Repair guide · iPod 3rd Gen

iPod 3rd Gen battery replacement

  • DifficultyModerate
  • TimeAbout 45 minutes
  • Steps14
  • SolderingNone
Quick answer

This guide covers the iPod 3rd Gen sold in 2003 and 2004 (model A1040, 10GB to 40GB), with the touch wheel and four touch buttons. The battery sits in the front half, under the hard drive, and plugs into the logic board with a small white plug, so no soldering is needed. One battery fits every capacity, thin case or thick. The fiddly parts are opening the case and threading the battery's wires around the end of the board. Set aside about 45 minutes, and a little longer if the case fights you.

Before you start

  • Very hot or smelling? Leave it shutIf the iPod is very hot or smells, unplug it from any charger and leave the case shut. Don't try to take the battery out. If you can move it safely, set it on a non-flammable surface, at least 2 feet (60 cm) from paper or anything else that burns, with a container of dry sand within reach, and let it cool completely. Then contact us.
  • Swelling hides inside this caseOn this iPod a swollen battery almost never bulges the case, so a flat case proves nothing. You'll see the battery once the hard drive is out (step 5). If it is swollen, stop charging it and replace it with extra care: never press, bend or pierce it.
  • Run the battery downUnless the iPod is hot, smells or acts strangely, let it play until it switches itself off before you open it. A discharged lithium battery is less likely to overheat or catch fire if something damages it.
  • Set up a safe benchWork on a non-flammable surface, at least 2 feet from paper and anything else that burns, with 8 to 10 cups of dry sand in a wide container within reach. If the battery ever smokes, sparks, hisses, pops or suddenly puffs up, pour all the sand over it at once. Get out of the room for at least half an hour and stay out until the smoke has gone; open a window or door to air it out. Call the fire service if it keeps burning. Give it half an hour before you touch the iPod, then lift it out with safety glasses on and heat-resistant gloves.
  • Ground yourselfStatic can kill the logic board. Wear an anti-static wrist strap, or at least touch bare metal first, and keep the new battery in its bag until you fit it.

Tools

  • Plastic opening tools (two)Our battery comes with one plastic pry tool; a second one helps hold the seam open.
  • Plastic spudgerFor the drive cable's connector and for easing the battery wires free.
  • T6 Torx screwdriver (optional)Only if you take out the one screw beside the battery plug to make room for the wires.
  • Anti-static wrist strap or matProtects the logic board while the case is open.
  • Soft clothKeeps the polished steel back free of scratches.
  • FireWire chargerA FireWire wall charger, or a computer's 6-pin FireWire port with the computer on and awake. This iPod never charges over USB.

Step by step

New to opening this iPod? How to open the iPod 3rd Gen (12 steps)

  1. Step 1: Unplug it, switch it off, lock it

    Unplug any cable, then switch the iPod off: press and hold Play/Pause. Slide the Hold switch to locked, so the orange shows, and lay it face up on the cloth.

  2. Step 2: Free the clips

    Angle a plastic opening tool toward the steel back and work it into the seam near the middle of one long side. Release the clips from the middle toward each end, then along the other long side, then the two on the bottom edge. Our opening guide shows each move in detail.

    Plastic tools only, and keep them away from the battery once the case is open.

  3. Step 3: Open it like a book

    Holding both halves together, turn the iPod over so the screen rests on the cloth, with the dock connector pointing away from you. Lift the back half a little to see which side the orange headphone ribbon runs on, then swing it up and over like a book cover, hinged on that side, and lay it flat beside the front half, close enough that the ribbon stays slack. Leave that ribbon plugged in for this job: its connector is fragile and doesn't need to come out. Keep the back half flat and close, and steady it with one hand whenever you move the front half.

    If the ribbon starts to pull tight, stop and bring the halves closer together.

  4. Step 4: Move the hard drive aside

    Set the front half down so the ribbon is slack and needs no holding. The hard drive lies on top in the front half. Note which way up the drive sits, then raise it with one hand. With the other, free its cable at the logic board: lift the connector straight up off its socket at its edge with a fingernail or the spudger; light pressure lets it go. Set the drive down on the cloth.

  5. Step 5: Check the battery

    The battery is now in view, lying on the logic board. Look at it before you touch it. If it is puffed up, don't press on it or bend it at any point from here on. If it smokes, sparks, hisses or pops, pour all the sand over it at once and leave the room, as above. If it is only hot, don't touch it: let it cool and contact us.

  6. Step 6: Unplug the battery

    Find where the battery's three wires end in a small white plug on the board. Hold the plug by its body, not the wires, and lift it straight up off its socket with your fingers or a plastic tool. Keep metal tweezers away from the battery and its plug.

  7. Step 7: Free the wires

    The wires run under the logic board and around its end. Ease them out a little at a time, raising the board as little as you can. If they're tight, you can take out the black T6 screw beside the battery plug for more room; it's optional.

    Raise the logic board only a little while you free the wires: it stays screwed down and cabled up.

  8. Step 8: Lift the old battery out

    With the wires free, lift the battery out by its edges. Never lever it with anything metal and never bend it. Set it aside on the non-flammable surface for recycling later. If the old battery is swollen or damaged, keep it there, away from anything that burns, until you take it to a drop-off.

  9. Step 9: Compare, then fit the new battery

    Look the new battery over first: if it is dented, punctured, bent or puffy, don't fit it; contact us. Then hold its plug next to the old one, the same way up: the red wire and the black wire should sit in the same places in both plugs (the third wire may be a different color). If they don't, don't plug it in: contact us.

