3000mAh Battery in an iPod 4th Gen?! Here's how.

[@ZapWizard]

A tip for others: When bending a flex cable back on itself, put down a chunk of foam, or thick double sided tape to ensure you don't crease the cable.

[@ayingsdud4929]

does this mean that even a small fold will cut off the power?

[@ZapWizard]

@@ayingsdud4929 flex cables just need to have a bit of bend radius is all. Folding them completely can cause the copper layer to crack.

[@dorinel200849]

Please keep in mind that some batteries have 4.35V when fully charged, instead of 4.2V like normal ones. It should still work, but it should not be fully charged when doing this mod. Also note that it would only be charged by the iPod up to 4.2V which means it would be less than 3000mAh.

[@LAUGHINGMANWILL]

Great video. Have a 4th gen I've been dancing around this idea for. I have so many cell phone batteries. Didn't think about cutting the solo in half and placing it where the battery used to be. great idea

[@sonospiacente3334]

the apple explained roast got me 💀💀 he answer the most silly questions no one wondered but i still watch every video

[@jon199680]

Use a thick backplate and you won't have to modify your iFlash. I just modded my thick 4th gen mono with a 3500 mAh battery from a Samsung Note 10. I also 3d printed a spacer to go where the original battery once was, so the iFlash has something to attach to. And this battery leaves a perfect size space for a future taptic engine mod.

[@NekoMichi]

With a thick back, it's possible to fit a trimmed iFlash, 5,000mAh cell, and a Taptic Engine. The iPod I currently use is this setup.

[@rustylingenfelter5756]

This is one of the best ipod videos I've seen. We'll done. Both my 4th gens will get this mod.

[@superluig164]

This is sick! I really want to do this mod now.

[@adetoye50]

Beautiful This is an interesting and an intensive project on iPod Classic 4th generation. I am going to watch it again and again. Thanks for the good work on a classic device from 

[@davorz]

Absolutely fabulous! Nice work and thanks for sharing!

[@BrenIrwin]

Great video. Thank you for sharing the process. Great idea to use a phone battery. I winced at the sawing of the iFlash, but great job on the pod.

[@josecncpcn]

Thanks, I took a chance with and old Battery and works perfect thank you for the class

[@DhavalRAhir]

Great video, iPod Classic modding community has come a long way and is a happy place!😊 Can you do a bluetooth mod on ipod photo?

[@NekoMichi]

I tried it before, but the signal wasn't great.

[@trandinhvietdung9357]

16:04 I once taking a picture of my iPod Mini randomly and posted it on one iPod Facebook group (the iPod Collector Forum group). Later I realized I was playing "Never Gonna Give You Up" on that iPod in that moment (and someone spotted that)

[@LaskyLabs]

16:02 I've done this to myself more times than I can count. I even got Rick Rolled by an un-wiped Japanese iPod mini. It was a cover of Together Forever.

[@carlubambi5541]

Great build

[@eric6345]

Could you do a video that actually tests the battery life of this LG BL-53YH 3000 mAh battery, in a timelapse video with stopwatch? There are lots of video on YT that show how to install the upgrades but very few videos actually perform testing. I'm thinking of trying this battery in an Ipod 5th gen.

[@NekoMichi]

I did a video that's exactly that, it was posted a few days after this one. kzbin.info/www/bejne/hJSZd4Onm8ykars

[@eric6345]

@@NekoMichi Thanks for the link. Great video! I made sure to hit the Like button.💯

[@eric6345]

@@NekoMichi Thanks for the link. I'll check it out. Great video! 💯

[@aerispalm6523]

isopropyl alcohol for the for removing the battery does work very well, however you want to leave it to dry for a bit before putting everything together, i didn't do that and was wondering why my clickwheel wasn't working, when isopropyl was just still in there and causing phantom touches. left it to dry and everything worked again.

[@NekoMichi]

Good point!

[@danydepp8487]

Well done!. I did the same to a Creative Zen Vision M because the battery board is paired with the main board of the player. Otherwise If you put a generic battery directly it wont work with the latest firmware.

[@toaster146]

The nominal voltage of the original battery is 3.7V. This means that the maximum charging voltage is 4.2V, and the cutoff voltage is 2.7V. The nominal voltage of the LG G3 battery is 3.8V, so the maximum charging voltage is 4.35V and cutoff voltage is 3V. If you use the BMS of the ipod with the LG battery cell, it will discharge up to 2.7V, which is below the designed voltage of it. It could kill the cell if you use the ipod until the charge is over.

