Aspire E5-575-33BM trackpad left button gets stuck

Couldn't find this addressed on here, so:

Since I've had this laptop, I've activated the "click" function of the mouse by pushing on the left side of the trackpad; the right-click is activated by pushing on the right side of the trackpad. A few months ago, the left-press would get stuck, so that it was like my finger was on the mouse button and it wouldn't let up and I couldn't un-press it. Honestly the only thing that made it go away was pushing on it intermittently with the right side, over and over again, until it came unstuck, and by then stuff had been dragged all over my screen. I ordered a replacement trackpad but then the problem kind of went away. It didn't happen again for months, and now it's happening again. I couldn't find the first trackpad I ordered, so I ordered another one, and now I have 2. So my question is: will replacing the trackpad even fix it? I can't detect any part of the replacement trackpads that move up and down, such as I would expect, since pushing the left side "landed" with a haptic click. I'm fairly sure this can't be a driver problem, since when it gets stuck, there is no haptic click; it just stays down. I wondered if it might have something to do with humidity.

Is it possible the problem is not inside the trackpad, but somehow in another mechanism inside that responds to the trackpad being pushed against it? Anyone ever encountered this problem before? If so, can I fix it by replacing the trackpad?

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JackE

>>> I can't detect any part of the replacement trackpads that move up and down>>>>>> I wondered if it might have something to do with humidity.>>>

Moisture & other foreign materials on skin & device surfaces can certainly affect resistive- or capacitive-based switches esp those with fake clicks. That's why I can't depend on them. I need real switches with real clicks.

Easwar

Hi @survivalcar,

Try to do power drain,

1. Turn OFF the unit.
2. Unplug the charger.
3. At the bottom there will be a tiny pin hole with battery sign close to it take a pin or paper clip and insert into it hold that button for 20-30 seconds. Then turn ON the unit and check.

survivalcar

Easwar said:

Hi @survivalcar,

Try to do power drain,

1. Turn OFF the unit.
2. Unplug the charger.
3. At the bottom there will be a tiny pin hole with battery sign close to it take a pin or paper clip and insert into it hold that button for 20-30 seconds. Then turn ON the unit and check.

Thank you - at the moment it is not getting stuck. Should I wait to do this until it gets stuck?

Chris

JackE

Just clean the surface once in a while with a soft cloth and rubbing alcohol. That'll help clean up the moisture, salt and skin oils that affect operation.

survivalcar

JackE said:

Just clean the surface once in a while with a soft cloth and rubbing alcohol. That'll help clean up the moisture, salt and skin oils that affect operation.

I don't think I've done a good job of explaining what's going on. The outer surface is clean and as far as I can tell there's no way dirt or even skin oil could get through the trackpad and inside the computer. The trackpad itself sticks to something inside the computer from the inner side.

Normally when pressing down on the left side, you can feel it click and release the same way the main button on a mouse operates. What's happening is that sometimes it clicks down and then never comes back up. What concerns me now is that the replacement trackpad has no such mechanism, i.e. there's nothing on it that moves up and down that could produce that click. So I'm trying to figure out if the problem is something mechanical inside the computer that interacts with the trackpad.

JackE

>>>The outer surface is clean and as far as I can tell there's no way dirt or even skin oil could get through the trackpad and inside the computer.>>> What concerns me now is that the replacement trackpad has no such mechanism, i.e. there's nothing on it that moves up and down that could produce that click.>>>

Maybe I'm not explaining very well. My suggestions apply to the newest touchpads that operate only by resistive or capacitive changes on its 2D surface only. There is no 3D motion, no real click and nothing that can get below its surface to affect it. All the action -- the only thing that matters & controls response is what surface is just above or in contact with the touchpad surface. What's on the finger surface as well as what's on the touchpad surface can influence its response. Believe it or not, touchpad gloves and touchpad finger covers are sold to help improve touchpad response consistency by reducing variability in skin surface moisture, salt, oils, etc that occurs with many folks like me. They help but have other drawbacks that I can't deal with.

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