Apple discourage i-Pod battery replacement and insist that their machines only be opened by qualified personel at one of their service centres or high street stores.
Indeed, Apple will tell you that an i-Pod cannot be opened by a member of the public and if you look at a device there doesn't seem to be any way of opening the thing up.
However, all that's needed is a little know-how and a little help.
There's a UK company called i-Pod Doctor who supply replacement batteries for all i-Pods and their replacement batteries come with the tools required to change a battery.
The i-Pod of mine whose battery died was purchased in March 2006 and is a fifth generation 30Gb black video model with a colour screen and the capability to show video and photos as well as play music and some games.
The guide at the i-Pod Doctor site makes it easy to identify your model.
The replacement battery and tools for my model cost £10.00 plus £3 postage = £13.00 inc VAT.
They arrived the day after ordering.
Interestingly the battery for the 60Gb version of my i-Pod had to supply more current than the one for the 30Gb model and cost another £3.00.
My original i-Pod battery, fully charged, was only playing 10 minutes worth of music before dying so I knew I needed a replacement. I have read elsewhere the original i-Pod batteries were low quality with a short life span. As I hadn't used my i-Pod much on battery power, mostly using a dock at home, this would appear to be true.
i-Pod Doctor say their batteries give a longer playing time and last longer than the batteries Apple supply with their machines.
And so to the replacement.
These are the tools supplied with the battery. That's the old battery removed in the picture:
By far the hardest part of this operation is separating the two halves of the machine. The i-Pod front clips to the back and it's a very tight fit.
i-Pod Doctor supply a guide for battery replacement for every i-Pod model, here's a link to the one I've just done: manual
The idea is to flex the i-Pod until a gap presents itself then insert the supplied tool and run it up and down the side, thus freeing the clips that hold the front and back together. It really would help to have two people doing this, one flexing the i-Pod the other inserting the separation tool.
In the end I opened up a tiny gap and used the screwdriver supplied to keep the gap open then used the separation tool to part the two halves, here's a pic showing the back loosened off:
Then you loosen off the clamp that holds the battery cable in the socket and fold the back over which exposes the battery at the top of the machine:
Battery out (new battery shown in pic):
Old battery shown with tools:
The battery is held in place with a couple of sticky pads, the cable is pushed into the socket and the clamp pushed home to secure it. Then the back of the i-Pod is simply pushed back into place.
The battery took about 90 minutes to charge in a dock and I then went shopping by bus for 2 and a half hours with the i-Pod feeding my ears a mixture of Pearl Jam, Ozric Tentacles and The Only Ones.
Apart from some slight difficulty prising the two halves of the i-Pod apart, it really is a piece of cake but the guideline here is: be careful. Not exactly kid gloves required but there's some delicate parts exposed here so it pays to just take your time, take a good look and think about what you're doing.
The new battery was a flat level brick shape but the battery I took out, the original one, was swollen and rounded on most sides which, in batteries, indicates failure.
Here's a link to i-Pod Doctor: i-Pod Doctor
If anybody knows of any other suppliers of i-Pod batteries and tools similar to i-Pod Doctor and can recommend them, it may be an idea to list them below.
