BlackBerry forum: Blackberry Curve trackball doing its own thing

Rain, Spa's, Saunas, hot tubs, sweat box , sweaty sport activities and having your phone in your pocket close to your body without the benefit of a leather case will cause your woes to continue.....

Dump your phone into a bag of rice on a Sunday evening when your call demand is low--leave it on the charger if you must, but figure out a way to bury it in rice which is excellent for pulling moisture out over night.

You should have the ball replaced--the smartest way to do this and avoid the $39.99 or $49.99 most cell phone repair shops will stick you for is to find a old version of your phone at a thrift store buy it and take it into to your Blackberry dealer (if your not a do it yourself McGuyver type), typically they'll pop the new ball in if presented with both phones for free!!! ,

Voila you're rocking and rolling again!

It seems completely hardware problem, you need to repair it.no options.

Hi,

I work for a telecom company supporting these smartphone devices. I would get calls like this at least 5 times a day. People would do everything: re-install the operating system, reseat the battery, etc. I agree with some of the previous comments that this is a hardware problem.

Mostly this is caused from either moisture damage or dust being lodged in between the trackball. As mariopeters2003 has commented, placing it in rice for 24 hours helps to absorb moisture as the starch tends to go in between all components. We recommend this same trick for people who drop it in water. For dust issues you have to pop out the trackball, use compressed air, and place it back in.

Either way, I wouldn't recommend someone who isn't familiar with the hardware to tinker around as it voids the warranty. If it is within the 1 year warranty just send it in. You can backup all your software by doing a backup from the Blackberry Desktop Software program, then do a secure wipe to clear all confidential information.

I've seen people try all other crazy ideas and just end up wasting a lot of time. It's a known issue with these devices and it's the reason none of the newer devices don't use a trackball. Blackberry has moved to using a trackpad for just this reason.

Hope that helps.