Static from hand killed my expensive mouse, can it be repaired?

[james_s]

Something else to consider is reducing the ESD problem in the first place. Consider a humidifier in the room during the winter when it's dry. You can get ESD spray that can be applied to furniture and carpet, and you could put a ESD mat on the desk and get in the habit of touching that before touching anything connected to the computer. I find static shocks to be highly annoying even if I'm not handling anything delicate.

[Pcmaker]

Something else to consider is reducing the ESD problem in the first place. Consider a humidifier in the room during the winter when it's dry. You can get ESD spray that can be applied to furniture and carpet, and you could put a ESD mat on the desk and get in the habit of touching that before touching anything connected to the computer. I find static shocks to be highly annoying even if I'm not handling anything delicate.

I didn't know they sold ESD mats. I'm going to see if they sell ESD mousepads or just cut one up and use that as a mousepad. Then I just have to make sure I touch that before I grab the mouse.

[Pcmaker]

Or I can just fabricate a small piece of metal and connect that to one of the open grounds of my computer's power strip/surge protector and touch that before I grab the mouse.

[Ian.M]

An ESD mat requires grounding.   To avoid an annoying wire tangling with your mouse lead, you'd want one big enough for your whole PC work area going under the keyboard and monitor (and the PC case if its on your desktop) as well. Connect the other end of the ESD mat's ground lead to a ring terminal added under an external screw on your PC's case, ideally one of  the PSU fixing screws.  If its a laptop its a bit harder.  If its PSU is properly grounded, probably the best option would be to get a mains socket ESD grounding adapter plug, and connect it to the same duplex outlet as your laptop PSU, or if its a single outlet connect both to an extension power strip. 

If you wanted to cheapskate it, copper foil tape along and over the front edge of your desk, connected via 3x 330K resistors in series to  a spare ground on your power strip would provide a good 'ESD touchdown'.  The resistors are there to reduce the risk of electrocution if you come in contact with a live circuit while working on your PC or if there is a double fault (i.e loss of supply ground + something fed by the socket strip develops a live to ground fault).

Edit: To clarify - the 3x 330K series resistors are for safety and voltage withstanding capability.  Any single one can short out e.g. by carbon tracking, and you've still got 660K left to limit the ESD discharge current and also keep the worst case current if you come in contact with live mains, or a HV DC bus (e.g. on the primary side of a SMPSU) while in contact with the ESD grounding strip, under a milliamp to prevent electrocution.  2x 470K could also be used, but there's less standoff voltage capability and less safety if one fails.  Its been suggested below to heatshrink over the resistors.  If you choose to do that, its essential to use adhesive lined heatshrink to avoid leaving a creepage path, which may even breakdown at a lower voltage than a bare resistor in air.  Joints must not be spikey (spikes encourage flashover by concentrating the E field) or closer than one body diameter to the resistor end cap or body end.

[Fraser]

As Ian.m has clarified, the conductive paint may be used on the inside of the casing but must not be applied to the PCB or components as that would cause a short circuit of the mouse circuits. I agree with Ian.m that conductive self adhesive copper tape is a far more elegant way to make contact with the conductive paint I have actually seen people using the thin conductive copper tape in place of the conductive paint. It will not be pretty but it is unseen inside the mouse. Note that the electronics use copper tape is different to gardeners copper tape in that it uses a conductive adhesive so the overlapping strips do not need to be soldered together.

Fraser

[Pcmaker]

So I just need something that is conductive and hooked up to one of the screws on the PC case? I think they're all connected to the ground in the PSU

[Ian.M]

Highly conductive is problematic as very large currents can flow during an ESD discharge to e.g. a directly grounded metal surface, resulting in induced transients in nearby wires, and also, if you are holding anything ESD sensitive, and touch down with it without first making contact with your hand to the surface that high transient current flows through the sensitive item, virtually guaranteeing ESD damage.

Real ESD mats have a resistive backing and a much higher resistance (but still slightly conductive) top layer to discharge ESD safely without excessive discharge currents, and also, if you are working on a PCB directly on the mat surface, prevent it shorting out all but the most sensitive of high voltage circuits.

They are readily available on Amazon, Ebay, and from specialist suppliers.  Beware of excessively cheap ones from China, as they can stink worse than dogs--t from the low grade plasticizers used, and won't air out and loose that 'China export plastic' smell quickly enough to use this winter!  Also cheap vinyl ESD mats cant stand soldering temperatures, so don't use a cheap one on your electronics bench.

[richnormand]

Used to have issues with ESD resetting my monitor when I would get close or touch the mouse or keyboard.
It was particularly bad in winter due to the low humidity.

I got a flooring piece of wood 3/8" thick on the carpet with an ESD mat.
Under the monitor and mousepad there are also ESD mats. You can see one of the mat ground wire as the black round connector on the floor on the top righthand side.
Each is wired to the computer case. I also verified that the computer case is indeed grounded to the ground on the power plug via the PSU.

