LabRats #090: Make your old iPod work like new
Manufacturers these days go so far, some of them even won’t let a user replace an old battery. In fact, their products are sealed so perfectly well, once the battery’s out, it’s time to buy a new piece of their equipment. Whether it’s the manufacturers going with the times when everybody and their dog tosses out everything that doesn’t work any longer, even though a simple fix could bring it back to life, or whether it’s just another way of bleeding the unsuspecting public white, is irrelevant. What DOES matter is the fact that there are ways how to get around the issue.
Manufacturers are now using Lithium-Ion batteries. They’re rechargeable, three cheers for the environment, but they only take a certain amount of charges. What then? Throw the gizmo out? Absolutely not.
If you need a good selection of replacement batteries, check out for a great list, complete with detailed descriptions and options to buy the equipment you need.
To get the proper tools, try for kits that include everything you will need.
To be even more effective, you have to soften the glue that keeps the lids attached to the iPod. A simple quick run with a hair dryer (low setting, please) does the job splendidly. The funniest thing: since the gadget is already open, you can also replace the existing drive with a newer one that would hold more of your favourite music, whatever THAT might be.
In this installment of LabRats, Andy Walker and Sean Carruthers explain that it wouldn’t be a good idea to use a Swiss army knife for this kind of operation: everything has its time and place, and Swiss army knives just do not mix with iPod’s delicate assemblies. Other than that, now you can get your iPod to run forever.