Ran into a situation with a Microsoft Wireless Laser Mouse 7000 that also seems to plague the Wireless Laser Mouse 8000. When placing the Laser Mouse on its charging cradle, the LED on the top of the mouse slowly flashes green for a few seconds, as if it was successfully charging the NiMH battery inside, but then switches to rapidly flashing the LED red.
Taking the rechargeable battery out also results in the flashing red LED. So, the battery is clearly not being recharged. This is further corroborated by the short battery life.
Microsoft LaserMouse 7000 upside-down with open battery compartment
I saw online that some people have found some sort of button underneath the battery and that it’s not being depressed. However, the mouse I was having problems with did not have such a button. There is a small hole under the battery, but no switch or button in the hole.
Upon further investigation, I noticed that the positive metal plate in the battery compartment of the mouse has two plastic rails holding it in place.
Battery removed showing the plastic rails at the positive conductor
When putting the battery inside, the rails tend to press back against the top of the battery such that the battery’s tip doesn’t make good contact with the metal. Since the metal plate is tapered inward, it only makes reliable contact with the battery when the battery is pushed all the way down into the compartment.
Notice the short tip on the rechargeable battery and the rails pressing back against it
As a result of this plastic getting in the way and preventing the battery from making contact with the positive conducting plate, of course it can’t recharge. It also explains why it only charges for a few seconds–just until the battery slips out of position and loses contact. However, the fix for this recharging problem is rather simple.
Fold the paper (left); place on top of battery (center); insert into mouse (right)
- Cut a small piece of paper a little shorter than the length of the battery and about twice as wide
- Fold the paper in half to achieve a thickness of two sheets of paper
- Place the battery into the battery compartment
- Put the paper on top of the battery
- Close the battery cover
The cover should go on snugly so that it firmly presses the battery into the compartment. That will enable the positive tip of the Laser Mouse’s battery to stay in contact with the positive conductor plate. If it doesn’t press firmly enough, add one more sheet that’s half the width of the first one (for a thickness of three sheets).
After applying this little fix, the problem mouse’s LED properly throbs green and charges up completely.
(Update: Added photos)
I have the MS 8000 series KB + Mouse – and this has been a problem for me for a number of months now. What I always used to do was swap the mouse battery with one from the Keyboard, while the old mouse battery would be charged up in the keyboard. But now recently I’m getting the red lights on the keyboard as well.
Finally – can you take some photos to illustrate the above method? Thanks.
I had the same problem with my Laser 7000. It would appear to charge for a few seconds with the flashing green light, then change to a flashing red light. After reading the comments above I took a look at the battery contacts in relation to the battery itself. In my Laser 7000 I found that the supplied mouse battery’s positive terminal is noticeably shorter than a typical dry cell’s terminal. To resolve the issue I cut a small piece of metal and inserted it between the battery compartment’s contact strip and the battery’s positive terminal. Sure enough the mouse will now charge. Perhaps a better way to resolve this problem is to replace the battery with another rechargeable battery with a longer terminal.
Hi Ryan. Yeah, I meant to take photos but work has been very busy. I finally got some shots taken and will get them online soon.
That’s a good alternative, Steve, since regular batteries do have a longer positive terminal. Perhaps even cutting a short piece of a paperclip or some aluminum foil would do the trick. Just be careful that it doesn’t get away and end up shorting out something inside the mouse.
I’ve seen comments from others online who tried replacing the included batteries but without success. Depends if you can find rechargeable batteries with a longer positive tip.
Perfect fix; worked exactly as described. Thanks for taking time to post this!
Wow!! Worked exactly as described, and saved me the hassle of taking the thing back to the shop for an exchange, which would just have had the same problem! Thank you!!
I have also posted about this issue in the 8000 series mice. I’m not sure if your situation is specific to the 7000 series or if there was a hardware update, but there is definitely a switch in the 8000 series mouse I fixed. I might guess that they did an update to remove the completely superfluous sensor, but didn’t account for this additional problem in the revised design.
Thanks for stopping by Ngoc. I took another look and there’s a plastic band in the bottom of the battery compartment. Is this the “switch”? I couldn’t confirm it without opening the mouse but it does seem superfluous to have to detect the presence of the battery. If there’s no battery, the circuit is open and the charger won’t do anything anyway.
Ryan, photos are up.
I don’t know about the 7000 series, but the 8000 series definitely had a metal band above the battery. That band was a switch used to detect the battery. It’s possible the band is plastic in the 7000 now or plastic across all models as an “improvement” or cost cutting measure. I use a Logitec mouse at home and have no such headaches though. :)
Ah, OK. I use a Logitech mouse too :)
Bloody brilliant, exact problem with my 7000, what a cheapo Micro$oft product, lol. Only comment I have is the “thickness of two sheets of paper” won’t usually do it, folding it four or five times worked better for me. Thanks so much!
:-)
Aah, just had to comment on this as it acctualy worked! This has been a problem with both my 7000 (work and home) and this solved it for both of them! MS piece of crap! =)
Really appreciate this tip. Worked like a charm.
Maybe a more green solution is to use some of the packaging or other superfluous paper that came with the mouse.
Merci!
This solve my problem.
After weeks of futzing with this expensive wireless keyboard / mouse set, I was pissed! I even replaced the unit entirely to no avail.
Thanks so much for taking the time and fixing something that clearly MS should have handled.
Thank you. Really. You have saved me time, money and stress. Thanks for your post, it’s worth the time you took to put this up for all of us to use, and you’ve clearly helped to make our day better.
Cheers
Fantastic. Just got this mouse today and this saved me allot of agony. Instead of paper, I just cut a piece of thin cardboard from the packaging. Worked like a charm.
Cheers
Hi Cdub. That’s a good use for the packaging!
same problem with my 7000, folded piece of paper fix worked perfectly! thanx!
Thanks so much! You have provided a happy ending to a frustrating afternoon. :) I’ve never been so excited to see a throbbing green light.
Haha, good one, Melanie! Yes, green lights, whether solid, blinking or throbbing, are a happy sight.
Worked for me! Thanks!!
This worked on my 7000. Awesome, thanks!
sorr, but none of all works for my 7000. Stipid I I can’t get it to work. Even tried to buy a new battery, but that now, after a few days, refuses to charge as well.
