I have had a SpaceMouse for some time which had developed the characteristic sticky surface so had become virtually unusable. I thought the whole panel was disintegrating and, until I read your post, had not realised this was just a coating.
By carefully following your instructions, I have restored my valuable SpaceMouse to a working device.
One thing I did find was that by popping the buttons off, it was easier to work on the main surface and the four number buttons.
It seems a shame that, judging from previous posts on this topic, some people have actually discarded their products.
It is good that 3Dconnexion have discontinued the use of this process.
When considering the purchase of a CadMouse recently I was nearly put off by the appearance in the photos of what seemed to be the same surface finish.
Happily, although there is a “soft touch” surface on the CadMouse, it does seem to be a different and hopefully superior material.
Hello everybody,
I'm also concerned by this issue.
Would that be possible to provide spare for those plastic parts ?
If 3D connexion stopped using this rubber surface, it would be so nice to sell spare parts without rubber.
I would be very happy to buy 2 to change them myself on the 2 spacemouse pro in our office (third one is fine, not concerned)
Please, please, please !!!
The rubberized finish on one of my compact SpaceNavigators completely wore off at the spot where I rested my thumb. It's really a shit finish to use on an every day grippy product like this, when mold-tech finishes exist which are much more durable.
Can't take a photo unfortunately, because I threw it out after it began drifting in one axis. I really hope this market gets some competition soon.
After several years of use, I noticed the same problem. To solve it, I completely disassembled the case, stripped it and covered it with a carbon look coating. It looks good
Not everyone has that much to modify a device they spent hundreds of dollars on already just to be able to use that same device without being covered in sticky goo.
Yours looks great though, perhaps 3Dconnection can hire you as their product designer!
3dconnexion Hardware: SpaceMouse Pro USB, CADMouse
Computer: HP ZBook Studio G3
OS: Windows 10 Pro
I also had to find a creative solution to this issue. Seems like a waste to scrap a $300 mouse just because of one surface finish, but I will say if 3Dconnexion doesn't remedy this problem the brand integrity will suffer.
sleg wrote: ↑Wed Feb 24, 2021 7:59 am
Hello everyone,
After several years of use, I noticed the same problem. To solve it, I completely disassembled the case, stripped it and covered it with a carbon look coating. It looks good
I actually loved the slightly sticky surface on my Spacemouse Pro Wireless. It gave my palm the necessary grip, especially while doing rotations around the Z-axis.
I recently got the enterprise - which is a beast - and I kind of miss the slightly sticky surface. My palm keeps moving during said Z-axis rotations.
I had my Spacemouse pro for 2 years and never had any stickiness issues. It went from the office to home almost daily (pre-covid) in the soft protective case.
Considering that feedback usually comes from those who want to change. I just wanted to add that some of us liked the rubber coating.
If 1) there are different surface preferences and 2) the surface is one of the first things to break, then it might make sense to make the surface replaceable. I certainly wouldn't mind paying $20 for a surface replacement.
PeterV wrote: ↑Mon Jun 21, 2021 7:51 am
I actually loved the slightly sticky surface on my Spacemouse Pro Wireless. It gave my palm the necessary grip, especially while doing rotations around the Z-axis.
I recently got the enterprise - which is a beast - and I kind of miss the slightly sticky surface. My palm keeps moving during said Z-axis rotations.
I had my Spacemouse pro for 2 years and never had any stickiness issues. It went from the office to home almost daily (pre-covid) in the soft protective case.
Considering that feedback usually comes from those who want to change. I just wanted to add that some of us liked the rubber coating.
If 1) there are different surface preferences and 2) the surface is one of the first things to break, then it might make sense to make the surface replaceable. I certainly wouldn't mind paying $20 for a surface replacement.
PeterV would you say that this problem will also happen to the Spacemouse Enterprise? as you have both models to compare , is the ruberized finish also present in the most expensive enterprise version ? I see all repots coming from the Pro and Pro wireless and I just placed an order for the enterprise one after year of usin the basic Spacemouse compact and I absolutly love it so I decided to go all the way up to the enterprise but now I'm nervous of it. also it has a 4 year warranty so I guess if it also suffers of this situation it will show up in those 4 years.
PeterV wrote: ↑Mon Jun 21, 2021 7:51 am
I actually loved the slightly sticky surface on my Spacemouse Pro Wireless. It gave my palm the necessary grip, especially while doing rotations around the Z-axis.
I recently got the enterprise - which is a beast - and I kind of miss the slightly sticky surface. My palm keeps moving during said Z-axis rotations.
I had my Spacemouse pro for 2 years and never had any stickiness issues. It went from the office to home almost daily (pre-covid) in the soft protective case.
Considering that feedback usually comes from those who want to change. I just wanted to add that some of us liked the rubber coating.
If 1) there are different surface preferences and 2) the surface is one of the first things to break, then it might make sense to make the surface replaceable. I certainly wouldn't mind paying $20 for a surface replacement.
PeterV would you say that this problem will also happen to the Spacemouse Enterprise? as you have both models to compare , is the ruberized finish also present in the most expensive enterprise version ? I see all repots coming from the Pro and Pro wireless and I just placed an order for the enterprise one after year of usin the basic Spacemouse compact and I absolutly love it so I decided to go all the way up to the enterprise but now I'm nervous of it. also it has a 4 year warranty so I guess if it also suffers of this situation it will show up in those 4 years.
Under normal office air condition, the coating should lasts for more than 4 years.
I'm thinking of getting the Enterprise Mouse, assuming the UK store ever comes back online (not sure if it'll be worth trying to order it from the US store, as it actually works out cheaper than amazon with current exchange rates)
To anyone who has bought an Enterprise model lately, do they have the same pray-on coating? Is the enterprise even still in production? (I read a post on for forum saying the current model had been discontinued, unless that was referring to the space pilot)
I had the same issue after having the pro for a number of years. I ended up cutting some vinyl to lay over the main surface. Luckily the knob and buttons haven't been affected. It's not completely polished in looks, but not too bad...and a whole lot more usable again.