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Fixing a Blackberry Roller Ball/Tract Ball. Many Agents have them, but what if they stop working!

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Home Builder

Fixing a Blackberry Roller/Tract Ball

 Blackberry 8830 and it roller ball parts

 

If you have a Blackberry 8830, or similar Blackberry cell phone that has the roller ball, or tract ball as some people call it, and your ball isn't working, I may have some suggestions which may help.

 I found what started to be some general ideas about fixing this problem by Googling, "fix blackberry roller ball", or "fix Blackberry rollerball".

 The posting I click on said to take the roller ball out of the phone by inserting a stiff and sharp needle under the silver exterior shroud that surrounds the roller ball.  It suggested putting an embroidery needle under the shroud between the letters T and Y as seen on the phone keyboard. 

 Since I didn't have an embroidery needle handy, and to be honest, didn't know the difference between an embroidery needle and a standard needle, I use the next best thing,  a pen.  This may have been a mistake as I have since removed the shroud on multiple occasions with a pen and it has caused damage to some the shrouds teeth.  I suggest you think twice about using a pen.  The shroud has three sets of teeth that if mishandled when putting back on can become bent and cause the silver shroud to be reseated in a lopsided manner.  As you pry up the shroud, note the orientation and location of the teeth.  This is going to be important when you put the shroud back on. 

 Once you have removed the shroud tip the phone over and the roller ball and roller ball housing should drop out of the hole in the phone.  If is doesn't drop out, GENTLY pry it out.

 

Now the fun begins!  Before doing anything else, look very carefully at the configuration of the roller ball housing.  You may want to take a picture of the housing unit as you take it apart.

 The roller ball housing is made up of several parts.  The housing consists of the roller ball, the roller ball top holder, the base unit, a silver clip that hold the top holder and base unit together and the magnetic pins.  I don't know what the designer call these parts, but since I am the one taking the time to write this post, I will call them whatever I want.

 Before you take the roller ball housing apart run the tip of a small needle around the top of the roller ball.  There is a good chance you may be able to dislodge some of the lint or debris that is preventing the ball from moving in all directions.  If the roller ball is encountering resistance in a specific direction, then this the likely spot where there the obstruction is located.  In hindsight, I probably could of saved a lot of time doing this before I disassembled the roller ball housing. 

 If you decide to proceed and take the housing apart it is critical to put it back together the same way.  Pay special attention to the bottom base unit and how it fits with the roller ball top holder.  Putting these two together is the time consuming and frustrating part. It is going to take the patience of MacGyver and the dexterity of a Cirque de Soleil performer, but know that if this guy can do it, ANYONE can. 

 Once all the pieces are out, soak the ball in rubbing alcohol.  This tip was taken from another posting I saw on the web.  Take a cotton swap and clean the dirt from the inside of the roller ball top holder.  I was surprised to see how much lint build-up there was on the inside of the roller ball housing.  Note the picture of the needle.  To the right of the needle is the lint I pulled out of the housing.  Once you have removed all of the debris, start by dropping the roller ball into the upper roller ball housing.  Try to keep the silver clip in its original position, as this clip, once separated from the roller ball housing needs to go back on a certain way.  Trial and error finally exposed the one right way for me.  Note that the silver clip and the bottom base connect and are secured by the very small wings on the silver clip that needs to be folded over in order to keep the two together. 

 Steps for assembly:

 

1.  Drop the ball into the upper roller ball housing 

2.  Insert the magnetic pins, remembering how they were oriented when you took the housing apart.

3.  Replace the base.  It will only fit one way.

4.  Secure the upper and lower housing using the silver clip.

5.  Carefully fold the small wings of the silver clip over so the two sections stay attached.

6.  Replace the reassembled housing back into the phone

7.  Carefully replace the silver shroud.

Done! 

One quick tip I also realized is that the roller ball housing can be taken out of the phone and rotated to provide a temporary fix which will allow continued use of the phone and its programs.  The trick is to align the roller ball direction that is not working to the left directional spot.  By doing this you can still go up and down and to the right.  By using the back button you can return to the home page and start again if necessary.

 As a Real Estate Agent, developer, and custom home builder in Southern NH, I regrettably live on my phone.  I hope this helps and would love to hear any feedback.  If anyone is looking for a real estate agent in Southern NH to refer business to, or knows someone who is buying or selling real estate in NH, please keep my name in mind.

 Good Luck!

 David Hall

Dave@NHHomeMarket.com

 http:www.nhhomemarket.com

 

 

 

 

 

Comments (16)

Anonymous
Kelsey Warren

Great tips!  Thanks for the help.

May 24, 2008 09:52 PM
#1
Anonymous
Zak

THANK YOU!!

