Microsoft Wireless Laser Mouse 7000/8000 Flashing Red LED & Battery Doesn’t Charge

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
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
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
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)
Fold the paper (left); place on top of battery (center); insert into mouse (right)
  1. Cut a small piece of paper a little shorter than the length of the battery and about twice as wide
  2. Fold the paper in half to achieve a thickness of two sheets of paper
  3. Place the battery into the battery compartment
  4. Put the paper on top of the battery
  5. 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)

413 thoughts on “Microsoft Wireless Laser Mouse 7000/8000 Flashing Red LED & Battery Doesn’t Charge”

  1. 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.

  2. 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.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. 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!!

  6. 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.

  7. 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.

  8. 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. 🙂

  9. 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!

    🙂

  10. 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! =)

  11. Maybe a more green solution is to use some of the packaging or other superfluous paper that came with the mouse.

  12. 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.

  13. 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

  14. 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

  15. same problem with my 7000, folded piece of paper fix worked perfectly! thanx!

  16. 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.

  17. Haha, good one, Melanie! Yes, green lights, whether solid, blinking or throbbing, are a happy sight.