ipod shuffle disassembly



howto: nonviolent ipod shuffle disassembly

 

Posted Mar 2, 2005, 2:00 AM ET by Jason Striegel
related entries: ipod hacks


while most shuffle owners don’t know it yet, in a year or two there will be a lot of folks wondering where their battery life went.  applecare’s battery replacement service for normal ipods is available for the low, low price of $99.  think they will have a cheapo shuffle battery replacement service?  think different.

we mentioned earlier that someone posted photos of an ipod shuffle disassembly.  the previous disassembly left a few key questions unanswered, namely:
• do you need to butcher the buttons to take your shuffle apart?
• will the average joe be able to replace the battery?
• what else is under the hood?
• can it be cleanly reassembled?

this howto will attempt to answer these questions while disassembling the shuffle in a non-destructive manner.


tools required

• xacto knife
• ballpoint pen
• pliers (optional — not recommended)
• patience

step 1: all your base





freeing the base of the shuffle from the rest of the body is the hardest part of this whole process.  the previous disassembly suggested just pulling on the usb connector with a pliers until the base breaks free.

mine appeared to have been glued quite liberally and i was worried about damaging the connector, breaking the connector from the base, or tearing the ribbon cable with too overzealous a yank.  if you choose to go this route, you’ll probably want to cram a strip of plastic in the usb connector so that it doesn’t bend when you grab it with the pliers.


i ended up trying a different approach, which i think works a little better.  i used an x-acto blade to slowly make my way up the inside wall of the case.  once you can dig in a little bit, a very light twisting of the blade will cause the wall to free from the base.  you’ll be able to hear the glue crackle as it breaks free.

it takes a lot of time and patience to do it without scarring the ipod, but after you’ve worked your way around the entire base 20 times, you should be able to remove the base by gently rocking the usb connector up and down with your fingers.




remove the on/off switch




nothing new here, just tuck a blade or a fingernail under the switch and carefully pry it free.

you don’t have to remove the play buttons!  the guts can slide out without damaging anything here.




slide off the case




nothing new here, either.  just use a ballpoint pen to push on the audio connector.  it should slide out fairly easily.  if it gets caught, you can use a needle nose to squeeze in the end of the usb side of the sled.

i recommend doing this with the play button side facing up.  the charge indicator button will fall out otherwise and it’s a slight pain getting it back into place.



replacing the battery

at this point, you should be able to replace your battery and reassemble the shuffle.  instead of soldering directly to the motherboard, you may just want to clip the wires generously and solder to them to the wires for the replacement battery.  this leaves a little more room for error if you are like me an unskilled in the finer points of soldering.

with a little care, it’s a pretty easy job.

so far i haven’t seen any replacement shuffle batteries for sale anywhere.  in two years time i bet they will be really popular.  lion batteries really suck in that respect…




more details




the flash ram and the cpu sit on two seperate circuit boards and are sandwiched together.


to get them apart and see what is inside you’ll need to remove the whole unit from the plastic sled.  this can be accomplished by first removing the ribbon connector, peeling back the tape that holds on the button contacts, and then carefully freeing and bending the sides of the sled away from the circuit sandwich.

once you have this removed, you can pull the two halves apart.


i have the 512 mb shuffle and the flash chip used is a samsung k9k4g08uom.  i suspect that the 1gig shuffle’s only difference is that it has a k9w8g08u1m instead.  here is the pdf data sheet for both.

it looks like it would be a real pain to attempt to upgrade this to a 1gig shuffle.  however, if you have the tools to do it, give it a shot and let us know how it works.


the processor is a sigmatel stmp3550b.  you can read more about it here.



closing thoughts


everything reassembles painlessly.  just be careful not to pinch the ribbon connector as you slide everything back together.  you can clean up the scuff marks and old glue on the base with the x-acto and then resecure the base with a couple drops of super glue along the seam.

it’s unreal how tiny the shuffle’s electronics are.  with a little adjustment, it should be able to fit alongside a 9volt inside the usb battery case, bypassing the lion battery altogether.

or it could be sewn into some clothing, perhaps a hat or a parka.

anyway, those are just some ideas to get you started.  send in your own shuffle hack.  i’d like to see it.

