Cleaning trackball assembly

[ironhalo]

Just starting to get to work on a new PowerBook 160 project. The whole trackball roller assembly is understandably a bit crusty (though it could be much worse). Any reason NOT to submerge the whole black roller assembly into IPA to help loosen up the gunk before I go at it with a soft brush? I don't know exactly what all these materials are, hoping they can stand up to 91% IPA...

 

[finkmac]

I use ipa and a brush + qtip to deal with these

Be very careful with the springs

For what it’s worth the rollers might be bad and need replacement

 

[ironhalo]

@finkmac Perfect, thanks!

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

The rollers won't be harmed by IPA, I can say from experience. I haven't had bad rollers on a 100 series yet, but that's just my experience.

 

[Garrett B]

I replace the rollers in every 1xx machine I work on regardless of what they look like. It's cheap and easy. Cleaning them with IPA loosens them up and causes them to spin on the metal shafts. Very very annoying when trying to get the cursor where you want it!

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

Cleaning them with IPA loosens them up and causes them to spin on the metal shafts.

I think that's happened to me once or twice - in those cases, they returned to normal once the IPA had fully evaporated. Either way, there's certainly no harm in replacing them. Where do you source replacements from?

 

[finkmac]

one solution is silicone earring backs

 

[Garrett B]

I think that's happened to me once or twice - in those cases, they returned to normal once the IPA had fully evaporated. Either way, there's certainly no harm in replacing them. Where do you source replacements from?

AliExpress - very cheap. Hardest part is getting a straight cut from the long piece.

 

[ironhalo]

AliExpress - very cheap. Hardest part is getting a straight cut from the long piece.

Nice! Great tip, thx.

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

AliExpress - very cheap. Hardest part is getting a straight cut from the long piece.

Thanks!