How do mice switches ware out?

[Frugivore8894]

I was wondering what happens when a mouse switch (mechanical) starts to ware out, does the actuation force go decrease? Does it start to ghost click? 

[Levent]

1 minute ago, Frugivore8894 said:

does the actuation force go decrease? Does it start to ghost click? 

Depends, I had ones that were much easier to actuate and had ones that would click as usual but click twice or more while clicking once.

[Frugivore8894]

Just now, Levent said:

Depends, I had ones that were much easier to actuate and had ones that would click as usual but click twice or more while clicking once.

More specifically how does that work/why does it decrease.

[LTT_fanboy]

9 minutes ago, Frugivore8894 said:

More specifically how does that work/why does it decrease.

"wear and tear" of the switches in the mouse , when you click the mouse , the button loses .5 hp out of 10,000 hp do some math and you get 5,000 , now things might vary but this is just for reference , but anyway , a mouse switch has a certain click-life , i.e. the example that i used has a click-life of 5,000 clicks , so once you press the mouse on its switch it loses say , .5 hp out of 10,000 leaving it with 4,999 clicks left

[jaslion]

15 minutes ago, Frugivore8894 said:

I was wondering what happens when a mouse switch (mechanical) starts to ware out, does the actuation force go decrease? Does it start to ghost click? 

It all depends how the material has been worn out. A old mouse can multi click, click harder, not register, require more/less force, be inconsistent, not click at all or just be broken and many more things.

[HanZie82]

My old Logitech Performance MX buttons kinda died, they started double clicking when i clicked just the once.
Or when trying to drag something it would just let go of the button while my finger was still hard down on the button. And such errors.

(I put new buttons in and its as new again. repair > rebuy )

[sub68]

the closes one is my old microsoft mouse.

umm it just feels abnormal.

[The Blackhat]

1 hour ago, LTT_fanboy said:

"wear and tear" of the switches in the mouse , when you click the mouse , the button loses .5 hp out of 10,000 hp do some math and you get 5,000 , now things might vary but this is just for reference , but anyway , a mouse switch has a certain click-life , i.e. the example that i used has a click-life of 5,000 clicks , so once you press the mouse on its switch it loses say , .5 hp out of 10,000 leaving it with 4,999 clicks left

Might want to recheck your math there.

[geo3]

3 hours ago, Frugivore8894 said:

More specifically how does that work/why does it decrease.

Entropy. 

[Frugivore8894]

2 minutes ago, geo3 said:

Entropy. 

I mean technically yes but also no.

[LTT_fanboy]

4 hours ago, The Blackhat said:

Might want to recheck your math there.

i meant something along-side with that aspect lol

[TheChromaBristlenose]

20 hours ago, Frugivore8894 said:

More specifically how does that work/why does it decrease.

Serious answer: there are multiple ways that it can happen.

 

First and probably most common is that the copper contacts in the switch develop a layer of oxidation, and over time the wetting current requirements become too high for the mouse to provide. This isn't an issue in switches with gold-plated contacts, but those are rarely used by manufacturers to save costs.

 

Second reason is plain bad switch design. There are two contacts in a mouse switch - the stationary and the moving contact. If they're not made of the same substance, then you'll start losing material on the softer contact which obviously breaks the switch.

 

Also, if the contacts don't touch each other with even and consistent force, you'll also see material loss. Many switch manufacturers implement a "scrubbing" motion for the contacts to drag past each other, which is a cheap and easy way to clean off the oxidation (mentioned above) but will over time wreck the switch as well just by eroding the contacts.

 

Finally (and this is the least common because the other two usually happen first), the leaf spring can wear out. After tens of millions of clicks, material fatigue will cause the spring to loosen up and produce inconsistent contacting pressure. This results in lighter actuation force, more contact bouncing (compare oscilloscope readings of a worn-out switch vs a new one, if you're interested), and eventually just outright mechanical failure.

 

All these scenarios are assuming that the switch was implemented right in the first place. If you're like Logitech, who undervolt and undercurrent their switches to save power, then you'll obviously see quicker switch failure due to not meeting basic wetting current requirements. If you're like a lot of cheap Chinese manufacturers, who skimp out with shitty debouncing algorithms, then there could be ghost clicks/other artifacting even if the switch was actually operating within normal boundaries.

[Frugivore8894]

3 minutes ago, TheChromaBristlenose said:

Serious answer: there are multiple ways that it can happen.

 

First and probably most common is that the copper contacts in the switch develop a layer of oxidation, and over time the wetting current requirements become too high for the mouse to provide. This isn't an issue in switches with gold-plated contacts, but those are rarely used by manufacturers to save costs.

 

Second reason is plain bad switch design. There are two contacts in a mouse switch - the stationary and the moving contact. If they're not made of the same substance, then you'll start losing material on the softer contact which obviously breaks the switch.

 

Also, if the contacts don't touch each other with even and consistent force, you'll also see material loss. Many switch manufacturers implement a "scrubbing" motion for the contacts to drag past each other, which is a cheap and easy way to clean off the oxidation (mentioned above) but will over time wreck the switch as well just by eroding the contacts.

 

Finally (and this is the least common because the other two usually happen first), the leaf spring can wear out. After tens of millions of clicks, material fatigue will cause the spring to loosen up and produce inconsistent contacting pressure. This results in lighter actuation force, more contact bouncing (compare oscilloscope readings of a worn-out switch vs a new one, if you're interested), and eventually just outright mechanical failure.

 

All these scenarios are assuming that the switch was implemented right in the first place. If you're like Logitech, who undervolt and undercurrent their switches to save power, then you'll obviously see quicker switch failure due to not meeting basic wetting current requirements. If you're like a lot of cheap Chinese manufacturers, who skimp out with shitty debouncing algorithms, then there could be ghost clicks/other artifacting even if the switch was actually operating within normal boundaries.

Thanks that is super helpful! 

[H713]

I've never seen the switches in a mouse wear out, however...

 

The single most common cause of switch issues in my experience is lack of use and a lack of climate control that leads to oxidation and general crap buildup on the contacts. Since the switches on mice see near constant use, this isn't much of an issue. Where it might be a problem, in theory, would be in infrequently used keys on a keyboard. In practice, the contacts are switching a high enough voltage that it isn't an issue.