Cleaning/Replacing the Scroll-wheel Encoder to address reverse scrolling
If your Z/Tracer/Creators scroll-wheel is starting to register scrolls in the opposite direction when scrolling rapidly in one direction (e.g. repeatedly scrolling up while already at the top of a page causes frequent scrolls down the page). Then your scroll-wheels encoder is developing a hardware issue which will require some maintenance to address. Or in the worst case scenario require replacing the encoder entirely.
Problems like this are generally caused by contaminants getting into the encoder and blocking its contacts. So the instructions below will show you how to open your mouse to perform some maintenance on the encoder.
The main body of the Z is held together with 7 screws in its base. 5 of these are easily visible once you remove the magnetic feet from your mouse, but two are hidden under the label at the nose of the mouse. So you will need to peel this off to access them.
The locations of all 7 screws and highlighted in the image below.
Once the 7 screws have been removed the top and bottom halves of the case can be separated. However you need to be careful when doing this as there is a small circuit board for the thumb buttons which sticks up from the bottom half of the case into the top. Also, there is a thin ribbon cable at the rear of the mouse which connects the two halves.
So when you are separating the two halves, do so gently, and with a direct vertical movement. Keeping the halves relatively parallel until you clear the thumb button circuit board.
Don't worry if the thumb button PCB pops out while you are opening the case. It is connected by another ribbon cable and can easily be placed back into its slot on the base.
The thumb button PCB, and ribbon cable are highlighted below.
Once the top half has cleared the thumb button PCB, the ribbon cable is long enough for it to be placed down on the table next to the bottom half. From here you can see all the components you will need to access.
In order to remove the scroll-wheel you will need to detach the left side of the top PCB. So unscrew the three screws shown below and gently lift it up and away from the scroll-wheel to slide its axle out of the encoder. Just be careful with the ribbon cable at its rear, and the wires that connect the two sides of the PCB as these will still be attached.
You can do some initial testing at this point by sliding the scroll-wheel back into the encoder, then sitting the top PCB layer back in place. The screws can wait until its time to fully re-assemble the mouse, so just plug your mouse in test the response of the scroll-wheel like this.
Hopefully it will be improved, but if it is still problematic the contaminants must be inside the encoder. In which case you will need to use some contact cleaner to dislodge them. Just a couple of drops applied around the red section of the encoder should be enough. Afterwards insert the scroll-wheel and use it to turn the encoder and work the contact cleaner through it. Then let it dry out and clean off any remaining external residue. You may need to do those steps a couple times if it still has problems after the first pass.
A last resort if the encoder is still not functioning properly would be to replace it entirely. This requires some soldering so should only be attempted by someone with experience repairing electronics. But any electronics repair shop should be able to handle it if you bring them your dismantled mouse and a replacement encoder.
The encoder in the Z is a Kailh EN987012R01, but the 7mm variant of this one on AliExpress is also compatible.
Re-assembly is relatively straight-forward, just make sure not to do anything up too tightly. The top PCB in particular needs to have a small amount of movement for the force sensor beneath it to work correctly. Also make sure the thumb button PCB is slotted correctly into the base when you lower the top half of the case back on.
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