Thanks to all those who replied! There were actually quite a few people
who had ideas about this question and none of them are wrong.
The basic answer is just clean the felt. There were alot of people who
said that they used a pencil eraser on them while others scraped them
with a fingernail or knife. I happened to use a rough cotton towel with
some all purpose cleaner (although someone mentioned that some cleaners
may actually eat away at teh material).
Some mentioned finding felt material in a fabric or hardware store and
then simply removing the old felt and glueing on the new.
There was one mention that if you open a service call Sun will send you
replacemetn felts. I called Sun and they told me that they could
replace the mouse but they never heard of them having replacement felts.
Could be possible though.
My original Post:
I know this is probablly a stupid question but I know almost everyone
must go thru this. Does anyone sell the felt replacements for the
bottom of the sun optical mice? These seem to get gummed up quite a bit
and I have over 70 which I would like to fix.
Replies:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
nobroin@esoc.esa.de (Niall O Broin - Gray Wizard)
This is an interesting question. I've had the problem before
but I'd never thought to look for replacement felts. I have seen self
adhesive felt before but it was in sheets and I don't think you want to
cut out 70 sets :-)
I complained about it a while ago to our hardware maintenance people and
the answer was "Log a call and we'll replace the mouse". Seems silly,
but
I suppose we're paying Sun so much money that we night as well get
something
for it.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
James Mularadelis <jamesm@matrix.newpaltz.edu>
i usually just get a lint free cloth and some cleaner and clean them
off..
haven't had any that broke down to the point of being replaced...
cleaning those and the pad solved our problem
------------------------------------------------------------------------
allan@NMHG.com (Allan Warrior)
We found felt replacement (with a sticky side) at one of our local
department
stores (Fred Meyer). It was found in the department that sells drawer
guides,
drawer paper and similar accessories. It appears to be approximately the
same
as the original except that it is green in color.
We also clean our pads regularly with a "SNAP" treatment for glass and
plastic.
It is an anti-static cleaner that helps the mouse glide easily across
the
surface. Manufactured by MIST Products Inc., 16 Watch Hill Road.,
Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y. 10520. The product was originally purchased for
cleaning
the glass on the photocopiers, but it seems to work well for us.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
bbice@persistence.com (Brent Bice)
This is gonna sound really stupid, but it's better than throwing the
mice away... (grin) I use an eraser (a nice soft one like on the back
of
a new pencil) and gently rub it on the felt pads 'till they look mostly
clean. I then brush off any eraser/felt bits off, bein' careful not to
get
any in the mouse itself.
Next I get some screen cleaner and clean the mouse pad, wiping it dry
with a different, clean tissue (be sure it's somethin' soft you wouldn't
be afraid to use on your monitor or your glasses - grin).
Afterwards, I always instruct the individual user to treat the
optical
mousepad like the way they would their monitor -- er -- or sometimes
better than they would their monitor. The less they touch the pad, the
less goo will get gummed up in the felt pads. I usually rest my palm on
the edge of the desk, with the pad sitting just ahead of my palm. Makes
a HUGE difference -- there's not much more frustrating than trying to
work
on a system where moving the mouse merely slides the pad around (grin)
Anyway, give it a shot -- it's much better than double-sticky taping
the pads to the desk (don't laugh, I've seen it happen before -
grin).---------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
patenaua@oecss1 (Allen Patenaude)
Put scotch tape on the bottom or if you are uder service call up and get
a replacement mechanical
------------------------------------------------------------------------
David G Wiseman <magi@csd.uwo.ca>
We found that if you take a fairly stiff brush (like a toothbrush) to
these
felts, you can clean them up enough to stop them from sticking... While
it
certainly doesn't make them as good as new, it is cheaper. (In the event
that
you cannot find a toothbrush, just rubbing them HARD with a cloth can
clean
them.)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
dengland@ivac.com (Dave England)
I scrape the gum off the felt with my fingernail, I guess you could
use a knife. This seems to work several times before I actually have
to change the mouse.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
issjws@issserv3.lbl.gov (Jim Seavey)
take a pencil erasure and rub the flet pads well and they'll be like
new...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Chris Johnsen <chrisj@cyrix.com>
[ Warning bad ASCII diagrams enclosed! ]
Well, I don't know about replacement felt pads, but I've have
had some luck cleaning them. Its not very high tech, but it is
effective, easy to do, and requires no extra equipment or supplies.
