Ploopy Thumb Trackball Kit Assembly
Do not flash new firmware until you've verified that the electronics are all working.
Finish building the trackball, plug it in, and use the stock firmware for about five minutes. Verify the buttons are all clicking. Verify that the cursor is moving. Verify that the scroll wheel works. Unplug the trackball, hold the "forward" button (the button closest to the USB port), plug it in, let go of the "forward" button, and verify that the trackball is in "bootloader" mode (the cursor won't be moving).
Once you've verified that it all works, you can flash new firmware.
Note that some of these pictures were taken at different times, so they may show a bit of inconsistency in between steps.
During this assembly process, you will have to insert and drive screws. The screws are driven into plastic, and plastic is fairly soft.
The screws that are shipped with this kit grip plastic very firmly, which is good, but if the screws are driven too hard, they will cause the plastic to separate.
So, whenever you drive screws during this assembly, go slowly, and go gently. When you feel significant resistance, stop.
- A #1 Phillips head screwdriver (or similar; you're looking for quite a small screwdriver here)
- Soldering iron
- Solder
A hammer would be useful, but it is not absolutely necessary.
The Top has support material that must be removed prior to assembly.
"Support material" is more hollow than the structural plastic. You'll have to remove it before you continue with the assembly.
Most of the time, it can be removed using your fingers. If you find a bit of support material is not coming off, use a pair of pliers or tweezers to remove it. Be careful not to damage the parts as you remove the support material.
Prepare the following components:
- Printed circuit board
- PMW-3360 chip
- PMW-3360 optic
The PMW-3360 chip will come in a small piece of foam. Go ahead and remove it now.
Before soldering:
- MAKE SURE THAT THE PMW-3360 IS ORIENTED CORRECTLY BEFORE YOU SOLDER IT! This is a really easy step to mess up, so CHECK IT TWICE!
- See the photo for clarification. Note the orientation of the text on the chip, as well as the pattern of dots on the chip. Also note the "1" on the printed circuit board.
- Once you are absolutely sure that you have oriented the PMW-3360 correctly, solder it down.
- The sensor must be flat down as far as it can possibly slide into the holes before soldering. Don't let it "float" while you're soldering the first pin down.
- Try to do this in a dust-free environment.
- Check your solder joints during this step to ensure that they are good.
- Orient the optic correctly before insertion. It should NOT require any force to insert fully; if it does, remove it and check the orientation before trying again.
- This isn't necessary, but if you want, you can permanently attach the optic to the sensor. To do so, set your soldering iron's temperature to around 500F or 260C. Find the small posts that are poking through the PMW-3360 chip. Using the flat side of your soldering iron, squish them flat. You're trying to make them bow out (kind of like a mushroom) so that the optic stays in place.
- If you don't attach the optic to the sensor, it's not a big deal. It might pop out during the assembly, but once everything is assembled, it is held in place and won't move.
- You can use a pair of pliers to remove the tab.
- Alternatively, gently bend the PCB with your fingers close to the tab; the tab should snap off.
- Be careful! These sorts of tabs will cause little bits of fiberglass to go everywhere. These bits of fiberglass are very hard to see, but they are not good for you. Try removing the tab while holding the PCB over a garbage can.
- Once the tab is removed, the PCB will be quite flexible. Do not flex the PCB unnecessarily; store it somewhere carefully so that it is mostly flat.
- Base
- PCB (with PMW-3360 soldered)
- Scroll Wheel
- O-ring x2
- Scroll Wheel Holder
- Scroll Wheel Spring
- 3mm x 18mm metal dowel pin
- Screw x3
- Place the O-rings onto the Scroll Wheel. The O-rings are very strong and should not break during this step, even if you're quite rough with them.
- Check for stringing inside the Scroll Wheel's holes. "Stringing" is when a 3D-printer deposits extra, stringy plastic during a print. The holes have to be quite clear in order to function correctly. If you see any stringing inside the Scroll Wheel holes, use a toothpick or a pair of tweezers to scoop the excess plastic out.
- You'll need to use the Scroll Wheel Holder and the Scroll Wheel Spring for this step.
- Slide the Scroll Wheel into the Scroll Wheel Holder and the Scroll Wheel Spring.
- Seat the Scroll Wheel in the center of the Scroll Wheel Holder and the Scroll Wheel Spring.
- After you're finished, pull the Scroll Wheel Spring off.
This step is fairly complex; here's a video of how to accomplish this.
- Slide the Scroll Wheel Spring onto the PCB. Make sure that it's hovering over the correct switch.
- Slide the Scroll Wheel/Scroll Wheel Fixed Mount assembly onto the PCB. You'll have to do this at an odd angle, but if you do it correctly, it won't contact the Scroll Wheel Spring as you slide it onto the PCB.
