How not to fix an iPod shuffle
June 18th, 2006A friend of mine has an iPod shuffle … or should I say, DID. Mentioning no names, he decided to hunt out a site to see if he could fix it himself as it was out of warranty. He dived onto Google and found a site all about opening up his ipod.
He quickly checks to make sure his iPod is defiantly dead by plugging it into his laptop, looking back probably a bad move, mainly because he got straight into “fixing it” and didn’t let it discharge but we will never fully know :).
Using a metal knife he started to ease the bottom of the case off… then with a kind of jabbing notion started to hack at it 
well then he must have hit a small capacitor and I found him running around the room swearing and screaming like a school girl wondering what to do. The iPod basically exploded in his face and caught fire, sparks flying and thick black smoke, and in the end he placed it on an electric fan, which in turn started to turn black from the smoke and heat coming out of the tiny little ipod…
I feel there are two morals of the story:
1) Apple made the iPod shuffle in a way for it not to be opened… there is a reason for this!
2) Project Managers should never think of themselves as “Hardware Engineers”.
The Dead iPod:
Ouch!
Funny.
TKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
TKS！！！！！！Verygood!!!
I’m sure he feels stupid now, but its better that the digg headline reads “man melts ipod” than “man killed by ipod”… not that they pack that kind of punch,but it would be funny, no?
[...] ALSO, NOTD podcast TONITE @ 8PM CENTRAL read more | digg story [...]
“caught”
lmao
Lmao. That’s awesome!
i took apart my ipod shuffle in the same way. luckily no explosions/fire though
Not surprised it caught on fire…It probably cost them something like, em, not a lot to make.
Idiot, or “Testing The Product”? Its a thin line
Dingis.
[...] En el blog de Francis podeis leer (en inglés) exáctamente lo que pasó. [...]
Did has? Learn your language!
How to not fix your iPod…
A guy used this article on How to open up your iPod shuffle - even though the first sentence in the guide is “Don’t!
Apple did not make it to be opened.“. Anyway he managed to get his iPod totally wasted…
How not to fix an iP…
[...] A guy used this article on How to open up your iPod shuffle - even though the first sentence in the guide is “Don’t! Apple did not make it to be opened.“. Anyway he managed to get his iPod totally wasted… [...]
Hahahaha, this is the funniest story I’ve heard in a while. Hopefully the guy is fine, I don’t hear of any hospital need required.
The iPod’s most likely have some sort of capacitor assisting the battery in charging or perhaps it’s just a capacitor. But yes they can quite dangerous. My early TV repair days we used to charge up capacitors and toss them to each other. The first one to get shocked had to buy the beers that night.
LOL
nice nice
THIS ARTICLE == TRASH
haha my name is chris t as well.
[...] more | digg story No Comments so far Leave a comment RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI Leave a comment Line and paragraph breaks automatic, e-mail address never displayed, HTMLallowed: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong> [...]
[...] Story about a guy who tried to fix his iPod shuffle and it ended up with sparks, flames and smoke flying out of it. I’m just surprised how much of the ipod melted. Its made of quite tough plastic. Think he must have got into the battery or something.read more | digg story [...]
Wie man seinen iPod shuffle nicht öffnen sollte…
So sollte man seinen iPod shuffle jedenfalls nicht öffnen: «Using a metal knife he started to ease the bottom of the case off… then with a kind of jabbing notion started to hack at it well then Chris T … I mean “he” must have hit a small capa…
[...] http://www.mantissa.net/blog Skrifað í flokkinn annað, iPod af Bjöggi | [...]
Hahaha! Thats great
originaly known as “Melting Pod”
flammender ipod…
wer aus einem ipod shuffle eine fackel fuer dunkle naechte machen moechte, sollte sich mal das howto bei francis’ durchlesen.
achtung: durch diese aktion wird der ipod beschaedigt! nachmachen auf eigene gefahr!
…
[...] According to Francis's weblog a friend decided to fix a broken iPod shuffle and it ended up in flames and melting half the case. I have no clue it's it's true or not, but still worth a read and a look at the pics for a good laugh. [...]
Owch…
Rule number 1 - Never play with something which ain't broke
Rule number 2 - Even if it is broke don't play with it
Exploding Shuffle…
Looks like the poor Doctor got it wrong.
HAHA!
wow. I was just about to “fix” mine… it just stopped working. I tried the software update first, thank god.
All props to steve and his “we expect you to buy a new IPod every year”…
It shows that Mission Impossible operatives no longer receive their instructions on analogue storage…
This ipod will now self destruct in 5 seconds.
[...] [Via mantissa.net] [...]
Ouch, it must be hurt and shock!
too bad the shuffle went down in flames. at least it made a good story.
we just blogged about it on methodshop.com: http://www.methodshop.com/2006/06/kentucky-fried-shuffle.shtml
[...] Filed under: Portable Audio Not that we should really have to remind you of such things, but trying to fix your own gadgets by bludgeoning them with a knife is not only ineffective, it can also result in you swearing and screaming in pain after the capacitor you impaled blows up in your face. [...]