Is it still a new mouse? Maybe you just got a faulty mouse or charger. If this fix doesn’t work and a new battery doesn’t work, you might try exchanging the mouse. If you have a friend with the same mouse, you might try his charging station.
Hi Peter,
Thanks for providing the solution to this problem.
In my case: a 7000 series mouse, place it on the charging cradle, one (sometimes more) ‘slow’ green flashes, followed by ‘quick’ red flashing. Some other post suggested a malfunctioning ‘is there a battery inserted’ detection switch as cause. In my case the switch is a round piece of metal in the mouse battery compartment which is pushed slightly away when a battery is inserted. Suggested solution here was to make the battery slightly thicker. In my case this did not help. Note that the piece of folded paper on top of the battery would also result in this switch to function more reliable.
In my case, the root cause Peter found – positive tip of battery is not long enough to make a reliable contact – allowed me to solve the problem.
I noted that some AA cells have a lightly longer tip than others. I just inserted one with a longer tip: done! (didn’t find how to insert a picture, otherwise I could show you, but it is pretty obvious. The battery I had with the longer tip was in total also slightly longer than the one with a shorter tip)
I wondered: why is the contact ‘good’ for using the mouse and ‘bad’ for charging? Perhaps this is due to today’s charging systems: They ‘pulse’ charging current into the battery and measure the battery’s response to determine if it is fully charged, defective, etc. This ‘pulsing’ makes the charger very susceptible to less-than-perfect battery contacts. Perhaps that could explain.
In any case: still looking at a ‘slow’ flashing green led on the mouse: it is charging! Peter: thanks!
Wytze
Hi Wytze. Yes, a shorter than normal tip does exacerbate the problem. The second and third photos in the post illustrate this–the plastic gets in the way. Steve, in comment #2, just inserted a piece of metal to fill the gap. You can probably stick a section of a paper clip, aluminum foil, or wire to improve the connection.
I read on another site that the battery supplied was too thin to make proper contact. I tried the paper and aluminum foil suggestions without success.
It finally ocurred to me that if the battery was the problem, get a new battery. I put in a new rechargeable battery and it works wonderfully now.
Good luck!
It works! Thank you very much
Thanks for the pictorial, so I could see and understand where to change and replace the battery. Truly appreciate your assistance!
awesome! thanks for the tip!!
nevermind, started doing the red thing again unfortunately.
FINALLY!
Thanks for resolving this really annoying problem.
Thank you!
I bought 50 of these suckers and so far all of them had this problem-until now.
Wow! 50 of them. That’s a lot of mice.
I had the same problem with my mouse. Im trying that little piece of paper trick, I just put back the mouse on the charger again. Its flashing green now (FINALLLY), Ill try in a few hours to see how it goes. But so far, this is the best option I had all day after consulting I dont know how many forums/troubleshooting boards.
Thanks =DD
/rawr
Thanks you so much, it totally worked. I was about to take my mouse back because I would charge it over night and it would only last like 2 minutes before dying.
Ok so mine went back to red as well, what I did was shave a bit of the plastic on the inside of the rails and then took a small flathead screwdriver an bent the + connecting blade in a bit to make better contact with the battery, its been a few minutes and it seems like its working.
Yeah, if the adding paper trick doesn’t work, then improving the contact with the positive terminal is the next step. You’re the first to shave the rails. Others have done it by sticking a piece of paper clip, wire or aluminum foil to fill the gap between the battery and the metal conductor in the mouse.
Peter:
Yeah, I had a bit of a budget windfall and thought I’d treat some of my 300 users. Plus the 7000 was on sale.
Who knew it was going to turn into a make-work project?
Still have 40 to go…
Amazing!
A lot thanks!
My hero! This mouse has been a royal pain since it was 3 months old. Thanks so much for the easy inexpensive fix!!
Holy crap. I doubted this. I thought it was so stupid. But hell it worked. I have been having problems for a couple of years now. first was the 7000 mouse. but I took it back to the shop and they couldnt fix it, so I asked for a replacement and I did not want the 7000 back so I asked for the new one at the time that cwas just released into the country. the 8000. it was all good but after about 6 months I started having the same problems. I thought to myself oh shit not again. Well thanks buddy youve solved it. But I’m hopeing it wasnt just a coincidence, coz I know it sometimes did charge. but time will tell. In the meantime Thank You.
Hi Blizzard. Glad it worked out. If it still doesn’t charge, then you’ll need to fill the gap between the positive tip of the battery and the positive conductor in the battery compartment. Just use a piece of foil, bare wire or paperclip.
Fantastic! Thank you for taking the time out for this… Luckily I don’t like to fiddle too much and immediately rush to the blog sites to find fixes, and 9 of 10 times someone has figured them out. Thanks again Peter!
Awesome fix. Been on some MS forums and most of the users were kinda in the “out of luck-send to MS” boat. This did it for me. Now the mouse charges great.
Thanks Cha. Feel free to link from those forums to this post so everyone can quickly get their mouse working.
Worked perfectly. Solved my problem thanks bro
Thanks a lot! My mouse is alive again :-)
Thank you for posting the solution! I bought this mouse for my husband, who is an avid gamer and has the messiest desk in town.. which makes for difficulty with wires on the desk. He didn’t seem to think the flashing red light while charging was a problem.. but I did. I’m an obsessive worrier.. it’s just what I do. So, I hopped on the ‘net and looked it up… and you were the first post I came to! I used the paper, and it’s been about thirty minutes and still steady throbbing green! Thank you!!! If this fix stops working, I will just spring for a new rechargeable battery; hopefully I won’t have to for a while though!
Thank you SO MUCH for the tip … specially for the pictures that truly express thousands of words.
Thanks again!
WOW! Thank You!!!
Thanks so much, this worked and took me less than 30 seconds to fix! Brilliant! :-)
You’re welcome, John, Mike, Jenn, Fredy, Lucy and Cindy. Glad to see that the fix is working well.
Good information thanks. Based on your advice I put a blob of solder on the positive terminal of the battery to extend its length, and this did the trick.
Solder blob on the battery tip. Good idea.
