i just finished doing this after days of contemplating whether or not to...

turning my BB back on and seeing my trackball still functioning was the HUGEST feeling of relief.. i wouldn't have even cared if it was greasier than i started out with.

dont know if i'd go thru the trouble again, but i must say my trackball does feel cleaner/smoother. i found gunk caked on the inside of one of the rings.

be careful when doing this, i can see how someone can easily render their phone useless! but much thanks to the OP!

sweet i did this, and it worked great!

worked like a charm! Great post OP!

I love being able to take care of my phone.

this is great info thanks, since i sometimes hand my phone off to my techs with their greasy paws lol, i have found it to be a hassle to deal with trying to tell them not to touch the ball, of course sometimes my paws get greasy too, although i do try to keep them clean since i am dealing with paper work and such but sometimes tire dust and stuff i seem to forget.

good to try but not with my trembling hand ;)

thanks buddy I was searching for the same from long time. Just one question "will this effect device warranty"?

worked very well!

But I was able to bring the "pearl" white like it was when I first got the phone

Anyone knows of a product that will whiten the Pearl?

Many thanks
Jeff

thankx thats helpful but shouldnt the insurance cover that if it needs cleaning

Great guide!

Thank you!!

just wanted to say thanks!

i had my curve for about 6 months & out of the blue, i couldn't scroll down. i saw this & gave it a shot... & wouldn't you know it; it worked!

I'm not sure if this was posted on here but if you bring your phone into a warrenty center and you show them that you do that it will be considered phys damage. that will void out your warrenty on the phone. just a heads up. so make sure you dont do that in front of them

Just like to start and say Hi to everybody as this is my first post... Hey

I took it apart. But I bent the lil metal ring and couldn't put it back together. My own fault. So i tried to fix it but ended up loosing one of the lil wheels.

So i ordered 2 new trackballs off ebay for 25$ with shipping for both.

I went back to the store where i bought it, they told me to call rogers and they would send me a new phone. I called them on a Friday afternoon and i got my new (refurbished) blackberry today (Monday) so all in all wasn't so bad except I had to go around for 4 days with no trackball but finally managed to figure it out.

So with my new refurbed saved me from having to buy a new keyboard ( it was starting to sag) and a new housing for the phone ( the smell on it from my cigar smoke fingers was getting to be unbarable)

oh my god. it felt like i was operating on a patient.thank you verry much.i found a big hairball in it and i always use a holster.i finally got it working.

Great pictures and advice. Was so frustrated with my trackball not rolling up I was ready to toss the thing. The pictures tell the story to perfection. Thanks.

BTW, I used 91% pure Isopropyl alcohol on the rollers, what we used in the old days to clean cassette and VCR rollers, capstans, and belts.

wow i couldn't get it to click back together so i did the best i could and put it back and its OK.. ill just get a new one, btw the 91% pure isopropyl alcohol didn't help with the discoloration of my trackball, when i get my new one, i will experiment and let it soak over night and see how it comes out

thx for the diy manual :D

very informative Thank you!

thanXX

this really helped

My trackball wouln not scroll down. This brought it back to like new! Thanks for such a clear explaination.
(I also took this oppertunity to "color" my led to blue, worked great)

It was awesome the way you built the explanation
Now I have a 100% operative trackball
Very good pictures.

Thank you.

Fernando

hi, thanks for the wonderful guide, i hope i never need to do this but if i do, i will certainly use this guide

Very slick! People would never figure that out without a guide

I hope I dont have to do this myself , but I sure do appreciate to have this handy , thanks !!

p.s. I have a 8310 it should be the same as cleaning the pearl right ??

that’s correct
it applies to all BB models with a trackball

This is the best way......once a day and the trackball will be clean forever.... a small amout of denatured alcohol applied to a microfiber cloth works great as well.........the fewer times you pull the Berry apart the longer it will last.....

How exactly do you clean with this method...sounds like a dumb question but I wanna make sure I do it right. I like the den. alc. tip as I have experience with it. Do you simply rub it over the ball and roll the ball around to degunk it?

I am comfortable removing my trackball which make it simple to clean. Yes to your question........I find that if I use denatured alcohol and/or Clorox wipes (make sure the wipe is moist - not soaking wet) I wipe my phone once or twice a day and it keeps it very clean and disinfected. Has been working so well for me that I have not had to remove my ball to clean it since......


Good Luck!!!

Thanks for the excellent guide. My grandmother is going to knit me a turtleneck sweater out of the crap I removed from my 8800's trackball.

Excellent guide! I just tried it on my Pearl and it worked marvelously. I was having problems scrolling, but following this guide has fixed that. Only problem now is I'm unable to use the Trackball to "select" or "enter". I'm using the Enter key as an alternative, but unfortunately it doesn't work with all Apps.
Thanks, again for this great tutorial!

Awesome walk through, thx for sharing. I just got my Curve and it doesn't need a cleaning but I want to crack it open and anyway.


^_^_^

Interestingly, one of these is $35 more than the other. Shop wisely fellow BBF users.

I followed along reasonably well to this very good guide, but a neurosurgeon I am not, and I must have bent the interior metallic retaining clip, because I could not reassemble the trackball properly because the retaining clip would no longer snap back into place.

I had an old 8800 in the garage, so I popped out the trackball assembly, being careful to keep it in the retaining clip, cleaned it up and then put it into the Curve and so far its working great. Normally, I know my lack of dexterity well enough to leave these things to the pros, but the trackball functioning was driving me crazy!

I had the same problem initially - take the metal clip off and rotate it 90 degrees on the main housing that holds the rollers, it only goes together properly if you have that put back together the proper way. Physically it fits both ways on the roller housing, but the bottom plastic retainer only snaps in properly if the metal clip is on the housing a certain direction. It sounds like you're off 90deg like I was...

hey very useful...you made it look like its such an easy task and i believe it really is, just needs patience...before i read this post i thought taking the thing was difficult but not anymore thanks to you..now i can impress my manager coz hes having issues with his trackerball,lol..thanks again..great thread..

Quick followup - I ordered the one from cnn.cn, it got here from Hong Kong in 7 days and is night and day over cleaning the old one. Mine was (is?) pretty grungy, once you slip in a new trackball it's like having a brand new phone all over again. I could never get mine this clean and smooth, the new one is like butter.

$0.02.

Worked out great. Thanks for the great instructions!!!

I need to replace my trackball. It got damaged from coffee, and doesn't scroll very well. I"m confident that a replacement will do the trick. Will this work in my 8330?

Good information, thanks

Thanks evenmosbek, Worked like a charm and beats filing a claim and getting a refurbished phone in replacement of the phone that we have only had about 2 months.