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.
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.
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.
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.
- 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)
Thank you so much for posting this, I just got this mouse today and was upset that it wasn’t charging. This fixed it immediately. I cannot believe the amazon reviews did not have anything about this. i am going to post a review there now. thank you!
I’ve had so many customers over the years with the same problem. The rechargeable battery that came with their mouse will no longer recharge. This seems to affect all different brands not just the 7000/8000 Microsoft Models. I’m in agreeance with the above posters that this is a problem with the battery post actually being shorter than the original battery and is not making a good enough connection to charge. Also Ive noticed the rechargeable batteries that come with these kinds of mice have a very low milliamp hour rating. Many name brand rechargeable’s have a much higher rating and it’s also possible that the charging circuit is not designed for such a high rating. The very simple solution I’ve found is to purchase a lot (Try and get a single battery first to check for length) of super cheap generic rechargeable batteries from China. Or go find and buy some cheap outdoor led path lights. These almost always have a single or if your lucky double AAA or AA battery that fits perfectly! I’ve picked them up at Walmart, Home Depot, Menards, Low’s, and even found them at Staples for as low as $1.50 a piece. Hope this helps a few people out.
THANK YOU SO MUCH! I just got this mouse a few weeks ago and i thought i was going to have to take it back because it couldn’t hold a charge. Thanks for finding out the problem and informing all of us about it, and posting it.
Worked perfectly…….Thanks so much for posting this solution. Mouse was about to go in the trash………
Worked perfectly. I was about to trash the mouse. Thanks a ton! ♥
Turning the mouse off didn’t work for me at all. In fact it was worse than the paper trick, because with the paper trick it would charge for a few minutes and then start flashing red. By turning it off, it started flashing red immediately.
I did figure out a solution for mine though. This may not apply to all the mice with this problem though.
When I looked at the included battery, I noticed that it was very long and the metal pole that forms the + end of the battery was very short. This caused it to not make a good contact with the metal plate in the mouse at the + end. I compared it with some other AAA batteries. You can see a picture here:
http://imgur.com/a/BSINP
I replaced the included battery with another rechargeable AAA battery I had with a longer + pole. This seems to have worked. Now the + end makes good contact with the metal plate and spring, and charges with no issue.
@cchase: Yes, the included battery does have a short tip. Thanks for the photo comparison between the variety of batteries you found.
Perfect fix; worked exactly as described. Thanks for taking time to post…i was going to throw the mouse as i thought i was faulty thanks again
I love you. So far so good.
Thanks, you saved my life, working perfectly
You are my hero!!!! Worked perfectly! Thank you!!!!!!
It works!!! I did not know what was going on I was about to buy I new battery until I came across this post. Thanks.
I have the same charging problem but i switched my battery and using a 1.2V 750mAh NiMH. would that cause any problems since the original battery is 1.2V 1000mAh??
the mouse wheel seems to work so does the buttons but the laser is off, i don’t know whats going on with it. any ideas?
@Simon, Ace, Witek, Baron, Kia: Glad it did the trick. Thanks for the kind comments.
@kam: A lower mAh battery won’t cause any problems. It’ll just need to be recharged more often since it’s a lower capacity battery (25% less than the one you had before). Is that a new battery? If so, be sure to charge it overnight to make sure it’s completely full. If the laser still doesn’t work, you might temporarily try a new alkaline battery (but don’t charge attempt to charge it!) in the mouse to see if it will work.
@Peter Hey i tried a new battery, same case. the mouse wheel and the buttons are working but not the laser.
@kam: If possible, try it on another computer to verify that the cursor doesn’t move, just in case it’s a software problem, before replacing the mouse.
brilliant! I own 3 of the 7000s, and I had this problem with 2 of them. I even went out and bought really awesome batteries because I thought the battery was the problem. Who knew, all I had to do was go McGywver on it?
@pubpuck: Yes! Gotta go MacGyver on everything. 🙂
These mice are real bastards. Some thing so simple as placing a folded section of paper to keep it from wiggling around. If I didn’t need the mouse that much I would have dumped it in the trash! I really miss my first wireless mouse, was logotech and was so awesome they had to stop production cause it lasted too long and had no problems so they can’t make additional money off it. I accidentally plugged in the wrong power cord and fried my charging base.
Thank you 1000 times !!! this worked !!!! Had this thing 3 years without it working correctly and now IT DOES !!
Almost a year later and you’re still helping people out.
My 8000 series mouse started doing the same thing. I wrapped a piece of duck tape around my battery (just a single layer and it’s the perfect width) and it worked great.
Not the same solution, but I wouldn’t have thought of it without your help.
Thank you.
Wow, the tip is amazing… i was using non-rechargable batteries, but now with the paper, my problem is solved.
THAKS!
Wow! Great fix, sir.
I do admit, however, that it took me a good amount of tinkering to get it to work properly. After the paper trick, I was STILL getting a flashing red, just as if the AAA NiMH battery I just bought (10 bucks for 4, ow) were filled with pudding.
I was about to go on a baby punching rampage (my office is across the street from a daycare/nursery) but I decided to finagle with it some more. I took a staple, folded it up and stuck it nicely under the plastic ridges. That, combined with a different battery in my pack of 4, also with the paper buff seemed to fix it.
My 7000 mouse is now glowing green, I’m happy, and the babies are safe…. for now.
@Coolie: Wow, that was quite an operation. Glad it worked out.
When i connected the green battery and putedd the mouse intheri candle after y bought it, the mouse led was blinking red… I solve it charging the green baterry for at least 1 minute with another battery charger!. Now i can charge the battery in the original candle liko nothing was happenden before. 🙂