[@buteforce]

The Rick Roll was brilliant ,. Very informative and great presentation.

[@johnbartender3451]

I’l try this mod for sure. I’m bias, but I think the 4th gen is the best ipod (easy to repair, feel good in the hand, and for my taste it sound better than the 5.5 but both are very close sound-wise).

[@devm.9189]

Both have the same chip, both sound the same.

[@oscarashley6153]

this is one of the coolest things.

[@jimreilly6933]

Brilliant class ! I have wasted so much money on garbage replacement batteries for my old ipod 4 that I gave up on it. You have opened the door to a new lease of life for my dear old devise. Aussies are my favorite people right now, especially the new coach for my favorite football team in Scotland. The Glasgow Celtic. Ange Postecoglue is the best coach we have had in a decade. Where can I purchase both the LG battery and the SSD adaptor which replaces the hard drive ?

[@NekoMichi]

I found the battery by searching "LG G3 battery" on eBay, the LG G4 battery also works. As for the flash adaptor, I bought it from the iFlash official site.

[@asdasdasd]

if you sell your giant battery, you are gonna be popular! I love to buy your battery!

[@wawanjadoel4871]

Good job man..

[@LaskyLabs]

Oh yeah, I've heard of somebody doing this before. Brilliant idea, I'll bet you can go weeks without a charger on the black and white ones.

[@sssh1fu]

can you make more video about battery thingy?

[@m.z.2466]

11:45 is when he starts making the battery

[@jimmywang8956]

Wow great vid! Did u make any measurements on how thick the LG battery is (l×w×h)? If so please tell me. I am planning on doing the same mod but using another li-ion battery, its thickness is 0.5mm and I am not sure if it would fit. Thanks.

[@NekoMichi]

The footprint of the battery is about the same as the original hard drive that is being replaced (without the rubber bumpers), the thickness is 5mm.

[@eric6345]

This video has me thinking about trying one of those high cap batteries found in PS5 controllers, and putting one in my IPod 5th gen. I wonder if that could work. 🤔

[@NekoMichi]

I think someone on the iPod Modding Discord server was working on that, but they never said if it worked.

[@nrgspike]

Damn, I wish I'd seen this before I spent a tenner on a new 1000mAh battery, given you can get the 3000mAh LG bats are less than a fiver! - I just picked up the chonky 60GB Photo, so I'm thinking with the extra room inside, it might be possible to do this mod without needing to cut down the iFlash Board? Great vid, cheers!

[@NekoMichi]

With the thick back model, you can probably fit the iFlash ATA1 and 3,000mAh battery without trimming the board. But if you trim the board, you can fit an even larger 5,000mAh cell.

[@nrgspike]

@@NekoMichi Unlimited POWER! Lol - Nah, 3k will probably be fine. Cheers! 😁

[@seeleybooth1494]

​@@NekoMichiI just bought an LG G4 battery to replace my swollen battery, but since you mentioned 5000mah, Im thinking of usiing that instead of the 3000mah. Do you have a video of that too? And which 5000mah battery did you use? Thanks in advance!

[@gkivo]

Any reliability issues? Mainly concerned about swelling and overheating. Also can’t decide between 64gb vs 128gb micro SD for the iflash ATA. My music library is at 20gb and slowly growing right now but this is my daily device so I do want it to be as reliable as possible

[@NekoMichi]

I've been using it for over a year without problems so far. During this time I've been using it daily with 2-4 hours of music playback per day and charging it once every 2 weeks. Estimated total number of charge cycles is 30-50, and the battery still performs to the same capacity as when I first built the iPod. When charging with USB or FireWire it does get warm but my IR thermometer is reading 30°C (86°F) or less so there's no sign of overheating. Also no signs of swelling so far.

[@chrislenfert1953]

Great video! I'm trying to find one of the short / low profile microSD to SD adapters and am not having a lot of luck. Any chance you can tell me where you got yours?

[@NekoMichi]

I found mine on eBay, these are either from Raspberry Pi kits or sometimes they're listed as "Nifty drives".

[@chrislenfert1953]

@@NekoMichi Thank you! I found one on Ali though most were not available in black and the white versions have the curved top "pull tab" thing that makes me think they'd be too long still or not fit.

[@NekoMichi]

@@chrislenfert1953 Hi there, just an update. I got one of those shorter adaptors with a curved pull tab and they will fit if you use a file to trim down the curved part around the edges.