Did it fix it though
man, i am really surprised at how much it melted as well. being a tech repair guy, that’s a great wall-hanger!
he must have stabbed the li-ion battery. there arent any capacitors in there big enough to cook.
The shuffle sucks. I’ve had three die under warranty. One drop of sweat falls on it and gets into the switch and it’s gone. Apple’s lost a ton replacing mine, but when this one dies it’s gone. Unless I buy the $30 iCondom to keep it dry I can’t wear it on my bike or at the gym.
You know it doesnt look like he hit a capacitator but the battery itself…
one word:
IDIOT.
[...] Check out the provided images for the full story. [...]
Yeah it must have been the battery, not a cap.
Cheers, Ed
How not to fix an iPod shuffle…
iPod: 1Knife-wielding owner: 0…
>> he must have stabbed the li-ion battery. there arent any capacitors in there big enough to cook.
OH GREAT! Now here comes another iPod lawsuit.
THAT IS THE FUNNIEST THING I’VE EVER READ/LOOKED IN THE GENERAL DIRECTION OF. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA…FIRE…
I go to TKS
[...] Cuando uno tiene conexión a Internet y Google de su lado, se siente omnipotente. Se puede ser programador, Matemático, Analista político, periodista y hasta Ingeniero en Sistemas. Pero siendo sinceros, en muchos casos las habilidades no son tan buenas, y eso fue justamente lo que le pasó a este tipo. Intentó abrir un iPod Shuffle, para arreglarlo por si mismo. Siguiendo una guía, echó manos sobre su iPod, pero el resultado no fue el que esperaba. Por cierto, aquí está la guía de cómo NO arreglar un iPod. [...]
Didn’t he listen the “This message will self-destruct in five seconds” ?
[...] Read [...]
[...] Apple no fabricó ninguno de sus iPod con la intención de que el usuario final los abriera. Aún así y si la garantía ya no corre uno puede correr el riesgo… claro que a veces se gana y otras se pierde. [...]
[...] How not to fix an iPod shuffle [...]
[...] Per fortuna non il mio, anche perchè non ne posseggo uno. L’iPod Shuffle di un tale Chris, desideroso di aggiustare da solo il suo apparecchio, non ha ottenuto altro risultato se non quello di vederlo letteralmente avvolto dalle fiamme. Morale della favola? Fate attenzione quando aprite un iPod (oppure non apritelo proprio). [mantissa.net] [...]
Will serve the man right for buying an i-pod shuffle instead of a much superior product like the mobiblu cubes.
But then people will always be sheep huh
It was probably the battery pack that exploded - the reason lots of cheap mobile phone battery packs have been exploding recently is because a chemical reaction occurs when the different layers in the batteries are shorted out (such as by a knife sticking through them).
I had an iPod for about six months, during which time it was dropped often and replaced somewhere around 3 or 4 times. I gave up on that piece of crap…
But last christmas I got a Creative Zen, which has been dropped the same amount, and I’ve had for LONGER than six months, and has NEVER given me any problems.
[...] En rigtig iPod-dræber By McWill Do you wonder which gadget is the next iPod killer? Well, a metal knife will do the job, like this dude. [...]
Thks I will not try open it.
I think that Apple made it so it wouldn’t be opened on purpose. so that there project ideas wouldn’t be stolen by some other company. For example let’s say SanDisk wanted to make a cheaper version of the Apple I-Pod Shuffle, so if they tried to open it, it would blow up in their faces.
I dont know about you guys, but i think that it was smart for the Apple Team to do that.
“well then he must have hit a small capacitor”
He stabbed the battery pack. If you looked at the pictures on that site, the battery is in the bottom of the Shuffle. The way the iPod melted and essentially burst into flames, it’s pretty obvious that’s what happened.
[...] If you consider opening your beloved Ipod Shuffle, you really should take a look of what it could happen… This what a geek did after reading an article on How to open up your iPod shuffle. He should have read carefully the first part: “Apple did not make it to be opened. The featured on this page did not live to tell its story itself…” [...]
I have done this, but with much more success.
Top 10 reasons to stab an iPod shuffle with a knife
1. Wanted a nano
2. Didn’t like the music
3. That is was the DEVIL
4. Was upset when Sweden equalized
5. Wanted to see what would happen
6. It was being worn by his wife’s lover
7. Trying to invent a lawsuit against Apple
8. Microsoft engineer frustrated trying to reverse engineer it
9. It won’t accept his WMA files
10. I thought it had video!
ops.
[...] Francis, a friend of Chris T who blogged about this story, feels there are 2 morals or lessons to be learned from this experience: [...]
