 The real story on what may or may not be wrong with your iPod or iPod batteryDiagnose your iPod battery replacement logically(revised )Please note: Before opening your iPod you might want to backup your files using iPod management software, this one will allow you to manage iPhone without iTunes. You spent several hundred bucks for your iPod or iPhone, loved it while it was working properly, but now you are pissed that it seems to be malfunctioning. Don't panic. Don't leap to blame the ipod batteries. Take a deep breath and read the information below. Based on careful study of hundreds of postings in Apple's forums, there is a decent chance that there is NOTHING wrong with your iPod or iPhone battery that you can't fix yourself. And even if there was, you have a slew of Apple iPod battery companies out there if you really need a new battery. If your battery is less than three years old, check the following before jumping to the conclusion that it is defective or depleted beyond use. There's plenty of do-it-yourself cures and contrary to unfounded rumor, the battery is often not the culprit. Be sure also to check Apple's somewhat helpful iPod battery FAQ. Use the following sections for what I hope is helpful information about iPhone batteries and the Apple iPod battery:
Is it really the iPod battery?Here's the most common complaint posted in the Apple forums. "I charged my iPod for more than four hours and then when I turn it on, the battery meter says it only has about 25% (or less) charge. So I plugged it back in for ____ (fill in the blank with a huge number) hours and it still says very little charge. Will I have to replace iPod battery?" So far, iPhones do not have this problem, though some seem reluctant to report full charge. When in doubt, be sure the iPhone is off for best charging results.Here's the good news: You may not need to worry about ipod or ipod mini battery replacement. Your iPod is probably fine, fully charged, ready to play for many hours. I have kidded people that the "cure" for this problem is to cut a piece of black electrical tape exactly the size of the battery indicator and slap it over the meter on the iPod screen. Kidding aside, the battery meter is really only useful for one thing -- it is an approximate reminder of when to recharge. My 1st generation iPod has run for more than two hours with the meter showing empty, without having to change iPod battery. My wife's 3rd generation iPod battery always shows very low charge on the meter right after charging, but after using it for a while (sometimes as long as 20 minutes) it fills in the black bar and reads more like what's really in the battery. My new Gen5 video iPod seems to have a better-behaved battery meter (and much more capacity) so far.
OK, the iPod battery meter is a joke, but it's shutting down my iPod too soon.Every time you charge the battery, the meter can potentially get further out of calibration. This is usually a minor annoyance, but in extreme cases, the meter can believe the battery is dead and its circuitry can shut down your iPod after a relatively short playing time. Lithium ion/polymer batteries do not like to run all the way down, so the iPod is smart enough to shut off. The iPod displays the battery warning symbol before this happens. But if there's really plenty of juice left, this can be very frustrating.Once again, it's NOT the battery at fault. The first thing to try before getting an iPod replacement battery is re-calibrating the meter. This will not magically produce a meter so accurate that you can tell at a glance the difference between two hours left and three hours left -- the system just isn't designed for that. But it may fix the early shutdown problem. To re-calibrate, run the iPod until it shuts down. Recharge fully, using the AC power (mains) adapter, not a USB or Firewire port (see below). Do not recharge until the iPod shuts down due to low battery again. This does not mean you have to leave it running for hours; use it normally, but hold off on any "top-off" small recharges. Some folks recommend changing (on some iPods) the battery meter display to numerals instead of a black bar. Nothing wrong with this, but be aware that because your iPod is "guessing" about battery state and demand to draw the bar, it will also "guess" which number to display. So even if it displays alleged battery capacity to six decimal places, while that looks all scientific and digital and accurate, it is working from the same info as the silly black or green bar. "Garbage In; Garbage Out," as they say. If recalibrating does not solve your problem, try resetting your iPod (method varies by model) and/or restoring it (be sure you have all of your data or music on your computer before doing this). Then repeat the full cycle of discharge and recharge. As preventive maintenance for your meter and battery, be sure your new iPod battery or iPhone gets about one full cycle per month.
