DIY – Colored Balls For Your Blackberry Pearl
I’ve seen several different DIY posts for changing the LED color of the Blackberry Pearl trackball. Some informative, some not very much so. After some experimentation on my own, I managed to make a simple modification to my Blackberry Pearl 8130 trackball to change the LED color. I must say it looks rather nice, and adds some flair to an otherwise drab looking smartphone.
My Blackberry Pearl 8130:
Before attempting this mod, I would recommend that you power off your phone! First step is to remove the trackball assembly. Use a pair of tweezers to hook into a small slot in the chrome retainer ring, located directly above the #2 key on the keypad. Gently pry up the ring until the ring pops loose, and remove it, exposing the trackball assembly underneath.
Set aside the chrome ring, in a safe place. It is plastic, so make sure not to bend or break the catches on the underside. Use the tweezers to remove the trackball assembly – it’s self contained, so don’t worry about it falling apart. Set the assembly aside along with the chrome ring. Now you should see this:
Now comes the easy part! The LED that lights up the trackball is on the lower right, indicated in the picture by the bright red circle. Grab yourself a fine tipped permanent marker (I used a Staedtler Lumocolor fine tip in Red) and lightly coat the LED in your chosen color. As a side note, you can apply several coats of the same color to achieve darker shades of the same color to your desire. Just make sure you give a few minutes to dry between each application. I applied four coats to give myself a nice scarlet red color. After your final coat dries, put everything back together! Make sure you settle the trackball assembly in all the way, and align the Chrome ring in the socket the same way it was when you removed it.
That’s it! Turn your phone on, and you should see something like this:
Congrats on your newly modded phone 
I personally really like the dark red color because it gives me that “HAL 9000″ type feeling! Now if you want to change the color, follow the same steps as before, and use a q-tip with a light application of rubbing alcohol to gently remove the marker ink. Let dry, and apply the new color of your choice.
If you try this, be sure to tell us about your experience!
EDIT- Many People have suggested using the “Blingball” or “Color Pearl” apps for the Blackberry Pearl. The model 8130 does not possess the polychromatic LEDs necessary for those apps to function correctly or at all. That’s why I wrote this DIY in the first place. Carry on 
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Hey, this is an awesome low tech way to pimp your phone! I don’t have a blackberry but I wish my smartphone allowed me to do something like this.
thanks for the props on my Eartha Kitt tribute Andy! was glad to include your Catwoman tribute. and this DIY is pretty cool, i will definitely report if i try it out on my Blackberry! gotta choose a color now… i think i like red too…
wow retarded when you can get color pearl free…
Fortunately for you, Boring, I do research before making unsubstantiated and factless remarks. The “Color Pearl” app for the blackberry does not work with the 8130 model because there are no colored LEDs on the mainboard. That is precisely why this is such a popular mod for the 8130 model.
wow thats a lot for something you can do by downloading an extra app called colorpearl or blingball to your phone
Nice but a few simple sugestions:
-use your finger nail and wedge it in the space aroundthe silver case around the trackball to remove and lift it up
-tap the back of your pearl to get the trackball and everything out
-use a piece of tracing paper, tape, or other paper (tracing paper seems to work best) and color on it with a marker then place the small piece of paper over the led light. (it can cover up more than the light)
— make sure of you use tap to color on the sticky side then fold over it so the coloring is stuck inside the tape. This way the color won’t come off as easy and you won’t get it on your hands while using your phone!
- put the trackball back in place. Make sure you line up the prongs on the side.
-pop the cover of the trackball back on make sure you line the prongs up on this too so you don’t break anything.
This way you don’t have to stick with the same color the whole time, you can change it up real easy by just changing the paper
Thank you for your suggestions, bazooka joe, but what you propose would complicate this simple DIY process unnecessarily. The LED is so close to the contact for the trackball, that any tape or paper inserted in that area could block the contact, rendering the trackball useless.
If you would like to write your own DIY process for a color trackball, feel free to write one up with some pics, and email it to 2009@geeknews.net, and I’ll add it as a alternative.
Thanks for doing this diy! its awesome! i wish my 8130 changed colors like the other model. i give you props..its a shame though that people like brad above cant read.
Thanks for doing this! I just did that to my phone in 5 minutes and now I have a blue trackball! No damages to the phone, either
Um doesn’t this process void the warranty
hey this is great i did it with my pearl and it work great i love it