My Problem

My wife's 3GS battery kept dying. When I got the kit she was skeptical, and told me that if I break her 3GS I'll have to buy her a new iPhone 5 and start a new contract. She also said that she ordered a backup recharger off the internet and it didn't work. She had no faith in IFixit or me as a repair man.

My Fix

The repair took about a half hour - the adhesive behind the battery required heating because I didn't want to muscle the case. After reassembly the 3GS worked like a charm.

My Advice

Don't be afraid to heat the old battery a little to soften the adhesive. Also, make sure and rub your wife's nose in it and confidently strut around the house for about two days like the top dude in charge.

My Problem

This phone served me well but the battery needed replacement after 3 years.

My Fix

The repair went well but took me 2 hours to complete. The problem for me was not taking it apart but putting it back together. One ribbon cable was extremely hard to re-insert.

My Advice

Wish the site had a video showing how to connect each cable for rookies like myself. After putting it all together I need a rum and coke.

My Problem

Battery not holding a charge. Getting hot.

My Fix

Went well, only problem was ribbon cable #6 was caught under the Logic Board after battery replacement. Had to remove the screws again and get the ribbon out from under the Logic Board and re-install the board. The phone went back together fine after that was corrected.

My Advice

Maybe add a note in the instructions to be sure to pull ribbon #6 up and back during the install of the logic board.

My Problem

The usual reason

My Fix

It took me an hour. Could've been 15 min shorter if I'd figured out how to "spudge" the connectors out faster (the video and guide really need to make "up" more clear), and how to slide the circuit board in/out faster. But the rest of the instructions were excellent. I loved the magnetic screwdriver; made manipulating the microscopic screws so easy!

My Advice

(Tip: When using the spudger to unplug the cables, "up" literally means "up" toward your head away from the ground, not "out" away from your body.)

Read the guide carefully and follow it methodically. You can do this.

My Problem

Originally my i-phone battery charge lasted for for about 3-5 days depending on usage, but it got to the point of even when I barely touched it, it only lasted a day -if that, so I thought a new battery would help.

My Fix

The repair took me about 20 mins to 30 mins, it was fiddly but do-able. I would emphasise being careful lifting the numbered tabs as I'm pretty sure I was close to accidentally ripping one of the ribbons - eek.

My Advice

Unfortunately although the fix-it went smoothly enough I have the same problem of it lasting barely a day. So it was a waste of time for me. Little mini screwdriver is useful for other things though I suppose. I'd recommend it to people who have other issues with their battery. I don't have that many apps so I'm not sure what could be chewing through the power???

My Problem

My daughter dropped her (our old) iPhone 3GS and shattered the front glass. Her phone needed frequent charging so while I was repairing it, I decided to go ahead and get a new battery also. Took the opportunity to go ahead and order a new 4S rear panel for my wife's phone that was also cracked from a different drop.

My Fix

The 4S rear panel is a snap! Anyone that can use a screwdriver can easily replace one in about 5 minutes.

Removal of the battery from the back of the 3GS case is a bit tricky, but it's not my first rodeo, so that went fine without incident. Replacement of the front panel took some time and patience, but it looks and works great. Thanks iFixit!

My Advice

Go slowly when removing the battery. Highly recommend using a hairdryer to loosen the adhesive to minimize the chance of bending the old battery.

Replacing just the front panel on the 3GS is not for the faint of heart. Separating the glass from the frame was tricky and it was challenging to keep from bending the frame. Watch out for glass shards! Also, be diligent to remove all the glue residue to ensure a tight fit. Carefully align the two pieces before pressing them together as the adhesive strips do their job well. Slow and steady is the way to win this race.

My Problem

About 2 years ago, my iPhone started shutting off at about 25% power. I thought it was because of a nanosecond power outage that occurred while my iPhone was plugged into my laptop. Now, I think it was because the battery was on its last leg of life. I didn't want to send it to 1 of Apple's service centers because it's the only cell phone I had (& have). As time passed, I noticed that the phone shut off at higher and higher percentages (35%, 50%, 75%, 86%). I searched online for answers because I didn't know, at the time, that it was the battery that was causing the shut-offs. Numerous findings helped me realize that my iPhone was shutting off because the battery was dying. In a forum, I read a comment that directed me to the ifixit website for parts and repair guides. I ordered the iPhone 3GS battery replacement kit, plus the black spudger (a recommendation from a commenter). I was hesitant to replace the battery in such a small device as the iPhone. I waited about a week after the battery replacement kit arrived before taking on this task.

My Fix

Because I imagined the worst scenarios but knew I had to replace the old battery in my iPhone 3GS with a new one, with trembling hands, I embarked on the journey to new iPhone life. First, I watched the battery replacement video here in ifixit and read all the steps (& looked at all the pictures); however, the video was not detailed enough for me to feel comfortable enough to perform a batteryectomy on my iPhone. I used a YouTube video, instead.

I had to stop and start the video several times along the process, so the total time it took for me to replace the battery was much longer than the 20-30 minutes ifixit stated on the replacement battery web page. Also, because I had never done this before, I knew that the time would be much longer for me.