[@dangerousnoodle3730]

Great video! I'm definitely going to have to do this (or my friend who can solder will). And i'm kinda lucky as i'll be using a thick 60gb model so it'll probably be much easier lol

[@dreytarkovich]

Hey, great video! I have been interested with modding iPods with videos like these to the point that I want to mod one as cheaply as possible just to use in daily commutes to uni. I have found a battery that had no white wire in it unlike the one shown in the video. I plan to solder the wires of the original battery to the replacement, but have no clue as to where the white wire will go after soldering. Should I do something with it or leave it as is?

[@NekoMichi]

It might not work if there's no third terminal. The white wire is connected to a thermistor and is part of the charging safety system. Without it, the iPod will refuse to charge the battery.

[@dreytarkovich]

Noted, though I have been planning to replace the battery with the silvery li-po with the kapton tape over the bms, then just swap it with the bms of the old one, just like the method in the video. My problem is if I can properly remove the silver covering without yanking the terminals with it. Thank you for the reply!

[@Aeolous1]

Im thinking if this should be possible by using the Tarkan iFlash flex cable for 4th gens, and cutting an iFlash Solo in half as well right? Could be a better alternative to the original bulky and fragile hard drive cable

[@NekoMichi]

Theoretically that could work too. The Solo has the same layout as the ATA1 and shouldn't have any chips or traces on the top half.

[@Aeolous1]

@@NekoMichi Thats good to know. Never had a solo on hand, just the quad and ata1.

[@razorbladesky]

@@NekoMichiThat is correct, it has none at the top to the SD Card Cage

[@mishazol]

Any tips for soldering controller chip connectors with battery connectors? I'm new to soldering, don't know how to make the solder stick to either of connectors. Any tips are welcome.

[@NekoMichi]

I usually clean the surfaces with flux beforehand and then "dab" the solder onto the contacts instead of holding the soldering iron tip on them while feeding solder. This is to prevent overheating the battery.

[@ipodseller4940]

Is it tight fit? Or do you have still space between the battery and the back case?

[@NekoMichi]

I still have some room for movement between the battery and the logic board.

[@ipodseller4940]

@@NekoMichi thanks man

[@cutekat444]

Hey NekoMichi, what iPod case do you use for your iPod Classic 4th Gen mono?

[@NekoMichi]

It's the iSee by Contour.

[@cutekat444]

Also, what tape did you use to wrap the battery?

[@TheAndrian24]

Hy if I put mine ipod A1059 4gen in 12v to charge, but battery it's dead, from socket battery were it's red black white and now with 5v charger I have 3.7v all I need it's new battery or it's dead

[@NekoMichi]

Is the 12V charger a FireWire charger?

[@TheAndrian24]

Is a 12v charger

[@NekoMichi]

If it's a 12V USB charger then it might damage the iPod. The iPod is only designed to receive 5V with USB.

[@Lgwasherfan5623]

2:38 WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! DANKPODS SAYS SPECIFICALLY NOT TO PRY UP! PRY DOWN AND SLIIIDE DAMMIT

[@funenergizer4989]

Very interesting video, bought today the same model as yours by mistake 🥴, but will try it out...👍 I search for the 4 button model...😊 How much sd card space can i use...🤔

[@oddinvestigator]

I was thinking about doing this with a 5 gen but then learned about incidents of lithium batteries exploding and burning people and now I'm a bit paranoid. Well, the risk would be the same as using a regular 3000mah provided I do the PCB swap correctly, right? I think I'll just charge it up to 70%

[@NekoMichi]

Should be fine as long as you correctly connect the battery management board to the cell and nothing is shorted or punctured. I've been using this iPod for almost 2 years without problems.

[@owenkoehl974]

Hi! I have a question. My iPods battery is already cooked, is it okay for me to restore to check the iflash module after installing the new battery?

[@NekoMichi]

Should be okay after the new battery is installed.

[@wassup5793]

What's that thing below the 30 pin connector? Can this be removed or does it have any function besides acting like a bumper?

[@NekoMichi]

The sponge-like thing? It's a spacer for the dock connector. You can remove it but I recommend keeping it in as it reduces the overall stress put on the socket when it's plugged in.

[@argentuzo]

can i do the battery mod with the original hdd?

[@NekoMichi]

Unfortunately, it won't fit with the original hard drive.

[@jose5080007]

I bought a couple second gen iPods. Can’t seem to find any videos on modding or repair for these. Have you thought about flash modding a first or second gen iPod?

