Major iPod Mini surgery

[roadrunnertwice]

Replacing an iPod Mini battery

I promised shaneface I would, so here's my rundown on the process of replacing the non-user-serviceable battery in an Apple iPod Mini:

Find good instructions

First, watch this video ([high], [low]). It was the single most helpful resource I found. Then Google and read another walkthrough or two, just to make sure you have the right idea. Pay attention to which parts are super-breakable, don't grab and pull by the plate with the headphone jack in it, watch out for all the ribbon cables, make sure you reattach the bottom cap in the right orientation and have the hold switch in the right position at the end, etc. etc.

Tools

Like they say: You need a thing to pry off the plastic caps with, a thing to remove two tiny phillips screws with, and a series of increasingly improbable and jury-rigged things to loosen those C-clamps with. And if you don't have dainty little bird hands with long fingernails, you might want something plasticky to pry some connectors loose with.

• Metal tools do a real good job of dinging up the aluminum casing. It is not hard to put a serious gouge in it. So like the guy says in the video, you're going to want something non-marring to pry the caps loose with. Ideally, this means one of those specialized tools with a fine leading edge, a bit of a curve, and some structural integrity so you can get some good leverage going. Realistically, it may mean a few guitar picks of varying sizes. The aluminum flexes a bit, as does the plastic, so this is totally doable. Be careful not to break the tabs under the cap, but don't worry too hard about it; I actually broke or weakened one of them, but there are like 5 or 6 tabs on that bottom cap, so whatever. Have faith, move decisively, etc. etc.
• Those screws are really tiny. Don't lose 'em.
• The C-clamps on the bottom retaining bracket are a bitch. I ended up having good luck using a REALLY fine pair of needle-noses to pull the clamps in, while prying with a screwdriver braced against my belly or the table. Be careful not to hurt the click-wheel ribbon connector while you're doing this, because I don't think it's replaceable. (It's the orange thing. You'll see it in the video.)
• The problem with pulling out the click-wheel connector and the battery connector is that you don't want to wiggle them too hard. So it helps to have something non-conducting and non-marring to get some leverage with. I just used that same guitar pick, so, you know, whatever.

Batteries

The impression I got from my research was that the mAh¹ rating of the batteries isn't really the whole story -- sometimes the lower mAh batteries actually last longer than the higher ones, so I just said "fuck it" and went for one more or less at random. (I opted for the Newertech one at Otherworld Computing, because they were the ones who hosted the aforelinked video.)

There are things to think about, though. First, you're going to have a better time of it if you get a battery kit that comes with the plastic prying tool. I thought mine would, on account of the guy in the video had one, but no dice. Secondly, the batteries that have more capacity than the actual Apple replacement part are slightly bigger. They'll get you longer battery life, but you are going to have a harder time putting them back together. If you're worried about the process, you might want to actually just track down one of the blue Apple batteries² -- I mean, hell, it was good enough battery life for you when you bought the thing, right?

I did end up getting this one back together just fine, but it felt touch-and-go for a minute there, and if I had to do it again, I might opt to not feel like I'm forcing something to go where it don't wanna.

Toxic waste

Do the right thing.

The inevitable WTF

My mom had dropped her iPod on the sidewalk once, and in addition to the cosmetic scratches, there was a huge old dent right at the top of it.

This dent actually went all the way into the inside of the device, manifesting as a raised bump right above that top plate that holds the headphone jack. This made it physically impossible to slide the inner assembly up and out of the aluminum case. I had to spend at least half an hour deforming the wall of the case with a pliers and scraping off aluminum shavings with a butter knife before I could squeeze the thing out.

But it totally worked.

On paranoia

Resist the urge to be more paranoid. Really, this is doable. If you find yourself getting frustrated and shaky, just take a break and come back to it. Hakuna matata.

---

1. Milliampere-hours. Measures how long a charge lasts.
2. I am positive I saw someone selling these when I was searching around. So they're out there.

Comments

[shaneface.livejournal.com]

You are so great! Congrats and thank you thank you thank you!!!!

[roadrunnertwice]

You're welcome! Take no prisoners!