out of the shell, that would solve one part of the puzzle. Some shells have a "tab per pin", and releasing the tab with a hobby knife, allows the wire and pin to be extracted. The pin will have a "spike" on the side of it, which catches in the tab, to hold it secure. Things like that are intended to be "one way" insert. If the thing the pin lodges in, can be released, then the pin can be backed out. Once the pin is out, the pin itself probably can't be recycled. As you say, a "crimp" of the pin onto the wire, tends to bend the crimp hooks all to bits. Opening the hooks and closing them again, just isn't practical (they snap off). And then, finding replacement crimp pins, is the challenge. There are a ton of different crimp pins out there, so matching what you've got, would not be trivial. You can unsolder the mating connector from the Contour PCB. Then solder the wire, right to the PCB. That may be the most practical solution. It really depends, on what you envisage as the assembly order, and whether the cable arrangement can be set up, before the soldering begins. But the first step remains, whether that grommet splits in two or not. If it does, you pry it apart, move it up the wire several inches, and it will "reclamp" itself when it's forced through the hole in the casing. I think my electric kettle may use something like that, to clamp the wire. This picture is not the same as yours. It's intended to show what a two part strain relief looks like. The two halves close around the wire. The device "clamps" as it is forced through a too-small hole in a chassis. The wire is forced to go through a path which isn't straight, which prevents it from moving. It applies enough force, that the wire underneath probably cannot be "clamped" a second time, and fresh wire should be pulled into position where it will "clamp". http://www.atmgurus.com/estore/image...2617-00031.jpg All in all, a challenging project. Working with strain reliefs, does involve a bit of cursing and swearing. Tools tend to slide off them. You also have the option, of starting with a USB cable, chopping an end off it, then solder the wires to the mouse PCB. And then doing your best, to make your own strain relief solution. I've never been 100% successful at making home strain reliefs. They've all resulted in wire breakage later. ******* A cheesy kind of repair, is to move the grommet/strain relief up the cable a bit, and bring the broken wire *inside* the mouse casing. Then, fiddle with the wire, such that the broken parts touch, when the mouse is reassembled. As long as the strain relief is *really good* at preventing tugging, the broken wire bits may stay in close proximity to one another. Obviously, this isn't a proper repair, but it's an intermediate solution to dealing with the connector and wire dress problem. This would be the kind of solution, someone adverse to soldering might try. (Someone whose burnt finger is just about healed.) Paul |
#18
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optical mouse malfunction
Paul wrote:
If the pins could be backed out of the shell, that would solve one part of the puzzle. Some shells have a "tab per pin", and releasing the tab with a hobby knife, allows the wire and pin to be extracted. The pin will have a "spike" on the side of it, which catches in the tab, to hold it secure. Things like that are intended to be "one way" insert. If the thing the pin lodges in, can be released, then the pin can be backed out. I find a small sewing needle works to depress the locking finger. It's metal is stronger than just a pin. However, once the pin is out of the connector shell, it is improbable the wire can be removed from the crimped pin without damaging the pin. The metal becomes weak and breaks when you try to uncrimp the part holding the wire. Soldering would require a very small tipped iron and the soldered joint would have to be small enough so it fits into the connector's hole into which the pin slides. You can unsolder the mating connector from the Contour PCB. Then solder the wire, right to the PCB. That may be the most practical solution. It really depends, on what you envisage as the assembly order, and whether the cable arrangement can be set up, before the soldering begins. I suspect even easier would be to cut off the connector on the wire bundle and solder each wird underneath the PCB - if the wires are long enough. Rather than try to remove the PCB connector and solder there, just solder onto the other side. The black part is just heat shrink tubing that could be cut away. The strain relief (plastic blob) around the cable may be molded and not reusable. If this is the case, you want that use custom strain relief (you find anything else that works with that mouse shell). If it's a molded blob on the cable, and because you must use it to prevent the soldered wires from getting yanked on at their solder connection, lengthening the wires is needed. Solder a short length of wire onto each existing cable wire. The old and new wires are braided so unbraid them to straighten, mesh the ends together, twist a little, and solder the wires inline