I just bought this mouse yesterday after I told myself that unlike their software, Microsoft knows its way with hardware. But when even after a full night of “charging” the mouse refused to work, I started worrying (and looking for a troubleshoot using keyboard only :p).
So thanks a lot Peter for posting this excellent explanation and simple solution. So far it works for me :)
You’re welcome, Bezalel. I have a Logitech cordless mouse (don’t remember the model at the moment) at work and it began to intermittently fail to move the cursor. So, I applied this same fix to it and the mouse works fine now. Looks like loose batteries are pretty common in mice these days.
Thank you very much!!
I’ve got my 7000 for over a year and I’ve just basically abandoned it after it suddenly stopped working. I decided to take it out and try fix it, but some reason it wouldn’t charge. I appreciate this a lot! Thank you again.
After trying many of the suggestions above, I replaced the mouse. With the new cradle that came with the new mouse, both the new and old mouse charge properly.
The problem was with the cradle that came with the first mouse.
-JaG-
Just found this site and followed the instructions with my Microsoft 7000 mouse. After some experimenting I can position the battery so that it makes good contact both ends. No need for folded paper (so far). Also turned off the mouse via switch underneath while charging . . though probably not necessary. Thanks! I had that sinking feeling I had bought a dud . .
Such a simple fix, but such a big help! I have the 8000 desktop that I recently purchased new on eBay, was having this issue and figured I had wasted my money. Low and behold, a simple peice of paper fixed my issue. Thank you so mcuh!
Wow, two keyboard & mouse combo’s returned to the store and this was the perfect solution. Thanks for saving me yet another futile trip.
Hi there, the problem I have is that when I place the MS mouse on the charging pad it heats up. It gets very HOT, not sure why so now I just change out the rechargeable battery when it turns red. Also does anyone suffer from lack of connection? I mean when using the mouse it sometimes stops moving and just sits there? Thanks for any input regarding this matter.
Does the charging pad heat up or the mouse? Usually, too much current being drawn because of a short circuit is the cause. If the mouse is getting hot and you still get that with a different battery, there might be a short circuit in the mouse.
The mouse gets HOT you can feel the heat through the top of the mouse and the bottom part is even hotter. So like I said I just keep changing the battery. I personally only use the Sanyo Eneloop, what about the part of it losing connection to the bluetooth doggle? Can you help with that?
That’s not good. I’d return the mouse if it’s relatively new. Otherwise, replace it. It should not get hot like that. The heat may also be related to the problem of the mouse not responding (overheating).
Battery is not charging. The NiMH rechargeable battery that I use is 1mm longer than a non-chargeable battery hence there should not be a bad contact issue at terminal +. Tried the paper method but doesn’t work. I suspect the 2 pins underneath the mouse do not actually contact the 2 recessed points in the charging cradle.
Zaxler, get a couple pieces of wire and try connecting those points between the mouse and the charging cradle. Then, you’ll know if it’s a bad connection. You’ll want to clean off the connections too either with a pencil eraser or fine sand paper (could be tricky getting to the ones on the mouse).
There is no charging indicator blinking so you never know if the battery is being charged…until a few hours later you turn the mouse on and see if the indicator light glows green. I turned the mouse power off doing the re-charge.
Also try cleaning all the contacts, inside the battery compartment, on the outside of the mouse and the charging pad. If they’re oxidized, charging won’t work.
All contacts look shiny and not oxidized. Can’t the charger bring a NiMH battery from dead to alive? Battery doesn’t even show the red glow after blinking red a while – been used only 2 weeks. Not really sure if battery or the charger is dead. Any thoughts?
Even shiny contacts can have oxidation on them. Did you already try connecting the mouse to the pad with wires to verify that it’s not a connection problem? Also, does the battery charge up if you use an external charger? If you’ve done all these things and it doesn’t work, return it for another one.
I bought it today(7000)and guess what. The same thing as for all of you. I need to fix batery. I solved it with the paper. Thanks for good and simple solution.
Question – do you have mouse power button on or off when you do the recharge on the cradle provided?
I’ve done it both ways and both positions recharge. The off switch is to save battery power when you’re not going to be using the mouse for a while (e.g., for a mouse that wil be sitting idle at the office over the weekend or if you’re going on vacation).
This was a great guide. Fixed my problem. Used 10sec to find it with google search. Many THanks
Thanks for the help.
This solved the “not charging” problem with my microsoft wireless laser mouse 7000.
Never have I been in a trance from watching a slow pulsing green light. Simply amazing. Thank you!
It is rather mesmerizing isn’t it? Happy mousing. :)
thank you
and a big fu to ms…i never expected a rrod on a mouse…
Not a happy Bunny as was expecting another trip to Costco and wasting loads of time. Had the 4 second green and then the flamin flasin red, but the fixes have sorted it out. My solution was a paper combo with extending the (-) spring to put more pressure on the (+) connection. Shame M/s didnt test it!! Thanks chaps
Padge, another clever variation. Thanks for the feedback.
This fixed my problem – thanks!
Excellent, quick post-it-note and all working, thanks for taking the time to post this.
Perfect cut a piece of paper and rolled it around the battery. Problem solved. THANK-YOU
Amazing! Much praise to you! Fire Bill Gates and hire you to fix everything! Thanks again!
LOL! Thanks, Eric. Happy mousing.
Wow, thank you so much, I thought I would need to throw this away and buy a Logitech.
Awesome fix. Was just surfing to find a new battery to replace the original with and came across this forum. Didn’t have a great deal of hope as I had been to another forum before which had said to ‘wiggle’ the battery (which worked for the first charge) Now the second time charging, wiggling didn’t work. The folded paper trick did!! Thanks so much! And to everyone else with equally brilliant ideas here, thank you as well, who knows they may come in handy down the line as well!
Green means GO! Hopefully I’ll be makin’ many more mouse tracks now! Thanks guys and gals!
Thanks for the help, it sure worked with the mouse.
However, since today I’m experiencing red lights whilst charging my keyboard.
I’ve tried the paper solution; didn’t work. So didn’t a set of other rechargables and a normal set of batteries.
Anyone have a solution to this problem please?
Stiebolt, for the keyboard, try bending the spring contacts out a bit. They might not be pressing against the batteries enough to charge properly.
