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Building the mouse Logitech won't make

samwilkinson.io

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Re: Building the mouse Logitech won't make

#171

Post by mavamaarten »

flanbiscuit wrote: post #26

> My absolute favorite mouse is the MX Ergo from Logitech. I switched to using Logitech's MX Vertical mouse and I love it. There was a learning curve period, especially when it came to finer grained movements, but I'm totally used to it now and it feels much more comfortable and natural to me that any other mouse I've used. It has a USB-C port and I can switch between 3 different Bluetooth connections (press a button…

I love the MX vertical's ergonomics, it's really the perfect mouse for me in that regard. It just feels... right. But I'm sad that the mouse is absolutely miles away from the MX Master mice in terms of quality and features.

I developed serious wrist/hand pains after switching to the MX Master 3S for a few months, but its magnetic scroll wheel and build quality was absolutely glorious.

The MX vertical is a plastic toy in comparison, but it costs the same.

Re: Building the mouse Logitech won't make

#172

Post by junon »

throw-qqqqq wrote: post #49
Aurornis wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The hot air station is called a "rework station" because it's very helpful for rework, too. Using a hot plate to reflow boards is fine if you already know everything is correct. Having a real hot air station is very important if you need to change any parts or even fix reflow problems.

I prefer a regular soldering iron for SMD. Below 0603 I tend to blow off unrelated components if I’m not very very careful! So for me, a loupe/microscope and a fine SMD iron is the best option. I have some China-model that uses Hakko tips.

Kapton tape is your friend for hot air. It's cheap and you can get by with scissors.

Tape out anything that you're not reworking, use tweezers and push down the edges against the board to seal as best you can, and then flux it and blow.

It'll hold things in place and wick away the heat from anything you're not trying to rework. I went from a near 0% success rate to near 100% with it.

Re: Building the mouse Logitech won't make

#173

Post by stronglikedan »

jimmies wrote: post #166
stn8188 wrote: post #2

"Balking at the $50+ charge for turnkey assembly, I opted to take the financially responsible route and pay $200+ for a hot-air rework station to solder it myself." Yeah, I feel this :)

Alternative way to see it: The author had either a $50 solution, or a $50 solution that comes with a discounted hotair rework station for $150… I learned it from Superfastmatt. He needed a piece of plastic that retails for $1500 for his van, so he said: “either I have a $1500 solution or I have a $1500 solution but I get a free fancy 3D printer in the end…” that stuck with me.

Lol, was that the thing that jutted out the drive's side and let him put the bed sideways? If so, I missed that quip, but it's great regardless!

Re: Building the mouse Logitech won't make

#174

Post by stronglikedan »

bityard wrote: post #39

My favorite mouse is the Logitech Anywhere MX. It's highly comfortable despite being pretty small. The back/forward buttons on the side are indispensable for web browsing, file management, and switching weapons in first-person shooters. It takes two AA batteries which last for months and take seconds to swap out. The dongle is small and has good range. The scroll wheel switches between clicky and free-scrolling. It's…

Are you sure the microswitch thing is as widespread as you imply? Or could you have just got a bad unit? I have one at work and one at home, and have used them both daily for many more than a couple of years.

Re: Building the mouse Logitech won't make

#175

Post by SirMaster »

Perz1val wrote: post #149
SirMaster wrote: post #132

I love my Logitech G603. Was like $50 new, so nothing too expensive, has LIGHTSPEED wireless which has super low latency, but also has bluetooth in case you forget the dongle or can't use it for some reason. Or it's also really convenient to switch the mouse between 2 computers simply by pressing the button on the bottom, and it instantly switches. Uses the HERO sensor which is really power efficient and has a slot f…

I've modded it. The main switches are on separate, one sided PCB's and are easy to solder. Side switches are not standard, they're lower profile. Scroll and DPI switches are on the main PCB with a huge ground pad on one pin, I recommend just using a destructive method when removing them, or just leaving them alone. When it starts double clicking, just go for the swap. There's plenty of switches with different feel to…

I have opened mine a few times to clean the wheel encoder. When it gets too dusty the scrolling can get wonky, but I just detach the whole encoder and dunk it in 90% alcohol and then put a dab of lube and then put it back together and it's good for several more months.

