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)
@Gonzalo: It sounds like your battery was too dead to be recharged by the smart charger in the mouse. When the voltage drops too low, the battery looks like it’s bad or not connected. Another battery charger (that’s not smart) is the only way to get it going again.
You are a genius! The paper trick fixed the problem!
great article, great tip. MS support site is hopeless on his.
i can’t tell you how much wasted time I’ve had on this – and mouse was really expensive! Such a fundamental flaw MS should do a product recall. This issue has been soooo much trouble its not worth it. Very very wary of anything with the microsoft name on it now. I’m already 50% apple, so with Mac price parity getting nearer my next kit is going in that direction!
anyways, thanks again for the great article!
I found the paper trick works for while, then I’m back to square one.
What I’ve done this time is remove the rather thick plastic sheathing on the end of the battery with a craft knife, therefore making the +ve end that little bit longer. 🙂 Seems to be working once again.
Bin that idea, it doesn’t work either. lol
Folded up a post-it note, seems to have worked great! Simplest tricks are the best tricks, thanks for the post.
Hi,
I’ve got two 8000 ones and after half a year the paper trick worked. But now they are flashing red again while charging.
What else can I do? Are there any ideas beside the paper trick? I don’t want to search for another mouse because they are perfect for my hands,
Best regards from Germany
Volker
@Volker: If you recharge the batteries often, they may need to be replaced, although half a year is a bit soon. Rechargeable batteries typically last 300-500 cycles (full-discharge, recharge). If you have another battery available, give it a try. Some owners have put foil, wire, etc. on the positive end of the battery to improve contact with the positive terminal in the mouse.
@Jay: Thanks. I share your enthusiasm for simple solutions. 🙂
I think the charging problem is: the battery is lazy, after 10 x retry it starts loading. It always makes contact, otherwise the mouse wouldn’t work. Foam, better contact, paper etc. didn’t help me. I think I will change the battery to another brand.
Hi Peter,
thanks for you tip!
Today I changed the batteries in my two 8000 mice and they both stated to change without the well known red light!
I took tow Sanyo Eneloops. I think it is worth it!
Greetings from Germany
Volker
I took a “bird beak” small pair of pliers and carefully stretched the spring on the negative side in the battery compartment and that did the trick. The operative word here is carefully, because you do not want to prise it out of the circuit board.
Hi,
I have the same problem with my mouse:
– it won’t charge with it’s own battery
– it doesn’t work with a new charged battery either
When I first bought it, it used to blink green and then turn red, and while using it I would move it and see a big delay on the screen.
It doesn’t seem to have the bad contact problem (the battery sticks in the place just fine) so I have no idea what the problem might be.
Any help?
@SR: What do you mean by, “it doesn’t work with a new charged battery either”? The mouse doesn’t move the cursor properly or it doesn’t re-charge?
@Peter Ridge:
I mean that even inserting a new and fully charged battery the mouse won’t work.
@SR: Double-check that the power switch on the mouse is turned on. Try cleaning the metal contacts in the battery compartment. If that doesn’t fix it, there’s a chance that the mouse is dead. Does the red light on the bottom of the mouse turn on at all? It should be full brightness when the mouse is close to a surface and dim to about half brightness when lifted completely off.
@Peter Ridge:
Nope, still not working, no light, nothing. I will try taking it to the store and getting a new one. Thanks for the help anyways Peter! I appreciate it.
Thank you for the tip. I have the Microsoft Wireless Laser Mouse 7000 (Sold by: GSI Inc., bought through Amazon.com for $19.99). Yeah, it’s a nice mouse.
But it was doing exactly what yours was, rapid red flashing LED. I did as you suggested. Didn’t work. So I applied a thin slice of metal to bridge the cathode to the connector. Still didn’t work.
I finally found another rechargeable AAA battery (stole from our TV remote) and tried it. The LED would slowly flash green. However, in the time it’s taken to write this comment it has given me the rapid red flash. Both times I reseated the mouse in the charge. It now sits with a solid green light.
Hope this indicates it’s ready be as solid as my Ubuntu installation.
Thanks again for the tip!
Fantastic! this has been annoying me for some time now, I almost bought a separate battery charger. The number of batteries I have gone through is unbelievable especially after playing COD and Battlefield!
Thank you for a simple fix 😀
@Peter Ridge, Tried your method but unfortunately it did not work on my Laser 7000. Not sure what else to try.
You are a genius… thank you so much for this fix.
@Koham: Did you try some of the other suggestions in the comments? If you’ve had the mouse for a while, the batteries might simply need to be replaced.
Thanks for the info. I had previously tried the piece of paper clip fix at teh positive terminal, which worked for a while. I tried your paper fiz, and it worked for a few minutes then quit.
So I then bent the positive terminal out at the top. This has the effect of both making a stronger contact and forcing the battery deeper in teh compartment. After cleaning all contacts with a pencil eraser, re-inserting the battery and adding about 5 thicknesses of a post it notes above the battery, it workes like a champ and has now charged.
THANKS to you and %^$#^%$#%^ to Microsfot.
After a year of frustration, I have finally confirmed (at least for me) that the problem with the flashing red light while trying to charge the mouse has to do with the battery level being too low. If you wait until you get the message popping up saying that your battery level is too low, you will most likely get the red flashing light when trying to charge it. If you throw it on the cradle every two weeks and BEFORE you receive the low battery warning, you should be perfectly fine! I think the reason these other “fixes” seem to work is because through trial and error you are placing the mouse on and off the charging cradle, and in the process you are slowly giving some power back to the battery; enough to have it take the charge on its own without error. Yesterday, I forgot to put the mouse on the charger before receiving the low battery warning, and I kept getting the flashing red light. I took the battery out and charged it for about 10 minutes in a separate battery charger, then put it back in the mouse and put it back on the charging cradle, and the charging light stayed flashing green until fully charged. So I think that’s what the real problem is here everyone. Try charging your mouse BEFORE receiving the battery critically low message and I will bet it works for you. I use my computer about 10-12 hours a day and my charge can get me through about 18 days before I get the battery low message, so I try to put it on the charging cradle exactly every two weeks and it works perfectly every time. Please try this for yourself and see if it works.
@Paulie: Yes, if a rechargeable battery’s voltage drops too low, intelligent battery chargers will refuse to recharge it. Putting the battery into a “dumb” charger to raise its voltage is the way to fix the problem. I’ve encountered this issue with high-end standalone battery chargers too.