Repair guide · iPod 4th Gen and iPod Photo
iPod 4th Gen and iPod Photo click wheel and center button replacement
This guide covers the click wheel of the iPod 4th Gen (A1059) and the iPod Photo (A1099), 2004 to 2005; the same wheel fits both. Menu, Play/Pause, Previous, Next and the center button are all part of it, so a center button that has died is a click wheel repair, after one check: on these iPods a swollen battery sits right behind the wheel and is the first suspect. The wheel is mounted in the front panel, so the hard drive, the logic board, the screen and the battery come out before you reach it. The battery is glued in, so plan on fitting a new one. There is no soldering; it is a Moderate job, and we allow 30 to 45 minutes.
Which click wheel page: A1059 or A1099?
Both pages sell the same wheel, 632-0258-A; order from your model's page so the rest of the page matches your iPod. It doesn't fit the 3rd Gen, the Mini or the 5th Gen. The U2 edition's stock wheel is red, so a white one changes its look. Not sure which you have? Identify your iPod
Before you start
- Center button dead? Check the battery firstMake sure Hold is off and try a reset (slide Hold on and off, and then press and hold Menu with the center button until the Apple logo comes up). On these iPods a swollen battery is the first suspect for a center button that stopped working: it sits right behind the wheel, pushes up under it and jams the button, and the case rarely shows it. The wheel may also scroll by itself. If the iPod is very hot or smells, don't open it: set it on a non-flammable surface away from anything that can burn and contact us. Otherwise open the iPod (steps 1 to 4) and look at the battery under the drive before you order a wheel; if it is swollen, replace it and test again.
- Have a new battery readyThe battery is glued to the front panel behind the wheel and has to come out, and a pried-out battery should not go back in.
- Opened recently? Check the ribbonAfter the iPod has been opened, a half-seated wheel ribbon or an open latch stops the center button or the whole wheel. Reseat it before you buy a wheel.
- Swollen battery safetyIf the battery is swollen, unplug the iPod and stop charging it, and never press on, bend or pierce the battery. If the iPod is very hot or smells, don't open it: put it on a non-flammable surface away from anything that can burn, keep dry sand nearby, let it cool and contact us. If the battery smokes, sparks, hisses, pops or suddenly puffs up, cover it with all the sand at once, then get out of the room for half an hour and air it out. If it's still burning or you can't smother it, call the fire service. Don't touch the iPod until the half hour is up.
- Set up the benchWork on a hard, non-flammable surface with a soft cloth on it, and keep a container of dry sand within reach.
- Run the battery downIf there's no sign of swelling, use the iPod until it is nearly flat first: the battery and the logic board both come out here, and a discharged cell is less likely to overheat if it is damaged.
- Ground yourselfStatic can kill the logic board. Wear an anti-static wrist strap, or at least touch bare metal first, and work on an anti-static mat.
Tools
- Plastic opening tools, one wide and one thinFor the case clips and for easing the wheel out. The wheel comes with one plastic pry tool.
- Plastic spudgerFor the connector latches and the battery. No metal against the wheel's ribbon or the plastic front.
- T6 Torx screwdriverFor the logic board screws: six on the 4th Gen, five on the iPod Photo.
- Anti-static wrist strap or matThe logic board comes right out in this repair.
- Soft cloth and a small trayFor the polished back and the screws.
- Wall chargerFor the test before closing.
Step by step
New to opening this iPod? How to open the iPod 4th Gen and iPod Photo (13 steps)
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Step 1: Unplug it, switch it off and lock Hold
Disconnect any cable, charger or computer first. Switch the iPod off by holding Play/Pause until the screen goes dark, then slide the Hold switch to locked, so its orange bar shows.
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Step 2: Release the case clips
Our opening guide has the detail. In short: with the screen up and the dock connector toward you, start on the right-hand long side with the wide plastic tool, its edge tilted toward the steel back, and free the five tabs on that side. Then the two clips beside the dock connector (lightly past the thin steel there), the five tabs on the left-hand side, and the top edge.
