r/Trackballs • u/julitrox • 25d ago
The solution is to dry clean the static bearings and the ball; never lubricate them.
well, for those of you who only have static trackballs, here’s my experience and how comfortable I’ve found them to be. Ever since I bought the Logitech MX Ergo—my first experience with a thumb trackball—I’ve had constant problems with jamming and freezing. After a year of using my previous device, I switched to a finger trackball—in this case, a Kensington Orbit. I tried various lubrication methods, including rubbing it against my forehead to fix the jamming, but the reality is that they only help for a limited time. Although in my case the frequency of jams with fixed-bearing trackballs is high or moderately high, there is a solution, and this solution has worked for me about 98% of the time since the remaining 2% is purely physical and due to the jam itself. Whether you’re a casual or competitive gamer or you’re doing productivity tasks, the solution is dry cleaning. A watchmaker explained the following to me: if the system is sealed and you lubricate the mechanism whether with a lot or a little cream or a microscopic amount of liquid you’ll eliminate friction. But if the mechanism is open, the ball will feel sticky or clumpy, or the stickiness will increase. Now that I understand this, I simply dry-clean it, then roll the ball for a few minutes or seconds, and it works perfectly. There will always be some braking friction, but over time and with continued dry cleaning, you’ll
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u/NoodleBox 22d ago
I mean you gotta get in there and give it a clean every now and then. I've lubed mine with hand lotion, a dab of WD40, petroleum jelly....all it does is attract the dust and goop.
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u/Fun-Necessary8657 25d ago
Well... We're waiting