 If you have a Blackberry 8830, or similar Blackberry cell phone that has the
roller ball, or tract ball as some people call it, and your ball isn't working,
I may have some suggestions which may help.
I found what started to be some general ideas about fixing this problem by
Goggling, "fix blackberry roller ball", or "fix Blackberry roller ball".
The posting I click on said to take the roller ball out of the phone by
inserting a stiff and sharp needle under the silver exterior shroud that
surrounds the roller ball. It suggested putting an embroidery needle under the
shroud between the letters T and Y as seen on the phone keyboard.
Since I didn't have an embroidery needle handy, and to be honest, didn't
know the difference between an embroidery needle and a standard needle, I use
the next best thing, a pen. This may have been a mistake as I have since
removed the shroud on multiple occasions with a pen and it has caused damage to
some the shrouds teeth. I suggest you think twice about using a pen. The
shroud has three sets of teeth that if mishandled when putting back on can
become bent and cause the silver shroud to be reseated in a lopsided manner. As
you pry up the shroud, note the orientation and location of the teeth. This is
going to be important when you put the shroud back on.
Once you have removed the shroud tip the phone over and the roller ball and
roller ball housing should drop out of the hole in the phone. If is doesn't
drop out, GENTLY pry it out.
Now the fun begins! Before doing anything else, look very carefully at the
configuration of the roller ball housing. You may want to take a picture of the
housing unit as you take it apart.
The roller ball housing is made up of several parts. The housing consists
of the roller ball, the roller ball top holder, the base unit, a silver clip
that hold the top holder and base unit together and the magnetic pins. I don't
know what the designer call these parts, but since I am the one taking the time
to write this post, I will call them whatever I want.
Before you take the roller ball housing apart run the tip of a small needle
around the top of the roller ball. There is a good chance you may be able to
dislodge some of the lint or debris that is preventing the ball from moving in
all directions. If the roller ball is encountering resistance in a specific
direction, then this the likely spot where there the obstruction is located. In
hindsight, I probably could of saved a lot of time doing this before I
disassembled the roller ball housing.
If you decide to proceed and take the housing apart it is critical to put it
back together the same way. Pay special attention to the bottom base unit and
how it fits with the roller ball top holder. Putting these two together is the
time consuming and frustrating part. It is going to take the patience of
MacGyver and the dexterity of a Cirque de Soleil performer, but know that if
this guy can do it, ANYONE can.
Once all the pieces are out, soak the ball in rubbing alcohol. This tip was
taken from another posting I saw on the web. Take a cotton swap and clean the
dirt from the inside of the roller ball top holder. I was surprised to see how
much lint build-up there was on the inside of the roller ball housing. Note the
picture of the needle. To the right of the needle is the lint I pulled out of
the housing. Once you have removed all of the debris, start by dropping the
roller ball into the upper roller ball housing. Try to keep the silver clip in
its original position, as this clip, once separated from the roller ball housing
needs to go back on a certain way. Trial and error finally exposed the one
right way for me. Note that the silver clip and the bottom base connect and are
secured by the very small wings on the silver clip that needs to be folded over
in order to keep the two together.
Steps for assembly:
- Drop the ball into the upper roller ball housing
- Insert the magnetic pins, remembering how they were oriented when you
took the housing apart.
- Replace the base. It will only fit one way.
- Secure the upper and lower housing using the silver clip.
- Carefully fold the small wings of the silver clip over so the two
sections stay attached.
- Replace the reassembled housing back into the phone
- Carefully replace the silver shroud.
Done!
One quick tip I also realized is that the roller ball housing can be taken
out of the phone and rotated to provide a temporary fix which will allow
continued use of the phone and its programs. The trick is to align the roller
ball direction that is not working to the left directional spot. By doing this
you can still go up and down and to the right. By using the back button you can
return to the home page and start again if necessary.
As a Real Estate Agent,
developer, and custom home builder in
Southern NH, I
regrettably live on my phone. I hope this helps and would love to hear any
feedback. If anyone is looking for a real estate agent in Southern NH to refer
business to, or knows someone who is buying or selling real estate in NH, please
keep my name in mind.
Good Luck!
David Hall
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