My current trackball has lost its smoothness and feels “sticky” no matter how well, or often I clean it.

So, I’m looking for a trackball (thumb controlled) with the following features:

  • Bluetooth wireless with support for at least two connections (for laptop and PC media station).
  • Uses AA or AAA batteries.
  • Uses bearings.
  • Set at a tilt/ergo angle.
  • Repairability is also important, but not a total dealbreaker if the mouse is high-enough quality.

So far, most that I’ve found will lack one of those features, but I’d really like to have all of them, if possible.

UPDATE: Thanks to everyone who offered tips on getting my current trackball working better. Today, trying to roll the ball left became very difficult, like it didn’t want to move. I took it out, looked at the little white ball (bearing?) supports that the ball should be rolling on, and noticed that the left-most one was almost pushed in, and flush with the cup that the ball sits in. The other two are higher up, so the ball can “float” on those, but not this other one. The manufacturer is already sending a replacement mouse, so it should work better, but I’d still like to find my unicorn 😄

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3 points

When you clean it, are you just cleaning the ball? Depending on the type of trackball, there may be some small plastic rollers inside that have gunk built up on them. If you can safely take it apart and clean those well, it can make a world of difference. Back in the days of mechanical mice, this was a pretty common issue.

If your trackball uses some kind of optical sensor(s) and isn’t mechanical, my apologies for wasting your time.

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2 points

It looks like it has a sensor and three white “balls” that the trackball sits on.

I do clean those, and they never have gunk built up on them (maybe I clean them too often?), but I only wipe them clean without using isopropyl alcohol or anything like that. Maybe I should try that?

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1 point

What make and model is it?

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1 point

I’ve got a Protoarc EM01 as my daily driver. An EM04 as a spare, but it’s not as good :(

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2 points

Absolutely use isopropyl alcohol!

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2 points

Tried with isopropyl alcohol, and it feels worse :( Like rolling a wooden ball on more wood.

Kensington says to use Vaseline to lube the ball. I can only imagine that would gum things up, no?

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