    Set the new battery where the old one sat. It may be a touch taller or thicker, and its wires a little heavier. Thread the wires back around the end of the board and under it, the way the old ones ran, without kinking or pinching them. If you took out the T6 screw, put it back now, with no wire under its head or under the board's edge.

  10. Step 10: Plug the battery in

    Press the white plug straight down into its socket on the board until it is fully in, the same way round as the old one came out. A plug that is only partly in can leave the iPod dead or cutting out.

  11. Step 11: Put the hard drive back

    Set the drive back the same way up as it came out. Press its cable firmly onto the connector on the logic board until it is fully seated; it may click as it goes in, which is normal.

  12. Step 12: Line up the Hold slider

    The Hold slider sits in the back half, but the switch it works is a small black nub on the logic board, and the nub has to drop into the slot in the slider. Move the slider until its slot sits in line with the nub, then rest the back half in place without snapping it shut. Holding both halves together, turn the iPod face up.

  13. Step 13: Test before you close

    Slide Hold off, so no orange shows, and connect the FireWire charger. If it doesn't start, reset it: slide Hold on and back off, then keep Menu and Play/Pause held down together for 5 to 10 seconds, until the Apple logo comes up.

    Move the Hold switch both ways and check that the lock icon appears and disappears, then try the touch wheel and buttons, play a song through headphones, and listen for the drive's smooth whirr. Then unplug the charger: it must keep running on the new battery. If it dies the moment you unplug it, the battery plug is probably not fully in. Before you reseat anything: unplug the charger and switch it off (press and hold Play/Pause). Open the case as in steps 2 and 3, lift the drive and unplug its cable at the board (step 4), then unplug the battery (step 6). Reseat the connector, plug the battery back in, then reconnect the drive cable and lay the drive back (step 11).

  14. Step 14: Close it up

    Look along the rim of the steel back and ease any spot that prying bent back into line with your fingers. Check that no battery wire or ribbon lies across the seam and that the Hold slider still meets the nub. Press the halves together and work around the edges until every clip catches.

    If it only closes when you squeeze hard, stop. Look for a pinched wire or a battery sitting out of place rather than forcing the case shut over a lithium cell.

Close it up and test

  • Give it a long first chargeLeave it on FireWire power for at least 3 hours without a break; overnight is better.
  • Expect the run time to growA new cell can need a few full charges and run-downs before it reaches its full playing time.
  • The seam is evenNo gap at the corners and the back sits flat.
  • Everything worksTouch wheel, center button, the four buttons, Hold, sound and charging.
  • Recycle the old batteryTape over its plug and contacts, or seal it in a bag on its own, and take it to a battery drop-off or a hazardous-waste collection. It must never go in household trash or a recycling bin.

If it doesn't work afterwards

Before you reseat anything, power it down
Unplug the charger and switch it off (press and hold Play/Pause). Open the case as in steps 2 and 3, lift the drive and unplug its cable at the board (step 4), then unplug the battery (step 6). Reseat the connector, plug the battery back in, then reconnect the drive cable and lay the drive back (step 11).
It won't turn on
Make sure it is on FireWire power (USB never charges this iPod) and give it time, then reset it. Still nothing? Power it down as above and push the battery plug and the drive cable fully home. Not working after a repair
It runs on the charger but dies unplugged
First suspect the battery plug: it may not be fully in. Next comes the new battery itself; a new one can be faulty too, especially when the trouble started right after fitting it. iPod won't hold a charge
Dead even on a good FireWire charger
If nothing happens on a FireWire charger and cable you know work, and the plugs are seated, the logic board is the likely fault rather than the battery. A free repair quote tells you what it involves. Free repair quote
The drive clicks
Check that the drive cable went back fully. A weak or flat battery can also make the drive click as it retries, so charge it on FireWire and try again before you blame the drive. iPod clicking noise
It's stuck on Hold
The headphone ribbon, which also carries Hold, may have been tugged loose while you moved the halves, or the slider missed the nub. Power it down as above, press the ribbon straight down onto its socket and line the slider up again. Hold switch not working
It gets hot, or the case won't close
If it got very hot, smells, or the battery looks puffy, unplug it, leave the case shut, stop charging it, set it on a non-flammable surface if you can move it safely, and contact us. Only warm, or the case won't close? Let it cool, then open it, look for a pinched wire or a part pressing on the board, and reroute the battery wires so nothing sits in the seam.

Questions

How do I replace an iPod 3rd Gen battery myself?

Open the case, lift out the hard drive (unplug its cable at the board), unplug the small white battery plug, free the wires from where they wrap round the board's end, and swap the battery. No soldering is involved. The steps above walk through each part, including the test before you close.

iPod model A1040 battery replacement: which battery fits?

The same one for every capacity. The original pack was one size for the thin 10GB, 15GB and 20GB case and the thick 30GB and 40GB case, since the thick case is deeper only to make room for a taller hard drive. Our replacement matches or slightly beats the original capacity and fits both.

Why won't it charge from my USB cable?

The 3rd Gen only charges from FireWire power. A USB cable syncs it but never charges it, so an iPod that seems dead on USB may just be flat. Use a FireWire wall charger, or a computer's 6-pin FireWire port while the computer is on and awake; the small 4-pin port won't charge it.

Can I fit a bigger battery?

We don't give steps for that. Bigger cells are sold for this iPod, but their fit isn't verified, and some come with the plug wired the wrong way for the iPod. If any battery makes the case hard to close, stop rather than force it.

Will a reset erase my songs?

No. A reset keeps your music and files; only some settings may change. A restore is different: it erases everything, songs included.

Can you do it for me?

Yes. Choose We Fix It on the battery page and mail your iPod in. We fit the battery and send it back, usually within 3 to 5 business days, with a 1-year limited warranty.