iPod 5th Generation (Video) Battery Replacement

Mijn probleem

My wife's old 30GB iPod had been replaced long ago with her iPod touch. I had been using the 30GB for listening to music while at work until we got our iPhone 5. I then went to the iPhone for music so as not to have to take as many items to my work place. And also the battery was so old, I had to keep it plugged in at all times to use it. Not a problem as I work at a computer all day. But it had gotten so bad that it would take many minutes plugged in before I could use it. I figured it was toast. A colleague who sits across from me had repaired his son's iPad with parts from ifixit. So I figured why not try to bring the iPod back to life?

Mijn oplossing

I was encouraged by the photos from ifixit's web site. It looked like something I could do. Already having the experience of removing the battery from my wife's very old Palm Pilot gave me some hope of success. After ordering the replacement battery from ifixit, and prior to its arrival, I was reading through the replacement guide. Someone had used guitar picks to get the iPod apart, and being a guitar player of more than 40 years, I have many picks here. I was just way too curious. I had to try it. I found that the guitar picks worked out amazingly well. I was able to insert a pick between each clip and the metal case making the disassembly very reasonable. Having those pictures from ifixit to guide the placement of the guitar picks was extremely valuable. I also was concerned about that infamous breakable brown clip that holds the battery cable in place. I really wasn't clear on how that needed to be disengaged. I used the playing tip of a guitar pick (which does have some valuable flexibility) to get under the brown clip and pop it up out of clamped position freeing the battery cable. The new battery arrived the next day. I had only separated the back of the iPod from the front plastic which holds all of the iPod guts, so I only needed to remove the battery and replace it with the new one. SUCCESS!! The new battery charged up, and has held its charge well for the last week!! IFIXEDIT!!!

Mijn advies

Reading the experiences from others was so very useful to me, that I decided to give this input for others in case it could be useful to anyone as well. I very much agree that much patience is required to do any repairs on this type of equipment. The guitar pick case separation method worked well for me, but it took some time to accomplish the task. Don't be in a hurry. And I feel that I got lucky. That brown retaining clip for the battery cable is VERY fragile and slides straight upwards. Use extreme care when disengaging this clip. Another point made by others regarding the adhesive under the old battery refers to the cable routed under the left side of the battery. Stay away from that cable!! There is no need to damage that cable when removing the old battery. I used a fairly small flat screwdriver and started on the right side of the battery slowly working deeper and deeper under the battery from that end. As the battery began to disengage, the small amount of adhesive that made the cable on the left cling to the battery was easily separated without damage by sliding a guitar pick between the battery and the cable (a little bit at a time) continuing to work from the right side of the battery until all was loose. Getting the brown retaining clip to firmly snap back into place on the new battery cable was a bit of a challenge. Got lucky there again!

I have some pictures, but was not able to drag and drop them onto this page as recommended. ?!?