So, I have this old 3rd generation iPod that I bought back in 2003 with part of the proceeds from my very first technical writing contract job. So I suppose you could say it has sentimental value. Anyway, I still like using it for listening to audiobooks on my morning walks, even though I use my newer, shinier, tinier and cooler iPod nano for general on-the-go music listening.

As we all know, iPod batteries do not last forever. By a couple of weeks ago, my iPod's battery life had gotten down to about 45-50 minutes, which isn't enough to get through a typical walk. At this point, I had three choices:

1. Junk the iPod, and just get by with the iPod nano.


2. Junk the iPod, and use this as an excuse to buy a shiny new iPod video or something.


3. Send it back to Apple and get them to replace the battery, probably paying lots of money in the process.


4. Buy a replacement battery off the internet, and do the replacement myself, possibly permanently breaking or maiming the iPod in the process.

Well, option 1 was perfectly sensible but not any fun. Option 2 had all the attraction of allowing for a new toy, but I don't currently have that much desire to watch video on my iPod. Option 3 seemed likely to be a hassle: I don't even know if Apple does battery service on iPod models as old as mine, and since the thing is way out of warranty, it would probably cost a lot of money. Option 4 cost around $25 and gave me an excuse to dismantle a piece of electronics. We have a winner!

So, I ordered the battery from Other World Computing. A few days later, I got a little package in the mail containing the battery and a couple of little plastic pry tools that are supposed to allow you to open the iPod without damaging the case. Ha.

Getting the case open is the hardest part of the job. I spent about 30 minutes with the plastic tools, and all I got for it was a sore thumb. The recommended procedure given on most web sites about iPod repair is to start the tool at the top of the iPod, near where the headphone jack is, and then slide the tool around to the side of iPod and pop the case open. (You don't want to pop the case open right next to the headphone jack, because there's a fairly flimsy connector between the guts of the iPod and the headphone jack there, and if you tear it, then you've really broken the iPod, unless you want to start getting creative with a soldering gun.) The top of the iPod was indeed the weakest point, and I could get the tool in a bit there, but every time I tried to slide it around to the side, it would pop out.

So, I used a very small flat-bladed screwdriver to pop the case open a bit, and then the plastic tool to get it open the rest of the way. The plastic on the iPod is a tiny bit scuffed where I inserted the screwdriver, but you wouldn't notice it unless you were looking for it.

Once you have the iPod open, you disconnect the hard drive (Which is marvelously thin - I'd always imagined that the hard drive took up most of the interior of the iPod, but really it's only about the thickness of a 3.5 inch floppy. Neat.), and then unplug the battery. The battery connector is quite snugly attached - it took me a few minutes to unplug it, and I was afraid that I was going to break something while unplugging it, but I got it loose without doing any damage.

Then you plug in the new battery, reconnect the hard drive (takes a bit of fiddling to get the connector to line up again), and snap the case back together. Bingo. Good as new. (Better, in fact - the replacement battery has a greater capacity than the original that shipped with the iPod.)

So, if you're thinking of trying to replace an iPod battery, it can be done with patience and a bit of fearlessness.

Which is good, because I think Daniel's going to ask me to fix up his old iPod next.