Logitech G500 Mouse rattle / jerky tracking

I recently bought a Logitech G500 mouse and when I took it out of the packaging I noticed that it had a quite noticeable rattle (as if something was loose inside). Once I plugged it in, I realised something was wrong as the tracking was really bad (the movement was very jerky when I stopped moving the mouse). Also, shaking the mouse above the mouse mat made the cursor move.

I opened up the mouse (you need to remove the feet and there is another screw under the G500 sticker) and immediately realised that the lens in front of the laser was loose. The way it was mounted to the mouse was a very poor design in that it was essentially just floating in place.

I used a drop of superglue (cyanoacrylate) to firmly fix the lens and then tested the mouse - everything seemed to work great!

The next morning the scroll wheel stopped working. On investigation, as the superglue dried, it released fumes that had fogged up the optical mechanism that tracks the scroll wheel.

I returned the mouse to the vendor and then got a new one. The new one also had a loose lens with the same rattle and poor tracking symptoms. Either I had a bad batch, or this was a common problem. A bit of Googling and it turns out that this is a common problem (example thread below).

http://forums.logitech.com/t5/G-series-Gaming-Mice/G500-defective-lift-off-distance/td-p/520531

Rather than return the second faulty mouse, I decided to fix it with a less volatile glue (hot glue) and now it works perfectly.

If you get a mouse with this problem - it's probably best to just fix it... since your replacement mouse will probably have the same problem.

Keep the following tips in mind:
  • Carefully remove the slippery feet with a pocket knife. They will be easy to replace. You will need to remove all the screws under the feet.
  • Feel the G500 sticker to locate the hole for the last screw which will also need to be removed.
  • The top shell is attached to the main chassis by a wire (to connect the LEDs and top buttons). If you can avoid it, you should leave this attached - it's a pain to reattach it if you remove it.
  • Remove the screws that hold the rest of the mechanism together and you will find the loose lens.
  • Use a hot glue (or other non-volatile glue) to glue the lens to the circuit board. This is best done by gluing the plastic pins on the lens.
  • Reassemble and enjoy!
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10 comments:

  1. Mark G23 July 2011 at 04:11

    Could you please give me some more information on getting at the lens? My G500 has the exact same tracking problem and rattling.

    I've removed the top casing and the tray for the weights cartridge. After that the only screws I can see are the two above the scroll wheel and the small one on the lower circuit board. After removing those I can't see how I can get any further.

    Any help would be appreciated.

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  2. ambor23 July 2011 at 11:51

    Mark, you don't need to actually get far enough to remove the lens. What you should see is that the lens is held in place by a plastic pin that forms part of the lens. You'll see that you can wiggle it with some sort of probe (a pen or something like that). Just use some adhesive (NOT Superglue as per the article above) to keep it held in place.

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  3. Mark G24 July 2011 at 00:06

    Thanks for replying. Sorry if I'm being dense but I still can't see how I can get access to the lens to apply any glue to it. I can easily wiggle it through the bottom of the mouse but if I open it up the entire scroll wheel mechanism etc is in the way, I can't see the pin part of the lens you mentioned.

    ReplyDelete
  4. ambor24 July 2011 at 00:20

    Mark, any chance you can send me a photo and I can talk you through it. I can't remember it from memory and don't really want to open up my mouse again.

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  5. Mark G24 July 2011 at 01:49

    Sure:
    http://i.imgur.com/NSF02.jpg
    http://i.imgur.com/0TZww.jpg

    I hope they're clear enough, let me know if not. Thanks again

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  6. Mark G24 July 2011 at 07:42

    I eventually found out how to continue disassembling it with the help of someone with better eyesight. I only have superglue to hand so I took the PCB out entirely and fixed the lens in place by inserting a small piece of card folded in half between one end of the lens' outer rim and the underside of the PCB.

    The lens is now held in place solidly so the rattle is gone and the mouse is tracking MUCH better. Very strange that the rest of the mouse is so sturdily put together (read: hard to take apart) but such an important part was left flailing around inside.

    Thanks for putting me on the right track!

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  7. ambor24 July 2011 at 21:55

    Mark, glad you sorted it out. You can see from the pics that there were some additional black Phillips screws. If you find that the cardboard doesn't do the trick, then just get some hot glue or other sticky substance to hold it in place. Cheers.

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  8. Heath Lacy7 September 2011 at 06:57

    Hi, I went through the same process, but it would appear that two very small springs have fallen out of my mouse. Would anyone happen to know where those two springs go?

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  9. Anonymous6 November 2011 at 06:59

    @Heath Lacy

    They go either side of SW3 at the front of the top PCB (SW3 is the switch that clicks when you press the middle button (i.e. the wheel) down.

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  10. Anonymous6 November 2011 at 07:27

    Oh, and heath, if you can scroll without inadvertantly middle clicking, you probably wont miss them :)

    (In normal use, the two springs push up the middle mouse wheel off from SW3. Without the springs, your middle mouse is resting on the pressure switch all the time... in gaming, losing the springs probably makes middle clicking faster!)

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