2nd Gen Shuffle (& eventually 3rd Gen NANO Help Needed)

It was working fine ..had a good charge..
I went out to clean the gutters with a bit a music
and when I came in the Green Indicator Light was Orange
so I set it in the cradle and went about my business..
A few hours later the Indicator lite was RED!
...and it's thwarted every attempt to charge back to up.

I reckon it's the Battery .. so I started searching for
a new one.. (no easy!) then the disassembly instructions
(also not an easy find) then found out WHY........

There are NO Battery Connectors on the tiny Shuffles..
OR The NANOS! (Figures! we have one of each)

What's needed is a bit of
MICRO-SOLDERING (battery leads to LogicBoard)
..mmm.. NOT the place to LEARN to Solder.

Any practical (workable) solution?

Oh.. I found a place to order a battery for $15..
and a different outfit you can sent an iPod to and they'll
gladly install any of your 3rd party parts for you ..
at a flat rate fee of $35.00 +S&H & Insurance.

Falls into the "May as well buy a New One" since the price
drop that's now HALF what I paid when it was first issued.

What grinds me is the meticulous care I've taken with the
little darling.. always in a silicon iSkin and always in
a leather case when not in use.. to look at it it looks
like it's a freshly UNBOXED Virgin. that alone makes
me loath to chuck-it in the bin.

Sincerely
Jake.

I had that problem with mine, and all I had to do was restore it to factory settings.

Good Idea!

too bad it didn't work

but thanx for the suggestion.

I restored to factory settings
then added back a playlist, and left it charging all night.
This morning I disconnected it and flicked it on and the indicator
light flashed RED then went out.

O It still plays as loud & lovely as ever
..but I assume not for much longer.

I found some stuff called "WIRE GLUE" on the web & purchased some

It hasn't come yet...
I was wondering if anyone had any experience with this so-called
"CONDUCTIVE EPOXY" before I pry open my iShuffle & have at it.

Then I think that your battery is going bad... I don't think that it'll be worth trying to fix... because if it was fixable... It would've worked. I'm getting an iTouch soon so anyone that wants my shuffle is welcome to it.

That's sweet of you to offer.

So you don't want it?

I'm really touched by your generosity..
..but wait & see if you get your Touch before
making up your mind about giving away the Shuffle.

Ok. I'll let you know.

The hugest gripe I have with Apple products.

Lithium batteries oxidize and die, plain and simple. Sometimes they die quicker, somtimes slower, but 2-3 years after you purchase the device the battery will need replacement unless you can live with severely reduced runtimes.

At least the larger devices you can pry open and remove the battery, even if it's not easy. But soldering the battery in is just planned death for the device, and not really environmentally responsible.

Yup.. I've rescued 2 Mini's now..
Simply went on line and Googled the How-To
and it was relatively straight forward
and the Battery just UNPLUGGED
easy-peasey!

It was when I Googled up the image of a Shuffle Battery
that I realized that I just wasn't up to the job.

It's also fairly evident from the lack of Tutorials
floating around on the subject.. pretty indicative that
people even familiar with soldering weren't having
any degree of success or they'd have YouTUBED it PDQ.

Well..
I bought the WireGlue.. it's sitting here on my desk..

I just can't bring myself to spend the $15+S&H for a
battery that I quite frankly can't afford at this time.

I should be getting my Touch this week.

Well.. I went 'n done it..

or rather began the process...

What prompted it was my 3y.o. 5gen 60G Video
woke up dead a few days ago. dam..podless

Believe it or not.. the Video Battery was 2/3's the
price of the Shuffle Battery.
Changing the Video Battery looks pretty straight forward..

..the Shuffle Battery.. not so much..

Naturally.. it was ONE Screw that caused most of the effort..
The white Plastic End Strips are GLUED In Place... so that was
the first obstacle ... Prying those off while doing the least
amount of damage to both the aluminium case & plastic strips.

While wearing an anti-static cuff--2 TEENY screws on each end..
pop off metal strip on both sides that protect the logic board,
and simple push firmly yet gently against the Grounding Strip.

shove the entire mechanism out of the case

Turns out that the BATTERY is the BIGGEST Thing in the case
and it's sticky-glued in place to the logic board.. but it
pries off easily exposing the ALL IMPORTANT WIRES that are
Soldered to the Logic Board.  

The most difficult bit will be the Wire Leads are SO SHORT!
you don't get more than 1/2" of room in which to maneuver
even clipping the wires will prove difficult.

GLUING The Replacement Battery to the solder-points is going
to be REALLY Challenging.

LUCKILY: The Connection Points are not as TINY as I'd feared.
Way too small for any conventional soldering device.. even a
soldering pen.. so Glue is the GO.. but that presents it's OWN
set of challenges.. since it's thin & watery and needs to be
held in place as it dries.. then re-enforced with an epoxy to
add strength... So 2 Leads may take a while..

I spent the time that it took to wait for the battery to
arrive to devise a cardboard "jig" to hold the TEENY Logicboard
in place when using a Hobby-Kit Magnifying Stand w/alligator
clips so I won't short-out any of the MICROSCOPIC electronics
surrounding the battery lead connectors on BOTH sides of the
logic board.


NOW FOR THE TRICKY BIT

Dispensing a TEENY-WEENY Drop of that WATERY Wire-Glue in
EXACTLY the right spot (Smaller than the head of a pin)
and then epoxying over that..

I'll let you know how I make out.. the glue will take a
bit of practice.. if I smear it, I can toss the Shuffle in
the dust bin. ..and I'll be back to Square Uno.

R.I.P.