- Slide the Scroll Wheel Spring onto the dowel pin of the Scroll Wheel. You'll have to bend the Scroll Wheel Spring quite far in order to accomplish this; try to bend it as little as possible. If you screw it up, though, there should be a spare in your kit.
You're done this step.
- DON'T push the Scroll Wheel into the Scroll Wheel Holder yet.
- DON'T screw the PCB down.
- Place the printed circuit board onto the Base. That's it.
- Gently but firmly bend the flexible arm and push the arm into the slot in the Base.
- In order to tell if the flexible arm has been pushed in far enough, check the alignment of the optic with the Base. The Base should be in contact with the optic.
- Hold the PCB down until the end of the next step, as it will probably pop out of the Base if you do not.
- Don't push the Scroll Wheel down into the Scroll Wheel Holder. Instead, use the slack in the assembly to pull the Scroll Wheel Holder away from the Scroll Wheel Spring, and then gently slide the Scroll Wheel into the Scroll Wheel Holder.
Take this opportunity to check the click force of the middle click. It should be okay out of the box. However, if it isn't, it can be adjusted now.
If the click requires too much force:
Unscrew the PCB from the Base and squish the Scroll Wheel Spring, as shown in this video. You should have a spare in your kit, so don't worry about breaking the Scroll Wheel Spring. However, don't needlessly wail on it, either. The goal is to oversquish the Scroll Wheel Spring, since the click force can be adjusted "upwards" once the PCB is reattached to the Base.
Once the Scroll Wheel Spring is noticeably lower than before, reattach it to the PCB and reattach the PCB to the Base. The Scroll Wheel Spring is likely going to be pressing the button down; this is fine. Gently pull the Scroll Wheel upwards, as shown in this video.
You can always keep pulling the Scroll Wheel upwards, but if you pull it too much and need to squish it back down, you'll have to unattach the PCB from the Base, so go slowly!
If the Scroll Wheel Spring is permanently squishing the switch, causing the middle click to be unresponsive:
Gently pull the Scroll Wheel upwards, as shown in this video. You can always keep pulling the Scroll Wheel upwards, but if you pull it too much and need to squish it back down, you'll have to unattach the PCB from the Base, so go slowly!
- Base assembly
- Top
- Small Buttons
- Big Buttons
- Screw x7
- Friction pad x4
- GO VERY, VERY SLOWLY! If you drive the screws too quickly, there's a chance that the screws will rip apart the screw holes. This could make disassembling the Thumb impossible.
- Refer to the photo to see which holes must be screwed down now.
- This step is tricky.
- The Small Buttons have to be aligned with the Top manually as the screw is being inserted.
- As you tighten the screw, check to ensure that the Small Buttons line up correctly with the Top. This will ensure that they do not interfere with the Big Buttons.
- If you're having difficulty inserting the screw into the Small Buttons, try driving the screw into the Little Buttons directly (instead of through the Base). That should help loosen up the hole.
- See this video for an example of how to install these buttons.
- The Small Buttons that come with the kit may be positioned too "low", meaning that they are constantly depressing the switches.
- If this is the case, gently pull the Small Buttons upwards, bending the plastic as you do so.
- If you bend the Small Buttons too far or break them, there should be a spare set in the kit.
- It can be a bit tricky to get the Big Buttons into the Base, so try not to bend them out of place during insertion.
- Here's a video showing how to insert the Big Buttons.
- It might help to insert one of the screws partway, then insert the second all the way, followed by finishing the first screw.
- Find the four small, shallow holes on the Base. You will be placing the friction pads over these small holes in the next step.
- The placement is not too important, so do your best, and don't worry too much about it.
Prepare the following components:
- Bearing Press Jig
- Roller Bearing Dowel x3
- Roller bearing x3
This may require a surprising amount of force. Try your best not to bend the Roller Bearing Dowel, but if you do, there should be spares with your kit parts.
At the end, all of your bearings should look like this.
- Ensure that the bearings are pressed all the way into the case. If the bearings aren't seated all the way, there's a good chance that the ball will become badly scratched.
- Needle nose pliers or some similar tool can be used to ensure that the bearing is fully seated.
Plug the trackball into your computer. The buttons should be clicking, and if you move the ball, it should move the cursor.
Note that the bottom-left button (just below the "Back" button) is the DPI switch. It cycles between 1200, 1600, and 2400 DPI.
The bearings are a bit scratchy when they're new. To prevent them from jumping around during initial use, spin the ball with some Latin dance vigour for about three minutes. That should be enough to break them in.
The bearings will take about a week to become fully broken-in.
Congrats, you finished building the Ploopy Thumb Trackball!
It's done! Love it, use it, but don't you dare abuse it!