I have a mouse with heavy wear on it and it’s really hard to find a replacement for it. Does anyone have any tips for fixing/soldering a mouse cable? Should I use a soldering pen over a soldering iron? How much lead should I have in my solder. Should I use the same cable? Should I solder on a micro usb plug so I never have to solder on another cable again?
Take it apart, have a look at how it is connected, if it is wires through holes then it is an easy fix just desolder and either strip the current wire back a bit and reattach or use a new wire of your choice. I imagine the strain relief will be the most annoying part of this, they usually look molded on.
A micro USB connector… Good idea but some potential problems will be the metal housing/shield is soldered through holes on the PCB so it has a solid connection so it does not break when plugging/unplughing. If you mouse did not have a micro USB port to start with adding one could be more trouble than it is work from a reliability stand point. Nice idea though.
Edit: oh yeah the solder. I like 60/40 or versions close to that tin/lead solders. Environmentalist will hate you but lead free solder is shit. Flux core of course.
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Electronic solder, something like S-Sn60Pb38Cu2 with 1% flux
Soldering iron works. Cable wise: Nothing longer 5m
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That would be worse. Think about how fragile these things are on phones. Now think about wiggling on that constantly.
Off topic I know but am still baffeled how anyone has broken one of these. I have killed every other part of a phone but never the USB port.
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I got two rolls of 60/40. But I have had it stored in the garage since fall. But I think that the soldier is in my tool chest. I hope that it will not be affected from the weather.
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Should not be, but worth a test first all the same. I have never looked into the shelf life of solder, never really thought of such a thing. I imagine if any part of it will break down over time it would be the flux, but again never thought about it.
Edit: so I got interested and took a look. Solder indeed does have a date to be used by as per the manufacturer. Usually 2-3 years. This does indeed apply to solder paste where the paste dries up or makes the solder beads within stick to each other.
Solder wire does have a date to use by like above and usually the same 2-3 years but again applies more the the flux than the metal.
Searched and looked at the very first result and a lot of the comments say they have used 20+ year old solder wire with no I’ll effects. One mentioned a few inches worth of the wire had dead flux in it and did not stick well but once he got into it a ways it was like new again.
if the wires are not labeled a picture would help.
if you have the space to have cable inside the mouse housing, having a micro usb on a short cable inside the mouse would let you use any cable after restraining it some how.
a knot would do, or maybe a tight zip tie?
the goal being that if the mouse outlives the next cable that you can just open it and swap out a new micro usb but not having to deal with mounting a micro usb port to a board that wasnt designed for one
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USB is a standard. Anything with USB will have these wires.
ThickBlack- shielding
Black - ground
White - Data-
Green- Data+
R - Voltage
Soldering it is easy. Just match it up, should be labeled like this on your circuit board.
Find where is the broken part of the cable. Cut there, cut some cable from the left and some from the right. Bring those cables together and solder. Don’t forget the sleeve before you solder them. i usually use both shrinking tube/sleeve however they call it in america and electrical tape.
What is a soldering pen ? If it is just a smaller soldering iron it will be up to you. you just need some heat can be done with a lighter too (yes i have done it its not beautiful but it works).
Whatever you have there’s no need to buy new just for a cable.
I recommend it but hey if you want to spent money I wont stop you.
That would of been a good idea if you made the board and included bases for the supporting legs of the connector. however on this mouse you wont have such which means the connector will be kept in place just by the data/power connections. which is 1st - the worst it can happen because you will have to replair it every few days. 2nd - pain in the ass if they are not put all on a single place, a lot of chineese manufacturers put a direct cable from the exact place that the lead came out ( what i am trying to say is most times they dont even put them in one place as if there will be a connector because there isn’t )
What mouse is it? I’m curious. ATM I have my Elecom M-DT2DR as my main mouse and a G700s for literally CSGO and Quake only (not for long). And thats a trackball. Its a complete format switch.
If you’ve used it to death, why not get a new one?
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Why buy a new one when you can repair it ?
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It is a func MS-3 rev 2. The mouse is really comfortable. And the closest I can get to it is either a Mionix which has no sniper button and does not have low enough dpi settings. Or the Corsair K65 with a sniper button. The Logitech G502 seems nice but I like a place to rest my ring and pinky finger. But does not appear to be as comfortable as the ms-3. And a new or used ms-3 would cost around 300$ to 400$.
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Maybe try getting a paracord cable from ceesa? Not sure if there’s a cable specifically for that mouse, but it doesn’t hurt to ask him.
Most mouse cables just terminate in a connector so it would be a pretty easy replacement.
Those are some crazy prices. Well then either you cut the cable where the problem is and don’t open it. Or you open the mouse and check out how it’s connected. Make sure to make pictures if you open it. It seems like I cant find a disassembly of it.
I am using this exact same mouse right now.
I wish that mionix made their naos series a bit similar to the MS-3 since it is similar looking. And also wished that Fnatic would make another version of the MS-3 as well. I guess it will just have to be one of my pc parts that will always be special and cannot be replaced. Since it is the lazy boy of mice in my opinion. And comfort is king.
i’ve used the G700 for years and now the G700s is my every day work mouse. the fit and number/placement of buttons is just right for me.
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My mouse cost $80.
I cut a cable from a dead webcam and soldered it on on 15 min.
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Turn’s out it might be simpler than I thought to fix the mouse cable. I hope that it does not need a specific pin out.
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