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Step 3: Turn it over, open the back, unplug two things
Holding the two halves together with your fingers, turn the iPod over so the screen faces the cloth, dock connector away from you; don't let the front drop away from the back. Lift the back along one long side like a book cover and lay it flat beside the front half, inside up; the orange headphone ribbon still links them, so never pull the back straight off; if it tightens as the back opens, stop and ease the back closer to the front. Ease the small white battery plug out of its socket on the logic board by its body, not the wires. Then lift the headphone ribbon's connector straight up off the board and set the back aside.
Yanking the back away before the headphone ribbon is free can tear its socket off the logic board.
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Step 4: Take out the hard drive
Raise the drive at the dock-connector end; its orange ribbon stays attached at the far end. Holding the drive, pull the ribbon's connector straight off the drive's pins, rocking it gently if it sticks, and set the drive on the cloth.
Don't bend the drive's pins.
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Step 5: Release the drive ribbon at the board
Peel back the black adhesive strip over the ribbon's connector on the logic board, flip the connector's black bar up (it swings through 90 degrees toward the ribbon) and slide the ribbon out.
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Step 6: Open the screen and wheel latches
Flip up the two black bars holding the screen ribbon and the click wheel ribbon. The wheel connector's lock sits on the side away from where its ribbon enters and tilts up a quarter turn. On the iPod Photo the screen connector sits nearer the middle of the board.
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Step 7: Unscrew the logic board
Remove the black T6 screws: six on the 4th Gen, five on the iPod Photo, which has one fewer. Lay them out in the pattern they came from.
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Step 8: Slide out the wheel ribbon
With its lock open, draw the click wheel ribbon gently out of its connector.
Never force it: this ribbon tears easily.
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Step 9: Lift out the board and the screen
Raise the board at its large end, slide the screen ribbon out of its open connector, ease the unplugged battery cable clear of the board's end and lift the board out onto the anti-static mat. Then lift the screen out of the front panel; a little mild adhesive may hold it.
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Step 10: Lift the battery off the panel
The battery sits right behind the wheel, glued to the inside of the front panel. Slide the plastic spudger under one edge and pry upward slowly, working round the edges. Use no heat and nothing metal, and never bend it. Keep a container of dry sand within reach. If the battery gets hot, starts to smell or begins to swell while you work, stop prying, leave it where it is on the non-flammable surface with the sand ready, and contact us.
Look at it now: if it is swollen, it was probably what jammed your center button. Put the old battery straight onto the non-flammable surface, away from the iPod, the tools and anything that can burn, and tape over its contacts now. Never reuse it: once a glued battery has been pried out, a new one is the safe choice. If it got bent or dented while you pried it, or it feels warm, leave it there beside the sand and keep an eye on it until you take it to a battery drop-off, never the trash or a recycling bin.
Never press on, bend or pierce the battery. If the battery smokes, sparks, hisses, pops or suddenly puffs up, cover it with all the sand at once, then get out of the room for half an hour and air it out. If it's still burning or you can't smother it, call the fire service. Don't touch the iPod until the half hour is up.
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Step 11: Free the old wheel
No screws hold the wheel: double-sided tape or adhesive holds it in the front panel, with a small plastic tab. Before you free it, note how the tab, the ribbon and the wheel's ground tab or strap sit. Use plastic tools only, with no metal against the wheel's ribbon or the plastic panel. If it doesn't come free with gentle, even pressure, stop and contact us.
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Step 12: Fit the replacement wheel
Set the replacement wheel in the same position as the old one, its ribbon routed the same way, and press it into place on its tape (or on fresh double-sided tape if the old tape no longer holds). Make sure its ground tab or strap has clean contact with the frame.
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Step 13: Battery and screen back in
Fit the battery first, and make it a new one: Apple's battery-safety guidance recommends only new batteries where a battery is glued in. Slide it into its recess rather than pressing it straight down, and leave its cable free so it can wrap past the board's end again. Then lay the screen in the panel, the same way round as it came out.
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Step 14: Refit the logic board
Hold the board above the panel, slide the screen ribbon squarely into its connector and press the black bar down. Lower the board into place, with the battery cable running round its end as before. Slide the wheel ribbon fully home and close its lock, then turn the screws back in, starting each by hand.
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Step 15: Drive and plugs back
Slide the drive ribbon into its board connector, press the black bar down and lay the strip back over it. Push the ribbon fully onto the drive's pins, the same way round as before, and seat the drive on its plastic guide pin.
