How to open / disassemble hockey puck mouse?

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I've acquired two iMac 333s, both mice and keyboards are really gunky and sticky, but mostly the mice.

I can clean the outside carefully, and the ball and rollers, but would like to find out how to open the mouse case so I can clean more carefully, then blow it out/dry with pressurised air to ensure it's not still damp or wet.

Can't seem to find anything on actually opening these things up.

Thanks,

Rich
 

pigoo3

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Are you familiar with how to remove the plastic access cover on the bottom of the "hockey puck" mouse to remove the roller ball?

If so...that's pretty much all the disassembly you need to do. After the ball is removed you can clean any "gunk" off the three "rollers" inside.

HTH,

- Nick
 
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yes, I'm familiar with that aspect, removing the ball and cleaning it and rollers, but I want to thoroughly clean the outside of the mouse, lots os sticky stuff, kids hand oil?, and to do that I'll need to use water and soap and cleaner to dissolve.

That will get water inside the mouse and I have an air compressor to blow all the rinsing water out, but would like to be able to open the mouse up entirely so I can be sure to get it all blown out easier.

I've seen sites showing it apart, for example to add an LED, but no instructions on where to pry/pull/whatever to get inside. I see two screws, but they're inside the plastic and not accessible without removing some part of the pastic assembly.

I'm assuming there's a place to pull or pry that'll pop off something, giving access to the insides, but haven't found anything to describe that.

Thanks,

Rich
 

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yes, I'm familiar with that aspect, removing the ball and cleaning it and rollers, but I want to thoroughly clean the outside of the mouse, lots os sticky stuff, kids hand oil?, and to do that I'll need to use water and soap and cleaner to dissolve.

That will get water inside the mouse and I have an air compressor to blow all the rinsing water out, but would like to be able to open the mouse up entirely so I can be sure to get it all blown out easier.

Rich,

If you want to clean the inside as you described that's up to you...but my humble opinion is (as far as the inside goes)...you just need to clean those rollers....and you could blow the inside out with compressed air as you mentioned.

If you want to clean the outside to get rid of dirt & oil...just use a damp rag or paper tower with some surface cleaner on it. Like many of Apple's products...they have a way of putting things together with plastic (and no screws or nuts/bolts)...that make them almost impossible to take apart without breaking something.

If you try to take the mouse apart...you may generate a bigger headache for yourself.

Just my 2 cents,

- Nick
 
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First, the mouse works fine, ball and rollers clean and work properly, so no need to further clean/fix that.

Unfortunately, cleaning carefully with cloth/cleaner isn't taking the grime off the outside. I need to use more cleaner than a damp cloth can hold to get it all off, including the cracks where the plastic parts go together, and to do that will take a lot of cleaner and rubbing. This will mean some of it will get inside, and while that's not a problem if I get it all out again, it creates the problem of how to get it all out again.

Mouse is unusable without gloves at this point, it's really that grimy and sticky.

Also, I have experience with opening things up to clean them out, so not afraid of it, but never done this type of mouse before, hence my starting the thread to get a tip on getting started.

My research has shown that it's possible, and with many Mac items (not all.. :) if you know the "trick" of where to pry, things come apart without breaking anything.
 
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Found the solution at last, thanks to a fellow named James from the UK.

You just pull off the coloured plastic trim, then you can access the two philips screws to finish disassembly.

If you put a fingernail from the bottom/side of the mouse, under the end of the plastic trim by the cord and push upwards a bit, it'll pop right out.

Do the same on the other end of the piece (there are two halves to the colored parts). Then, gently slide the whole thing up towards the top of the mouse and the last part will pop right off as well!

Side note: these were the parts that were really, really sticky, so I don't actually have to take the screws out and wash/clean the inside, just brought the colored parts to the sink and scrubbed away without fear!

But I might go ahead and do this mod on one (I have two), just to see how it looks.

stocksy.co.uk - Mac - Blue and White G3 "Optical" Puck Mouse
 

pigoo3

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Mouse is unusable without gloves at this point, it's really that grimy and sticky.

if you know the "trick" of where to pry, things come apart without breaking anything.

Wow...that must be pretty dirty!:( Yeah the trick is knowing where to pry!

Thanks for the disassembly link. If there is a way to do it...it's usually posted on the internet!:)

- Nick

p.s. Since you posted the link...I just may take apart one of my "hockey puck" mice just for the heck of it!:)
 

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