Can this mouse be repaired?

Electronics
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My bastard–I mean, beloved–cat Jacob chewed through the cord for my ergonomic gaming mouse when he was teething.

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IMG_26181920×1042 95.8 KB

I’m going to get a cheap mouse from Walmart for now, but would it be possible for me (or someone else on my behalf, handsomely rewarded) to fix this one? It cost like $45 and, more importantly, I’d rather keep the same device than dump it in a landfill to buy another.

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It is repairable, you will need a replacement cable, cheap USB extensions will do but make sure that it supports power + data, some only have the power lines connected (also do a quick check to see if the mouse has the extra 5 USB 3.0+ pins but they are almost unheard of on a mouse). It is a fairly basic soldering job but I unfortunately do not have time to help out with it at the moment.

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When you find the cord you’d like to have put on, bring everything to the Electronics Meetup, any Sunday 3-5pm, and one of us (probably me) will see if we can fix it for you.

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Thank you!!!
Would I be able to make clean cuts in the existing cord and solder it back together, or is it best to buy a whole new cord? My kitten only chewed through about an inch, and it doesn’t need to be very long.

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It’s up to you, if you don’t mind the “lump”, which will be annoying if it is located right where the lump keeps going above and below the edge of the desk/table. If the lump is close enough to the mouse to always travel with it, or far enough down the cable that it never moves, you probably won’t mind reusing/repairing the old cable. If you’re OK trying to reuse the old cable, don’t cut it, just bring it as is, and we’ll try to salvage the maximum length possible.

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There’s a way to prevent the ‘lump’ which is to take out a larger portion.

So hopefully this doesn’t “Help” my ascii art, X being the repairs, the whole thing heatshrunk or electrical taped:

—X---------------
-------X-----------
-----------X-------
---------------X—

If you cut it so it’s staggered there’s a lot less of a lump and more a larger section, which may be preferable, but it also loses more of the cord length to do so. It’s fairly easy to do in any case.

It’s easier to get a new cord if you can find them, as that’s just unscrewing the mouse, plugging it in and putting it back together, I have done that on some of mine over the years.

(I’ve been a fan of the Logitech MX5xx series, and am amused to realize just how old the mouse I use regularly is. (MX518… from CompUSA, so probably nearly 20 years old.) I’ve got a few and have replaced or repaired several cords for them.) However, most mice you can’t get just the cables for. (Those were very popular.))

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