Got the mats from ebay. There is a company serving the USA and Canada that sells remnants and pre-cut stuff at a good price.
The stuff also came with the proper grounding hardware.

Never had an issue after that.

PS: Same folks I got my workbench mat too.

Post 9534 on the "what-did-you-buy-today-post-your-latest-purchase" in the general chat section.

PS2: They did not smell either. Good stuff.

[Nominal Animal]

Simply put, you want to dissipate the static charge in something resistive that can handle the very short spike of high voltage easily, between a conductive surface that one touches, and the ground.  There is very little energy in the discharge, even in a dramatic one.

I have used a thin strip of aluminium on the edge of my desk, connected to true ground through a 1 MOhm resistor.  (Strip – wire – through-hole resistor inside heat-shrink sleeving – wire – ground.)  I like to wear woolly socks during the winter, and when it gets really cold, the air becomes rather dry, and static charge just accumulates everywhere.

Whenever you sit down, the strip should be somewhere you naturally touch first before anything else.  The resistor means you won't ever feel the zap when static charge is dissipated, so that's a bonus.

I like anodized aluminium for this.  It's dull gray and unobtrusive, and easy to keep clean.

It is difficult to solder directly to anodized aluminium, so for best results, use a screw or bolt through the aluminium, and a lug or something to connect the grounding wire (with the resistor somewhere further down on the wire); and sand or file the anodizing off of near the bolt hole as the anodizing doesn't conduct well.
I have considered using rounded L profile as the edge of the desk, but I don't like how it looks.  It would work well, though.

The 1 MOhm resistor, preferably a "high voltage resistor" that can handle say 10 kV or more, is the dissipative element.  Don't confuse them with power resistors that can dissipate a lot of power as heat; there is very little power or energy here.  An old large carbon resistor, maybe, or a thick film resistor.  I'd definitely use heatshrink too, to make sure the static discharge doesn't bypass the resistor by arcing outside it.  These static discharges have very high voltage and will arc several millimeters in air, but they don't have much energy.  If you have smaller resistors, say 470kOhm, put a couple of them in series.

I'm not sure as to what the optimum resistor value really is, but basically you want it high enough to drop the entire voltage spike, but conductive (low enough resistance) that the static charge does discharge through it and doesn't find a lower-resistance path to ground elsewhere.  Static table mat material itself is a big resistor with relatively high resistance. Typical floor mats are conductive, and have on the order of 1 MOhm resistor to ground. 3M SCC grounding wristband has a 1MOhm resistor on it, for example.

[Pcmaker]

I just bout this from Amazon. It should do the trick. Plugs right into the ground of an outlet or a power strip

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08FHQDKDH/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[james_s]

It's a bit small, but enough to go under your mouse mat at least, or depending on the surface it might work fine as a mouse mat itself.

[T3sl4co1l]

Used to have issues with ESD resetting my monitor when I would get close or touch the mouse or keyboard.
It was particularly bad in winter due to the low humidity.

I hate that so much. I just got a new LCD and it resets almost every time I turned off my powered speakers I have nearby.  Classic EFT situation, my fault for not putting an R+C across the power switch into the transformer (which fixed the problem), but how can they test these things to class B? How can I know if a stronger ESD hit will be class C (requires power cycle) -- or worse?

Tim

[wraper]

Used to have issues with ESD resetting my monitor when I would get close or touch the mouse or keyboard.
It was particularly bad in winter due to the low humidity.

I hate that so much. I just got a new LCD and it resets almost every time I turned off my powered speakers I have nearby.  Classic EFT situation, my fault for not putting an R+C across the power switch into the transformer (which fixed the problem), but how can they test these things to class B? How can I know if a stronger ESD hit will be class C (requires power cycle) -- or worse?

Tim

Most likely the issue is with crappy video cable rather that with monitor. Also plugging monitor and PC in the same power outlet may help.

[T3sl4co1l]

Yes, some combination of things -- cables are notoriously problematic too.

Tim

[tooki]

I have a Steelseries mouse from 2008 that is no longer being manufactured. It's the only mouse that doesn't make my hand hurt when I use it. A used one from eBay goes for around $450 which is a ton of money.

I have a Steelseries mouse from 2008 that is no longer being manufactured. It's the only mouse that doesn't make my hand hurt when I use it. A used one from eBay goes for around $450 which is a ton of money.

What is this thing? When i search for Steelseries there are new mice around £50 price point.

It's the Steelseries Cataclysm mouse. They stopped making them back in 2008

I googled it, and nothing about that mouse’s shape is even remotely rare and unique. The reason it’s selling for insane prices is because it is a World of Warcraft collector’s item.

Take your broken mouse, go to Best Buy and look at all the mice. You’re bound to find multiple ones with basically the same shape.

For what it’s worth, though, also consider the Logitech MX Vertical. It takes some getting used to, but my hand and arm really are much happier with it.

