Carl’s Blog

The left mouse button on this EEE PC 701 no longer clicks. It still works, if you press very hard, but there is no feedback from the button and it’s very horrible almost totally unusable.

I took the machine apart to see what the microswitch looks like, and then started searching online for a replacement. I didn’t find an exact replacement in the UK, but I thought I would take a chance on a similar looking item from Rapid Electronics. This is the part that I bought: http://www.rapidonline.com/Electronic-Components/Switches/Push-Button-Switches/Sealed-push-switch/30249

First, the reason why the switch/button is broken is because of this little convex contact pad/disk, which is supposed to click as it flexes to make contact inside the switch. In this case, the disk has a hairline fracture that you cannot see in the photo. That’s why it doesn’t click.

The hardest part for me was removing the old microswitch. In the end I decided to just cut the legs, and then use the soldering iron to take off what’s left of the legs from the contact pads of the PCB. My solder sucker (desoldering pump) is useless on this surface mount stuff.

Here is the original switch on the left (after removal, so looking a bit bashed!), next to the replacement switch on the right. You can see that there is a difference in the profile, and the button on the replacement switch does not protrude like on the original. I was worried that there would be a difference in travel of the button too, and that it would feel wrong, but the results are excellent and the replacement switch feels much nicer than the original switch which is still present for the right-click button.

Because of the lack of a protruding button, it was necessary to cut a small amount of plastic from underneath the mouse button plastic of the EEE PC lid, as the original button is set inside a small circular hole there. This was easy to cut, and once done the lid fitted perfectly and the button works very nicely.