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lukegbcom: add 2024-01-06-replacing-a-mousewheel

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Luke Granger-Brown 2024-01-06 16:41:36 +00:00
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---
title: "Replacing the mousewheel on my Steelseries Prime Wireless"
date: 2024-01-06
layout: Post
---
The mousewheel on my Prime Wireless mouse recently broke - it would "click" but
was free-scrolling and had a fair amount of wiggle to left and right, so it
effectively just turned into a middle mouse button.
---
This was a bit annoying, and after taking the mouse apart, I discovered the
cause: the wing of the mouse wheel's shaft that goes into the rotary encoder
had snapped, so there was now a small piece of plastic wedged inside the
encoder, and the mouse wheel was supported just by the outer chassis of the
mouse and the interior LED.
First, I tried to repair the existing mousewheel using some plastic glue.
Honestly, this might have worked, except my approach was to pop out the tiny
bit of plastic from inside the encoder, and then glue it back outside the
mouse. This was really a mistake, given what I had available - the plastic part
was too small to manipulate well, and I didn't have helping hands or a
magnifying glass to help me put things together.
I checked the Steelseries [replacement
parts](https://steelseries.com/gaming-accessories/replacement-parts) website
and... they don't sell replacement mouse wheels. Bummer. However, I did find
what looked like it might be a compatible [mouse wheel from
AliExpress](https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005140797172.html). This is for
a different SteelSeries mouse, but the main difference appears to be the
pattern of the rubber. The Prime Wireless has straight lines cut into it, but
this part has a more "tyre-like" pattern.
To avoid being held up by potentially spotty shipping from China, I also just
ordered a replacement identical mouse. Hey-ho, at least I'll have a spare if
the battery in this one starts to go bad.
After the replacement mouse wheel arrived, I pulled the broken mouse apart:
there are four Torx screws on the bottom of the mouse, underneath the PTFE
mouse feet. (Note that you might want to also buy replacements for these: they
probably won't stick back on very well after being removed.) Once those screws
are removed, the mouse can be carefully pried apart. Be careful! There's a
generously-long flex cable that attaches the main mouse PCB to the mouse
buttons on the upper chassis, and this can be unclipped from the main mouse
PCB. Once you have the mouse apart, there are two cross-head screws that hold
the mouse LED PCB onto the bottom chassis, which should also be removed. This
frees up the mouse wheel, which you can now swap and replace with the
replacement. Afterwards, you can reassemble the mouse (don't forget to reattach
the flex!)