My Problem

A bad battery was causing phone to shut off / reboot randomly with remaining charge reading between 50 - 85% especially when running any app that used location services (Google maps etc.). The external portion of volume button (silver / chrome) fell off and was eventually lost after be glued back on a few times.

My Fix

It was fairly simple to replace the battery. The ifixit guide was very helpful / detailed. I took the advice of another user who suggested taking the silver/chrome portion off the replacement button and gluing it on as opposed to completely disassembling the phone (down to the bezel) which probably saved 45 mins. All in all the repair took about an hour (10-15 min of which was used looking for a misplaced screw)

My Advice

Dedicate a nice clean and clear (light colored) area for the repair. Include a container to hold your screws (as I found out can be moved pretty far with just a hard breath) some have suggested a cupcake pan. A suction cup is the easiest way to remove the screen and you can pick up at a dollar store. I also used some alcohol and q-tips to remove the grime around the bezel / screen edge. Separating the button cover from the base is done by using a small screwdriver / x-acto knife. You can use a toothpick to apply the glue to the center of button base making sure to avoid getting too close to the button edges (to prevent gluing the base to the case screwing up the button function / movement). Best advice, take your time don't rush it especially when trying to remove the mother board, it takes a bit of finesse.

My Problem

My iPhone 3GS kept shutting down on me to the point where it wouldn't even function as a time-keeping device. Over 90% of the crashes/shut-downs, the battery level was showing over 95% too! I was on the verge of switching to an Android until a quick Google search (how ironic) brought me to ifixit's site where numerous other fed-up iPhone users had the same problem. Turned out all my phone needed was a new battery! At least it keeps me from joining the dark side for the meantime...

As for the Volume Button, it was for my wife's phone, also an iPhone 3GS. It just simply broke off one day.

My Fix

Repair was fairly easy, considering I've tinkered with small electronics and gadgets for most of my life. It was a little time consuming though, especially for the Volume Button on my wife's iPhone (approx. 2 hours). It's nice how Apple numbers all of their connectors - it's as simple as following the numbers sequentially!

My Advice

Just follow the step-by-step instructions. Everything is well labelled and documented in both the videos as well as the PDFs. Careful with prying out the battery though; they tend to bend VERY easily.

My Problem

The volume button had fallen off and the power button was non-functional

My Fix

As this was my first iPhone (3GS) repair, the process took a long time (approx. 3 hrs?). Battery replacement on 2 others took 45 mins, then 20 mins.

My Advice

iFixit guides were good but they could be great:

Step 4 could suggest running the spudger UNDER the black ribbon labeled 1. This make is a lot easier.

Step 6 was the most difficult to understand since the picture doesn't show enough detail and the tab that lifts up is so tiny. I could not get the tab to lift up. I ended breaking a small piece of the plastic past the tab. Luckily it had no apparent effect. I would suggest a simple drawn diagram showing the location and position of the tab before and after it is lifted.

Also, one washer came off of one screw, but I had to idea which one.

My Problem

The Volume Button appeared to have been lost. I wanted to renew it so it would work.

My Fix

The repair went O.K., but the process was excessive. I realized when I got to the last step that only the top silver strip on the Volume Button had fallen off. In fact, the top silver strip on the new, replacement, Button fell off as I was trying to insert the complete button. I replaced it after I had inserted the thicker bottom portion of the Button. But this could have been done without having taken the entire 3GS apart. All that was needed to be done was to clean the original switch w/o removing it or anything else, and glue the new silver top onto the old bottom. Additionally, I have no significant confidence that the new top will stay on the new bottom because it had very weak glue and does not appear well secured.

So, a better solution for me would have been to have a new top (or even the entire new button from which I could just take the top) and some proper glue to use after cleaning the old button bottom part.

I did learn that I could, indeed, disassemble the 3GS and get it back together. But, separating the silver rim from the back plastic was trecherous -- could have badly broken the rim. And the glue that holds them together is not nicely reusable, so I think the assembly is weaker now.

Since it is next to impossible for the entire Volume Button to come out of the phone -- without major breakage, I think the likely problem of the silver top falling off should have been pointed and simply re-glueing a new one on should have been pointed out.

I did learn how to replace the battery in the process, so I will be ready to do this when the battery goes bad.

My Advice

Point out that the most likely problem is for the silver top to come off and provide some glue with the replacement button so that the user can simply remove the top and transfer it to the old button bottom.

My Problem

Both buttons broke

My Fix

This is my first time I do some this like this but it went very well.

My Advice

Have patience

My Problem

Phone lights up every 30 secs and loses battery power fast.

My Fix

The new batter did not solve the problem (every 30 secs lights up).

My Advice

After the new battery I did install also new cabling around the volume button. This solved the problem.

My Problem

My iPhone 3gs had lost it's juice and my volume botton had broken off. Apple wanted a fortune to repair and no loaners. I use my phone for business and a week without it would be a severe hardship.

My Fix

The parts arrived timely. The on line diagrams and detailed photos made it easy. The only real problem was me. Small screws and old fingers don't always go together.

My Advice

I would get a small magnetized screwdriver, a magnifying glass and a make sure you have a black cloth to place screws on. Also make sure you seperate screws by size as you remove them.