Dead iPod Artwork

This instructable is a suggestion of what could be done with an old dead or broken iPod. It assumes the iPod in question is not worth fixing or, in my case, have exhausted various repair options (detailed within). Haven't see this project around yet & I've had several compliments on the result. Enjoy!

If considering this, do it with a dead battery, cut off each batt lead individually & NEVER bend or puncture the battery cell itself! The mod involves cutting & bending the taped circuit board on top of the battery, not the battery itself.

'As commented, probably best to just sell the thing for parts... Maybe even sell the guts & mod the case (ala the EL iPod mod).

Step 1 Depending on the problem(s), consider NOT trying to repair an old iPod

Saga of my 1st generation iPod problems (not that it owes me anything:):

1) Dismal battery life. Was o.k. at time I checked it for the class action suit resolution, but has since gone kaput.

2) Lost ability to sync (massive firewire errors).

3) Lost ability to charge.

Upon opening found that the Firewire connector leads had wiggled enough to pull the solder pads off the main board & few had broken. So, off we go to the fruitless repair attempts:

1) Tried solder repair to firewire port leads (firewire port was in red box in photo). It worked for charging! .... For a day, then no more chargie.

2) Tried soldering in a new firewire connector (pulled from old card). Again it worked for charging! .... For an hour, then no more chargie.

3) Giving up on the firewire attachment area on the main board (solder pads gone), pulled the battery & mounted an LM317 voltage regulator ( LM317 tutorial ) providing 3.9 volts (R1 = 470, R2 = 1k I think). Using car adapter straight into LM317 input, it worked again .... For 15 minutes, then crashed hard & never booted again.

Comments

[PetervG]

Or sell for parts

[admanrocks]

ya i sold a completley dead ipod on ebay for $50

[zack247]

i had a 1st gen ipod mini that had a bad headphone jack, and it has been run over inumerous cars, (i found it in the street) after getting fed up with it, i sold it locally for $30

[Spl1nt3rC3ll]

I heard of someone who baught an air guitar (Spelled right?) on ebay. Someone else baught a "box filled with nothing" for $20.

[admanrocks]

bought

[cfcubed]

True enough, and perhaps would have been better to do $$ wise before attempting to fix. But after my "fixes" (see step #1), who knows which parts still worked:) And good working 1st gens go for $30 or so on fleabay anyway.... Besides, you cannot put a price tag on such a work of art!

[erfonz]

I'd give you about $5

[ReCreate]

darn,my maximum price was 0.1 cents

[cfcubed]

guess you've started the bidding at $5.... Thanks!

[jeffconnelly]

aaannnddd... SOLD! to erfonz, after an uneventful year and a half of bidding.

[jeffconnelly]

oops... for 5 dollars american!

[Wasagi]

 Extremely Creative, 5 Stars and Favorited!

You'll  be able to tell your grandkids, "This is the original Ipod, and it WASN'T Embedded in your jawbone!"

[Xap]

What makes it dead? Simple hard drive fix is a folded business card. Or you can find a site that will but your ipod or trade it in for a discount on a new one.

[Solderguy]

I think the battery is dead, damaged Firewire connector, and hard drivecrash and/or fried motherboard.
Most (if not all) websites will give you $12 for your Ipod. Which isn'teven worth it since you have to pay S&H.

[mabufo]

That is not art.

[ReCreate]

looks more like money to me hdd-batt-parts

[Spl1nt3rC3ll]

There is really no true definition of art. Anything and everything can be a form of art. Some may see this as junk, others (like me) art. It depends on their person. As cfcubed said, "One could say rap is not music" this also includes graffidi; some see vandalism, others see the creative art it is. I think that this can go places.
Cfcubed, You can take this to whole new levels. If you can get access to lots of dead ipods (dump?) make abstract or realistic forms and scuptures from them. Try selling them, You never know what people like. Like what I did with an old hubcap I found by the road (see below)http://www.smithartwork.com/Springy.html

[cfcubed]

Well neither is this yet there it was on display for years at the Philadelphia Art Museum.
One could also say that rap is not music. To each his/her own.

Great comment.

[ReCreate]

can you send me the hardrive?

[mondaymonkey]

well, instead of making these things into art, why don't you use the HD for something usefull, I mean, i got a 35GB HD on my laptop, and i am looking to add a slave Ipod HD. I mean, its tiny, and its got a good 20-80GB, which, if you ask me, is real good. Also, how about finding out why these things are dead, and then easily fixing them, i mean, if the HD on them are dead, just put a new one in, you got the idea of takin em apart, just go one step further

[westfw]

You might want to make sure your battery is fully discharged before doing this. These are the sorts of batteries somewhat prone to bursting into flames if shorted, punctured, or bent (causing an internal short)

[cfcubed]

Yes, I do warn (strongly) against puncturing the battery, but forgot about warning about cutting each wire (black & red) ONE at a time. As you say, best too if the batt is fully dead. Bending of the battery itself is NOT suggested, what you see bent at the top is a taped circuit board attached to the top of the battery cell itself (not part of the battery cell itself!, should have made that clearer too I guess). Yes, bending the cell would be bad too & one should NEVER do that either. Thanks for your comments.