Patience, My name is IPod fixing

Mijn probleem

The headphone jack on my IPod refused all efforts to Rube Goldberg it back to life.

Mijn oplossing

The repair wound up involving a fair amount of Goldberg problem solving. Opening the IPod as promised was difficult, and while the tools worked as promised, the row of clips along both sides were too damaged in the process to be reused. They are actually formed from a strip of metal spot welded to the case, and the putty knife found its way in between and broke the welds. I wound up breaking out he damaged strips, leaving the mounting screw holes in place at either end where otherwise there would be no way to secure the jack and hold switch. Replacing the hold switch also turned out to be a major portion of the evening. The new hold switch must have come from a different model IPod since it was not shaped exactly the same as the old. My solution involved some patient reshaping of the plastic body of the hold switch with an Exacto knife until it seated well enough to allow me to get the set screws in. I probably could have reused the old switch, but I didn't see that option until later. Finally, in order to hold the Ipod together, black electrical tape did the trick, and since I use the IPod in a case that I wear on my belt, it works just fine - besides, the next repair will be that much easier.

Mijn advies

The step-by-step repair problem solving was pretty good, my one suggestion would be to include a picture at the start of what the interior clips look like once the IPod is open. I followed the instructions well enough to get the IPod open with very little distortion to the back of the metal case despite ruining the clips since I didn't know ahead of time to be aware of the possibility that the knife could find its way between the strip of metal that the clips were made from and the body of the case. Otherwise, just go slow, and be prepared for it to take some time. Set up a good clean, well lighted surface, and take a lot of deep breaths as you manipulate these microparts. If you've got somewhere else to be, don't try to squeeze this into a tight time frame.