with each other. You end up with a short length of bare meshed wires. Slide over some heatshrink tubing just a bit larger than the soldered wires and heat to shrink. Now the wires will be long enough to route to the other side of the PCB to solder them there. Unless it looked easy to get the pin out, remove the wire from the pin, solder on new part of the old wire (trim it back), and the soldered job still fits into the connector, I'd just give up on reusing the connector. Solder wire stubbies onto the solder pads on the other side of the connector (you could remove the connector using a solder sucker or wick but removal might not be needed) and run them around the PCB to solder them to trimmed old wire(s). Be sure to slide the heatshrink over the stub or old wire before soldering so it's available over the wire to slide over the solder joint to heat and seal it. |
#19
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optical mouse malfunction
"Paul" wrote in message
... Jo-Anne wrote: "VanguardLH" wrote in message ... snip You were right, Paul--it's a broken wire. Unfortunately, the mouse may be TOO well made. There are five wires in a cord or sleeve (not sure what to call it); and at the mouse end, besides their being taped together and to the sleeve, each wire is crimped into a separate hole in a plastic piece. I suspect they'd all have to be carefully taken out of that piece, cut far enough back to get past the break in the one wire, wherever it is, and then recrimped (assuming the plastic piece survives). Moreover, there's a plastic "buffering" piece on the outside of the sleeve at the entryway to the mouse, and it doesn't come off. I'm very tempted to write to the company to ask if it can sell me another cord... Jo-Anne A picture posted online somewhere and given a link here would better help for others to know what you're trying to describe. I had a hard time getting close enough with my camera to do a clear shot, but I tried. The result is he http://tinypic.com/r/v418ph/6 Jo-Anne http://oi45.tinypic.com/v418ph.jpg Does the plastic grommet on the left, split into two pieces ? Sometimes, items like that consist of two parts. They squash the wire to prevent it from moving through the grommet. As for the thing on the right, that's not going to be a lot of fun. Four of the connections would be ordinary wires. The fifth is "shield", and could be made from twisted braid off the shield. I can't really tell what kind of connector that is on the end. If the pins could be backed out of the shell, that would solve one part of the puzzle. Some shells have a "tab per pin", and releasing the tab with a hobby knife, allows the wire and pin to be extracted. The pin will have a "spike" on the side of it, which catches in the tab, to hold it secure. Things like that are intended to be "one way" insert. If the thing the pin lodges in, can be released, then the pin can be backed out. Once the pin is out, the pin itself probably can't be recycled. As you say, a "crimp" of the pin onto the wire, tends to bend the crimp hooks all to bits. Opening the hooks and closing them again, just isn't practical (they snap off). And then, finding replacement crimp pins, is the challenge. There are a ton of different crimp pins out there, so matching what you've got, would not be trivial. You can unsolder the mating connector from the Contour PCB. Then solder the wire, right to the PCB. That may be the most practical solution. It really depends, on what you envisage as the assembly order, and whether the cable arrangement can be set up, before the soldering begins. But the first step remains, whether that grommet splits in two or not. If it does, you pry it apart, move it up the wire several inches, and it will "reclamp" itself when it's forced through the hole in the casing. I think my electric kettle may use something like that, to clamp the wire. This picture is not the same as yours. It's intended to show what a two part strain relief looks like. The two halves close around the wire. The device "clamps" as it is forced through a too-small hole in a chassis. The wire is forced to go through a path which isn't straight, which prevents it from moving. It applies enough force, that the wire underneath probably cannot be "clamped" a second time, and fresh wire should be pulled into position where it will "clamp". http://www.atmgurus.com/estore/image...2617-00031.jpg All in all, a challenging project. Working with strain reliefs, does involve a bit of cursing and swearing. Tools tend to slide off them. You also have the option, of starting with a USB cable, chopping an end off it, then solder the wires to the mouse PCB. And then doing your best, to make your own strain relief solution. I've never been 100% successful at making home strain reliefs. They've all resulted in wire breakage later. ******* A cheesy kind of repair, is to move the grommet/strain relief up the cable a bit, and bring the broken wire *inside* the mouse casing. Then, fiddle with the wire, such that the broken parts touch, when the mouse is reassembled. As long as the strain relief is *really good* at preventing tugging, the broken wire bits may stay in close proximity to one another. Obviously, this isn't a proper repair, but it's an intermediate solution to dealing with the connector and wire dress problem. This would be the kind of solution, someone adverse to soldering might try. (Someone whose burnt finger is just about healed.) Paul Thank you for the detailed info, Paul! My husband is now trying to decide how or whether to do this repair... Jo-Anne |
