Pete Green

Just used your Red Ring of Death Kit with success. Did the thermal rework too. It has been working for over an hour now so looks ok. Cooking the chips on "High" for four minutes was a bit scary but it survived. I have a thermal rework gun which I check with a thermocouple temperature probe which plugs in to my test meter. If I may make one small criticism it would help to have actual temperatures where you have stated "Low" and "High" Just ball park figures would be enough. This is the first use I've made of the rework gun so still building up skill with the technique. Obviously the effective temperature will vary according to the nozzle distance from the job. Otherwise very good kit and excellent instructions. Also worked with your Android app running on my tablet next to the job. Fantastic. Have fitted very many heat sinks as I have built computers since they ran on steam so no problem here. I'm a retired Electronics Engineer and will be 80 in December this year. Hands as steady as a surgeon but need glasses to work now. Many thanks. Keep up your good work.

At this point, I find it helps to separate the lock switch from the top metal casting. You then have just the switch dangling on the fragile ribbon cable. Much less likely to snag or break the ribbon. Just loosen (Don't remove completely) the two Phillips screws. The heavy clunky casting bit can be removed.

Click wheel: I have found traces of adhesive here on a metal rim about 0.5mm wide which is part of the machined case. This rim is then cut away into four 1cm long pieces. One at 10 oclock, 4 oclock, 8 oclock and so on. Not much adhesive - but don't underestimate - it's very strong stuff. At the top of the clickwheel (at 12 oclock) is a small metal tab which slides under the ipod body. When prying out the clickwheel, lift from the bottom, otherwise you are pulling against this metal tab as well as the adhesive. Some heat on this area helps to release the adhesive. Don't end up with the metal plate under the clickwheel looking like a potato chip as happpend with my first teardown.

Take great care with the hold switch ribbon cable. I've broken two up to now. It has the strength of a piece of 2mm wide bathroom tisue. Also has a right angle bend so it willl tear more easily. You will find two very small screws holding the switch to the small metal bracket. Don't remove them - just slacken them and slip the switch off as the holes are slotted. This frees the large metal top piece and you have less weight hanging on that ribbon. Incidentally, if you do have the bad luck to tear the cable all is not lost as the lock position is with the switch closed (shorted).

TOOLS: I've ben reading a few commments regarding difficulty wth the screws. I was also told the Phillips screwdriver isn't a true Phillips but has an offset leg. Not having seen one I can't comment with any certainty.

However,being an improvisor,I've been doing very well with a couple of watchmakers screwdrivers.The flat blades are about 1mm across and made of hard blued steel. The sharp corners dig into the screw and push any glue out of the way. A phillips won't push though glue. I used to buy these in a small plastic box - usuallly on street markets.

Does anyone know of a source of mainboards for this Nano. Preferably in the European Community or China? Every other part seems to be available but this one.

I've even found dud mainboards for sale on the U.S. Ebay site. What on earth would anyone do with a faulty Maiboard?

There is one small point which is worth a mention here.After disconnnecting the screen by flicking up a little black bit on the ZIF Connector, I went on to open the next ZiF (The Click Switch)

Yes- bits of ZIF connector everywhere.I actually had to examine a new Click Switch circuit carefully to find that this one is different.

Yes - you flick the White bit. Do apple do this just to keep us on our toes?

The glass panel can be very difficult to get moving requiring a lot of downward force. I have found good old fashioned spit to be very useful here.Just lick both thumbs and rub on fingers until just sticky enough.

This willl move the glass.

Battery is glued to the case.This glue seal must be broken in order to slide the logic board out of the case.No matter how you pry, there's always a bit of sticky battery in contact witth the case.Take the bubble pack which the new battery came in and cut a strip about 1.5inches wide and 4inches long.This is stiff enough and thin enough to slide between the battery and case. The rest is easy.

On step 11 I found that the cable was still stuck down by the bit under the metal case. The opening tool failed to get at this.

I cut the live head off a match and trimmed it to a long chisel edge.

Pine is soft,strong and non conductive.I was able to poke under the metal body and release the remaining adhesive seal.