# Should I try to fix my mouse? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 10, 2010, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-try-to-fix-my-mouse/531979 "2010-03-10T16:19:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2010, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-try-to-fix-my-mouse/531979/1 "2010-03-10T16:19:23Z")
Suddenly my mouse is all sticky-ish. The turn wheel sometimes doesn’t seem to engage, or does for a time and them stops. The I have to resort to using the bar thingy on the side of the screen to navigate. Which I find somewhat annoying. It’s a Wacom, cordless about 5 yrs + old. I use it with Mac, if that means anything, and a tablet, also Wacom. I suspect it’s just gummed up and am inclined to try and get inside and give the spinning wheel a dust/clean. Thing is, I can’t figure out how to get into the thing. There are no screws or anything. It’s seen a lot of use, Lord knows, should I just replace it? What do you think? ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2010, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-try-to-fix-my-mouse/531979/2 "2010-03-10T16:24:17Z")
Try turning it over and running the wheel quickly, several times, on your mouse pad, or a similar surface. It works for the Mighty Mouse™. ---
**Author:** ![JerseyFrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bcef8e/32.png) [@JerseyFrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerseyFrank)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2010, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-try-to-fix-my-mouse/531979/3 "2010-03-10T16:26:16Z")
remove any rubber feet/pads. The screws are often under those. Sometimes under labels too, but you can just poke through those. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2010, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-try-to-fix-my-mouse/531979/4 "2010-03-10T16:33:08Z")
> **[Clean a Wacom Intuos Mouse](https://www.instructables.com/Clean-a-Wacom-Intuos-mouse/)** > > Clean a Wacom Intuos Mouse: The problems: your hand is an oily filth-generator and the bottom of an Intuos mouse is a black hole for dust and gunk. After a while, build-up on the bottom makes the mouse harder to maneuver. > > The solution: an old... ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2010, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-try-to-fix-my-mouse/531979/5 "2010-03-10T17:10:24Z")
Go for it. My girlfriend’s trackball was acting up a while back, right click was intermittent. She asked me to look at it and though I had about -\> \<- that much confidence that I’d be able to do anything about it, I went ahead, took it apart, blew it out with compressed air, and put it back together. It’s working great now. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2010, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-try-to-fix-my-mouse/531979/6 "2010-03-10T17:16:13Z")
I’m surprised that **DCnDC** ’s link didn’t give help with cleaning out the scroll wheel. I don’t have this Wacom mouse but I do have a mouse with a scroll wheel. Sometimes it gets gunky and stopped up. I take an un-bent paper clip and wiggle it around the sides of the scroll wheel between the wheel and the case. Out comes plenty of stuff, and my scrolling can resume as normal. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2010, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-try-to-fix-my-mouse/531979/7 "2010-03-10T17:39:45Z")
You gotta wash the mouse’s ball. then blow any dust off the rollers. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2010, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-try-to-fix-my-mouse/531979/8 "2010-03-10T18:12:22Z")
Thank you for all of this advice, I think I’ll give it a try. I’ll keep you posted. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2010, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-try-to-fix-my-mouse/531979/9 "2010-03-10T21:52:34Z")
[QUOTE=aceplace57] You gotta wash the mouse’s ball. then blow any dust off the rollers. [/QUOTE] Actually, an Intuos has none of the traditional mouse bits - no ball, no rollers, no LED and no cord. It’s basically a cordless puck for use on a digitizing tablet. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2010, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-try-to-fix-my-mouse/531979/10 "2010-03-10T21:55:38Z")
[QUOTE=ZipperJJ] I’m surprised that **DCnDC** ’s link didn’t give help with cleaning out the scroll wheel. [/QUOTE] Have a look [here](http://www.beeldbuijs.nl/solutions/hardware/scrollwheel_adjustment.htm). Forgot to say - if all is lost, or you kill the mouse, replacements are available for about $65-80, depending on whether you have an Intuos 2, 3 or whatever. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-try-to-fix-my-mouse/531979/11 "2010-03-12T18:32:58Z")
My answer to the question to “Should I try to fix or buy new?” is always try to fix. Worse case scenario, you break it and will be forced to choose your other option. (I assume that, if time is of the essence, or you aren’t the type who likes to fix things, you probably wouldn’t have asked.) ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-try-to-fix-my-mouse/531979/12 "2010-03-12T18:34:35Z")
Yes, unless you want the little buggers to breed out of control.