# Has anyone here replaced an iPhone battery?



## Herdfan (Mar 18, 2006)

I ordered the kit to give it a try. Don't want to be without my phone for a week or so and the $79 Apple charges is too close to the $99 it would cost for a new one. Plus I want a new 4? or whatever its called when it comes out and I don't want to waste my upgrade.

Any tips or pointers?


----------



## davring (Jan 13, 2007)

I saw a video of it being done and it was obviously by someone who had one apart before. I consider myself quite good at these kind of projects, but I am on the fence on this one. My iPhone is only seven months old so I am not concerned yet about the battery. Does AT&T offer a loner? I thought they did.


----------



## webhype (Dec 28, 2007)

I think the 1st batch of 3G iphone batteries are reaching their max charge cycles, mine is showing signs of going and I am awaiting the new iPhone release with some anticipation.


----------



## BubblePuppy (Nov 3, 2006)

My ATT store will do it in house, so check with your nearest corporate ATT store, not a authorized dealer.


----------



## Herdfan (Mar 18, 2006)

webhype said:


> I think the 1st batch of 3G iphone batteries are reaching their max charge cycles, mine is showing signs of going and I am awaiting the new iPhone release with some anticipation.


My 3G is from release day, so it is there. I went from 2 days on a charge, to one, to its charging right now after it was full this morning.



BubblePuppy said:


> My ATT store will do it in house, so check with your nearest corporate ATT store, not a authorized dealer.


I will check. Their state corporate office is my local store, so I will stop by.


----------



## BubblePuppy (Nov 3, 2006)

Herdfan said:


> My 3G is from release day, so it is there. I went from 2 days on a charge, to one, to its charging right now after it was full this morning.
> 
> I will check. Their state corporate office is my local store, so I will stop by.


Good luck. I hope it works out for you.


----------



## Marlin Guy (Apr 8, 2009)




----------



## houskamp (Sep 14, 2006)

webhype said:


> I think the 1st batch of 3G iphone batteries are reaching their max charge cycles, mine is showing signs of going and I am awaiting the new iPhone release with some anticipation.


 Well with having to charge them 2 or 3 times a day they burn thru them fast :lol:


----------



## Herdfan (Mar 18, 2006)

Marlin Guy said:


> Plenty of these on youtube


Yeah, but most of them are about taking it apart. I need one to show me how to put all those connectors back on.


----------



## Marlin Guy (Apr 8, 2009)

If you can't figure out how they reattach from how they detach, then you should probably just let Apple do it for you.


----------



## Greg Alsobrook (Apr 2, 2007)

Have you tried going up to the Apple Store? Their customer service is usually top notch, and they may be willing to replace the phone for you even if it's out of warranty.


----------



## BubblePuppy (Nov 3, 2006)

Why would a Apple Store replace the phone when all that needs replacing is a worn out battery?


----------



## Greg Alsobrook (Apr 2, 2007)

BubblePuppy said:


> Why would a Apple Store replace the phone when all that needs replacing is a worn out battery?


Since the batteries are not easily replaceable, that's how they do it. They will swap it with a refurb, and then refurb yours.


----------



## Herdfan (Mar 18, 2006)

Greg Alsobrook said:


> Since the batteries are not easily replaceable, that's how they do it. They will swap it with a refurb, and then refurb yours.


I kind of figured that. When you send it to Apple, they tell you to make sure you back up your data as it will be lost. Well, replacing the battery should not cause loss of data, so I figured they just swapped it out.

I just need this phone to get me to mid-June (hopefully) when the new model comes out. But it is just running down too quickly. Worst case is if I kill it, I go get a 3Gs, use it until the new one comes out and give the 3Gs to my wife (she still has an original).


----------



## BubblePuppy (Nov 3, 2006)

Greg Alsobrook said:


> Since the batteries are not easily replaceable, that's how they do it. They will swap it with a refurb, and then refurb yours.


I didn't know that. 
That's good to know. I assume all the "stuff" in the original iPhone gets transfered to the refurbished iPhone?


----------



## Greg Alsobrook (Apr 2, 2007)

BubblePuppy said:


> I didn't know that.
> That's good to know. I assume all the "stuff" in the original iPhone gets transfered to the refurbished iPhone?


I don't know if they do it at the store or not... but when you book your appointment online, they remind you to sync (which also backs up) your phone before you come in. Then when you get home, you can just restore from that backup.


----------



## TBlazer07 (Feb 5, 2009)

BubblePuppy said:


> I assume all the "stuff" in the original iPhone gets transfered to the refurbished iPhone?


**NOT**

Backitup

In fact, do a full erase (restart as new) or they have ALL you personal data.


----------



## BubblePuppy (Nov 3, 2006)

Greg Alsobrook said:


> I don't know if they do it at the store or not... but when you book your appointment online, they remind you to sync (which also backs up) your phone before you come in. Then when you get home, you can just restore from that backup.





TBlazer07 said:


> **NOT**
> 
> Backitup
> 
> In fact, do a full erase (restart as new) or they have ALL you personal data.


All good suggestions, thanks. I wouldn't have thought about doing a wipe. I'm sure a lot of people don't either.


----------



## Herdfan (Mar 18, 2006)

Ok, the surgery is complete. And a success. 

Followed the directions and they were spot on for the most part. There was the little exception of the little piece of metal holding the camera in, but it was readily apparent where it came from.

Took about 15 minutes to get it apart and some of that was going and getting my precision screwdrivers as the #00 Phillips included wouldn't grab the heads. I ended up using a #000 Phillips and it worked fine.

Putting it back together was a different story. First, the instructions don't tell you how to put it back together, they just assume you will reverse the order. The battery went right in and then I discovered I can't see close up worth a darn anymore. So I went over to my parents (had to wheel their garabage out anyway) and borrowed my mom's lighted magifying glass that she uses for needlepoint. Got home with that and discovered that my smallest needlenose pliers were way too big to drop those tiny screws in place. So now its a trip to HD for some small needlenose pliers.

Got home an realized that even the small needlenose pliers were still a little large, so my wife comes with the wrapper from my daughters honey granola bar and wipes the included #00 phillips on the wrapper and picks up just enough sticky to hold the little screws in place. So between my mom and my wife, I finally got it all back together. Time from installing the new battery until power up: about an hour and a 45 minutes. About 45-50 of it was getting the magnifying glass and pliers and the rest of it was slowly putting the pieces back together. The hardest was getting ribbon cable #6 back in place.

I had a tension headache when I finished. But my iPhone has a new battery and tomorrow after it has a full charge I will know if it was worth it.


----------



## davring (Jan 13, 2007)

Thanks for the play by play, I feel a little less intimidated now


----------



## BubblePuppy (Nov 3, 2006)

Wow! Great job. I got a headache just reading what you had to do. Very impressive.


----------



## dennisj00 (Sep 27, 2007)

I've used beeswax on the heads of small phillips screws to put them back in. . . no need for needle-nose or tweezers. (also no sugar)

Are the instructions posted anywhere?


----------



## Herdfan (Mar 18, 2006)

I got my instructions from iFixit.com which is where I got the battery. I also watched the youtube video that Marlin Guy posted.


----------



## Herdfan (Mar 18, 2006)

Update: As of 8:27pm, I still have over half a charge. Phone came off charger at around 6:45am. That is sooooo much better than when I was having to give it a booster charge just after lunch.

Glad I did this.


----------