[Pcmaker]

I have a Steelseries mouse from 2008 that is no longer being manufactured. It's the only mouse that doesn't make my hand hurt when I use it. A used one from eBay goes for around $450 which is a ton of money.

I have a Steelseries mouse from 2008 that is no longer being manufactured. It's the only mouse that doesn't make my hand hurt when I use it. A used one from eBay goes for around $450 which is a ton of money.

What is this thing? When i search for Steelseries there are new mice around £50 price point.

It's the Steelseries Cataclysm mouse. They stopped making them back in 2008

I googled it, and nothing about that mouse’s shape is even remotely rare and unique. The reason it’s selling for insane prices is because it is a World of Warcraft collector’s item.

Take your broken mouse, go to Best Buy and look at all the mice. You’re bound to find multiple ones with basically the same shape.

For what it’s worth, though, also consider the Logitech MX Vertical. It takes some getting used to, but my hand and arm really are much happier with it.

The mouse also has very soft clickers. If I use any other regular mouse, when I keep clicking the buttons, especially the scroll wheel button, my hand is in pain and it shoots the pain right up to my elbow. I've tried dozens of other gaming mice and this one is the only one that doesn't do it.

Unfortunately, gaming is what my life revolves around in, especially WoW. I've spent over 20k seeing 3 hand doctors over the last 15 years and they have not been able to provide a solution. I've tried other hobbies, but they don't do anything for me.

[james_s]

Jeez, I didn't know WoW was even still a thing. I lost several friends to that game ~15 years ago. It just completely consumed them to the point that it was all they ever did anymore, virtually indistinguishable from a the situation with a couple others I lost to drug addictions. IMHO when a game becomes so totally consuming that it is causing physical injury it is no longer a hobby, it's an addiction.

[Pcmaker]

I just got the ESD mat. It feels like rubber. I thought it was supposed to be conductive? I did a continuity test with my meter from the mat to the ground plug it plugs into and I get no continuity

[Bud]

@pcmaker did any of those doctors recommended changing the mouse? I am not kidding. With a diferent mouse the geometry of the grip will change and that may help to alleviate the pain.

An other way to address it is to switch to the other hand. When i had a wrist pain in my right wrist which i realized was induced by the mouse, i switched to my left hand. It resulted in a double benefit- my right wrist recovered with time and gave my brain some useful training: at first it was very awkward but in a few days i could not tell the difference, even if the mouse was right hand shaped.

[Pcmaker]

@pcmaker did any of those doctors recommended changing the mouse? I am not kidding. With a diferent mouse the geometry of the grip will change and that may help to alleviate the pain.

An other way to address it is to switch to the other hand. When i had a wrist pain in my right wrist which i realized was induced by the mouse, i switched to my left hand. It resulted in a double benefit- my right wrist recovered with time and gave my brain some useful training: at first it was very awkward but in a few days i could not tell the difference, even if the mouse was right hand shaped.

yeah, Ive tried other mice including trackball and vertical. They helped a little bit, but not the other "regular" mice.

[james_s]

It is rubber impregnated with conductive material. It does conduct but it has a very high resistance, several megohms per cm typically. Since ESD is a very high voltage the idea idea is to dissipate that while not being so conductive that it shorts out bare PCBs and such that you set on it. You normally won't measure anything with a multimeter and you probably won't feel anything if you touch it while charged with static but it will bleed off the charge.

[Haenk]

I've spent over 20k seeing 3 hand doctors over the last 15 years and they have not been able to provide a solution.

I'll provide you a solution, for free.
Rest your hand for 2-3 weeks. That is the only thing that will surely help.
Then - when your hand feels fine again - try some "normal" shaped and sized mouse and a silicon handrest, like this one:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Silicone-Gel-Wrist-Rest-Cool-Hand-Pillow-Cushion-Heart-Shaped-Translucence-Cool-Hand-Pillow-Cushion-Reduce-Wrist-Fatigue-Pain-Blue/257152594

(There are plenty of other models available, just the first example that came up.)

I am no doctor, but I assume some inflammation/pain relieve like Ibuprofen might be a good idea to use, while abstaining from torturing your hand.

I had those problems as well, luckily not reappearing in the last years. No wonder, I probably moused my way to the sun and back in the last decades. Doing IT stuff the whole day does not help

Learn something every day: In German, one of these two is probably the cause of your problems: "Sehnenscheidenentzündung" or "Karpaltunnelsyndrom"

[tooki]

I just got the ESD mat. It feels like rubber. I thought it was supposed to be conductive? I did a continuity test with my meter from the mat to the ground plug it plugs into and I get no continuity

They are rubber. The smooth top layer has a very high resistance you can’t measure with a typical multimeter. The rough lower layer is much more conductive and should be readable with your multimeter (in the ballpark of 10k ohm, depending on distance, mat size, pressure on the probe tips, etc.).

Additionally, the cord should have a safety resistor in it, usually 10Mohm or so. That alone exceeds what many multimeters can measure.