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So I’ve been using a ball mouse on one of the PCs, just to honor the old days, and it’s always been somewhat hard to roll horizontally.

I opened it today thinking that it might not be just dirt in the whole hollow point, but just the rolling bars that transfer the rotation to the optical sensors. One, that was diagonally positioned and I don’t think is really anything at all, has a very thin layer of this greyish stuff, the smaller one for the vertical movement doesn't even seem to have the surface for such a layer. The thin and wide one that is for the horizontal motion has quite some of this, mostly towards the middle (the edges are pretty much clean), and I am fairly sure there is an irregularity in the thickness on this.

My guess is it’s dirt that piled up along with residue from more liquid material and formed this pigment of sorts, slowly being transferred from the ball to the bars.

However I am a bit anxious that it might be there on purpose to create friction, and that removing it might just make the ball slip on the sensors and make it worse - I don't also know if that would be reversible.

So does anyone know of this weird material, and whether it’s safe to just remove the whole lot of it?

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    If you want an accurate answer, please provide a picture of the gunk in question. Otherwise, assume it's dead skin and dirt (which is most likely is). Feb 5, 2015 at 17:58
  • I do not own a camera capable of shooting a clear picture of something half a millimeter thick and 2-3 millimeters across, a good answer would be one saying "they never do this, it cannot be there on purpose" or "some manufacturers did that, I wouldn't risk it" or, as was accepted as an answer "if it is dirt, this will happen, if it was intended to be there, it will not". After all, if I attached a picture it would be a question strictly related to my case, now it's a question that might apply to a broader audience (though I doubt many people use ball mice) Feb 5, 2015 at 18:29
  • Also, with pictures, you run into the question of whether everybody's trackball gunge looks alike--different colored skin cells, different sources of liquid binders (sweat, lotions, lunch residue), etc. If everybody started posting pictures of this stuff, this site would get disgusting. There's much to be said for @Xavierjazz's approach to an answer.
    – fixer1234
    Feb 5, 2015 at 22:02
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    The diagonal roller keeps the ball against the two that are actually read. And yes, this is standard mouse grunge in the standard location (where it came off the surface of the ball) and that's why most of us are very happy to have non-ball-mice available now. It's a recurring maintenance problem.
    – Ecnerwal
    Mar 15, 2017 at 16:52

2 Answers 2

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It sounds like dirt. I would take alcohol and a qtip and clean it. You will soon know if it should be there, it will basically not come off.

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    with very little rubbing most came off, I feel like I could play quake with this thing now! Can't believe it took me nearly a year to figure this might be the location of the problem! Feb 5, 2015 at 18:23
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You can keep the build-up to a minimum by occasionally cleaning the ball. Use warm water mixed with a dish washing liquid, like Palmolive.

Don't let alcohol touch the ball.

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  • That's interesting. Why? It drys the ball?
    – Xavierjazz
    Feb 6, 2015 at 2:32

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