Most made in recent time have been optical. Usually a laser against a ball and the ball just floats on little bits of plastic. If yours is mechanical it could be quite old.
On Fri, Sep 20, 2013 at 12:01 PM, Dick Steffens <[email protected]>wrote: > On 09/20/2013 11:52 AM, Rich Shepard wrote: > > I've used only trackballs for more than a dozen years. Now and then > they > > become less responsive so I know they need a cleaning. I blow and pick > out > > whatever is visible, usually dust bunnies. Sometimes I need to use > splinter > > forceps to pick the lint off the sensing points in the base or from > crevices > > in the unit. I never use alcohol or any other liquid. > > > > Take out the ball and rub it with a microfiber cloth or lint-free > towel. > > There are no lubricants on trackballs; it's plastic against plastic and > > usually as low speeds. You can wash and thoroughly dry the ball if you > wish; > > it's solid plastic so it will not be harmed by the water. That removes > > finger grease and snack residue quite well. > > Hard to say what the "dirt" on this thing was, but it was all stuff that > was stuck to the plastic. No loose debris. It was free, and I was in > need of an extra "mouse" so I thought I'd give it a try. I think I'll > stick with mice and pick up a couple the next time I'm down at Free Geek. > > -- > Regards, > > Dick Steffens > > _______________________________________________ > PLUG mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug > _______________________________________________ PLUG mailing list [email protected] http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug
