Ugh, mouse problems.

I spilled a drop or so of chai tea down into my mouse 20 minutes ago and it started acting all funny. I knew I had fucked up. I had to open it up, clean all the little parts and chips and put it back together. Seems to work right, although it might screw up again.

Is there anything else I could have done? I didn't really clean it with anything special, just wiped off the gunk and all that nasty fuzz stuff. Maybe window cleaner works to cut the greasy stuff?

 

I find a mixture of methylated spirits (ethyl alcohol or ethanol, though sometimes propanol can be used) and water is good for a lot of computer cleaning. A mouse with a "ball" mechanism should be cleaned regularly, the ball itself should be washed in warm soapy water (or mild detergent) so the rubber surface is speaky clean without oil/grease on it, while a cotton-bud dipped in the alcohol is good for cleaning the roller surfaces. Alcohol can both help dissolve oily/dust build-up and dry quickly.

 

As with most spills - just get the water mopped up as quickly as possible and dry it out as soon as you can. If it works afterward, you've done well, if a short occurs and damages something inside, too bad :-(

 

So far so good. It's a cordless (gah, battery eating POS) optical mouse. Has nice weight, good for capping some skulls in PC games, but costs me a damn fortune in batteries. Every once in a while, it gets a hair caught in front of the laser and I have to dig it out. haha.. Thanks, rex.

 

You must invest in a set of NiMH AA and/or AAA cells, and a charger, and never buy a battery again! mp3 players, digital cameras, all the kids countless toys - we have not bought Zn MnO2/alkaline cells for years, just have a good bundle of high rated (2000-2500mAh for AA, 750-900mAh for AAA) NiMH cells and a few chargers!

Also, I've noticed that my wireless mouse has an on-off button, though I rarely use it - turning it off overnight might extend battery life!

 

and make sure you get NiMH (Nickel Metal Hydride), not NiCd (Nickel Cadmium) - NiCds are pretty weak and no good at all for high drain devices like digital cameras.