Help with stuck trackball

I am currently on vacation with my family in Clearwater Beach, Florida and my dad is having a major problem with his BlackBerry World Edition. He can not get the trackball to move up and down, which means not being able to read e-mails or text messages. So because he can not get a new BlackBerry until we arrive back home in Toronto I was thinking if he went to Best Buy could they replace his trackball? It's the only idea I can think of unless someone else has one? I should also mentioned he tried a battery pull and it still did not work.

I had the Curve 8330 with a trackball. If mine would not move (very seldom) I would press HARD on the trackball as I am trying to move it up and down. Had to do that a few times....but it would always worked for me. Good luck.

I doubt if Best Buy stocks replacement trackballs, but that is a simple way to restore it back to service.

There is a possibility you can fix the trackball...

http://forums.crackberry.com/f3/how-...-stuck-146357/

If you can not find a trackball locally, consider Craigslist or simlar local classified adds. The trackball assembly is universal in all of the 8000 series. Any older model Pearl, Curve or World Phone will have a usable trackball.

I doubt that Best Buy will replace the trackball. Does he have the 8830?

Originally Posted by princebb

I doubt that Best Buy will replace the trackball. Does he have the 8830?

Yes that's the one he has.

I had a Curve 8330 with a similar or same trackball. I used to take out the trackball and clean it with rubbing alcohol. You can also try using a little rubbing alcohol on a microfiber cloth or something soft and rubbing it on the trackball while rotating the ball around. I'd turn the phone off first and don't use much alcohol.

Here's another trick to try that works for me (learned it on CB from another member): Take a clean sheet of printer paper (maybe get one from your hotel front desk). Remove the battery. Place the BB face down on the paper and move it around in circles all around the paper (so you are continually on clean areas of the paper). I guess the paper absorbs and oils, etc. that are on the trackball and also collects any dust, etc.

When my Bold trackball sticks, I do this and it works every time.

I hope this helps.

And NO - Best Buy wont have any replacement trackballs . . .

Thats good solution since rolling on paper doesnt require any parts or screws to be remove. I should try it someday if my Track ball decide to let me down.

I told my dad to try the rubbing alcohol and it worked. Now he still thinks it might get stuck again, however at least he will know what to do and thank you all for your help. Although we decided that when we get home I am going to give him my Tour and I will be getting the iPhone 4, because he has talked about replacing his World Edition. I know the Tour also has a trackball and others reported problems with it, however I never had those issues with mine and it's still better then what he has now.

Originally Posted by Don_Henry

Here's another trick to try that works for me (learned it on CB from another member): Take a clean sheet of printer paper (maybe get one from your hotel front desk). Remove the battery. Place the BB face down on the paper and move it around in circles all around the paper (so you are continually on clean areas of the paper). I guess the paper absorbs and oils, etc. that are on the trackball and also collects any dust, etc.

When my Bold trackball sticks, I do this and it works every time.

I tried this yesterday and it worked amazingly!!! I was going nuts with nothing working to clean my trackball and let me scroll down!

I do the clean paper trick. I don't take the battery out. Instead, I put the phone in standby mode (pressing the lock button). This turns off the keyboard and trackball. Makes it quick to check to see if it is no longer stuck just by pressing the lock button again.

That might not work on the 8830WE the same way. It's been a while since I used mine. I think I had to just tap the power button to go into standby (or was it holding the mute button down until the screen went blank?).