Thank you so much! It worked perfectly! Very much appreciated. :)
Great. Helped me too with my 7000. Axel
Sure it works, but the problem is not exactly what you are saying. It makes no difference, but just to let you know, the problem is the plastic piece at the bottom of the battery compartment, laying vertically to the battery around the middle of its length. Under that piece of plastic there is a switch, known at the ‘battery present’ sensor. sometimes the battery sits slightly above the compartment bottom, thus not pushing down on the switch, the battery makes perfect contact to the compartment pins, so the mouse works, but without the switch pushed, the battery does not charge. your trick with the paper, pushes down on the battery, causing it to correctly push the sensor switch, thus resolving the problem :)
Hi Sotis. Thanks for the feedback. Do you have some photos of the circuit board for this mouse? I’m very curious to see the actual battery sensor switch and how much travel it has.
It appears that some owners of this mouse have contact problems since the paper trick doesn’t work for everyone. Some have bent the compartment pins to restore proper charging operation.
Thank you very much it works!!!!
3 weeks of thinking how to fix this problem, than wisit this site and salvation:] I’ve got Wireless Laser mouse 8000
@Peter: bending the contactd didn’t work out either… :(
When I connect the keyboard to the device it turns green twice and then a flickering red light appears.
Anyone els had/has this similar problem?
Good spot!! I never thought of that. I fixed it by putting a think piece of plastic behind the contact to move it closer to the battery
Thanks again
Actually how do you know the battery recharging is working? I put in a new rechargeable battery, did the paper trick, always rest the mouse on recharge when not in use, but there is no blinking light to confirm that the recharging is indeed working. Do I have to wait till the mouse blinks red then I know the recharging is not working at all?
For the keyboard, I don’t know. Haven’t tried one. For the mouse, the LED slowly transitions from off to green while it’s charging.
Slowly transitions?…. – within a few minutes after the mouse is placed on the cradle? Even for a brand new battery which should have been fully charged? I always feel that I won’t know if charging is doing until the battery is low on power which might be 2 weeks after use then I will know if the charger is good or bad.
Correct. For the 7000 mouse, as soon as I place it on the cradle, the LED transitions OFF->Green->OFF->Green… as if it was a breathing indicator. “It’s alive!” :)
Thanks so much, what a pain!
Hey Peter – it transitions to Green even while the power switch at the bottom is turned off? Even if a brand new battery is used?
The switch on the bottom doesn’t prevent re-charging the batteries. Yes, the LED will still throb green with the switch turned off and then go solid green when charging is complete. As for new batteries, it depends if they’re pre-charged and how long they’ve been sitting in a store/warehouse. Rechargeable NiMH batteries still self-discharge over time.
Thanks Peter. My last-ditch attempt is to buy a new pack of NiMH battery and see if recharging works. Current battery is never used off a pack which I bought 1 year ago. I did the paper trick, stretched the connectors in the battery compartment, and sanded the 2 pins which sit on the cradle but still no signs of a recharge. If still it doesn’t work have to throw this 7000 mouse in the garbage bin. Without recharging normally a battery dies within 2 weeks.
Thanks for the tip…I have this problem on both of my Microsoft Wireless 8000 keyboards and mouses…after applying “fix”…things seem to be working and the flashing red light problem appears resolved…beautiful!!!!!
I just bought this a few days ago and the charging issue had been bugging the crap outta me. The fix worked instantly, and the green light has been throbbing for the past hour now, charging the mouse the entire time. Thanks a bunch!
Hey folks…Rxp1970 and phantazn …
could you share what your FIX is to get the charging work…
I just wanna make sure I miss nothing out.
I am amazed that this seems to have worked! Thanks!
the fact is that you dont have to need to do this :S you expect Microsoft to get it right, the metal pin is too short, the plastic rails in front of the connector :S mite as well just build a mouse for them :P
I just had to comment to say that you are awesome for sharing this! I have been so frustrated with my mouse! I was about to go try to buy a new battery, but you saved me some time and money! Thanks again!
Thanks – needed a thin(ish) bit of card wrapped around the battery and now it is charging happily.
Thank you so much for writing this simple yet fantastic fix. I’ve been struggling with this for almost a year now, and I’m glad it finally charges.
Microsoft really ought to hire you! This was driving me absolutely nuts! Thanks for your attention to detail!
I tried this method after having the same red light problems with my mouse. It worked at first but then I found that after a few days, it would go back to being problematic. So I tried rolling a piece of paper around the battery like someone else suggested and it worked…for awhile..and then it went back to being unchargeable. So I got fed up, took out the piece of paper and just let the battery in there un”modified”. And for some reason, now its charging fine without the pieces of paper…but god knows how long it will charge before it gives me more problems..Microsoft did a horrible job on this mouse. Considering taking it back for a refund
Wow it worked like a charm. I think it’s really dumb, not your fix, but the fact I have to do that in order to have a functional mouse. Thanks!
I saw the two plastic “guides” on either side of the positive terminal sticking out, and they looked like they were preventing the (short) positive tip of the supplied battery from reaching the terminal. I just took a utility knife and cut off the two plastic guides on either side of the positive terminal. The spring on the negative side now pushes the positive tip tight against the terminal. It’s charging great now.
A big thanks for your help here. For me the paper with tin foil didn’t work, but the idea of a solder ball did. It’s charging beautifully right now and the battery is nice and snug! Thanks again!!! (My wife was going to kill me for buying a defective $70 mouse. Thank god I fixed it before she found out!)
Wow. I have had the 7000 series setup for about a year now and finally decided to see if there was a fix for this.
I tried the paper trick on top of the battery, and that did not work. But I saw you mentioned a “button” underneath the batery that some people have reported. In your first picture that metal band in the center of the pbattery compartment, it is only attached on one side (the “hidden” side) It should fall into a recessed notch when the battery is inserted. However at the opposite end of it, I noticed it does not line up with the “notch” underneath it, so it is not being fully depressed and probably triggering a button underneath. Putting the piece of paper on that, allowed the battery to depress it completely and now my mouse is charging up :) 15 minutes now and no red flashing light.
