The Logitech VX Nano is a great mouse, but it has major hardware issues with regards to the left button going bad after a few months and starting double-clicking when you single click. If you’re out of warranty, you can still fix this – here’s how.

This isn’t a problem with just VX Nano mice, but it’s a problem that is very common (it seems) with this mouse. I have two VX Nanos and both have the exact same issue. Forums online show it’s a common problem, hardware related, and that you have to send it in.

I of course have already pulled apart one of my VX Nanos (the first one to go bad) several times to try to fix it by cleaning it and so on, hence losing my warranty. That one is also from the US, so I doubt I’d be able to RMA it from Norway anyways. So what do you do when all hope is lost with this rather expensive $70 mouse? You fix it yourself, of course. Here’s a tutorial on how to do it with the VX Nano – the same technique will work on other mice but the pictures etc will not match up. Be aware this will of course void your warranty if you still have one.

This requires some soldering and a mouse with the same D2FC to use for parts. I recently got my hands on two Logitech MX80 wireless laser mice from a weekend deal at a Norwegian webshop for 1/8 the MSRP, so I decided to use my old MX518 cabled optical mouse as a donor for the D2FC micro switches. You might also be able to get the switches at radio shack or somewhere online, but the easiest would be an old mouse. The switches are very common.

You also need a soldering iron and you should also have (though I didn’t as I’d run out) some sort of de-soldering device, like a solder sucker or soldering remover wick. Lastly, you need some precision screw drivers – more precisely a small and a slightly less small Phillips head.

First, remove the 5 screws holding mouse together using the biggest Phillips head screwdriver (basically just find one that works). There are 3 located under the slider pads (save these, don’t ruin them!) and two under the batteries (see red rings in the picture)

Then remove the 4 screws holding the PCB to the casing using the smallest phillips head screwdriver.

Next, remove the three small screws holding the mouse wheel in place. Be careful lifting it off and pay good attention to how it sits together for when you need to assemble it again. The top part (left most screw in the picture) has a lose black plastic thing on it that you will need to put back together so don’t lose it and remember how it fits into the transparent plastic part. Take the whole scroll wheel part off including the lose parts and put it aside. Make sure to not lose the screws and sort them in piles so you know what screws go where.

Now you’ll need to detach the ribbon cable from the laser by unlocking the holder on the PCB (left ring in the picture). This is a small black “frame” around the ribbon cable which you pull up to release the ribbon cable so you can easily get it lose. Also remove the power cable from the PCB (right ring in the picture) by pulling it up.

After everything is removed and put somewhere safe, lift the PCB from the casing carefully. It might get stuck on parts here and there so just go slow and get it out in one piece.

Now you need to get the microswitches off, both from the VX Nano and the donor mouse. Use the de-soldering wick to get the solder off the three pins on the underside of the PCB . If you don’t know how: put some of the wick on the soldering point and heat it from the other side with the soldering iron. The solder should come off and stick to the wick. Do this until all three soldering points/pins are solder free and the switch can be removed. Do the same on both mice and slide the replacement microswitch from the donor mouse into place on the VX Nano. Make sure to press the microswitch down so it touches the PCVB and don’t just hang on the solder pins, and that you put it on the right way (with the actual button on the microswitch pointing up/forward) and solder it back on.

Now you need to re-assamble the mouse. Put the PCB back in and make sure it’s really in there. This might require a bit of force to make it click into place. Use the holes for the screws as a guide, these should physically click into the holes in the PCB for a right fit. Put the power cable back on and lock the ribbon cable back in place. Re-assemble the scroll wheel so that the gear mechanism work and you have no leftover parts (there’s the scroll wheel/plastic housing, the black piece I mentioned and a plastic arc piece that holds it in place). And screw that back in. Screw in the screw holding the PCB and then put the casing on and put those screws back in as well.

If everything went the way it should, you should now have a fully working VX Nano once again, complete with single-click action. If you thought this was complicated, it’s really not: I had to do this without de-soldering wick, meaning I basically half-soldered half-forced the microswitches out and back in, and mine survived fine. If you have de-soldering wick, this job should be easy for even soldering novices. Just make sure you de-solder the right pins.

Update: Video tutorial from when I fixed my second VX Nano: