[dietcokefiend]

Had my new blackberry for a few days now, and decided to see what made the trackball "click" so to speak. The trackball assembly comes out in one whole piece, so one thing that came to mind was putting it in a little container of rubbing alcohol, and giving it a bit of a shake. Wouldnt run the risk of losing the rollers in the cleaning process, and should make for a much faster process. It took me about 30 seconds to light pick each of the 3 pieces out with the tip of my fingernail, so if this was a weekly thing to keep everything working well, it would take less time than brushing your teeth.

To go along with that, since the trackball is a whole assembly, can you just buy a new 3 dollar part every few months if it gets too grimed up? Does anyone sell this?

[canonbomb1987]

Originally Posted by dietcokefiend

Had my new blackberry for a few days now, and decided to see what made the trackball "click" so to speak. The trackball assembly comes out in one whole piece, so one thing that came to mind was putting it in a little container of rubbing alcohol, and giving it a bit of a shake. Wouldnt run the risk of losing the rollers in the cleaning process, and should make for a much faster process. It took me about 30 seconds to light pick each of the 3 pieces out with the tip of my fingernail, so if this was a weekly thing to keep everything working well, it would take less time than brushing your teeth.

To go along with that, since the trackball is a whole assembly, can you just buy a new 3 dollar part every few months if it gets too grimed up? Does anyone sell this?

I havent seen anyone selling the "Pearl" yet, but i am sure it will be out soon enough. Especially because the 8100 and the 8800 will end up using it.

[97Brabus]

So how exactly do you remove the trackball contraption? If possible, perhaps you could also include instructions. Mine is about a month old and doesn't want to scroll down anymore. sounds and feels as if there is a chunk of dirt or something in there. Please advise how I can remove it without breaking. Thanks!

[97Brabus]

Nevermind, I did a search and found some instructions....

[krsdj1]

Originally Posted by 97Brabus

Nevermind, I did a search and found some instructions....

I had an issue with my trackball were it would move in one direction only.I called t-mobile and they wanted to replace the unit.On my own without the supervision of t-mobile i took the trackball out and just wiped the rollers with a clean q-tip and i put the tracball back in and it worked fine again.T-mobile said the trackball is a sealed unit.

[BB4Life]

Originally Posted by krsdj1

I had an issue with my trackball were it would move in one direction only.I called t-mobile and they wanted to replace the unit.On my own without the supervision of t-mobile i took the trackball out and just wiped the rollers with a clean q-tip and i put the tracball back in and it worked fine again.T-mobile said the trackball is a sealed unit.

What you could also do if this happens is press down the trackball hard and keep rolling it. There might have been some kind of dirt underneath it and this will help resolve the issue.

[jaredtencom]

I had to take my trackball out of my pearl and clean it to get it to work again. It wouldn't scroll down anymore. I tried all the regular stuff like compressed air, pushing the ball down while moving the ball around and nothing seemed to work.

I just popped out the trackball (remove silver ring first, then retaining clip) and the track ball comes out in one piece. I took pictures of my operation and I was surprised to see what my problem was.

flickr (dot) com/photos/jaredten/sets/72157594508693488/

I will try to write up some directions when I get more time. I just wanted to post these ASAP.

[SanFrancisco]

Originally Posted by jaredtencom

I had to take my trackball out of my pearl and clean it to get it to work again. It wouldn't scroll down anymore. I tried all the regular stuff like compressed air, pushing the ball down while moving the ball around and nothing seemed to work.

I just popped out the trackball (remove silver ring first, then retaining clip) and the track ball comes out in one piece. I took pictures of my operation and I was surprised to see what my problem was.

flickr (dot) com/photos/jaredten/sets/72157594508693488/

I will try to write up some directions when I get more time. I just wanted to post these ASAP.

Wow.... those are horrible pics. [pics good, but depictions are nightmarish].

That looks like paper towel lint.

LINK Backberry Pearl - a photoset on Flickr

I'll post some of your pics here:

[SanFrancisco]

How long have you had your phone and did you clean it with paper towels or tissue constantly? Seems like lint build up from constant cleaning.

Hopefully, that's not dirt from your job. If so, change jobs because you don't want your lungs looking like that.

I looked at my trackball, on seeing your pics, and mine looks good after three months use.

Also here is a pic of the little light that illuminates the trackball.

[.moO^.]

How do you remove the silver ring? Just pop it off?

[blackninja]

wow... did you throw the pearl in your dryer lint trap first?

[SanFrancisco]

Originally Posted by .moO^.

How do you remove the silver ring? Just pop it off?

Caution on taking the Pearl apart.

Take note that the metal looking ring is NOT metal. It's fragile plastic with silver paint.

It's very easy to remove the ring. I suggest you mark the front of the ring, where the notch is, so that when putting it back together you can recall how it goes. Use a pin to scratch a little mark just above the notch or use laundry marker to make a small mark at "6 o'clock."

You just put a small eyeglass screwdriver in the hole and gently lift it up. Then go around the ring and apply pressure there so that the ring lifts up as even as possible.

[George1]

Originally Posted by jaredtencom

[...] I took pictures of my operation and I was surprised to see what my problem was.

flickr (dot) com/photos/jaredten/sets/72157594508693488/

jaredtencom, I go off topic here, but I must tell you that I think those pictures are very nice from a photographic point of view. Well done!

[duce95]

and what custom theme was that and where did you find it Frisco??

[GQBalla]

how did you guys keep your trackball so clean??? 3 months of use and still so clean..

mines is goin black..... and i do use denatured alcohol....

[CableGuy711]

Originally Posted by duce95

and what custom theme was that and where did you find it Frisco??

that appears to be the Iphone theme. there was a link somewhere on here to install it

*edit...here http://www.blackberryforums.com/ring...t=iphone+theme

[SanFrancisco]

Originally Posted by GQBalla

how did you guys keep your trackball so clean??? 3 months of use and still so clean..

mines is goin black..... and i do use denatured alcohol....

I clean mine with denatured alcohol about three times a week or I use Windex.

Also, I wash my hands about 10X a day. Big cities are germ factories, that is why. So my fingers are always clean.

Lastly, if I have done anything where my fingers are dirty [working on a motorcyle or filling air in my roadbike tires] I make it a point to never touch the trackball. Real easy to get the trackball dirty in those circumstances.

[layoub]

I took it apart, cleaned it and put it back together. Not only does it work, I can hear the little click sound of the rollers moving again. Yip yip yahooo!

[GQBalla]

i want to take mine apart too.

im just wondering how to make the pearl part nice and white again. its kinda darky now...

i want to take it out and leave in bleach for a little bit.

[fox220]

I took removed my trackball assembly and tried everything to re-whiten my Pearl's pearl. Denatured alcohol, paint thinner, even a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser.

I think I just need to replace it. Of course, I can't find a replacement part anywhere online. Maybe i could find a ball of similar diameter?

Ideas?