What is this "iPod battery cycle" thing you just mentioned?"I read on a web site that you only get 400-500 cycles, so the battery will die in 18 months and then you have to buy a whole new iPod or iPhone. What a ripoff." This appears fairly often in the forums and it was all started by some irresponsible people running a web site whose name I forget, but it's something like "untruelittlerumor.com." They should be ashamed of themselves for spreading misinformation and hysteria.A "cycle" is defined as one full charge to maximum battery or Apple iPod mini battery capacity (about four hours for most iPods, longer for iPhones), followed by discharge to the automatic shutdown point, spread over as many uses as you like. An iPod extended battery of this size and rating tend to retain their ability to hold a full charge for about 500 of these cycles, on average. If on Monday you use half the battery capacity, and then charge the device back up to full, you have used one-half of one cycle. If you did precisely that every single day, it would take you 1000 days to reach the end of the predicted service life of the battery. That is NOT the same as saying you have reached the end of the battery life. It means that most batteries after 500 cycles will no longer hold a FULL charge. Some keep on holding enough charge that there is no reason to replace them for many more cycles; normal capacity loss at this point is about 20%. Others give out a bit sooner, and a tiny percentage crap out very early in their life and get replaced for free under warranty. My mini iPod battery reached the "no longer useful" point after just shy of three years. It would still charge and run the iPod, but not for very long between charges. So I sent away for an iPod battery kit so I could replace iPod mini battery, higher capacity (more time between charges) than Apple's original iPod battery life, and installed it myself. As of this writing (March, 2005), replacement ipod mini batteries can be found for $26. Or you can pay Apple $99 to do it for you, or pay an aftermarket vendor a bit less and probably get a higher capacity battery. Aftermarket iPod replacement batteries are already offering iPhone batteries, though do-it-yourself replacement is not for the faint of heart.
All very interesting, but my iPod or iPhone mysteriously runs down overnight. Think you should be replacing iPod battery?Probably not.The first thing to check is the alarm clock. I know, you are positive you never set any alarms or calendar alerts, so this can't possible apply to you. But somehow a lot of people (me included) have had this mysterious problem and when they checked, there was an alarm set to go off at 3 am. If the iPod is on shuffle or repeat, it will play until the iPod or iPod mini battery life is gone. I have read about (but not experienced) situations where the iPod will turn on by itself even though all alarms are off. To test for that, shut down your iPod and leave it plugged in to some powered speakers overnight, with the volume turned up enough to wake you. Don't worry; you'll sleep better once the mystery is solved [grin]. A less jarring way to test is turn off the shuffle and repeat functions. The cure is usually a restore/update. I have also experienced mysterious iPod nano battery depletion, such as the iPod nano batteries performing just fine when you USE the iPod, but seeming to run down pretty fast when the iPod is not in use. This behavior may be confined to Gen 1 iPods; our Gen 3 and 5 iPods do not do this. Gen 5 Update: My Gen 5 is still behaving itself, but the Apple forums are showing a number of Gen 5s that run down overnight and/or say they are fully charged, but then run only for a very short time before shutting down. There's no definitive cure yet, so for now I'd recommend following the instructions here for corrupt files and recalibrating the meter. I'm speculating, but the trend appears to be that Gen 5 iPods whose batteries are allowed to run way down are more likely to have this problem. So for now, keep 'em charged and if you are having this problem and your iPod won't revive, try leaving it alone for 30 hours, then charge with an AC adapter. More to come as we learn more about this new phenomenon. Here's my experience with a replacement battery on the Gen 1: My 1500 mAh battery (installed June, 2004) "misbehaved" for the first time in my 5GB Gen 1 iPod and I caught it doing something that may help explain either overnight rundown syndrome or iPods that lose their charge rapidly when not in use. In the past (OEM battery) if it ran all the way down, the clock would reset to midnight and the date would default to some absurd past value (I forget). The iPod was showing the low battery symbol when I turned it on. It had not been charged in about four days, but also used for only about half an hour during that time, plus one brief sync. So I plugged it in to AC and checked the date & time and it had "lost" two days and was at midnight. Here's my guess about what this means. I think the CPU got into some kind of loop some time Thursday (a crash) and kept using power at a higher than normal rate until it ran the battery down to the shutoff point some time Saturday night (I had briefly checked it Friday and there was some meter showing). Another clue that this may be the case (a crash or partial lockup) is that when I plugged it into the ipod charger, it immediately showed the Apple symbol and rebooted before charging. 