Thanks!
thank you thank you thank you, i have returned my mouse twice a still had the charging issue, your solution worked like a charm i used a piece of cigarette package for a snug fit.
thank you. this instruction works for me.
@Davey: Wow, that’s really going at the solution head on. Thanks for the update. Glad it worked so well.
@Neuromancer: Thanks for the additional info on that plastic band being part of the switch/button. I had suspected it but wasn’t sure without opening the mouse completely. From the various replies, it sounds like some people have the switch problem whereas others have the electrical contact problem.
@ Peter. Hi, thanks for the fix. I have Desktop 8000. While this fixed the mouse issue, the Keyboard still keeps blinking red(less than 2 months old)Tried your method as well as replacing batteries, still no go.
Thanks,
This has been driving me nuts.
D.
@Ajaz: Hi, you’re the second person who has encountered this problem with the keyboard. What kind of batteries have you tried so far? Unfortunately, I don’t have one to test with but will see if anyone I know has one. If you have any more info, do let me know.
For what i heard and it seems to work here, is that you have to recharge the battery more often. When it blinks red, just get it off and place it again (mostly when it was empty). When you’ve done this like 10 times its charges up.
Recharge earlies to not get this problem.
@DG: Thanks for the info!
@Ajaz: Give DG’s suggestion a try and let us know how it works for your case.
Paper method didn’t work but inserting suitably-sized washers at the spring end of the battery compartment did.
It seems that the extra pressure improves the contact.
Both mouse and keyboard had red blinking light problem. Both now solved.
@Kevin: Lots of creativity brewing here :)
@ Peter/DG
The existing batteries just dont recharge through the Keyboard charger no matter what I do. I went and bought a regular NiMh Electrical Charger and 4 new NiMH 2000 batteries. The new batteries dont have the red LED blinking issue now when I insert and connect through the Keyboard Charger, probably because they are fully charged. I recharged the earlier batteries in the electric charger and they recharged and inserted them again. This time though they work, if I connect the charger, again after a few seconds the RED blinking LEDs are back.
Thanks for the tip! I now know where to look.
Awesome! It actually worked, thank you so much!
I wrapped the paper snuggly around the battery. Working now.
Thanks.
Thanks a lot, now I understand why it flashed red.
Can anybody say, how long it should be charged?
Thank you! Fixed my problem…
Depends how dead it is. Just let it charge until the throbbing green LED becomes a solid green one.
Wow thanks for the tip it worked like a charm on my 7000!
Thanks a lot! Paper on top of the battery and a thin piece of metal between the + pole and contact sorted it out.
Hi all,
I must have an issue with my battery as none of the solutions work. What battery do I need to buy to replace the current one?
It should say on the battery. Mine is a nickel metal-hydride (NiMH), size AAA.
Thanks Peter – So any rechargeable battery will do as long as it is the same kind as the one it came with originally?
@Dmitri: Yes, any one will do as long as it’s a AAA NiMH. Of course, higher mAh rating will last longer. Also, so-called “pre-charged” rechargeable batteries hold their charge longer.
I lost the instructions for my Microsoft Laser Mouse 7000. How do I open it to replace the battery? This is not the rechargeable model.
Thanks
Henry Richards
I’ve never seen a Microsoft Laser Mouse 7000 that wasn’t rechargeable. If it’s got a battery in it, there should be a battery compartment door on the bottom of the mouse.
Another solution is to just break the little plastic rails off.
Hi,
Mouse (7000) worked great for 6 months then started doing this. This fix did not work for me :(
I will try to find a longer battery.
Am I the only one that thinks that MS should have put a hole in the dock for the laser so that the mouse would still work while being charged. I love the feel of the mouse, but come on, it has to work.
Has anybody broken the little plastic rails off
@thefatbob: It would be cool if the mouse could work while in its dock. As for breaking off the plastic rails, someone left a comment saying that it worked.
Unfortunately the solution didn’t work for me (it would give one green pulse and then go back to flashing red). I found that Energiser Rechargables 900mAh works fine though with no need for paper, cutting the plastic or extra metal.
@Anthony: Thanks for the feedback on a replacement battery.
Yeah Nic said that it would be a solution but. It sounds like a suggestion, not a comment that he did actually break them off. Anyways I put in a duracell rechargeable battery (with a white top, it’s supposed to be an eneloop rebadge) and everything is good and flashing green.
Thanks for the blog
@ thefatbob: Ah, yes. You are correct. Nic didn’t say he actually removed them. I’d think the metal tab would come loose if you did.
I’ve had this problem for a long time already with my MS 8000 wireless laser mouse. Does your ideas with the pictures also apply to my MS 8000? I haven’t had any luck with any of the suggested ideas short of replacing the battery. I.m going to try to find a new battery tomorrow, and if that doesn’t fix it… ??
Hi Peter,
Did you mean to say AA batteries instead of AAA on posts 145 & 147? Because mine just has one “AA” battery.
@Marvin: Others have indicated that the various fixes mentioned here worked for the 8000 as well as the 7000. The 7000 version of the mouse has a AAA size battery (you can see it indicated in the third photo of the post: NiMH-AAA). A quick Google search indicates that the 8000 uses a AA instead.
Thanks, I should have noticed that. Also I haven’t actualy tried the paper clip trick yet either. I’m amazed at the amount of replies that are so specifically on the same problem. Surely these threads will get through to the MS team!
Thanks, I tried a slightly different solution, I wound tape around the battery (made the battery slightly thicker, and now it is charging away. The switch in this mouse is of the curved metal? type, I don’t know where the sensor is actually located, but when the paper didn’t work….
Hi Larry,
What model and production date is on the back of your mouse?
The weird thing I had was that my 8000 charged just fine from my desktop, but not from my laptop (new Vaio). I thought it was a problem with the laptop USB port. The paper trick fixed this – now it charges from the laptop too. Thank you!
Thanks for the fix to this problem. I had to do the paper AND small piece of metal on the positive terminal to get it to work properly. Threw out a good 7000 mouse to get this one as the same thing has happened!!.
Thanks again.
I have had the same problem since I bought the mouse and nothing I have tried has ever worked. The mouse simply will not charge a battery anymore. At first it was intermittent but now it fails to charge every time. I finally gave up trying to fix it and just bought a separate charger that I use. But it sucks that Microsoft has not addressed this issue and that I paid extra for a product that has an obvious design flaw.