[@NekoMichi]

iFlash adaptors work with the 1st and 2nd generation iPods, but there's a catch. You have to use a second, surrogate iPod with USB support to flash the 1st or 2nd gen's firmware onto the card and sync your library before moving the iFlash back to the 1st or 2nd gen. You'll also lose the ability to sync over FireWire and have to use the surrogate iPod to do that.

[@jose5080007]

@@NekoMichiI see, that’s a bummer. I also have a second gen with a broken headphone jack, can’t find a replacement anywhere or a repair guide. Would you happen to know of any?

[@NekoMichi]

How broken is it? Does it cause audio to become strange if you tilt the headphone cable?

[@jose5080007]

@@NekoMichi yeah, I have to jiggle to hear audio out of both right and left.

[@NekoMichi]

The most likely culprit is the headphone socket's pins detaching from the motherboard, which is fairly common with this generation. You'll need to remove the metal plate to expose the headphone socket module and then reflow the solder on each of the pins. The metal plate itself is attached with solder.

[@woodydesir6529]

Great video. Can i do it with an iPod video??

[@NekoMichi]

You don't need to do this with an iPod 5th generation because you can already buy larger batteries designed to work with the newer iPods (5th gen and later).

[@woodydesir6529]

@@NekoMichi but i can't buy the battery from my country. So i was thinking about this and i found your video and it was exactly what i was thinking about but for an iPod video.

[@NekoMichi]

The LG battery is too thick to fit inside the 30GB thin back casing of the iPod 5th generation, but a thicker back casing might work.

[@pimpinpenz]

Does the 4th gen need firewire to charge like the 3rd gen?

[@NekoMichi]

Nope, it can charge over USB.

[@cesarnavarro7395]

hello friend, greetings from Mexico; excellent video; It would be great if you did something similar with the 3rd generation iPod

[@NekoMichi]

I've been looking into that, the custom battery made in this video will also work in a 3rd generation iPod, however the main challenge is finding a way to fit the flashmod adaptor efficiently in the old battery compartment. So far I haven't had any success in fitting an iFlash there and safely folding the ribbon cable but maybe someone can figure this out.

[@cesarnavarro7395]

@@NekoMichi maybe the new model that came out of iflash will work, iflash-ata1

[@NekoMichi]

The iFlash ATA1 is too large to fit in the 3rd generation's battery slot, even after trimming

[@hobo_jesus]

I will pay to have this done to mine any info would be greatly appreciated.

[@jimreilly6933]

Just open your old 4rth gen and practice taking the power cable apart and the HD etc. After a few times you will get confident and eventually do the whole change over on your own. The one procedure you have to be very careful with is the power ribbon connection. you will see it at the top left corner of the screen as you slowly open the case. Use a this flat plastic tool to pry the tiny square connector from the mother board. after that you can unfold the front case and access all the internal components. There are a many good youtube clips for this process to study first.

[@issa_throwaway]

i'm currently in the process of doing this, but i'm struggling to get my solder to stick to the ipod terminals to the lg battery terminals. do you have any tips or workarounds?

[@NekoMichi]

Do you have any soldering flux? This will help clean the contact surfaces and make solder stick better.

[@issa_throwaway]

@@NekoMichi yeah, i also tried with flux but still not sticking together. i noticed my lg battery seems a bit different from the one you used in this video, but they are the same model number. you snipped at a long piece from the lg battery/bms, which mine was pretty short and didn't snip off 'cause it came off easily. so you had one short and one long piece sticking out from the battery, where mine just has one short piece sticking out after removing the bms. not sure if that has anything to do with anything though

[@NekoMichi]

I noticed that too, some variants of the same battery model seem to have different styles of contacts. In the worst case scenario, you might have to solder wires to the pads and then the other ends of the wires to the BMS terminals.

[@stephanjung3882]

How long does it take to charge the 3000 mAh battery over Usb and over Firewire? I did your mod, but somehow it either does not charge or charges just very slowly.

[@NekoMichi]

Between 6-8 hours (either FireWire or USB). What are you using to charge it? I found that the iPod 4th generation won't charge from generic USB wall adaptors but will charge from a USB port in a PC. This is because older iPods expect a certain voltage on the USB data lines in order to charge whereas most generic USB wall adaptors don't send any voltage over the data lines.

[@stephanjung3882]

@@NekoMichi I tried the original iPod USB charger, now I am trying with an iPad USB charger. Unfortunately I do not have my FireWire charger with me. I also have at my disposition an MP5.1 or MBP13.3 with which I could try to charge. I see everywhere that I would need a high voltage USB socket at my Mac, how can I find out, if he has enough juice? I suspect that the MBP13.3's USBc's sockets should have enough juice, though I would have to use an USBc to USBa adapter.