You'll need something with a straight, stiff edge. The optical
mouse pad works great for this. The thinner ones are best, but the
thick pads will work too. Take the straight edge and press it
against the felt on the bottom of the mouse at about a 40-90 degree
angle. Now just scrape the edge against the pad.
I'll try and draw a little diagram to explain:
You'll have to imagine this actually looks like one of the older
angled mice (not the newer rounded ones) turned upside down and
viewed from the side! ;-)
| |
| mouse pad / stiff edge |
|_______________________________|
+-----------------+
cord -> ,-------| mouse |
/ `------.....______/
Now, just angle the pad slightly away from the normal, with
the top of the pad towards you, and just pull the edge of the
pad against the felt, towards you, or just push the mouse away
from you, all while applying some pressure. This usually gets
the gunk out of the felt pretty well for me, as always YMMV.
View from front of the mouse (where the cord comes out)
with the mouse upside down.
apply downard /
pressure on / ---> direction of pull
pad /
.___________.
|_____*_____| * = where the cord comes out
| : : : | : = buttons
`-----------'
There is probably some slight possibility for damage to the
felt if you are not careful, just be gentle with it when starting
out, or experiment with an old worn-out/broken mouse. I'm sure
there are more technical ways to do it (cleaning solutions,
felt brushes, etc.), but this is cheap and effective!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Don Lewis <Don.Lewis@tsc.tdk.com>
If they're just gummed up, I've had good luck washing them with soap
and water. Just remove the bottom shell of the mouse, being careful
not to lose any of the parts, and go for it.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
rjcronin@uop.com (Robert J. Cronin)
I just scrape mine with a finger nail, and then wash my hands!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
celeste@celestial.stokely.com (Celeste Stokely)
I bought some felt at a fabris store, and glued it on with a hot glue
gun.
(Peel off the old felt first, of course.) Any good fabric glue should
work. Now, I have purple feet for my mouse! No one sees it, but I
know it's there. :-)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Peter Hesse <hessep@gb.swissbank.com>
Have you tried cleaning them? I simply rub them on my trousers! It
clears virtually all the muck which tends to roll up into lumps which
are easily removed by scraping with a nail or knife. You might try
scouring them gently with a small scrubbing brush (a nail brush?) if
they are well gummed up. Solvents are no help; they just spread the
gum and there is always a risk of dissolving the material or plastic.
You should clean the mouse mat with a solvent to clear the grease.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
crossmd@heu534.ha.uk.sbphrd.com
Just log a call with sun and they will provide a number of felt pads.
If you
are not under contract (shame on you) talk nicely to your sales man.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kevin.Sheehan@uniq.com.au (Kevin Sheehan {Consulting Poster Child})
In Australia we use blue tack underneath. When I can't get that, I
take a bit of sticky tape and make a loop with the sticky side out.
Put that in the center pad and thump it down. Sticks like a charm.
If you want to clean it up, take some tape and roll it around the
pads to get the gunk out.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
David Willard <dwillard@scires.com>
I don't know of any replacements, but I know a trick to get the
felt "ungummed" a little. Rub an eraser over the felt to clean it
off.
I'm not sure if this just cleans it or takes away some of the felt
too,
but it does make the mouse move a little easier. You may want to
clean the mousepad periodically to help prevent the build-up on the
mouse.
--
***************************************************************
Systems Administrator
---------------------
Space Sciences Building CRSR
Mail all system related problems to one of the following:
sysadmin@astrosun.tn.cornell.edu root@astrosun.tn.cornell.edu
sysadmin@spacenet.tn.cornell.edu root@spacenet.tn.cornell.edu
or see
Vic Germani in room 402 germani@astrosun.tn.cornell.edu
***************************************************************
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