As many of you know, RIM designed the trackball on their most recent models in a way that has inconvenienced many of us. Unlike previous BlackBerry's where you could easily remove and replace the trackball, it's not that easy on the BlackBerry Tour and others like it.
My current Tour worked perfectly when I first got it. Here lately though it has been acting up due to the trackball getting dirty. Here is what I did to clean it. I plan to make a video demonstrating this in the next day or so, but until then here are the instructions.
DISCLAIMER: TRY THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK. I AM NOT LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGE OR NON-FUNCTIONALITY OF YOUR PHONE IF YOU ATTEMPT THESE INSTRUCTIONS. MAKE SURE TO READ ALL OF THE INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE ATTEMPTING THESE INSTRUCTIONS.
Things you'll need:
cleaning cloth
alcohol
loose leaf paper
scissors
air can (optional)
1. First, clean your trackball by damping a cleaning cloth with a little alcohol. Wipe the trackball so that it is free from grease and residue. This will help the next step because the trackball will now grip things better.
2. With your scissors cut a piece of paper about 1/8 inch wide and 3.5 inches tall. Basically, make sure the width of the paper is smaller than the trackball (about half it's size).
3. Press down on your trackball and insert one end of the paper into the mouth of the trackball opening.
4. Gently scroll your trackball so that the paper catches to it and it begins to roll under the trackball. The paper may come out on the other side of the trackball's hole. If so, this is fine. If not, that's fine too, just as long as the paper is noticeably inside of the trackball hole and under the trackball.
5. Slowly twist and turn your trackball so that the pager dislodges any debris that may be caught under the trackball or on the trackball roller pins (there are four underneath it; I've seen the inside of a BlackBerry before). WARNING: BE CAREFUL NOT TO BREAK THE PAPER INSIDE OF THE TRACKBALL HOLE (I didn't have any issues with this, but make sure your paper isn't cut so thin that it can easily break from a pull or twist).
If you see any debris come up, stop and use your air can to blow it off (if you don't have an air can, use your mouth).
6. Slowly pull the paper out of the trackball hole.
7. Press down on the trackball and with your air can, blow around the perimeter of the trackball. This can help blow any lose debris away from under the trackball (where it goes I don't know, but who cares).
That's it! Depending on how dirty your trackball is, you may have to perform steps 4 thru 6 repeatedly. I had to do it about 4-5 times. Applying a little more alcohol after all of this can help as well. My trackball now works good as new again.
Nice tutorial. I just use an air can twice a week at work and spray it out since I got it. It was a green dot so never had any issues at all.
I tried that first, but because everyone's trackball situation is different, that may or may not work. In my case, it didn't. But now that it is clean again, I can stay on top of it and hopefully catch things before they lodge in or "build up" on the inside.
This can work; another really good solution is makeup remover on a wipe or something. I know my trackball gets makeup on it frequently and that sometimes helps.
IT WORKS!!! I posted a thread earlier about my trackball feeling like it was desending down in to my phone...I was even considering replacing it....But now it works like new!! thanks!!!
I used this method today to fix one until the warranty replacement comes in. It may have worked too good and they'll think I was lying about it being jammed...
This was so helpfull.. I have been playing with this trackball all night trying to get it to work and your little paper trick made it suddenly work again Thanks so much !!
