[acn24]

So I took a look at the trackball issue (i still have one of the first batch tours), and i've been having issues since day one...too lazy to get it swapped. The ball had a "clicking" feeling to it sometimes and missed read.

taking out the battery, you can see that when you press down the trackball, there is a thin piece of metal that pushes down too. Holding your phone vertically and without the battery inserted. Look directly in the middle on the bottom of the batter compartment and inside of it.

I took a piece of business card and cut out a small stripe (no more than 1/4 inch wide and 1 inch long). Bent it so it was like a L shape and shoved the card between the metal piece and the plastic housing south of the battery compartment. Shoved the battery back in, and folded the excess business card down.

Problem solved...the trackball perfect, no skipping and it just feels phyiscally more solid.

My only concerns is what is between that metal and plastic where the business card went. If anyone has any insight and if its genuinely safe for the phone, this "shim" stays.

[dasDestruktion]

I would be afraid to put anything on or around the battery of my 9630. It gets super hot at times without anymore insulation. I wonder why putting the paper up there is fixing your issues?

(Fix your user info... It sounds like you've been a smartphone user for a while if you have an early Tour. )

[acn24]

lol...yeah started with a treo, moved to storm, then got swapped to a tour...

I think the problem is that the base of whole trackball assembly was loose - therefore when i push it down to use the base moved with the trackball causing inconsistency.

With the paper there, it pushes the base of the trackball up towards the front of the phone reducing the play that occurs when i push down on the trackball.

It works really well, feels like a new phone. Just hoping theres nothing that the card shouldn't be touching in there as i don't have a teardown right now to check. But paper is insulated so it should be okay.

[lincolnberry]

I push down and roll mine ball at the same time when it don't wanna roll. Dam **** gumming up

[KoolKeyth5]

You will be surprised at how taking a paper towel and rubbing alcohol will make a world of difference. Sometimes the trackball is just dirty.

[zerohour]

I did the same but with an old credit card harder material. I also have early Tour (July 09). Even with the battery has hot as it gets never had a problem in 10 months or so that I have had this "fix" in the phone.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[acn24]

@KoolKeth

It's definitely not a dirt issue. The contact base is not solid. Imagine if you were trying to push a button but the base of the button is loose. It seems some of the tours and storms design flaws were a base that wasn't as supportive when not put together correctly.

[thereisnospoon]

I did this yesterday with a little piece of heavy paper from a piece of packaging, and it worked great. I could see where the little metal piece was flexing down against the circuit board on a click. I slipped a very small piece (less than .25" sq) between the metal and the board and it made the trackball click way more solid, but I didn't have any real problems to begin with. I have "cleaned" the ball and rollers by rolling it over an alcohol pad (like you get at a restaurant) quite a few times and it seems to keep it smoother.

[social exchanges]

...too lazy to get it swapped.

Getting my replacement one was the EASIEST cell phone transaction I've ever done. I did it over the phone, and 2 days later I got the new one.

I'm glad you got a quick fix, but you shouldn't have to resort to that. Plus, there's instances of people getting their Tours replaced with Bold 9650's, so it might be worth looking into.

[joneslaw22]

Yeah love my tour but the track ball is getting on my nerves. I will be getting the bold 9650 soon.

I do not see how a piece of paper can solve the issue.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[thereisnospoon]

Getting my replacement one was the EASIEST cell phone transaction I've ever done. I did it over the phone, and 2 days later I got the new one.

I'm glad you got a quick fix, but you shouldn't have to resort to that. Plus, there's instances of people getting their Tours replaced with Bold 9650's, so it might be worth looking into.

Not for those of us that didn't pay for the "insurance" though... And, it seems that RIM's quality standards have gone downhill... the crooked trackpad of the 9650s, the trackball in general (when PC mice had already been using light...). Even the pictures of the new Slider show it to be crooked. RIM should stick to mocking up all their phones in Photoshop rather than even building a real one. I used an 8703e for work some years back, and that was a better put together phone than most of the current stuff.

The general advertising (fraud) is great too, $100 rebate after you have owned a phone for a year, but only get the rebate every 2 years. The Tour in general, what was the life of this thing? </rant>

[acn24]

Replacing the device is simple, I agree. But having done it 6x times with the storm, then again with the tour...it was just a pain. Re-updating the OS, uploading and downloading your contacts, rejiggering the settings, trying to fresh install all your apps, rearranging icons, getting service books tweaked, figuring out the new bugs of the new phone...its simply not worth it. I know my phone has one problem, the trackball sucked - so I just went and fixed it.

Why this trick works is that some of the trackball problems it seems comes from a misfitting of the trackball piece and the phones motherboard. The trackball is 2 pieces. First is the ball, then its that actually casing it sits in. For my phone, the casing wasn't pushed up on the phone enough to allow the trackball apply the necessary pressure to move the rollers in the casing. Therefore, when i pushed the ball around, sometimes it "slipped" and it just looked like the trackball wasn't responding. The piece of paper wedges the casing up onto the trackball. Therefore increasing the friction reducing that wiggle room the trackball had before. Its an entirely new feeling trackball, try it for yourself. Business card seemed to work the best. Cut a strip thats just the width of the trackball casing and stick it in there. You can leave an excess right under the battery or wrap it around like I did.

[mrwindow]

My Tour 4th one has worked pretty well sofar. I took my battery out just to see what the OP was seeing. WOW moves alot. I thought I'd try his fix and it seems to work alot better especially cliking. I used a small piece of clam shell packaging you know the stuff, clear almost everytime you try to get it off of whatever you bought you nearly go to the ER cause you cut your self with it or the thing your using to cut it off! ARGH!
I just cut an strip about 1/4 " wide bent in an L likr the OP said and slid it in between the circuit board and the little metal cage thinngy. Cut it off long (so I can get it out later). WahLah. better