[@NekoMichi]

@@stephanjung3882 You don't need a high voltage charger, with USB iPods will only charge at 5V anyway (it's higher with FireWire). Any USB port on a recent computer should work.

[@stephanjung3882]

@@NekoMichi another question: can I use the battery controller from any replacement iPod battery or does it have to be the one from the original iPod battery?

[@NekoMichi]

@stephanjung3882 Doesn't have to be original Apple, a BMS extracted from a third-party battery should work.

[@niasboiii]

Do you know if this works with 5G, 60GB without cutting the iFlash? So far, the fake 3200mAh from China seems like a tight but working fit. Is the LG battery the same size? Cheers.

[@NekoMichi]

The LG battery is much thicker than the fake 3000mAh batteries. I tried fitting an LG battery in a thin-back 7th generation and it didn't fit even without an iFlash. Not sure if it will fit with your thicker 60GB back casing though.

[@niasboiii]

@@NekoMichi only way is to buy the iflash and try the LG for 7€. Otherwise cheap chinese battery thats a fake 3200, still 1800 better than the current one. Cheers.

[@NekoMichi]

For what it's worth, I did a runtime test on a flashmodded 7th gen and a fake 3000mAh battery and got over 100 hours of music playback so it beats even a true 3000mAh cell in a 4th gen.

[@niasboiii]

@@NekoMichi how long was this LG 3000mAh 4th gen?

[@NekoMichi]

In a mono 4th gen, the 3000mAh LG battery lasts around 40 hours of continuous music playback.

[@devm.9189]

Hey, can this be done with the 5th gen battery?

[@NekoMichi]

It can, but you'll need to extract the BMS from a 5th gen battery instead.

[@devm.9189]

@@NekoMichi i have an idle 5.5 gen battery lying around.

[@liketheduck]

Can this be done with Gen 3?

[@NekoMichi]

It would be difficult, the 3rd gen's hard drive ribbon is too short and awkward to fold, so you can't stash a smaller flash module in the battery slot in order to free up space for a larger battery.

[@liketheduck]

@@NekoMichi Looks like EOE has a 2000mAh battery for the 3rd gen! Not as good, but I'm going to give that a try.

[@DhavalRAhir]

Can you do 1tb in ipod 4th gen? I want to turn my ipod into a full fledged ssd drive with usb C!

[@NekoMichi]

While a 4th gen can detect 1TB of storage, it cannot make full use of it. When you add too many songs, it will cause the system to crash.

[@jonallsop7502]

Is this still working?

[@NekoMichi]

It still works.

[@jonallsop7502]

@@NekoMichi where did you buy an official LG battery from? And is there not a fire risk swapping the battery management boards? Awesome to hear it's still working - looking to do this to one of my iPod photo's

[@NekoMichi]

I bought my LG batteries from eBay. As long as the safety board is connected correctly, there shouldn't be a fire risk. I've been using this kind of battery inside a monochrome 4th generation iPod for over a year and it hasn't failed or shown signs of degradation so far.

[@RobFieldingz]

Hey. Thanks for this vid. I’ve successfully moded my 4th gen but when I put it all back together the battery creased the IDE cable a little too much and it doesn’t see the sdcard any more. The cable shows no cracking or split but it’s obvious when I flatten it out it sometimes works - so contact has been cracked. How to avoid this problem? I have a second 4th gen and I don’t want to break the cable on a one way trip.

[@SuperRetroGameReview]

What battery did you use?

[@NekoMichi]

LG BL-53YH LG BL-51YF also works

[@skerto1]

a apple deveria relançar um ipod classic com Bluetooth e com uma bateria maior ne galera

[@CrissHW]

how you make the siri custom response? XDD

[@yurucampenjoyer9195]

Can you use compact flash card?

[@NekoMichi]

Unfortunately no, it takes up too much space and requires an adaptor that can't be shrunken.

[@LaloSalamancaGaming69]

Nice,i would give you a like but you dont have any aussie accent :( Just kidding lol,nice video

[@NekoMichi]

Power on Bluetooth mode Auxiliary mode

[@Plainapple287]

iMac

[@kacpreusz9911]

i mean, it has no good reason NOT to work

[@woodystefeneylee7290]

5 GEN IS EASIER AND BETTER..