If you are thinking about replacing your iPhone 3GS battery, keep in mind that the parts are small, and the screws are even smaller! Tiny, to be exact. I wear eyeglasses, so I'm fully aware of the tiny screw difficulties I encountered in the battery replacement process. I used a plastic lid with a piece of masking tape rolled up and stuck to it (that's where I placed the screws when I removed them from the iPhone). I'm very grateful for the magnetic Philips head screwdriver that came with the kit as that made screw-removal and screw-placement much easier. Taking out the screws was ten times easier than putting them back in, especially the camera's screw with bracket. That tiny screw (and equally tiny bracket) gave me some trouble (and caused me to spew several expletives) before I was able to successfully put both back in place.

Even though I also ordered the longer black spudger, I didn't really have to use it that much. Mostly, I used the smaller green spudger that came with the kit. The suction cup with the attached key ring (highly recommended, by the way) helped me open the iPhone after I removed the docking screws. Overall, the experience was not as unpleasant as I thought it would be, and the end result was a successful battery replacement. While my phone was booting up, I video-taped it and posted that short piece on my Facebook profile page. Toward the end of the video, I joyously exclaimed that the battery replacement was a success!

No rogue ravens flew in to snatch my iPhone, but a couple of my cats did try their best to botch the job. They were, however, banished to the living room floor for the duration of the process. Fortunately, for me, they found cozy napping spots far away from my desk.

My Advice

I thought about having a pair of tweezers on hand during the battery replacement process, but I was in the middle of it and getting out of my chair and away from my desk was too tempting for any of my three cats, who would have relished lying on my desk (and hair-ifying the iPhone parts) while I was looking for the tweezers. I thought, too, that a pair of plastic tweezers would have been better; I don't have such a pair, so I pressed onward to replace the battery. Most of the problems I encountered had to do with putting the screws back in their little holes (e.g. The camera screw & bracket quickly come to mind). I did have a little difficulty keeping some of the cables up while I was putting the new battery in, particularly the cables toward the bottom of the phone (this is where a pair of plastic tweezers would've come in handy, as well as a third hand).

One piece of valuable advice is to keep the pets away at all costs. I replaced the battery in the afternoon because usually that's when my cats are trying their best to catch up on their 16-hour beauty sleep (btw, a cat-nap is not short). If you have pets, keep them away and, once you've removed the iPhone's innards, air-spray it to chase away the inevitable pet hairs you will no doubt see.

My Problem

I bought a new iPhone 5 because the battery of my old iPhone 3G was out of order. Later I found the iFix from the web wia Google and decided to fix the older iPhone by myself.

Now I have two iPhones, iPhone 5 as the work phone and iPhone 3G for my personal use. Now I need not to receive the work emails during my vacations. After two weeks I shall leave the iPhone 5 at my office and travel to London for vacation with the older iPhone.

My Fix

The repairing was rather straightforward because of the proper tools and very clear guide. Removing the connector 3 was the only difficult part. Perhaps a magnified picture would be needed. Luckily I did not break the connector. It was very near.

My Advice

Be careful with connector 3. The tab that must be lifted the opposite side as the ribbon cable.

My Problem

I use my old iPhone 3GS as my Irish pay as you go phone (I live in Spain but travel to Ireland frequently). Battery life had declined to such an extent that the phone was shutting down without warning when the battery indicator was showing anywhere between 50 and 80 percent. This was happening within an hour of disconnecting the phone from the charger.

My Fix

I followed the guide's step by step instructions. Most difficult step was prizing out the old battery. All went well and the phone is back in use.

I am delighted by the service and the quality of the instruction guides provided by ifixit. Thank you.

My Advice

Everything needed was in the ifixit kit. I used a pair of forceps and a probe to help align the connectors during reassembly.

I would recommend ifixit to anyone with an out of warranty electronic device.

My Problem

My daughter has inherited my old 3GS. The good old piece already has a not bad time on the hump.

Of course the battery was quickly at the end - with the excessive usage (music, clips etc.). At the end, she could use it only with AC adapter.

So what to do?

I have already made good experiences in the past with the guides and the parts from iFixti.

As first try - I have replaced the fan from the MacBook Core Duo from my daughter. The success was great and the joy as well.

The second attempt was a little more difficult. The replacement of the inverter cabel by the Mac from my wife. Also the same model - MacBook Core Duo. She had problems with the backlight. The difficulty was to find out what does not work:

- the inverter?

- the inverter cabel?

- or the display data cable?

It was the inverter cabel. Identified after intensive researchs on different forums.

This repair was a lot more difficult, but also successful - thanks the step by step instructions by iFixit.

My Fix

Boosted by this accomplishments I felt the battery change as small challenge.

And in fact - the necessary material was from iFixit quickly and rapidly supplied. Within a few days it was in our mailbox.

And then the same game like the first times - step by step. But yeah do not use abbreviations! And the the success was certainly.

My Advice

Only the removal of the glued battery pack was unexpectedly difficult. So - be careful here.

Now has my doughter her iPhone back with a not bad battery performance. And she finds she has the best dad on the world.

;-)

So be brave, it's worth it.

Regards

Karel, Switzerland