I managed to get the screws out without messing up the pads, and for me the mouse seems to stay clicked together just fine without any screws, so I just leave them out and can open it as much as I like without messing with the pads or screws.

I haven't had double clicking buttons yet, but yeah I had seen that the switches are not too hard to replace, so I will probably do that at some point.

Re: Building the mouse Logitech won't make

#176

Post by kleiba »

ctippett wrote: post #6
stn8188 wrote: post #2

"Balking at the $50+ charge for turnkey assembly, I opted to take the financially responsible route and pay $200+ for a hot-air rework station to solder it myself." Yeah, I feel this :)

That hit home for me too. My DIY cupboard is full of quality buy-it-for-life tools and accessories that I've used only a handful of times (or sometimes not at all).

You know, for years I have been collecting power tools without having an immediate use for them - because they were for sale, or just because, you know, they're power tools. And a lot of them ended up just sitting on my workshop shelf, some of them never made it out of the box they came in.

But then we bought a new house and I started renovating it. I think I have probably used every single tool I ever bought by now, and every time I used one for the first time, I was so happy that I didn't have to go and scout for a good deal first or drive to Home Depot to buy one right now or anything like that.

So in my case, it actually paid off in the end to have PTPA (premature tool purchase addiction).

Re: Building the mouse Logitech won't make

#177

Post by Night_Thastus »

stronglikedan wrote: post #174
bityard wrote: post #39

My favorite mouse is the Logitech Anywhere MX. It's highly comfortable despite being pretty small. The back/forward buttons on the side are indispensable for web browsing, file management, and switching weapons in first-person shooters. It takes two AA batteries which last for months and take seconds to swap out. The dongle is small and has good range. The scroll wheel switches between clicky and free-scrolling. It's…

Are you sure the microswitch thing is as widespread as you imply? Or could you have just got a bad unit? I have one at work and one at home, and have used them both daily for many more than a couple of years.

Nope, it's a known logitech problem. A couple of my Logitech mice started to get double-click issues later in their life. They cheap out with the switches, the Kailh ones don't have those issues.

Re: Building the mouse Logitech won't make

#178

Post by oasisaimlessly »

throw-qqqqq wrote: post #49
Aurornis wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The hot air station is called a "rework station" because it's very helpful for rework, too. Using a hot plate to reflow boards is fine if you already know everything is correct. Having a real hot air station is very important if you need to change any parts or even fix reflow problems.

I prefer a regular soldering iron for SMD. Below 0603 I tend to blow off unrelated components if I’m not very very careful! So for me, a loupe/microscope and a fine SMD iron is the best option. I have some China-model that uses Hakko tips.

If you're blowing off stuff, your pressure setting is too high. I usually start at the lowest setting, and only go up if I need to deliver a lot of heat to an area.

Re: Building the mouse Logitech won't make

#179

Post by Night_Thastus »

masklinn wrote: post #53
monster_truck wrote: post #41

I've been using a mouse from https://pmm.gg , it weighs about half as much as the mouse I swapped the guts out of (28 grams vs 60 grams). Basically a couple sheets of printer paper. I don't really care about the weight, what caught my attention was they offer ceramic? coated magnesium scrollwheels. My otherwise mild skin condition completely destroys the shitty grippy/gummy rubber they put on scrollwheels and sometim…

> My otherwise mild skin condition completely destroys the shitty grippy/gummy rubber they put on scrollwheels and sometimes the sides of the mice. I’m not sure it’s even skin conditions. I think it’s just the natural oils in the skin. It’s part of what polishes plastics (e.g. keyboard keys), and over time it impregnates the rubber which swells then falls apart. This process is why wet belts are stupid, no reason to…

I agree with wet belts - it's a terrible idea - but I'm not sure the comparison is great. Skin oil and synthetic oil are very chemically different - as are the rubbers used in a cheap mousewheel versus an engine belt.

Re: Building the mouse Logitech won't make

#180

Post by hotsauceror »

rwmj wrote: post #77
hotsauceror wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When you say "they", do you mean Logitech or Big Mouse in general? Because I have wired trackballs from both Logitech and Kensington, and have for many years. You can pry my Kensington Orbit from my cold, dead hand.

I found that wired trackballs with scrollwheels no longer seem to exist. I bought a wired trackball without a scrollwheel and absolutely hate it.

https://www.kensington.com/p/products/featured-products/orbi...
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