To open the Time Capsule you need to expose the screws holding the case together. The screws are covered by the rubber base on the bottom of the unit

Place the unit upside down on a clean flat work surface. You may want to place a piece of cloth or similar soft material underneath to protect the top surface while you work.

Use a heat gun or hair dryer to heat the rubber base and soften the adhesive holding it on.

• Start in a corner and lift the rubber base being careful not to tear it
• Progress slowly and avoid tearing the adhesive while ensuring you don't over heat the unit.
• If you tear some of the adhesive don't worry too much about it. The rubber base should re adhere OK.
• Applying heat to the rubber base when you reassemble the unit may help to stick down again.

Remove the 8 Phillips PH-0 screws

Some revisions of the Time Capsule may have 10 screws. If your Time Capsule has two screws each in the upper left and bottom right, make sure to remove all 10 screws.

With the rear side of the device (the side with Ethernet connectors) facing you, carefully lift up the left side of the metal plate.

The fan is attached to the metal plate, and connected to the logic board next to the power connector. To prevent damage, do not lift the plate straight up or use force.

Disconnect the fan from the logic board. A spudger or tweezers may make it easier to do this.

Before removing the HDD you need to remove the temperature sensor attached to it and keep it for installation on the new HDD

The HDD temperature sensor is mounted directly on the hard drive using adhesive tape and a protective foam cushion.

Carefully peel off the foam and set the sensor aside. Be gentle with the foam, since you will need to reuse it to connect the heat sensor to the new HDD.

Lift the HDD out carefully, and disconnect the two SATA cables from the drive.

Replace the heat sensor in about the same position on your new HDD. Make sure the flat surface of the sensor is flat against the metal hard drive enclosure, and add some adhesive tape to the foam if necessary to keep it in place.

Using a Phillips #00 screwdriver, remove the four metal spacers (pegs) from the old HDD and install them in the same places on your new HDD.

If the new HDD is thinner than the old one, you may need to unscrew the spacers a few turns to prevent the drive from rattling around.

To save power and reduce waste heat, use a "green" (power-saving) hard drive or a low-speed (5400 RPM) drive.

Be sure to format your new HDD using the Airport Utility when you are done and the Time Capsule is reassembled. You might have to hard reset the Time Capsule after installation.

It is possible to test run the unit before it is fully reassembled. If you do so, reconnect the fan and replace the metal shield / fan assembly (without installing the screws) before turning it on to prevent electrical shock and overheating.