When my ancient Logitech G500 mouse stopped working properly, I followed these helpful instructions to bring it back to life. Now I know more than I ever wanted to know about the mechanics inside the Omron D2FC-F-7N microswitch.
Here’s a short video I made showing how it should work:
This is a photo of a working switch:
The following switches will not work as the leaf spring is not positioned correctly in one of the notches:
I recommend opening the switch from this side (compare label on your switch for orientation):
Finally, a photo with my finger shows why these are called microswitches (actually Omron uses the term “Ultra Sub Miniature Basic Switch”):
Disclaimer: If your mouse has been in use for several years, you should seriously consider buying a replacement switch. I believe you could desolder the switch from the top by cutting it into pieces first (the plastic is rather soft). Replacements don’t seem to be available from electronic components distributors but are sold on Amazon.com (affiliate link).
I was only able to repair my mouse because I had another broken one from which I stole a leaf spring (from the less-used right switch). The original spring of the left switch in my mouse was badly deformed. Unfortunately I can’t show you any pictures because it flew away when I tried to bend it.
Thanks for your instruction
I was able to open the left click switch on my no longer clicking Logitech TrackMan, remove the “reed”, clean out what looked to be dust(?) and then put it back together. It now clicks properly. On my “machine gun” clicking M570 wireless trackball, I tried the same procedure, and it still does not work properly. I’m sure I could get it working if I spent more time, but I decided to just order 6 brand new Omron switches for 6$ from Amazon.
I’ve just spent two hours trying to refit one of these microswitch springs (Logitech M570 mouse) after disturbing it whilst cleaning the contacts and have given up, followed by an order on Amazon for replacement switches. Hopefully a straightforward swap will be much easier. An item worth keeping a few spares of as they seem to be used in many different mice.
De-solder and re-solder a new mouse micro switch. Then it’ll be like new. I wouldn’t bother with re-jigging the insides of the switch.
hey fellow trackballers! don’t try these meticiluous methods
just apply concact cleaner spray on top of the switch
…which will ONLY fix the problem for a short time…it WILL start acting up again soon…once the coatings on those relays get old and corroded it will not “refurbish” for much more than a few months…just replace the switch for a CERTAIN long fix.
nice set of photos. I’m tempted to try the disassemble option myself as having desoldered and resoldered a replacement, it’s a tricky job and it’s easy to mess up nearby components depending on the pcb layout.
Dude, you‘re a legend. I smashed my mouse on the floor and the switch acted weird like no spring. I openened it and managed to bring everything back in position with your instructions and now it works like new.
I honestly have no clue how to open up this switch.
My mouse works again!!! Thanks for the pics and explanation! My M570 was double-clicking on its own, but when I took it apart I wasn’t setup on my table and obviously (in hindsight) it fell apart and I didn’t know how to put it back together. I tried peeking into the other button, but was scared to disassemble too far in fear of doing the same to it. The button seems to be behaving now, so I think I can count the last hour of screwing around as a success! It feels worth it, even though monetarily I should have just paid the $6 on Amazon for a pack of new buttons 😛
Thank you so much for this
I fixed my logitech g403 hero not registering left click by adjusting the spring. The images helps a lot
Thank you for your outstanding macro pictures of the switch and clear explanations, which enabled me to repair my Logitech M720. When I opened the switch, the spring was not quite in place and fell off. So much for avoiding its removal! But that was, in fact, the root of the problem. Putting it back correctly in place was fairly easy (thanks to your article!) and it completely resolved the issue. Thank you again!
Thank you very much for sharing knowledge. This is true generosity 🙂
Useful stuff. Here’s my rabbit hole story: My m570 primary clicker started sticking and I would lift the mouse an inch and whack the desk to make it go again for awhile. After about a year doing this frequently, it totally died. Inspecting the circuitry, I found a wire to the “XT1” crystal had snapped out of the cylinder, probably from my whacking.
Now, 5 years later I decided to fix it, and got some D2F switches, because I remembered the buttons were bad. Then I found a note inside about the busted crystal. Dow’t!! Here is my issue.. There is an XT2 crystal which is labeled as 16MHz (also used by Bluetooth devices), but no marks on the XT1 that actually broke, and no schematics for too-smart engineers are out there. What I’ve decided to do, is assume this little cylinder holds a typical 32kHz Quartz crystal, which would be used for timing connections and pairing by the little chip. From the parts pile, I grabbed a dead wall clock (which also runs on 1AA) to scavenge its quartz. There is little more to a clock than a RTC circuit chip, Quartz crystal, and a coil that moves a small piston to turn the gears. Funny thing, the quartz crystal is kinda ubiquitous, but sometimes 4MHz crystals are put in the same package. But it being totally blank makes me think its supposed to be “obvious” what it is.
I cannot verify that the XT1 is a quartz crystal, or that the current of these two are the same, but its my best, and last shot to save the old trackball. And I already got the D2F switches. Funny how people who use the m570/m575 are the very type to do these repairs.
Thanks for the discussion and be careful not to break the sub-hair diameter wires to the XT1 crystal in your logitech mice when working on it. But if you do, its pretty easy to find quartz in a 99c watch or a wall clock. The Quartz is almost certainly still good. (A watch movement might have very short leads)
Thank you very much for the very useful macro pictures! This helped my MX Anywhere to survive.
At first, I openend the wrong side of the case as well and lost the position of the spring. But this helped cleaning the contacts. Reassembling the spring is most easy by starting with the hinge side, fixing it there with one finger, pushing the contact side sideways into the slot, and finally rising the center spring with a small screw driver into the correct notch.