I’ve been using the Thermaltake eSports Saphira for almost two years. I’ve been having issues with the wheel for some weeks and decided to open the mouse to take a look at that and, while I was at it, also adjusted the microswitches to make them silent (or at least reduce the click noise).

In this post I’ll share with you how I put everything back together and my observations on how this mouse was designed.

The bare bones

Before putting the mouse together I took some photos of the bigger plastic parts without other pieces mounted.
This is where the electronics (and the other parts) are mounted:

Over this part goes a plastic structure protecting the electronics and giving the mouse rigidity. This mouse doesn’t squeak when you press your palm against it:

And finally the “cover” of the mouse, coated with rubberized paint. The white section where the tribal logo is placed allows the light to go through (the mouse has a LED inside).

Putting it back together

This mouse has four lights on the left side to indicate the DPI level. The lights go through this specially built light pipe, which is held in place with a little plastic piece (which also helps holding the little board that goes there).

The mouse’s braided cable looks great (and it’s also more durable ^{[citation needed]}). Thermaltake solved two problems at once with a rubber piece at the entrance point of the cable: it keeps it in place (in cheap mice you may find a knotted cable here instead!) and it also routes the cable 90 degrees to the right. I think it’s a neat solution.

Having the cable in place, it’s a good time to put the board back in.

It’s a good moment to attach the wheel too:

The Saphira has two side buttons (which I use a lot now). Instead of making yet another tiny board to mount two switches, these buttons were cleverly solved by using two pieces which go mounted on the chasis, where they pivot.

To make the button feel more sturdy, these pieces have a tiny part going against the side wall so when the button is pressed the material bends, and when the button is released the plastic drives the button back to its place. Great use of the material properties on the design.

At this point the covering case can be bolted down:

The rubberized piece mounts over the cover snapping the two main buttons at the same point where it will transfer the click to the board switches:

After that it just clicks in place, and there are only two bolts left before putting back the skid pads 🙂

Micro-tutorial: how I made the microswitches silent

If you open the microswitch (I used a xacto knife to pull the sides, it pops open) you can bend down a little piece of metal to reduce the distance traveled by the metal that creates the “click” sound. I followed this tutorial at Instructables, but this simple schematic I found here sums it up pretty well:

Thanks for reading!