80 Gig ipod Classic...FIXED!

My Problem

I have had my 80 gig ipod classic since Christmas 2007, and I listen to it every day, at home, the gym, vacation, you name it. Here in the past couple of weeks I noticed the battery was running out awful fast. It would be fully charged and be almost dead after playing 3-4 songs. I knew it was the battery going kaput and had no way to repair. I found this site, was astonished at how cheap a replacement battery was ($15) , so I decided to take a shot.

My Fix

It started out tough. I wanted to take my time and do it right, but the going was SLOW at first. I purchased the battery with the tools, and the first step to the repair showed the plastic tools in the seam between the ipod faceplate and the back and the repair goes from there. I don't know about other peoples ipod's but mine was super tight (felt like it was welded) and there was no way of getting the plastic tool in the seam. I nearly ruined both tools trying to get it in the seam and was ready to give up. To me this first step was the hardest part. I tried everything I could think of but finally settled on the thin strip of metal above the charging slot. I put the tool in there and bowed it out slightly giving me enough room to slip the plastic tool in the gap and work it around to the side. This should have been step 1. After that the repair went smoothly.

Charged my baby up and it works fine. I was careful with the repair and you can't even tell it had been taken apart.

My Advice

This is what I would recommend if I had to do it again:

1) Take your time.

2) Carefully (without bending) bow out the strip of metal above the charging slot just enough to get the tool inserted then carefully work it around one of the corners to the side. Then start with step 1.

3) I found once I had one side free the ipod acted like a hinge, I couldn't get the tool in the other side because it was too tight. I didn't have a putty knife, so I used a flat head screwdriver to slowly work into the seam and turn (careful not to damage the case) until it came apart.

4) The battery replacement went smooth, but I would recommend having tweezers handy. The headphone and battery strip fit into a small slot that is a pain to get back in. holding the strip in place with tweezers helped a lot.

5) Enjoy your revitalized ipod. :)