OT: iPod - repair or replace?

[kwakatak]

Last year my wife bought me a 4th Gen 8GB iPod Nano and I loved it so much I left it in my jeans and washed it. Anybody ever actually pay to have an iPod fixed or did you just buy another? It may not be a choice for me: this is the second one I've laundered and wife has cut me off so no iPod Touch upgrade for me.

 

Long story short: it still works if I plug it into my PC but the battery won't charge and even though I can seem images on the LCD display it just doesn't light up. It cost $150 and the replacement parts/tools cost about $50. The trick is labor. Do I fix it or take it to the Apple store? What would you do?

[fastblueheeler]

Buy a new one. Sell it to the guy who will post "fix it yourself" below.


I'd be a lot more worried about the wife cutting me off.

[katopp]

No use in fixing small iPODs as they are dirt cheap. The only thing that is "fixable" is a dead battery, but yours was laundered, so it's all wet inside and the corrosion will start eating it up from the inside out anyway.

[auriemma]

I washed my Nano 8Gb (gen3). Didn't even try to turn it on (that is usually when you fry it... turning it on while its still wet). I locked OFF. I put it on a baseboard heater and waited until I could'nt see anymore liquid or condensation in the view screen (about 10 days). Then, without turning it on, I recharged it. It restarted just fine. I restored the software, updated it, then reloaded my music. Its been working fine ever since (last 2 years - knocks on wood).

You didn't say how long you dried it out, so I assume the battery cooked.

Buy a new one, or look for used ones on ebay or your local Craigslist.

[Stackabones]

Last year? Isn't that like a million nano years ago?

[seagullplayer77]

I washed my Nano 8Gb (gen3). Didn't even try to turn it on (that is usually when you fry it... turning it on while its still wet). I locked OFF. I put it on a baseboard heater and waited until I could'nt see anymore liquid or condensation in the view screen (about 10 days). Then, without turning it on, I recharged it. It restarted just fine. I restored the software, updated it, then reloaded my music. Its been working fine ever since (last 2 years - knocks on wood). You didn't say how long you dried it out, so I assume the battery cooked. Buy a new one, or look for used ones on ebay or your local Craigslist.

 

 

This is usually how they recommend fixing wet electronics---cell phones, iPods, and the like. If you take out the battery and dry out the rest of the device with a heater or a hair dryer, there's a good chance that the only thing needing replacing will be the battery.

 

Then again---and I don't have an iPod, so take this with a grain of salt---I think iPod batteries are pretty expensive and notoriously hard to replace. Wasn't there a big to-do a while back about how Apple made it nearly impossible to replace the battery yourself? I seem to remember reading something to that effect in Popular Science.

[LiFeStArTs@40]

Time to count your losses.

[kwakatak]

Well, I went to my local Apple store and had 'em look at it. They told me they'd recycle it and do a non-warranty replacement with the same model for about $78 or do a 10% discount on a brand new one (that has a bigger screen and shoots video.)

 

I'm mulling it over. There's no way I would be able to fix it myself.

[guitarist21]

Well, I went to my local Apple store and had 'em look at it. They told me they'd recycle it and do a non-warranty replacement with the same model for about $78 or do a 10% discount on a brand new one (that has a bigger screen and shoots video.) I'm mulling it over. There's no way I would be able to fix it myself.

 

 

Tough call, kwak. Ten percent off the new one ends up being about $135 if I'm correct. Personally, I'm really cheap and would probably do the replacement.

[carguy]

Neal,

For what it's worth, I bought my wife an iPod Nano for Christmas - the one that shoots video - and she just absolutely loves it. The thing takes takes great video. I've heard too that the batteries are hard to replace. If you can swing it, I'd go with the new Nano.

[jamesp]

I've replaced several iPod batteries. Mostly 3Gs and Minis, but I have done a Nano. It's a pain but not an undoable thing imo. Still, in this case I'd take Apple up on their offer. The battery itself is around $60 IIRC and given that your Nano has been washed and then turned on (and plugged-in) there's really no way of knowing whether it'd work or not. HNiPD.

[skatalite]

If it happened recently (as in the last day), put the thing in a bag of rice. The rice will soak up the water and within a handful of days (3-5) your iPod could return to normal working order.

[recordingtrack1]

If it happened recently (as in the last day), put the thing in a bag of rice. The rice will soak up the water and within a handful of days (3-5) your iPod could return to normal working order.

 

 

That was not my experience. My wife washed her 16g nano only a couple of weeks after I bought it for her. We tried the rice bag trick for about a week, starting almost as soon as she realized what she had done. No luck.

 

I bought her another one and we contacted Apple CS. They replaced hers for $99 shipped. I inherited it. This has been about six months ago now and it works perfectly. Overall, that still feels like it was the best way to go.

 

RT1

[Dek431]

Replace it I couldn't do without my iPod nano. I got it from a pawn shop cheap as heck. I use to like the Sony mp3 players but found they're all bass. I bought the iPod to give it a try as I'd never had one. No going back. I have an iPhone which is the same size as the iPod touch, far too big to be an iPod so I won't be bothering with the touch.