 

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(add your comments)

reader comments
1. Posted Mar 2, 2005, 4:12 AM ET by cde

It seems the chip supports LCDs, and Remote controlles... *Plots* It be kinda sick to use a remote on the shuffle. It would be atleast the same size.
2. Posted Mar 2, 2005, 4:45 AM ET by Nick

i have still yet to see a proper in depth one of these for the regular ipod.
3. Posted Mar 2, 2005, 5:42 AM ET by gopi

Aren't there solvents or other compounds that can dissolve superglue? Will any of them _not_ dissolve plastic? :)

On the subject of battery availability, I was quite astonished to find many different sizes and types of Lithium Ion Polymer and Lithium Ion batteries for sale in a retail shop here in Germany, along with chargers. It was a model shop, and they were designed for lightweight models. They had a generic charger and pure, raw cells without cases.
4. Posted Mar 2, 2005, 6:37 AM ET by Thirsty

Wow... I cant tell from the pictures, but how much extra room is in the shuffle?
5. Posted Mar 2, 2005, 7:32 AM ET by lemony

Wow, really interesting... it'd be nice to have a thumb or something in shot with the boards to give it some scale... It looks like this could actually be built into my wallet, which would mean one less thing to fall out of my pockets
6. Posted Mar 2, 2005, 8:42 AM ET by ryan smallegan

I tucked my ipod shuffle into my hat without taking it apart. I have pictures at http://www.smallegan.com/blog/?p=6
7. Posted Mar 2, 2005, 9:33 AM ET by radioeyes

sweetness. my next mission is to replace the guts of an ipod remote with the guts of an ipod shuffle. why not have your remote play music itself?
8. Posted Mar 2, 2005, 2:00 PM ET by K

just to clear one thing up.
Applecare for the ipods is 59. for a second years, all apple products have one year free. The battery replacment is FREE if you have apple care.

okay... back to hacking...
9. Posted Mar 2, 2005, 2:18 PM ET by David gould

It is likely that the lithium-ion battery could be replaced with one or two (in series/parallel) Li-ion batteries that are used in RC microflight airplanes. Look at www.rcgroups.com, microflight section, look for forum threads on batteries... Also just go to any RC microflight suppliers on the web.

The only thing is that you may not get as good battery life - you might want to find out the voltage/current (and size) specs on the shuffle battery first...
10. Posted Mar 2, 2005, 3:11 PM ET by Jim Smith

Jason,
Did you happen to get the brand and model of the battery?
If I had that, someone might be able to track down a source for replacements.
11. Posted Mar 2, 2005, 3:54 PM ET by strider_mt2k

Nice work.

I appreciate it when someone takes the time to do things right.

I couldn't figure out why the other guy had to destroy his.
12. Posted Mar 2, 2005, 8:09 PM ET by zip22

the model of the battery is the ATL 3.7V 502030

http://www.atlbattery.com/ENG/Psheet2030.html

to be exact, the code on the battery is
ATL 3.7V 502030 498450 +21 0835

it offers 220mAh weighs 4.8 ounces, and is a max of 5.2 mm thick

found here:
http://www.chipmunk.nl/ipod/ipodshuffle.html

(also has more information about the chips used)
13. Posted Mar 2, 2005, 8:11 PM ET by Mike

im not sure if its been posted, but has anyone found a way to replace the regular ipod's battery?

especially the old 10GB 3g one, cause thats what i have :)
14. Posted Mar 2, 2005, 8:44 PM ET by zip22

mike, google ipod battery. there are a bunch of sites. start here:
http://www.ipodbatteryfaq.com/

you want a battery with the largest mAh rating for the money.

here are instructions
http://www.ipodbattery.com/ipodinstall.htm

15. Posted Mar 2, 2005, 8:44 PM ET by zip22

heres a 1500mAh battery for $30
http://store.l-f-l.com/cgi-bin/cp-app.cgi?pg=prod&ref=UP3253…

1800mAh for $30
2100mAh for $40
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/ipod/batteryreplacement/

16. Posted Mar 3, 2005, 7:59 PM ET by das

To the person who said he's "yet to see" any instructions for the regular iPod. Um. Wow. Picture instructions have been around for all the normal iPods for doing this on various sites. Now, there are even video instructions:

http://eshop.macsales.com/tech_center/index.cfm?page=Video/d…

Much more information at

http://www.ipodbatteryfaq.com/
17. Posted Mar 5, 2005, 9:26 AM ET by JJ

Cool. Good job, guys! Thanks.
18. Posted Mar 5, 2005, 9:36 AM ET by Casey

This is very interesting guide here. BTW I wonder if i am the only one who noticed how you cleanly inserted that all your base in on the step 1: " step 1: all your base"
19. Posted Mar 9, 2005, 7:58 AM ET by ipodessentials

good take apart

intresting that there is a line in on chip

regards

iPod:Essentials

p.s. cases for the ipod shuffle to prevent damage can be found
http://www.ipodessentials.co.uk/products/cases/indexShuffle.…

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