SpaceMouse Wireless Battery Replacement

Questions and answers about 3Dconnexion devices on Windows.

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ben_r_
Posts: 31
Joined: Fri Mar 08, 2013 9:53 am
Location: Sacramento, CA

SpaceMouse Wireless Battery Replacement

Post by ben_r_ »

I recently upgraded to 3DxWare 10.8.3 from 10.7.4 (which was working fine, but I just randomly chose to upgrade) and all of a sudden my SpaceMouse Wireless wont charge and just shows a red LED when turned on (when unplugged). The 3DxWare software still recognizes it and all works fine when plugged into a charger but once unplugged the software shows the battery as empty and red no matter how long I let the device charge over night. This strikes me as odd seeing as how the battery was holding charge just fine a few days ago, but lets assume the battery took a dump at this time.

Does 3Dconnexion offer a battery replacement service (if so how much do they charge?) or is this something we have to take care of ourselves? The SpaceMouse is definitely designed to be a throw away device by the looks of it, which is a poor choice in design, but I did find this webpage (LINK) describing how one could change the battery on their own.

Has anyone changed the battery themselves? What battery did you use and did the mouse function fine afterwards?
ben_r_
Posts: 31
Joined: Fri Mar 08, 2013 9:53 am
Location: Sacramento, CA

Re: SpaceMouse Wireless Battery Replacement

Post by ben_r_ »

Well, just replaced the battery with the one mentioned in the first post and the mouse appears to charge as normal (slow pulsing green as its charging and then staying solid green once its fully charged) but as soon as I disconnect the charger and power on the mouse the LED turns red and it shows up in 3DxWare as though the battery is dead and then the mouse just shuts off.

I guess this mouse's wireless function is just dead and its time to sell it on eBay.
NegativeNighthawk10
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Sep 05, 2022 3:23 pm

Re: SpaceMouse Wireless Battery Replacement

Post by NegativeNighthawk10 »

I know this is an older post, but I figured I'd throw in my solution for not only replacing the spicy pillow that was inside my Space Mouse Wireless, but making it easily replaceable.

I take no responsibility if you break your Space Mouse or yourself. Im simply trying to pass on how I was able to extend the life of my $200 device that was clearly intended to be disposeable...

The link in the post is dead, it has been archived on the Wayback machine though. However disassembling this thing is very easy.
1. Carefully Remove the rubber from the bottom.
2. Under the rubber will be another black layer, its basically a sticker. Firmly run your finger around until you locate 4 holes.
3. Use an xacto knife to cleanly cut out the 4 holes...or just rip the sticker off if you want.
4. Remove the 4 screws, and the device will seperate in 2 pieces. Careful because the USB connector is on a seperate PCB, you dont want to bend the 6 pins that connect to it from the main board. (They arent that easy to bend, but still.)
5. Remove the original lipo battery, it is held down by some double sided foam tape. The only wiring is a 3 pin connector which is easy to get to and easy to remove.

Now, if you want to replace it, it is just a standard 3.7V (4.2V) single (1s) lipo cell. You can replace it with any off the shelf single lipo that also has 3 wires, just make sure the wiring matches. Easiest way to do this is check the wires with a multimeter you should have Positive and Negative, and the 3rd wire is a temp sensor.

Now that is not what I did...Keep following if youd like an easily replaceable battery that will last significantly longer.

Full disclosure. I just finished this a few hours before posting this. But ts not my first rodeo wiring lithium batteries.

6. CAREFULLY remove the tape covering the wires on the lipo pack. There is a small PCB in there that you need. My pack had wax paper under the tape which made it very easy to get off.
7. Once all the tape is off and the PCB is exposed, CAREFULLY pull the PCB away from the battery. The nickel metal strips you see are the bare terminals of the battery, do not let them short to anything. If you short the bare terminals its very likely to catch fire or worse.
8. Now you should have maybe a 1/4" of space to work with, so take some flush cutters and CAREFULLY snip the nickel strips at the PCB side.
9. Place some electrical or Kapton tape over the bare terminals so they dont short, and dispose of the original cell properly.
10. Solder some lead wire to the pads on the PCB where the original battery connected. They are clearly labeled pos and neg.
11. Find a spot on the mouse where your comfortable drilling a small hole to run the wires through, I chose to use my mill with a small endmill and drill bit to make a nice pocket on the back.
12. Insulate the PCB with some tape or heatshrink, reconnect the 3 pin connector, run your wires through the hole, and put it back together.
13. Get a cheap 18650 battery holder and atleast 1 18650 battery. Solder your leads to the appropriate terminals of the battery holder, and pop your battery in.