1st gen's don't usually do this (newer ones definitely do reboot after a certain number of sleep hours). If I'm right, this argues for leaving the iPod charging almost constantly, as long as it also gets frequent use on battery power to keep it exercised. My best guess after experiencing this and helping others sort through it is that the iPod - just like any computer - can crash at times. When it does, the endless loop it goes into drains the battery a lot faster than when it is in normal or deep sleep. Leaving it untouched for 30+ hours completes that draining process - kinda like pulling the wall plug on your PC [grin] - and forces it to do a full reboot, clearing the crash which prevented things like a soft reset. Just a theory, but the evidence is piling up in its favor. What causes the crashes? Again, theory, but I think corrupted software or song files can do it, as can all the mysterious, untraceable things that crash any computer. If you "catch it" before the battery runs down, you can "rescue" it by doing a simple reset. Try to find the corrupted file(s) and remove them from your iPod and Library. If it's frozen and the battery seems to be dead, you need to let it run all the way down to force a reboot. This will happen in 24-30 hours and you can sometimes speed up the process by putting the iPod in a cool place, like a window sill (not the freezer). Note that if it plays another corrupt file it can happen all over again. I fear that many iPods have been sent in for service only to arrive there functioning fine because they ran down and rebooted in transit. Then once they arrive back home, they play the same corrupt file and die again, leaving the owner understandably ticked off at Apple. Preventive maintenance for this is also theoretical at this point. I'd try to hunt down and replace corrupt or suspect files, be sure software is up to date, leave the iPod plugged into the AC or solar power iPod charger or check it fairly often for rapid battery depletion when not in use, and when that occurs, do a reset right away, while it's still functioning properly -- to avoid the 30-hour wait. In iTunes it is nearly impossible to detect file corruption unless it is gross and obvious (the song doesn't play properly). One way to test for corrupt files is to wipe the iPod clean (restore) and then rip a few brand new cuts. Use a clean (non-skipping) commercial audio CD and turn on error correction in iTunes. Do not use VBR. Make a playlist of just these new cuts and sync only it to your iPod. Play and test. If the iPod behavior changes, you have some corrupt files and need to keep adding songs until you find the culprit(s). Another way you can sometimes detect corrupt files is to try to copy your iTunes Library to an external HD. A corrupt file will sometimes stall the Finder copy and display its name.In any case, you can sometimes "fix" the offending file(s) by burning them to an audio CD, removing them from your library and then re-importing to iTunes. Note that an iPhone left connected to a USB port will run down overnight if the computer sleeps. And if you are in a fringe area, the iPhone may use enough juice trying to stay connected to the cell network, Bluetooth, or WiFi that it doesn't charge properly, so again, shut it off for best charging. If you need it as an alarm clock, put it in Airplane mode. Recent iPhone firmware updates (1.1.1 for example) appear to reduce battery life. But this is likely due to increased power applied to the WiFi, and perhaps cellular and Bluetooth, radios in the phone. To save battery power, turn these off when not needed, especially WiFi.
For those who wish to dig deeper, there are two battery-related reasons to risk taking your iPod apart. The first and most obvious is to replace the battery. If you are patient and careful, it is a great way to save quite a few bucks.
The second reason is to force that mysterious "cold reboot" I mentioned above. Again, do NOT take your iPod apart to do this until and unless you have done a thorough job of diagnosing the problem and tried all of the easier, less invasive approaches first. This is unlikely, for example, to cure the exclamation point/folder icon problem, which has nothing to do with the battery and is therefore outside the scope of this conversation.
In my opinion, the main reason to force a reboot is when the processor in the iPod crashes so thoroughly that a reset will not work, and the screen is blank no matter what buttons you push or how long you charge. Before taking the iPod apart, however, try letting it sit unplugged and untouched for 24-30 hours in a cool part of your house. This can lower the voltage enough to force a reboot. Plug it into the wall charger or solar powered iPod charger and try a reset.
If that does not work, and the iPod will not go into disk mode, and has a blank screen, it may be time to take it apart (or have an expert do it). To open it up, you need to separate the two case halves. Other sites have plenty of pictures and instructions. Most are accurate and helpful (dramatic exception: do NOT use a screwdriver to pry the metal part off -- sheesh; what were they thinking?). Do not use force for any part of the process and be especially careful of cables, connectors and the motherboard. Use a thin plastic tool or strip cut from a credit card to release the "latches" which are part of the plastic case half. They face outward and hook into channels in the metal rails which run down the length of the metal half (see photos above). You should not be "prying" anything; your goal is to release the latches by gently forcing them inward as you insert the tool, toward the center of the iPod and out of the metal rail indentations.
Take it apart until you can safely reach the replacement iPod battery plug to disconnect it. Don't pull on the wires; use plastic tweezers to work the plug out of its socket. Disconnect the battery. A good diagnostic test is to plug the iPod into the AC or solar-powered iPod charger at this point, before reconnecting the battery, and make sure it boots and functions normally with the battery out of the circuit. Then unplug the charger, plug the battery back in and see if the iPod boots up properly (if the battery is stone dead, you may need to reconnect the charger). If your iPod doesn't boot, check for loose cable connections. If it boots OK without the battery, but won't respond with it plugged in (even with the charger supplying voltage), that's a sign the battery's life may be at an end. Give it a full charge and re-test before putting the case halves back together.
