[Paisley]

In the last couple of weeks, my trackball has become increasingly hard to click, and today it quit altogether. It still scrolls just fine, but it doesn't matter how hard or light I press down on it... it doesn't click.

I've taken out the trackball system and cleaned it. The strangest thing is that the contact on the motherboard (the part responsible for that "click" feeling) still clicks. It depresses and pops back up and makes a clicking noise, but nothing actually happens. This is the case with the trackball and without the trackball as well.

I got mine refurbished from AT&T, so I'm pretty sure I don't have a warranty. Do you know if there is any way to fix this without having to spend a lot of money sending it to some kind of repair place?

[jsconyers]

Welcome to the forums.

You could try to purchase a new trackball assembly. They run about $15 or so.

[Paisley]

Thanks :D

Now, the problem isn't with the trackball, the ball itself works just great. It's the contact underneath it, the little copper square that the spoon-shaped piece of metal presses into.

[jsconyers]

I understand that. There is a small metal contact on the bottom of the trackball assembly that makes a connection with the piece you're describing. How does that contact look?

[Raptor464]

Wirelessly posted

I've had this problem before. I fixed it by prying the brown tape with the contact up with an exacto knife. Cleaning the contact itself underneath and then setting the tape and contact back in its seated position. You have to be very careful because this is a small and delicate part and it has to sit just right for it to work properly.

[Raptor464]

Originally Posted by Paisley

Thanks :D

Now, the problem isn't with the trackball, the ball itself works just great. It's the contact underneath it, the little copper square that the spoon-shaped piece of metal presses into.

I'm curious if you were able to repair your trackball clicking function. I'm guessing by your lack of response that you were successful.

EDIT: If you are still having problems, see this guide: http://www.audsound.net/_share/bbtb_select_fix.pdf

[sk8blackberry]

sometime i have that problem...i just let my phone rest and that seems to work.

[justpassntime]

I know the little square contact some of you are talking about. It looks like copper but it is metal because mine was stuck to the magnet.

Although the phone hasn't been subjected to water apparently it has gotten moisture under the contact and peeled away from the main board contact. Is there a good way to reapply the metal contact? The press to enter (click) won't work without it.

[justpassntime]

Here is my fix for the non working trackball.

The trackball worked perfectly, the problem was the contact underneath the trackball on the main board. Part of the copper colored tape had peeled away from the switch and let dirt and lint in not allowing the trackball to do its job.

I figured it doesn't work now so I couldn't make it worse. Take the battery out or you wont be able to see what you are doing with the LED blasting holes in your eyeballs. I took forceps and peeled it the rest of the way off. What I ended up with was a small square piece of tape with a smaller round slightly dish shaped piece of metal.

I cleaned the switch contact point on the main board. I then peeled the tape from the small round metal disk. I took some electrical tape (hoping to find something better later) and cut it into a small square. Placed the small metal disk on the tape and trimmed it a little more so it wouldn't cover the LEDs. Then I positioned it over the switch, pressed it down (you could use a pencil eraser) to the switch base. Put the battery and trackball back in.

Guess what happened then. No....it worked just like new.

Even if it came loose the magnets would catch it and keep it from falling out. I am hoping to find some other kind of tape that is thinner but will stay put for the long haul. If you have an idea for something better please post it.

[rstricke1]

This is a little off subject, but recently had an issue with my 8330 Curve's trackball as well. I took it appart and using air and alcohol cleaned everything thoroughly. I happen to have a spare 8830, which always seemed to have a better 'feeling' and responding trackball, so decided to swap it's trackball with my 8330 to see if they would be compatible. Not only did it work, but the feedback is far superior to the original 8330 trackball. I can only guess that the tolerances or quality of the 8830 track ball are better. I support all blackberry devices for our company and the 8830 trackballs across the board operate better.

[kiwi91]

Originally Posted by Raptor464

I'm curious if you were able to repair your trackball clicking function. I'm guessing by your lack of response that you were successful.

EDIT: If you are still having problems, see this guide:

Thank you for this guide!!!

I was having the same problem and just thought it was the phone...since I knew it wasn't the trackball since I switched them out. I peeled the tape up and cleaned it and now it's working perfectly.

Just wanted to say thanks .

[Gezza666]

Hi Guys,
New to the forum but appreciate the info above.
I live in Australia and my wife recently bought me a 8310 on a trip to the USA.

When I got it (and apparently it was brand new) the click function on the wheel didn't work. After reading this and other threads I thought I would contact RIM locally about a warranty repair.....

Guess what, I have to return it to the USA for repair as there is no such thing as an international warranty (I might look this up in other threads to see if this is true......)

So rather than pay for either the freight back to the USA or an out of warranty repair, I guess I had nothing to lose so I tried the "operation" suggested in the post by Raptor464.

Once I pulled the clickwheel out and looked at all the dirt on the pad I somehow thought that this may not be a new unit. Initial cleaning on the top did nothing so I had to "dig deeper".
With the aid of a sewing needle, I was able to lift the orange film and that's when I realised that there was no way that this was a new unit (at least not the circuit board) - the contacts were absolutely filthy and took about 5 cotton buds (q-tips) to clean the tiny metal disk and the contacts.

With all the cleaning the orange film lost it's stickyness so I replaced it with normal sticky tape by cutting a similar size square and sticking the tiny metal disk back on. Guess what - IT WORKS !!!!

May need to upgrade the tape in the future but at least it proves you can do "microsurgery" on the units

Regards

Gezza666

[quick94gt]

Fixed mine, thanks the orange tape thing was the problem as soon as I cleaned it under there it worked PERFECT again