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Computer mouse circuit repair

dusty071

May 11, 2018
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May 11, 2018
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Hi I'm a newbie at soldering, i tried replacing the omron click switches on my Razer naga mouse and ive made a mess of it. While desoldering the 3pin switches out, the small metal rings that make contact with the circuit also came out. Now no matter how much solder i use, the switch doesnt make contact - clicking doesnt work. Is there any way to repair the circuit or is this a lost cause? Ive been looking at some conductive paint on aliexpress, maybe that would work better than solder? Advice much appreciated.
 

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turbogt16v

Mar 27, 2015
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Take a picture of bottom side,
You can solder it ,just take smal pice of wire and solder it to each pin,to act as extension cord
 

dusty071

May 11, 2018
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Sorry i didnt explain it very well i think, i took that picture of naked board without the switch, which has to be soldered tightly onto the board, wires would not work. Here are some more pictures. I tried looping thin wires around the 3 pins of the switch before i soldered it on (to mimic the small metal rings which were around the holes), hoping that it would help make contact with the board but no luck. Honestly i think the board is too ruined.
 

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turbogt16v

Mar 27, 2015
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You need solder paste to make easy joint on small conntact,only 2 pins work on this switch middle and 1 side, solder on the side that is good and solder middle to the that small point near the middle on the back side
 

WHONOES

May 20, 2017
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I should imagine the board is meant to have plated through holes to maintain continuity through the board. From your photo's, it looks as though the plating has been pulled out when you have removed the switch. Unfortunately that is all to easy to do. If so, you will have to find a way to re-instate the connection possibly by using very thin wire.
 

kellys_eye

Jun 25, 2010
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You will need to remove the resist (black 'paint') to expose any copper to solder to. The connection may be on the other side of the board too.
 

dave9

Mar 5, 2017
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The problem is that if you couldn't solder that as it were, it is doubtful you will be able to solder the repair of how it is now.

I cannot see your pics very well, there is too little color and bad lighting. However from what I "think" I see, the top switch pin just gets soldered to the copper all around it, just take a knife blade and scratch away some to expose bare copper.

The middle pin, follow the trace to the next point it connects to on the circuit board. You can then take a piece of solid core wire, something like network cabling wire (around 24AWG), solder the switch front pin in, make sure the switch is tight against the board and loop the end of the piece of wire around the middle switch pin, pushed tightly against the circuit board then soldered.

Next solder the other end of the wire to that "next point" above. If you can't get the switch to remain motionless doing this, you might have to give up on an "easy" repair next time and epoxy the switch to the PCB with a bead of epoxy on both sides, or super glue or whatever, making sure none gets into the switch. Epoxy being thicker than super glue will be easier to work with, IMO, won't creep into seams in switch housings as easily.

Really what I would do in your situation, if this mouse has value to you and you need use of it soon, is find a friend who is good at soldering and ask them to fix this. It is better to practice your soldering on worthless scrap parts before putting it to task on something of value. Also consider that it is much harder to solder with a bad quality iron and/or one with a shot tip, especially until you get good at soldering and realize when the tip is unusable or just needs cleaned.

A little plastic bodied switch like that, will be damaged if heated too high or too long during soldering.
 

dusty071

May 11, 2018
3
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May 11, 2018
Messages
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I should imagine the board is meant to have plated through holes to maintain continuity through the board. From your photo's, it looks as though the plating has been pulled out when you have removed the switch.
Yes this is exactly what happened, i just didnt know the wording to explain it properly.

dave9, i tried to trace the switch to whatever it connects to and it seems it goes into the chip on the frontside - see pictures. Soldering that is definitely beyond my skills, the pins on the chip are very tiny. I had hoped some paste or something existed and i would be able to repair the plated through holes that i ruined.

Anyway i ordered some new equipment because my cheap soldering iron broke down so i wont be able to try again for a while. I have other mice but im still sad to let this one go, MMO mice with 12 thumb buttons on the side arent cheap. Next time click switches die on one of my mice ill be sure to be more careful with the desoldering plated through holes, but its just so annoying with a 3pin component, 2pin like a capacitor is much easier.

Thanks for all your help.
 

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kellys_eye

Jun 25, 2010
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The place marked TP1, right beside the switch, is where you can connect one wire.......
 
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