Jul 27, 2008 02:00 PM
#2
Anonymous
darren

Good information.  One tip: I didn't have to take the housing apart.  I tried to clean around the ball with a needle but there was nothing there.  as I looked closer under a lamp I noticed small particles stuck to the magnets on the roller needles.  Apparently I picked up some metal filings from the shop that I work in.  I carefully cleaned off the magnets of all debri (without removing them) and the roller ball moved freely again. 

Thanks

Oct 10, 2008 02:04 PM
#3
Dave Hall
Amherst, NH

Thanks for the heads up!  I found that the worst part of the whole procedure involved the reassembly of the magnetic pins and the housing.  It is certainly better to avoid taking the housing apart if you can avoid it.  With my monkey claws and the patience of a charging rhino, this part was the most difficult for me.

Keep the hot tips coming!

Dave

Oct 26, 2008 04:12 AM
Anonymous
jd smith

The ball on my wife's BB wouldn't go up, but would down and sideways. I cleaned it with an alcohol swab and it worked perfect. I figured it was just grease from fingertips. Maybe it was or not, but I didn't have to take it apart. The swab I mention is a a little prep pad that comes in the small package. I just rolled the ball up, down, and sideways a few times and it works perfect. I have ATT so it doesn't have a roller ball on the side, only the center one.

Mar 28, 2009 11:29 AM
#5
Anonymous
lh

1. don't panic

2. get the alcohol swab cotton pads, if you don't have it go to the pharmacy and get some for free.

3. use a needle to gently loosen up the outer silver ring,,,,,,loosen,,,,,do not remove   

4. use the pad to clean directly on the roller ball and surrounding area.

5. take the needle and gently scrape as much gunk as possible from the outer silver ring.

6. be thankful for this website and all the people who gave advice before me, they all helped me

fix my problem in under 2 mins.   howerver i happended to have the sewing needle and alcohol pad.

7. good luck everyone!

Sep 19, 2009 05:38 AM
#6
Anonymous
JT

I just used a little alcohol hand sanitizer on my finger...worked like a charm.

Jan 27, 2010 03:33 AM
#7
Anonymous
Scoob
Hey thanks a lot my phone can finally go to the right. You were right it dose suck to clean all those part and I have a crackberry 8330 and my phone had a lot of lint in because I'm phone is always in my packet at work and sometimes at home. So thanks again for helpping me out. Hope u get a lot of business with your retail astate and God bless you and your loved ones.
May 28, 2010 07:29 PM
#8
Anonymous
Jenei Attila

Thank you Dave! It was very easy with your instructions!

Attila from Hungary

Aug 11, 2010 09:19 PM
#9
Anonymous
Rex

Dave, you did not tell us how exactly to put the lint back in?!

R

Nov 10, 2010 09:22 AM
#10
Anonymous
niel

thanks.... the alcohol really help. :)

Dec 19, 2010 03:49 AM
#11
Anonymous
Kelli

This worked great saved me big bucks getting a new phone

Jan 11, 2011 05:56 AM
#12
Anonymous
Jacqueline

Thank you very much, I have already replaced the ball once, and didn't want to do it again.  Funny how frustrating a piece of lint can be.

Feb 26, 2011 08:03 AM
#13
Anonymous
Dannon

Oh how awful...trying to reassemble atm.....how much does a new ball cost exactly? estimations anticipated...

 

Jun 03, 2011 10:30 AM
#14
Dave Hall
Amherst, NH

Thank you to all of you who have posted regarding our Blackberry Dilema's.  I am proud to say that I am now using a smart phone by google.  I have not have to priviledge of taking this one apart, but if I do...I promise to vent my frustrations here for all to see.  God bless technology...when it works!!  Remember to "be kind for everyone you meet is fighting a battle..."

Jun 10, 2011 09:15 AM
Anonymous
Paco

My question was simply HOW to get into the track ball/phone housing itself.  These were great tips and just what I needed to make my ball go UP again. 

I think one misunderstanding many people might have is they think that the "ball" or "track ball" is what gets dirty or gunky.  However, the BALL is not normally what collects the gunk.  It's the rolling PINS inside the housing.  These pins are what the track ball makes friction with to make your cursor move.  Most times you will not FIX the problem with alcohol and a kleenex, because the gunk is too thick-- as in, 2-3 years worth of dirt and lint packed into a couple millimeters of crust around the pins.  Until you open it up and pgysically remove this packed up gunk, the ball won't function 100% the way it should.  Alcohol is a temporary fix.  This way fixes the issue for another 2-3 years or so.

It's just like the rolling ball in older computer mouses.  You open up the ball housing and clean the lint from the rolling pins.

Thanks again!

Jun 10, 2011 01:08 PM
#16