my trackball light goes from black to dim every few weeks.

I refuse to believe I am the only one who has this problem, my pearl looks horrible and people always stop and ask me what is wrong with the light.

Two weeks ago, T-mobile ordered me a new phone. A few days later I received a call indicating that the phone was on backorder so they cancelled my order and asked me to update the software since a new release had just come out. I updated the software and now the light is faint and dim. it looks as though I bought a blackberry with a black trackball.

T-Mobile yesterday told me to clean the trackball. No new phone. I am furious for a few reasons:
1. I've had the pearl since Nov 7, 2006, from normal use the trackball is now completely dark and almost opaque
2. I've cleaned the trackball with alcohol swabs numerous times in the past year with no change
3. I bought the phone for both use and esthetic value, I feel that the phone I know now is not something I think blackberry and RIM should be proud of, its not a quality product.

I'm stuck in the contract for another year, does anyone have any suggestions or know where I can get a new trackball?

Only a few members have kept their trackballs somewhat white with regular cleaning. I am very disappointed in this as well. I have tried every suggestion on this site and while it will clean it and make it work well it will not get rid of the discoloration. I finally broke down and bough a new trackball because it looked so bad. Another member gave me a VERY hard time about spending the money and then a friend of his got a new pearl...when he compared contrast to his he went out and bought a new one as well.

I am still trying different things to restore the old one to white as time permits. If I find something that works I will either share the info here or start a new service!!!

Try BBRepairShop.com

Sorry....and for the links.

I used CellularDR.com and paid 39.00 plus shipping.

Another member found this great price. I haven't ordered here before so it's at your own risk!

8100 - Alcatel, HTC, Panasonic, Dopod/O2, SonyEricsson, BenQ-Siemens, Sony, LG, Tools,

Good Luck!

E-

You might want to try soaking the old one in hydrogen peroxide. It may help "bleach" it back to white and shouldn't harm the plastic. Just make sure you let it dry thoroughly before re-installing it.

Been there...done that...still dark and dingy.... Also tried Amonia (Sp) based jewerly cleaning solution, alcohol, nothing seems to touch it.

Ive found that the canned air, you use for cleaning computer keyboards is amazing for cleaning out the trackball. Its great!!

It's great for keeping debris out of the mechanism but it doesn't do anything to keep it from discoloring. Canned air and a que-tip with alcohol seem to be the most common cleaning methods but don't stop the fading.

I used the fiancee's acetone nail polish remover. It looked BRAND NEW after a 5 minute soak and some scrubbing with a soft toothbrush type brush used for cleaning gemstones

It was white again?!?!?!? The remover didn't disolve the ball?? I thought that stuff ATE things!!

Cant think of a name,

If this works your name from this day forth will be "The brilliant WHITE ball genius!!!"

Ha! please no!
Mine was as black as my macbook before I cleaned mine. I let it soak in Acetone NAIL POLISH REMOVER NOT pure acetone for 5 minutes and worked it over with a jewelers brush which is basically a small soft toothbrush(try a infant toothbrush available at any place that sell toothbrushes) for another 5 mins and it looked brand new.

Ok, well I will be attempting this tonight! I will report the results tomorrow. I can tell you that there are SO MANY members here that have been trying everything for months now!

Ok, so we'll skip the name change but we are going to have to put some sort of credit in your signature line because you will be considered a genius by many! Actually, probably just braver than most...I would have never considered it!

E-

No love!!! Tried this in 5 minute increments for over 20 minutes and no luck. Perhaps mine was just too far gone.....

Thanks for the hope though!!!

haha you should change your name to pearlyBlack

Oh no! Wouldn't be caught with a dirty ball! I bought a new one and it's shiney white still. I have been experimenting with my old one to try and find a solution. At least the nail polish removed didn't "melt" the trackball as I had feared!

I am actually gonna try "Goof" or "Oops" tonight. Pretty harsh stuff but I am out of all other ideas!

We will see!

Interesting thread. So there is no way to actually clean the trackball. You just have to end up buying a new trackball every couple of weeks.

That don't sound too economical. After a year of replacing trackballs, I could've bought my Curve a few times over.

Why does Blackberry always give problems. The 7290's had the OEM holster shredding the paint off the plastic, the 8700c had the dust under the screen problem whiles the OEM holsters still shredded the cheap paint off the plastic and now The Curve and the Pearl got the dirty trackball problem.

I may just give up and get an unlock iPhone. Less parts to worry about.

edit

Considering getting a pearl....but this dirty trackball thing would def cause problems with my OCD, lol.

Anyone tried using a 'mr clean sponge'?? Or is this not something that should be done?

Maybe you OCD types should just find a BLACk trackball and install it. It won't light I'm like a white one, but then it won't show dirt.

Hmmm...someone could come up with aftermarket trackballs and sell in a variety of colors. I'm sure dark blues and purples, etc, wouldn't show dirt or grime either!