#20
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optical mouse malfunction
"VanguardLH" wrote in message ... Paul wrote: If the pins could be backed out of the shell, that would solve one part of the puzzle. Some shells have a "tab per pin", and releasing the tab with a hobby knife, allows the wire and pin to be extracted. The pin will have a "spike" on the side of it, which catches in the tab, to hold it secure. Things like that are intended to be "one way" insert. If the thing the pin lodges in, can be released, then the pin can be backed out. I find a small sewing needle works to depress the locking finger. It's metal is stronger than just a pin. However, once the pin is out of the connector shell, it is improbable the wire can be removed from the crimped pin without damaging the pin. The metal becomes weak and breaks when you try to uncrimp the part holding the wire. Soldering would require a very small tipped iron and the soldered joint would have to be small enough so it fits into the connector's hole into which the pin slides. You can unsolder the mating connector from the Contour PCB. Then solder the wire, right to the PCB. That may be the most practical solution. It really depends, on what you envisage as the assembly order, and whether the cable arrangement can be set up, before the soldering begins. I suspect even easier would be to cut off the connector on the wire bundle and solder each wird underneath the PCB - if the wires are long enough. Rather than try to remove the PCB connector and solder there, just solder onto the other side. The black part is just heat shrink tubing that could be cut away. The strain relief (plastic blob) around the cable may be molded and not reusable. If this is the case, you want that use custom strain relief (you find anything else that works with that mouse shell). If it's a molded blob on the cable, and because you must use it to prevent the soldered wires from getting yanked on at their solder connection, lengthening the wires is needed. Solder a short length of wire onto each existing cable wire. The old and new wires are braided so unbraid them to straighten, mesh the ends together, twist a little, and solder the wires inline with each other. You end up with a short length of bare meshed wires. Slide over some heatshrink tubing just a bit larger than the soldered wires and heat to shrink. Now the wires will be long enough to route to the other side of the PCB to solder them there. Unless it looked easy to get the pin out, remove the wire from the pin, solder on new part of the old wire (trim it back), and the soldered job still fits into the connector, I'd just give up on reusing the connector. Solder wire stubbies onto the solder pads on the other side of the connector (you could remove the connector using a solder sucker or wick but removal might not be needed) and run them around the PCB to solder them to trimmed old wire(s). Be sure to slide the heatshrink over the stub or old wire before soldering so it's available over the wire to slide over the solder joint to heat and seal it. Thank you, Vanguard! I've passed this info on to him. I'm not sure if he's going to try the repair... Jo-Anne |
#21
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optical mouse malfunction
"Good Guy" wrote in message ... The short answer is optical mice are NOT fixable. However, you paid $110 for a mouse so it must be some extra special one. What exactly does it do that my $3.99 mice can't do? I always but cheaper ones so that if they are broken or "walked away" from my desk then I won't have sleepless nights. -- Good Guy Website: http://mytaxsite.co.uk Website: http://html-css.co.uk Forums: http://mytaxsite.boardhost.com Email: http://mytaxsite.co.uk/contact-us IMO ...you don't have to sacrifice cheapness for quality, when there are Logitech M305 cordless. I've bought at least four, and they were around £13 each. I keep one in Laptop case, nano-USB receiver means you can leave it plugged in. But, for lengthy periods of time in front of ones desktops , M305's cordless are simply brilliant. After having owned and used quite a few mice ranging from very expensive to quite cheap, the M305's are a DREAM !!! Left and right mouse buttons are hinged, (instead of nasty flexible plastic as on some cheapies), giving a "precision feel," with almost no effort to use for long periods of time. The "wheel" also has a left and right scroll action, (if supported in your OS/apps.) Not having a wire is another "heaven", ...wise to keep a pack of AA's handy, one lasts for a good two or three months at least. regards, Richard |
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