CircuitBored
Well-known member
A couple of months ago I was using my Performa 5400 when the mouse suddenly stopped working. I gave it a frustrated tap on the table and the ball cover fell off, about a dozen pieces of plastic following it. This was clearly the mouse's last day of functionality for the time being. A fair few bits have flaked off my 5400 over the years so I really should have seen this coming. The black plastic is even more brittle than the very worst of the beige Macs, turning to dust when you so much as breathe on it too hard. Moving a machine as heavy and fragile as this is nerve-wracking.
I looked on ebay for a replacement and was horrified to discover that the black variant of the ADB mouse is extremely expensive compared to the beige one. Resentfully I realised that I was probably going to have to rebuild the thing myself, boxed up the pieces and left it for a while. I couldn't even begin to fathom where all the pieces had come from.
Today I set about rebuilding it. It took me a couple of hours, needle-nosed tweezers and some super glue. The ball cover was easy enough to figure out.
The internals had become a veritable 3D puzzle but I soon started to get my head around everything. Bits were still falling out as I worked.
The ball cover clip was next, not too complicated. I did have to apply a little extra glue to fill some gaps.
Things were coming together nicely but the rollers weren't playing nice. I realised that these little posts were supposed to keep them pinned down.
It was hard to keep a steady hand for some of this. I had to hold my breath while I was getting the alignment just so.
Once this was done things actually started looking pretty good. I plopped the ball in and gave it a little wiggle to verify everything could move as it was supposed to. Then it was curing time.
After all that I still had some bits left which I simply couldn't find a home for
All rebuilt, things look good! Here's the little fellah with their other-coloured siblings. They're all a little overdue for a cleaning...
After rebuilding I got the 5400 set up with the repaired mouse hooked up. I was delighted to find that it works perfectly!
Success! Here's hoping for many more years of the plastic staying attached to this lovely computer and its peripherals.
Thanks for reading.
I looked on ebay for a replacement and was horrified to discover that the black variant of the ADB mouse is extremely expensive compared to the beige one. Resentfully I realised that I was probably going to have to rebuild the thing myself, boxed up the pieces and left it for a while. I couldn't even begin to fathom where all the pieces had come from.
Today I set about rebuilding it. It took me a couple of hours, needle-nosed tweezers and some super glue. The ball cover was easy enough to figure out.
The internals had become a veritable 3D puzzle but I soon started to get my head around everything. Bits were still falling out as I worked.
The ball cover clip was next, not too complicated. I did have to apply a little extra glue to fill some gaps.
Things were coming together nicely but the rollers weren't playing nice. I realised that these little posts were supposed to keep them pinned down.
It was hard to keep a steady hand for some of this. I had to hold my breath while I was getting the alignment just so.
Once this was done things actually started looking pretty good. I plopped the ball in and gave it a little wiggle to verify everything could move as it was supposed to. Then it was curing time.
After all that I still had some bits left which I simply couldn't find a home for
All rebuilt, things look good! Here's the little fellah with their other-coloured siblings. They're all a little overdue for a cleaning...
After rebuilding I got the 5400 set up with the repaired mouse hooked up. I was delighted to find that it works perfectly!
Success! Here's hoping for many more years of the plastic staying attached to this lovely computer and its peripherals.
Thanks for reading.