Thanks for the fix. Worked great for me and my 7000 Wireless mouse. Can’t believe MS doesn’t test their stuff before it goes out the door. :/
Re the individual who used the paperboard from the packaging… Maybe MS should print some instructions on the packaging itself… dashed-line cut-out with instructions how to “complete” the mouse!
Peter, excellent diagnosis, and work around. I also think a penny or a small metal disc at the neg. end will also push the battery towards the contact. Another solution is to glue a small strip of sponge on the battery cover. I also found that taking the battery out and reseating it will sometimes fix the problem. Anyway, thanks for posting the pictures and providing a solution. There is nothing in the documentation to even suggest what this flashing red LED means.
The green light throbs and glows brightly indicating the long awaited recharging has successfuly begun. I continue to stare at the lime green beauty in complete amazement. Away with you nasty red blinker! Forever banished (I hope) from my desktop. ;) Thanks Peter!
Thanks~ It really worked!
You are amazing!
I can’t believed that MS didn’t test this product before the sell it! It works good in the beginning then it got bad.
Thank you for taking the time to post this. It helped fix my issue !!
I just inherited my MSWM 7000 from my boss (probably because is stopped charging for him). Your insight took care of the problem. Now I can mock him openly for not using Google in a proficient manner.
Small victories make the war seem winable.
Thanks
I agree with Neuromancer on November 24th. I bent my positive contact so that the fit to the battery was bolt tight and it still wouldn’t charge. I noticed the curved piece of metal behind the battery that clicks like a switch when I pressed it with the a paperclip. So I jammed a wad of paper on the curved metal so that the battery would depress it when replaced. That finally did the trick for me. I think the roll of paper is the right solution butit fixes a different problem.
How random is this whole problem, wtf is up with micrsoft.
anyway did as suggested and it worked! and i did as one user suggested and used some of the paper from the destructions! double result!
I just p/up the key/mice and feel like i’m going to bust if this battery doen’t charge. Its been in the cradle for 3 hours and still does’nt show green. have i been set up? can I use a regular battery? Holla bac!
@Mike: If they’re new, let them charge up overnight before you panic.
Thank you all. It took 6 thicknesses of my yellow legal pad but it is charging fine.
I did let it charge overnight and it did not charge. I tried the folded sheet wrap, but will double tonight…think it will help?
It Charged; but only lasted for a minute! (I Can’t WiIN!). I went on E-Bay and purchased some duracell pre-charged rechageable batteries and I hope tat will solve my problem. I believe my Rechrg Bat that came with the product may be to old to get back in shape so in the future I will probable not purchase a MS Key and Mouse. I want to thank all for the supoer great advice and education! Thanks again!
4give my gramatical errors!
Corrected: It Charged; but only lasted for a minute! (I Can’t Win!). I went on E-Bay and purchased some Duracell pre-charged rechargeable batteries and I hope that will solve my problem. I believe my Rechargeable Bat that came with the product may be too old to get back in shape so in the future I will probably not purchase a MS Key and Mouse. I want to thank all for the super great advice and education! Thanks again!
@Mike: A new battery was just what I was going to suggest. Hope that takes care of it for you!
A great guide, but it did not do the trick for me and my wireless 8000 mouse.
I did as Bob Lib suggest, and pinched the the bend piece of metal together, with a pair of scissors (you gotta make use of what you can find in your office ;o) and it did the trick for me.
Peter Ridge: Could this perhaps be added to your fix?
Wow, Thank you. This worked. My mouse actually charged over night and it worked without saying low battery after 5mins of usage.
I have a MS Laser Mouse 7000.
@Jakob: Glad Bob’s fix worked for you. The list of solutions continues to grow. I may need to summarize them either as an update to this post or in a new one.
Thanks so much this worked perfectly!! Great pics & description.
I’d like to clear a few things up and summarize some details…
1) The mouse (and keyboard) are not made by Microsoft. They buy it from a third party.
2) The battery installed in the mouse IS NOT a standard-sized AAA battery. It is ever so slightly smaller in diameter which I believe is the majority of the problem. And as many have noticed, the positive tip IS shorter. I am inclined to say that the mouse was built around a normal AAA battery and someone – either the OEM manufacture or whomever packages the mice – decided to use a cheap battery which doesn’t measure-up to the AAA standard (in size).
3) If you decide to replace the battery, do not just buy a “rechargeable” battery as you might get a NiCad battery. As others have said, get a NiMH battery.
4) There is not really such a thing as a “pre-charged” battery. When batteries are manufactured, they are made up of chemicals which naturally create the voltage and current that a battery provides. From that point, they can be discharged, changing the states of the chemical. When recharged, the chemicals return to the state (composition) that they were in when manufactured. All rechargeable batteries are produced “fully charged” but the charge begins to “decay” (lose charge without a load) as soon as they are assembled. Some batteries, like NiCad’s, are worse than others. NiMH, which are better than NiCad, still lose their charge and will probably be dead when you get them. Li-ion (Lithium-ion) batteries keep the charge the best.
5) I have disassembled the 7000 mouse and the band under the battery is not a switch. I believe it is a spring designed to hold the battery tightly in place, against the cover, and also cause it to pop up when the cover is removed – to make it easy to get out. Since there are problems with the battery being properly seated deep enough in the compartment, this spring – along with the smaller-than-normal battery – make the problem worse. If you use one of the methods to push the battery down, farther into the compartment, you might want to push the band down gently to bend it. If it rests below the lip of the slot then it won’t interfere. I don’t suggest you do this unless you use something to push the battery down (paper, etc.)
6) Be aware that in normal operation, the battery is held in a position (upside-down) that just lends itself to not being deep enough in the compartment. This is exacerbated if you lift the mouse up and tap it down – or if you get pissed enough to give it a good rap on the mouse pad. Note, this may also FIX the problem, temporarily, because the loose battery will bounce and probably make better contact – for a while.
