Coloring Curve Trackball Guide

[NancyDrew]

I have successfully and not-permanently colored my Curve trackball! I saw a thread on a forum on how to do it and it worked great (props to mettleh3d).

Violet Trackball:
http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t96/starsrblind22/102_6238-1.jpg http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t96/starsrblind22/102_6236.jpg

Ok here's how to do it:

What you need:

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t96/starsrblind22/102_6242.jpg
Clear tape (scotch or packaging)
Sharpie permanent marker color of choice
Tweezers or eyeglass screwdriver
Scissors

*Turn off phone first. be very cautious, the metal & plastic clasps on the sides of everything are fragile and can snap easily. Don't force anything!

Step 1:

Fold over piece of tape and color it with marker.
Make it as dark as you can and let it dry completely.
A few coats will be needed.

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t96/starsrblind22/102_6243.jpg

Step 2:

Pop off the outer metal ring CAREFULLY with tweezers or flat thin screwdriver.

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t96/starsrblind22/102_6246.jpg

Step 3:

Hold your Curve upside down and shake it a little and the trackball with the attached outer frame will fall out.

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t96/starsrblind22/102_6247.jpg

Step 4:

Cut a small square of colored tape that will fit over the small LED square in bottom of trackball hole. Place it on square. (In this pic, you can see the purple piece of tape I had in before)

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t96/starsrblind22/102_6249.jpg

Step 5:

Put trackball w/ frame back in the way you pulled it out. Kind of push down to pop it in.

Step 6:

Put outer metal ring back on. Turn clockwise and snap in place

Step 7:

Turn on bb!

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t96/starsrblind22/102_6257.jpg

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t96/starsrblind22/102_6261.jpg
*The green didn't show much so I tried blue, looked great. Darker the color, the better it looks. Good luck if you try this: be very gentle!!

NOTE: After a period of time you may notice the color "fading" away. After a month or so, my purple ball turned back to white. I opened it up and the LED light had warped all the color off the tape (there was a tiny white hole in the purple). It didn't actually burn the tape there color was just gone. This where I could see using a colored transparency as an advantage over the marker that apparently fades off.

[.Shaun]

looks good so far.
now i'm wondering what this method is..

[NancyDrew]

I also tried Red, but couldn't see it too well. I was hoping for pink :(

[j96stoned12]

gonna try that myself i just had trackball out the other day but didnt know what to do so ill give it a shot thanks for the step by step w/pics helps alot

[kskow]

I may need to do that as well, after about 4 months of heavy use I have noticed my track ball is an ugly off-white color. Disgusts me to look at it!

[BerryHotSpot]

Wow! Great write up! I'm glad I have the Pearl....color pearl works great!

[NancyDrew]

I also found replacement trackballs because mine was dirty too:

BlackBerry 81xx/83xx/88xx OEM trackball- Nokia, Mobiado, Apple, Acer, Microsoft, Tools, 3G, BlackBerry, Samsung, BenQ-Sie (http://cnn.cn/shop/blackberry-81xx83xx88xx-trackball-p-1857.html)

Only $11.99!

[fogleroller]

awesome, i made mine green. I could not find any colored sharpies at work, so i used a highlighter

[CurveBerry]

A while ago I was at Office Max to buy some colored transparencies paper for use in our over-head projectors. I took sheets of different colors and all I did is cut out little squares from different colored sheets and put them in a bag in my pocket book. I can change the color and I don't have to color. :) Love the method though! Thanks! Cellophane would work, too, I'm sure.

[babelmo]

The pearl has it built into the phone why didnt they do this for the curve i dont understand....