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)
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!