7) You might want to consider a more permanent (and possibly less destructive) solution to the problem if your problem is a “connection” one. I have taken a piece of the stuff you put on the bottoms of items you set on fine furniture to prevent scratches. It is made of felt and has double-faced tape on one side. They also come in pre-cut “dots” that are perfect. Put some on the inside of the cover, at the end that goes over the positive end of the battery. Also, if you have the means, one of the best solutions is applying a small amount of solder to the positive tip. This is really the fix that overcomes the real problem of the battery not being the proper size/dimension.
Now, something I’ve always wondered… As strange as it sounds, shouldn’t the plural of mouse, when it is a computer device, be mouses?
@Steve: Thanks for the additional info and your findings after taking apart the mouse.
I got a even easier fix to this. grab a knife or a flat screwdriver and stretch out the spring on the negative side so there can be more pressure against the positive side when the battery is inserted. mouse should be charging fine after that
I can’t believe the MS 7000 mouse is still sold when it is clear this is an ongoing design fault. I have spent the last day so frustrated that this brand new mouse wouldn’t charge despite 3 changes of rechargeable battery. I was about to give up and use standard alkaline batteries when I found this solution. I too, was so surprised when it worked. Thank you.
Hi All. tried all of the above but they did not work. But what did work for me was to clean the battery terminals and the mouse contact points with a alcohol based cleaner. I then used the tip of a sharp knife to clean (scuff – for want of a better word) all 4 contact points again. What i did notice is the negative terminal (bottom) on the battery became very bright.
This has done the trick. As i have discharged the battery 4 times this week and it has charged each time.
My reasoning is. The battery may have built up a “film” on the terminal, either as it was made or as it has sat in the box waiting for me to buy it.
wow dude thx to you i am not going to break the damn mouse down (:
Thx for spending time and solving hundreds problem (:
Thanks a lot! Worked perfectly for me, too.
Peter, thank you so much for posting this and getting all the miffed MS mousers to pipe up. I own two of these 7000′s and only one of them has given me the red light headaches. I was ready to try and replace what I thought was a ‘dud’ battery, however upon trying the ‘paper trick’ have been rewarded with the pleasant green glow instead of the angry red one.
I don’t usually post to forums but since I found it so helpful I figured it was time to break my silence and chime in.
Good on ya mate!
@Tika: Thanks for leaving a comment. Glad it did the trick for your ‘dud’ mouse. :)
Thanks for the step by step!I’ve had this problem for a year! I used to just think it was luck that would charge it.
Cheers
The metal band underneath the battery is not a switch at all, it’s a heat sensor which allows the charging mechanism inside the battery to turn off so it doesn’t overcharge. With quick chargers when the battery is fully charged its temperature increases. I believe that during normal charge it constantly regulates the temperature by turning on and off the charging mechanism. The problem I’m having with my 8000 mouse is that no matter what kind of battery I put in (fully charged or fully drained) I get the flashing red problem. It happens before the battery even gets hot enough to activate the sensor. I have cleaned all the contacts on the mouse and charger, and the battery has good connection inside the compartment. I believe that most of the problems that people are having are caused by the heat sensor attached to the metal band being defective.
I ******* l0v3 you man your fix was ******* awesome. you're the best.
Thanks for the tip. This has bugged me for ages, just added the paper and it works fine now! cheers.
I tried all the suggested fixes:
cleaned the connectors
put alu foil on the small tip to increase connectivity
folded paper even 4 times to get real pressure on
but to no avail.
This mouse won’t work and even had to get the correct driver from microsoft’s site as the CD delivered with the mouse doesn’t work with Win7.
Guess I have no choice then to bring the mouse back to the store and grab me a Logitech like I have at home.
Thanks for the tips nonetheless.
Fu#**’n Genius. Beautiful way to Macgyver the mouse. Thank you!
Thanks for the tips so far, my Wireless Laser Mouse 8000 has given me trouble for 18 months. My fix in the end was to wedge a paper clip between the nipple of the battery and its contact inside the mouse, the battery didnt seem long enough to get a good contact, this work so i retrofitted the battery so the paper clip is stuck to the side of the battery and runs over the top of the battery nipple, tricky to put back in the compartment and had to fiddle a bit before i caould get the cover to fit flush but this is now charging properly for the first time in ages and i thought it was the contacts on the base!
Thanks for your pointers guys, couldnt have done it without a few clues first!
:-)
Thank you worked perfectly first time and my mouse is charging for the first time! Only bought this today and have saved me the effort taking it back.
Just bought a new MS wireless mouse 7000,charged it,did not work, no flashing light,retailer could not work it either, replaced it no problem,new mouse flashing red and green,but did not work,at all, tried the paper system,now flashing green light and presto it works,Thankyou
Thank you very much for this sorted my 7000 out a treat
Lee
Thanks for helping me fix my mouse problems!
Hey dude, managed to fix my work mouse thanks to your guide. Thanks a lot, appreciate the guide and time you took to write it.
Peace.
Wow; this totally worked! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!! I got the keyboard/mouse set last week & have been trying to get the mouse to work to no avail. I have also been on microsoft’s website trying to find out what the problem was-again to no avail. Finally after googling a number of times, I ran across your solution. A+++++++++ Thanks so much for sharing! The web & you Rock!
Thanks, Dottie. What words/phrases were you googling before you found this blog post?
thanks
Hey, I just took a knife and cut the two plastic guards and now it works great!
I’ve tried all of the solutions mentioned here including some of my own, and none of them, I mean none of them worked! Tried the paper, broke the plastic rails off, bent the positive side connection more forward, stretched the negative spring side til it popped off and almost took my eye out (oddly enough, I laid the loose spring back in, put the battery back in, removed the battery just to see, and now the spring is locked back in place somehow!). Anyway, I also took the cradle apart and couldn’t see any problems there. I then decided to do more searching, and I came across a reviewer on Newegg that said the problem is with a faulty hidden switch. I’m like, where the hell is this thing??? I took the battery out and looked again. Sure enough, I found it! To locate it, remove your battery of course. Now, right in the center there is a plastic “switch” that runs vertical across the width of the battery chamber. Don’t know why I never noticed it before, it’s completely visible! Anyway, I pressed softly on it with a pen tip, and it seems to move in and out and I could even hear a slight click! Switch located! The suggestion by the Newegg reviewer was to fold paper and put it UNDER the battery. Well, I didn’t get that far because after playing around with pushing the pen tip against the switch, I guess I pushed a little too much and the switch got stuck inward. I was like, oh great! I put the battery back in and decided to try charging it, and now it’s working perfectly! I don’t recommend pushing the switch in til it gets stuck, but you might want to try the folded paper method, at least directly over the switch and then pop the battery back in and see if that solves the problem for you.
