Skip to Content

Mighty Mouse

Cleaning the scrollball on an Apple Mighty Mouse

I love my Mighty Mouse but the scrollball gets dirty every so often. Today I got fed up with cleaning it from the outside and took it apart again. This is the second time I've done it, but the first time I did this was kind of scary. I didn't really know what I was getting into, it's $70 that I didn't want to spend at the time, and I would rather it just worked. However, after some googling, I found this website and off I went. Following are my steps for taking apart a Mighty Mouse. I've posted these with the intention of helping others in their own little spring cleaning project!

DSC_2644: Tools used to open up my Mighty Mouse
Tools I used to open up my Mighty Mouse.

DSC_2630: Taking off the bottom rim
Taking off the bottom rim. Use a twisting motion to separate the glue from each part.

Taking off the second bottom rim.
Taking off the second bottom rim.

Removing the battery case.
Removing the battery case.

Bottom pieces removed.
Bottom pieces removed.

Prying off the outside shell.
Prying off the outside shell.

Need to pry this post out of its slot and carefully disconnect the ribbons leading to the trackball and click sensors.
Need to pry this post out of its slot and carefully disconnect the ribbons leading to the trackball and click sensors.

Top and bottom halves separated.
Top and bottom halves separated.

Removing the trackball from the top case with a small screwdriver.
Removing the trackball from the top case with a small screwdriver.

Here's the trackball sensor all on its own.
Here's the trackball sensor all on its own.

Trackball holder taken off to expose the dirty bits.
Trackball holder taken off to expose the dirty bits.

Here are all the bits and pieces.
Here are all the bits and pieces.

Putting it all back together again. Here I used the krazy glue on each point where the original glue was. Make sure you test out the mouse before you glue this last piece back in place.
Putting it all back together again. Here I used the krazy glue on each point where the original glue was. Make sure you test out the mouse before you glue this last piece back in place.

And that's it! The longest part of this whole process is actually cleaning the rollers. Hopefully this helps someone in their own clean endeavors...!

Syndicate content