Fiction: But I hear you have to "condition" the battery before you get full performance out of it.
Fiction: If you charge your iPod or iPhone for 4+ hours, then unplug it, wait a few minutes, and plug it back in, you can cram more amps into the battery and get longer run time.
Fiction: Be sure to unplug after four hours on charge. At that point the battery starts running down because the charger shuts off.
Fiction: You should always run the battery all the way down before recharging.
Fiction: The iPod HOLD button will prevent the battery from running down no matter what.
Fiction: How come when I use USB to recharge my iPod or iPhone, I have battery problems? My battery must be defective.
Fiction: If you hold off on charging until the battery is pretty low, that will save cycles and prolong battery life.
Fiction: Apple guarantees that my iPod will run for 20 hours (less for older models). It doesn't; I want a new one. This one has a defective battery.
Unfortunately, this has led to the following sad scenario being played out across the entire planet as we speak: Some people, judging by posts in the Apple forum, spend their entire lives sitting by a running iPod, not (heaven forbid) listening to music, but with a stopwatch in hand, tracking to the third decimal place how many hours, minutes and seconds it will run on one charge of the battery. Apple must rue the day it put the suggested battery test on its support site.
I can think of only one possible reason to perform this test. If your iPod is under warranty and you need to decide whether its battery performance has degraded enough to justify sending it in and having Apple replace the battery for free, it would be worth running the test. Why? Because that way you could avoid sending in a unit they will simply ship back to you without replacing a battery they do not find to be defective (defined by Apple as less than 50% of original capacity). I suppose you could also use the test to decide whether to do your own out-of-warranty battery replacement, but if you've already decided it's not performing to your satisfaction, what's the point? Under what other circumstances would you want to waste battery cycles running the hard drive for hours and hours and not listening to any music? Beats me.
The biggest power hogs on the iPhone are the screen and the radios (cell, WiFi, Bluetooth). Turning off WiFi when not needed can dramatically improve run time. Leaving the iPhone on, even sleeping, in a fringe cell area can dramatically reduce it.
Yes. There are. The most effective is to "exercise" the battery. Apple recommends one cycle per month OR ITS EQUIVALENT. I'm shouting here because this has been misinterpreted to mean that it's time to get out the stopwatch again and run the iPod or iPhone down to zero volts once a month. Nope.
In general terms, it means don't leave an iPod or iPhone sitting around either constantly charging or unused for weeks on end. You won't immediately ruin them that way, but you risk shortening the total service life of the battery. Just use and enjoy normally. Or if you want to be particularly anal about it, keep track of cycles and make sure that if 30 days have gone by and you have not used the battery enought to add up to one cycle, you grab your iPod or iPhone and use it some more. I was blissfully ignorant of this during the approx. 33 months my original 1st gen iPod battery lasted, so maybe if I had been careful it could have lasted 36 or 38 months or more. Either way it was cheaper than buying throwaway alkalines over a three-year period and a lot more fun than sitting around with a stopwatch.
If you are exercising your battery, you don't need to worry about what I'm convinced is the other big no-no: letting it run all the way down (to shutdown) and then leaving the iPod or iPhone for a long time without charging. Battery voltage could get dangerously low and it will not revive. I also do not recommend leaving the iPod or iPhone on charge constantly - like 24 hours a day for three weeks. Some very well-informed folks in the forums disagree with me on this, saying it won't hurt the battery and that iPods and iPhones are smart enough to defend themselves against overcharging. I agree that overcharging is not an issue for either device, but fear that the lack of exercise will eventually reduce battery life.
However, you can darn near ignore all of this last section and just play and charge when convenient and still get long, enjoyable life out of your battery. Just ask my wife.
Finally, if you tried all these things (or just want to skip my suggestions above and just get a new battery) select a reputable company that sells iPod batteries. My preference is iPodJuice.com, since they have been around the longest and have provided me with the best ipod batteries, tools, and instructions that I have seen in the market. Avoid the temptation to skimp and go with a cheaper vendor - you truly do get what you pay for and you want someone who is going to be around to help you out if you need it.
See you on the net or drop me a line!
- Brad
info@theipodbatteryunplugged.com
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