Hi Paulie. Thank you, your post was helpful. Don’t worry, it was not removed. I just hadn’t reviewed it yet. All new commentors’ submissions go into a moderator queue for review before appearing on the site (there’s a little note below the comment entry box).
Hi Peter! I know, I realized that after my hasty second message. Somehow after I posted the second time, I was able to see my original message and it said it was awaiting confirmation. I was like, OOPS! and couldn’t find a way to delete it. If you want you can delete the messages after 212. By the way, you asked someone above how they found this thread through Google, so I thought I’d let you know how I found it. I searched “wireless laser mouse 7000 flashing red” and this came up in the #1 spot! Sorry again for my hasty reply and thanks for not hacking my head off for my rude re-post!
Best regards,
Paul
@Paulie: Hey, no problem. If you have fixes for other things, let me know. I can post about them as well, with proper attribution, of course.
I too tried the piece of paper under the battery holder. While it worked initially, it wasn’t long before the dreaded red light returned. I gave it to an engineer at our company who dismantled the mouse to find the purpose of the supposed “switch”. It turns out that there is no switch on ours at least. We have a metal spring clip supporting the battery to which is attached a brown flexible circuit board strip. This contains a thermistor which measures how how hot the battery is getting during the charging process. To avoid overheating and potential battery explosion, the charging circuit is turned off when the detected battery temperature is too high. When batteries have low internal resistance (i.e when they need replacing), they heat up much more during the charging process. Therefore you should not try and charge a damaged battery. By placing paper or plastic strip between the battery and the spring metal cradle, you are insulating the temperature sensor from the battery. THIS COULD LEAD TO OVERCHARGING AND EXPLOSION SO DO NOT DO IT. Instead, simply replace the NiMh battery with a fully charged unit and your red light woes should disappear.
Thanks for the info, Steve.
I just want to reiterate that Steve’s warning above is regarding putting anything under the battery. If your flashing red LED is due to a poor battery connection, then the paper-on-top solution (between the battery and battery cover) is worth a try and will not interfere with the thermal safety mechanism under the battery.
Good point Peter.
Steve
Same problem kept my Logitech MX700 from charging….needed a slightly different fix, but I never would have known where to start looking w/o this page. Thanks so much to the author….
@Mike: Thanks. So what was the fix for your Logitech MX700? Someone else may run into the same thing.
Wow! that really worked for me :). Thank you so much.
Thanks, man!
For me, I found the paper trick only works with the mouse power switch in the “on” position otherwise it will blink red when “off’.
My battery appears to be charging indicated by the pulsing green light, but the mouse will not work.
If I replace the rechargable battery with a normal Eveready battery it works fine. Really frustrating because it defeats the purpose of purchasing a rechargeable mouse.
Any ideas?
If the pulsing never stops, then the rechargeable batteries probably need replacing. If the LED goes solid green, yet the mouse doesn’t work, try the batteries in another device to see if they’re any good. After 200-500 charge cycles, rechargeable batteries tend to no longer hold much of a charge.
*UPDATE* I do agree with a previous poster when he said that if the battery level gets too low, this will also cause the light to flash red when charging. Then you have to keep releasing it from the cradle and placing it back down several times in order for the battery to get a little bit of a charge before it takes over and is able to charge fully on its own without fault. Depending on your usage, I think placing the mouse on the charging cradle about every two weeks will help prevent the battery from being discharged far beyond the point where you will have these charging problems. There really doesn’t seem to be a “perfect fix” for this problem, as some of the suggestions worked for some users, and others didn’t, so maybe this is the only issue standing in the way. Try it and see if it works for you.
This article is so VERY much appreciated. Bought my MS Wireless Laser Mouse just two weeks ago. Same problem (flashing red lights) as described started this week. Was very frustrated and tried to download the MS manual for this mouse but THEY DON’T HAVE IT. They just have the technical details. What a dumb thing for them to do!!! I paid $80 + tax for this, you’d think something so expensive would be design-flawless no?
Anyhow, thanks very much for this post. Was thinking I needed to RMA the mouse but your advice and diagnosis was bang on. Kudos and gracia to you Mr.!!!
Thanks for posting this! It worked on my 7000, too!
I found another way to fix it. Use a tiny, flathead screwdriver and with the battery removed, gently bend the positive contact tab in the mouse toward the battery tip. It wasn’t even a noticable bend, I just flexed it a few times.
Then I popped the battery back in and it charges like it should. Hope that helps!
Good one, Karl!
Just a thought but I don’t think the tab at the bottom is the problem. When you put a normal battery in the mouse not even fully pressed down the mouse still works. Perhaps it is more of a connection problem as others have been saying. No luck with mine yet but still working on it.
For me, this tutorial has worked perfectly. I would like to thank for it, really helped!
The simplest solution to this the 7000 series. is to simply trim off some of the plastic out coat near the terminal end. did it, works like a charm!
I tried the paper trick and it didn’t work for me. My mouse will blink green for a little while longer with the paper inside, but then goes back to a flashing red LED.
I’m not exactly sure what you mean with the tin foil, do you just take a small piece and put it between the positive tip and metal plate? I haven’t tried this yet because I’m afraid of shorting out the mouse.
Any help is appreciated!
If the problem is that the positive battery terminal is too short, then yes you put the foil between the positive tip and the metal plate.
thanks tonne………..that worked for me
I just fixed two of my 8000 laser mice (mouses?). It was a two step process
1/ Shave off a little of the case around the positive (pointy) end of the battery to effectively extend the knob onto the matching contact in the mouse
2/ Run sticky tape laterally around the battery at the positive end to force the metallic switch in the mouse down a little further. I ran the tape around about 6 times.
I suspect that the batteries Microsoft used when setting up these mice were a slightly larger diameter with a longer protruding positive terminal
Nice one! Fixed my problem and saved me alot of hassle. Thanks!