Mouse double clicks when i single click. sometimes doesn't click.
If this is the same problem that the Microsoft IntelliMouse Explorer 3.0 is susceptible to, it can be fixed! It is a hardware issue that is caused by corrosion on the metal contacts inside the buttons. The corrosion prevents electrical signals from passing between a copper plate and terminals above and below it. You can carefully scrape the contact points with a knife to expose the clean copper.
Follow these instructions at your own risk.
To get into the mouse, peel off the pads on the bottom and unscrew the screws, then carefully pry the shell apart. Do I need to say disconnect your mouse from your computer? Attached to the circuit board inside the mouse, you will see a couple of black boxes.
Look closely at one of the boxes and see that there is a cap with ears that clip onto the bottom half. Wedge a blade into one of the seams between the ears and the bottom half and it should pop up a little. The dull side of the blade should be touching the circuit board. Be careful to not bend the ear. Pop the other ear up and the top of the box should come away.
Study the internals of the black box. At rest, the copper plate is held in place by three contact points: at one end by a pivot point; in the middle by the end of a flex-spring; and at the other end by the upper terminal. When the mouse button is clicked, the copper plate is pressed at its center until the spring gives way and the plate pops down to the lower terminal. This is called a "mousedown" event. When it pops back up to the upper terminal, this is known as a "mouseup" event. In quick succession, mousedown + mouseup = click. If the plate or one of the terminals is corroded, the mouse can become confused, and single-clicks get registered as double-clicks.
Warning: the plate is tricky to put back in! To remove the plate, pivot it to one side, away from the terminals. Be careful to maintain control of the plate. It is tiny and springy, so it likes to fly away. Unless you have very small hands, you need to use tweezers to handle the plate.
Check the contact points on the top and bottom of the plate for corrosion. You can use isopropyl alcohol and a toothpick to rub the corrosion away. Be careful to not bend the plate. If the toothpick and alcohol are not enough to expose the copper, scratch gently and evenly with the tip of a knife blade.
Do the same with the upper and lower terminal.
Now is the time for the most frustrating part. Due to its tiny size and being spring-loaded, the plate can be extremely frustrating to reposition. In my experience, it seems that the easiest way to put the plate back in place the terminal end under the top terminal, then position the spring in the middle (there is groove where the spring is supposed to rest), then use tweezers to pull the opposite end against the force of the spring and seat that end in its groove. Meanwhile, I hold a finger against the top of the plate so it does not fly away if the tweezers slip.
When the plate is successfully positioned, press on the middle of the plate to make sure it clicks up and down the way it is supposed to. Clip the cap back on the black box. You may have to turn the mouse upside-down to do this so the white piece does not fall out. Screw the shell back together and stick the pads back on.
Now, if you didn't break anything, you just saved $30.
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