[mikodel]

Re: How to clean your 8300 Blackberry trackball

This is the second time in about 8 or 10 years I have referred to this extremely useful thread. Thanks again. Pictured are the only tools (a pushpin and a Kensington surface guardian swab) I needed to pull this off. BTW this is my 2nd BB8310, purchased off eBay. I'm very used to the shortcuts and functions and I didn't want any learning curve when I had to retire my original BB because of failing qwerty keys. After cleaning and re-assembly the ball rolls perfectly in all directions, whereas before at least one axis wouldn't work at all. I have replied prev. to this forum with shortcuts, alternatives to disassembling. One of these is to use compressed air. But believe me, you'll be amazed at how much crud is inside this little thing when you clean it for real.

The pushpin works extremely well for **GENTLY** lifting off the plastic retaining ring and un-hooking the tiny metal cage that holds the rollers in. The pushpin is ferrous, so the magnets on the roller ends snap right to it, greatly simplifying the process of re-assembly. Re-assembly is a delicate task, not easy. Sometimes I had to twist my hand around 180* because the magnet held the roller in the opposite position I wanted to set it. But not worrying about dropping it was a major convenience. The pin point is perfect for scraping gunk out of the housing and for strands of hair and lint.

The surface swab is a perfect size and texture for removing dirt from the rollers, ball, ball housing, contacts, and assorted other parts. Plus it's treated with a cleaning agent which makes the job a little quicker. It also works well for cleaning the flat contact in the hole on the BB itself, on the circuit board that's under the ball assembly.

There are a few things you have to get right when you re-assemble...

- All the magnets have to be facing the right way. I took a picture of the ball assembly before taking it apart for a reference.
- The rear part of the assembly has a key shaped (almost) metal contact. I made sure to put this in the same way it came out, stem facing up.
- The thin metal clip that actually holds the ball, plastic frame and rollers all in place can be snapped on 180* opposite either way, but not 90* off. Just look at it for awhile under magnification before you take it apart. You don't have to take the metal clip entirely off the housing if you don't want to. The ball and rollers come apart once the metal clip is released from its catches, but the clip clings on to the plastic frame enough so that you can leave it in place while you remove and replace the other parts.
- The entire ass'y, once together, is a little tricky to replace into the 8310. Take your time, and seat both the left and right sides down carefully, and fully. I had to put mine in on a slant to get it to go in.
- The plastic retainer ring has two catch prongs on each left and right side, but only one on the bottom. I thought it was broken until I looked carefully.