Lay the back beside the front. Headphone ribbon next, jack-board end first: that end sits under a small black latch on the jack board's underside, you can't see it, and it slips out easily while the case is open. If you aren't sure it is fully in, reseat it now, while the logic-board end is still unplugged: take out the jack board's two silver T6 screws, turn the board over, flip the latch up, push the ribbon fully in, close the latch and screw the board back. Then press the ribbon's connector straight down onto its socket on the logic board. The Hold check in the test confirms both ends: the lock icon must come and go with the switch. Plug the battery in last.
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Step 16: Test every control before closing
Rest the back loosely in place, switch Hold off and connect a wall charger. Check that the screen shows a clear picture, then try Menu, Play/Pause, Previous, Next and the center button and scroll the wheel both ways. Slide Hold on and off: the lock icon should come and go. Play a song through headphones to check both ears. Then disconnect the charger and check it keeps running on its battery.
If the wheel or center button does nothing, disconnect the charger, unplug the battery, and check the wheel ribbon is fully in with its lock closed. Plug the battery back in last.
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Step 17: Snap the case shut
Line the halves up and press them together from one side across to the other with even pressure until every clip catches. Then check the dock opening: nothing should block the connector.
If it only closes when squeezed hard, stop and look for a ribbon caught at the edge.
Close it up and test
- Every control worksMenu, Play/Pause, Previous, Next, the center button, scrolling and Hold.
- The wheel sits rightIt sits in the front panel the way the old one did.
- Recycle the old batteryTape over its contacts or seal it in a bag and take it to a battery drop-off; household bins are no place for it.
If it doesn't work afterwards
- The center button or the wheel still does nothing
- Most likely the wheel ribbon is half seated or its lock is open. Disconnect the charger, unplug the battery, reseat the ribbon and close the lock, and look along it for a tear; battery back in last. Click wheel not working
- A replacement wheel didn't fix the controls
- Reseat its ribbon once more (charger disconnected, battery unplugged, battery back in last) and try a reset (slide Hold on and off, and then press and hold Menu with the center button until the Apple logo comes up). If the controls still fail, the logic board is the likely fault. Buttons not working
- A lock icon shows and nothing responds
- The headphone ribbon, which carries the Hold switch, isn't fully in at one end. Disconnect the charger, open it and unplug the battery. Lift the ribbon's connector off the logic board first, then reseat the end under the jack board (two silver T6 screws out, board turned over, latch up, ribbon fully in, latch closed, screws back), press the connector back down onto the logic board, and plug the battery in last. Hold switch not working
- The screen stays dark
- The screen ribbon is probably not fully in or its bar is open. Disconnect the charger, unplug the battery, lift the drive out (step 4), reseat the ribbon and close its bar, refit the drive, then plug the battery in last. Black screen
- It won't start at all
- Try a reset on the charger first (slide Hold on and off, and then press and hold Menu with the center button until the Apple logo comes up). Still nothing? Disconnect the charger, unplug the battery, reseat every connector you touched (drive ribbon at both ends, screen and wheel ribbons with their bars closed, headphone ribbon: lift it off the logic board, reseat the jack-board end, then press the board end back down), and push the battery plug fully home, last. Still dead even on the charger? Get a free repair quote: static or a slipped tool can damage the board. Not working after a repair
Questions
Is the center button part of the click wheel?
Yes. Menu, Play/Pause, Previous, Next and the center button are all part of the click wheel assembly, so a center button that fails on its own usually needs a replacement wheel, once the battery has been ruled out.
Is the 4th Gen click wheel the same as the iPod Photo's?
Yes: one wheel, Apple part 632-0258-A, serves both models.
Will it fit a 3rd Gen, a Mini or a 5th Gen?
No. Each of those uses a different wheel.
Is there a way to avoid moving the wheel?
Partly: our 4th Gen front panel's order form lets you add a click wheel, and our front panel guide covers moving everything else across.
Do I need to solder?
No. The wheel plugs into the logic board with its ribbon.
Can you do it for me?
Yes. Choose We Fix It on the click wheel page and mail your iPod in: we fit the wheel and send it back. Turnaround is typically 3 to 5 business days, with a 1-year limited warranty.