Found a free way to fix my old iPod battery without opening it up

Last week I was about to toss my 5th gen iPod from 2006 because it wouldn't hold a charge for more than 30 minutes. I remembered some forum post from 3 years ago about using a wall charger with a higher amp output. I tried plugging it into an iPad charger (10W brick) instead of the computer USB port and left it overnight. Honestly, the battery life came back to almost 4 hours after a few cycles. Has anyone else had luck with this trick on old portables?

2 comments

2 Comments

jakep2414d ago

Interesting point about the higher amp charger. I wonder if the battery chemistry in those old lithium cells just needed a good kickstart from the current. Have you noticed any heat coming off the iPod while it charges with the iPad brick? I tried something similar with an old phone once and the battery swelled up a little after a week. Got me worried about safety with these older devices that weren't built for that kind of power. I'd be curious if anyone has run that experiment over a longer period.

finley_flores2813d ago

Actually the iPad brick is a BAD idea for old iPods. The battery management chip in those classics is SUPER basic, it just lets whatever current come through until the voltage hits 4.2V. I had a 5th gen that got noticeably warm with a 2.1A charger, took the battery from puffy to spicy pillow inside three months. The thing is, these old cells aren't any different from the lithium ones today, the charge controller just can't throttle the current the way newer devices do. You're basically forcing the battery to absorb way more power than it was designed for, and that's a recipe for swelling or worse over time.