[Farner1989]

So ive had my phone for a while and my trackball is pretty dirty, is there a way to clean it?

[74cuda]

Unless it is horribly bad....I mean 99% UNUSABLE leave it. I recently took mine apart with zero knowledge and it was incredibly difficult to put together. Pieces are tiny and magnetic making them work against you. My only advice is do your research beforehand and make sure you observe what the components look like as you take them apart and make notes so you don't put rollers in reverse which was my problem

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[superaj]

You can try this if you would like. I have never done this but I think I am going to give it a try.
http://forums.crackberry.com/f3/how-...rackball-3243/

[crispycutz]

Yeah thats a good link AJ,

b4 u guys go pryin away at the trackball housing inseide ur BB, search the forums a bit more.. i believe theres a thread with pics, it really is a little bit of a project, take as much time and care as you would if you were gonna upgrade your OS for the 1st time...

quick tips:--

-when taking first silver ring off, go for the bottom of it 1st.
(picture a compass N S E W, youd go for South 1st or 6 oclock)

-then the right (East, 3oclock)

-then left (West, 9oclock).

turn over and trackball housing should pop out..

you can alcohol away if youd like here..

-- its the next part which gets tricky!

[kompressor]

Mine has locked up in one direction 3 times in the past year. Get a Q-tip. dip it in alcohol. Swab the trackball. Then roll it all around. Good as new.

[johnsmohr111]

The alcohol method works for first few attempts, but if you have had phone for a while dust and dirt collects inside where the magnetic rollers fit into the plastic housing and I have had bad luck getting that crud out using q-tip or submerging whole track ball in alcohol. When I carefully removed the plastic housing and basically completely took track ball apart I could see all the dirt that wasn't removed from prior attempts. Once I thoroughly cleaned everything out worked like new again. Be careful if you do attempt to disassemble trackball, the parts are very small and the metal retaining ring is delicate, make sure you don't stretch the ring out of whack. If you do, it will not clip back onto plastic housing, also be careful not to scratch or mess up the rubber ring the ball sits in, the to (top rubber/plastic housing) where the magnetic rollers sit in. I did on a old bb and it made one direction not really work because the magnetic roller for that direction would stick and no longer rolled smoothly.

[kdy597]

can you blast it with some compressed air?

[Paullamm]

Or buy a new trackball assembly. I paid $12 for mine. You can install the new one in a couple minutes.

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[johnsmohr111]

can you blast it with some compressed air?

That might work but i doubt it will get everything, probably most of it though.

[keswan]

Or buy a new trackball assembly. I paid $12 for mine. You can install the new one in a couple minutes.

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I buy trackballs in lots so my price is cheaper, BUT, I have NEVER paid more than $3 for one even on Epay.
So if you paid $12 for yours then they really saw you coming.

[zerohour]

The going price on ebay is $10, with free shipping. $12 is not that bad.

[deanabmf]

I had to buy one a while back as well because I broke the little tab on the chrome retaining ring. Be super careful if you decide to pull it apart. On the upside you can color the little LED light with a marker and change your trackball color!

[scarletbegonias]

I use the air compressor we have at work. I spray in all the lil cracks and crevices. Just have to be careful its not up to high!

I do use alcohol for the ball itself every once and a while though because it gets the oils from my fingers that build up over time.

[Lovelee]

i just got a brand new BB and im obsessed with keeping it clean i got like 15 screen covers i put a new one on like every 3 days... ya im a beast. i also wipe the keyboard and trackball everyday with a wetwipe and the covered screen lol. my old BB was thee ugliest thing ever. this one is my heart literally because its red. =]]

ahhh oh and with the old BB when i took the first silver ring off the clips that hold it together broke off, its only plastic pretty cheap and after that day it never was the same... so i lost the trackball.....

just keep it clean from day one. =]

[jugglegood]

I use rubbing alcohol

[snowgimp]

That might work but i doubt it will get everything, probably most of it though.

Dude...I'm half in the bag and your avatar almost made me fall out of my chair, oof.