Thats pretty much it, you can choose to beautify it however you like. As for me, atleast for now, I left about 2" of wire and put some heatshrink around the battery holder.

I am having some other issues with my mouse unfortunately, which are currently preventing me from really giving this thing a good test. This thing hasnt worked properly without the USB cable connected in over 2 years. I was hoping the bettery would fix it, but it did not. However, atleast it will turn on without being plugged in now, so the battery is atleast working.
NegativeNighthawk10
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Sep 05, 2022 3:23 pm

Re: SpaceMouse Wireless Battery Replacement

Post by NegativeNighthawk10 »

Posting an update:

It's working beautifully and I was able to get my wireless reciever re-paired.

Also to add claification. Yes the battery will still charge from the USB cable just like always, as well as the battery monitor in the settings will still read correctly.

At some point I'll probably 3D print an enclosure for this, but atleast for now I am able to get back to work without yet another USB cable going across my desk. It may look a little silly, but it hasnt gotten in my way once so far.

batterymod.jpeg
batterymod.jpeg (127.02 KiB) Viewed 4508 times
decio_jr
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Nov 15, 2022 4:27 am

Re: SpaceMouse Wireless Battery Replacement

Post by decio_jr »

Hello

I had the same problem.
With an external battery it was perfect.
I also printed a support.
Attachments
Imagem do WhatsApp de 2022-11-30 à(s) 12.24.39.jpg
Imagem do WhatsApp de 2022-11-30 à(s) 12.24.39.jpg (111.31 KiB) Viewed 3731 times
ngomes
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Joined: Mon Nov 27, 2006 7:22 am
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Re: SpaceMouse Wireless Battery Replacement

Post by ngomes »

decio_jr wrote: Wed Nov 30, 2022 8:25 am With an external battery it was perfect.
I also printed a support.
That's awesome!

Thanks for sharing the picture. I don't recall ever seeing anything like that before. It looks great.
Nuno Gomes
ben_r_
Posts: 31
Joined: Fri Mar 08, 2013 9:53 am
Location: Sacramento, CA

Re: SpaceMouse Wireless Battery Replacement

Post by ben_r_ »

decio_jr wrote: Wed Nov 30, 2022 8:25 am Hello

I had the same problem.
With an external battery it was perfect.
I also printed a support.
Nicely done!
decio_jr
Posts: 3
Joined: Tue Nov 15, 2022 4:27 am

Re: SpaceMouse Wireless Battery Replacement

Post by decio_jr »

Thanks you guys!

I did it quickly, I should have been more careful with some details.
Overall it's working.
For a first version it was cool.
I'm thinking about V2 now, with some macro buttons for processes in SOLIDWORKS.
As I advance in V2 I will share the progress.

If anyone wants the 3d for printing send me an email.
jrdalmolim@gmail.com
I will be happy to share
tim_crouse
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat Mar 16, 2024 12:27 pm

Re: SpaceMouse Wireless Battery Replacement

Post by tim_crouse »

I too have a space mouse wireless pro with a dead battery.

Please see athe attachment for the info I have researched for those that wish to replace the battery in a SPACEMOUSE PRO WIRELESS

Hope Someone Out There Finds This Useful
Attachments
Spacemouse Pro Wireless Teardown.zip
Tear Down Info
(200.05 KiB) Downloaded 19 times
SPACE MOUSE PRO WIRELESS BATTERY INFO.zip
Battery Info
(191.99 KiB) Downloaded 21 times
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