Fixing the MX518 Cable Problem

Disclaimer: I nor crossfire are held responsible for your mistakes or misplacement during this simple procedure. Opening up Logitech’s product DOES void your warranty, so proceed with caution.

Overall this tutorial will be written purely to promote confidence, I do recommend, if you already have a replacement or different mouse, to try this. A free mouse is always a plus side. The change of the cable is extremely simple; you’re literally a few screws away from it working again.

You will only need a few items to change the fate of your mouse; no soldering iron is needed, unless you want to use the same cable. Needed is:


A medium sized crosshead screwdriver (Philips Screwdriver.

A replacement mouse cable (wire). I will talk about this in a moment.

And last but not least, of course, a Logitech MX518.



The mouse cable will need to be five pinned. Most USB mice will use this cable, unless they are extremely cheap and they are wired into the sensor itself.

Generally if you can unscrew it and open it, it will have a cable compatible. There is some dispute about how genuine the whole gold-plated USB performance claim is; apparently it doesn’t make that much difference whatsoever. Bear in mind the thickness of the cables; you need to make sure it will fit.

OK, let’s get started.

First, you will obviously need to open up your 518, to do that, there are 3 screws on the bottom. They will be covered with the sticker, and you will need to puncture the sticker to locate these screws. I would recommend jotting down your model number and product number (for future free mouse feet free from Logitech) and then completely removing the sticker, using a solvent to remove the majority of the sticky substance left, otherwise it will simply cause friction.



Once you’re in, watch your mouse wheel, it has a metal bit that easily falls out – be weary when opening it up. Don’t be too scared of the amount of green in there, it’s a circuit board. You now need to remove yet another screw, with an even smaller screwdriver.



Removing this screw will enable you to life the mounting point of the buttons and scroll wheel. Obviously you will need to keep these screws safe. You will need to take the wire out on the mounting piece too, just simply wiggle it out. Try not to pull on the cable.
After removing that, you will now have easy access to your mouse cable. Again, it is a five pinned adapter, so you will need to wiggle it out and simply discard of it.



You will notice that the mouse cable is bent into a certain shape. You will need to obviously wire your mouse cable through this. Remove it, replace it with your spare, and then close everything back up carefully. Remember the scroll wheel is fragile.

With that put your mouse back together.



I have proof read this, nor will be doing. However I am open to you giving me advice on Improving this tutorial. Any questions, /q Scarzy @ quakenet.

Greetings and thanks to: h8m3, Shuki, Uteoz, Banaan, Noodle and Meez.