[...] A friend of mine has an iPod shuffle … or should I say, DID. Mentioning no names, he decided to hunt out a site to see if he could fix it himself as it was out of warranty. He dived onto Google and found a site all about opening up his ipod.He quickly checks to make sure his iPod is defiantly dead by plugging it into his laptop, looking back probably a bad move, mainly because he got straight into fixing it and didnt let it discharge but we will never fully know .Using a metal knife he started to ease the bottom of the case off… then with a kind of jabbing notion started to hack at it well then he must have hit a small capacitor and I found him running around the room swearing and screaming like a school girl wondering what to do. The iPod basically exploded in his face and caught fire, sparks flying and thick black smoke, and in the end he placed it on an electric fan, which in turn started to turn black from the smoke and heat coming out of the tiny little ipod… I feel there are two morals of the story:1) Apple made the iPod shuffle in a way for it not to be opened… there is a reason for this!2) Project Managers should never think of themselves as Hardware Engineers.:) [...]
That’s Great
lamao
That wasn’t a capacitor. Capacitors pop, and this only happens when they are electrically mishandled. Lithium-ion batterys explode/burst into flames, and that’s why internal batteries aren’t only stupid, they’re dangerous.
[...] Vía | mantissa En chimi.es | iPod shuffle cortocircuitado [...]
Do any of you out there no where I can have inexpensive repairs (£60 quoted by Apple) done to my daughters ipod shuffle? It could be a ploy for an upgrade but i’d like to try the old-fashioned route of trying to get it fixed first! Thanks
[...] The other recent battery malfunction comes from a not so tech savi project manager trying to fix his ipod shuffle. In an attempt to open his beloved mp3 player he jabbed it with a metal knife and came a little to close to the battery. He quickly found him self dodging flames and black fumes coming from the ipod suffle. I think the pictures speak for them selves. [...]
You people complaining and dangerously ripping open iPod’s realize you can get a brand spanking new Shuffle for $69?
I believe he shorted out the battery with the knife, because the area where the iPod is melted is the size, shape, and location of the shuffle’s battery. If you short a battery, it will dissipate as much power as possible (electrical engineers know P = (V^2)/R, and if R -> 0, P -> infinity). This is the likely cause of the heat and consequent melting. The capacitors in the shuffle are tiny; they couldn’t possibly have stored enough energy to cause that (or any) heat damage. Just thought someone might want a more accurate opinion on what happened.
Hi. The iPod was shorted out by a cabal of Jewish engineers who perfected the science of invisibility and secretly control the entire universe including Burger King, but not McDonalds. They call to me hypersonically from the little holes in the electrical sockets telling me to produce movies about phony messiahs who didn’t really exist. The dead iPod is NOT an example of the Holocaust although their are millions of dead iPods which have been burried in mass graves in Croatia. Hi, sugartits.
[...] iPod Shuffle wins battle with knife-wielding owner - Engadget links to a blog by Francis “How not to fix an iPod shuffle” in which he describes his friend’s ill-fated attempt to fix his own iPod shuffle. You all know how I feel about all things Apple, and this just takes the cake. The poor guy was just trying to fix his iPod with a kitchen knife, I mean, if you can’t trust the info you find on a website on how to open your supposedly un-openable iPod, well, just who can you trust? Some of the comment’s on Francis’s blog are really funny. [...]
I just wanted to comment that I had an iPod Shuffle completely die and it was non-responsive in 3 different computers, however, I plugged it into an iPod “USB Power Adapter” and it charged up and came alive again!
OMG.. today i was at my cousins house then after i wanyted to charge my ipod so then i put it in some usb thingy in the harddrive then 2 moinutes later i had to go home then i took out my ipod shuffle from the usb thingy then it was burning hot! and everything melt… er! if you have warranty do you need a reciept???
[...] Story about a guy who tried to fix his iPod shuffle and it ended up with sparks, flames and smoke flying out of it. I’m just surprised how much of the ipod melted. Its made of quite tough plastic. Think he must have got into the battery or something.read more | digg story [...]
Can I have the USB part to fix my iPod Shuffle? I am fully competent.
Organisation specialising in web design and development with a particular focus on content management systems and creating effective web environments.
[...] Visto en mantissa [...]
[...] Francis’ Weblog » How not to fix an iPod shuffle Pourquoi il ne faut pas réparer les Apple, ni les acheter, en fait (tags: iPod fun) [...]
wtf if ur trying to carefuly open an ipod why would u stab it?!?
look like your ipod battery has born down. i am working in ipod maybe i can fix it.
this is stupid i still can;t found out how to fix my shuffle!!! the head phone socket is bust and i need to get in at the top!!!!
i would like to do this exact same thing to mine i think i might and post u some more pictures!! hahahaha
WTF is the guy a layman he doesnt even know how to describe the ipod circuitry “For a USB plug it has a remarkable amount of stuff on it.” he shud go to a technical school first
iPod Shuffle? Meet Manhattan Traffic…
I don’t know how or why the tradition of posting pictures of severely damaged personal electronics began. Here’s an example, and another, and still another. So with this odd tradition in mind, I thought I’d post these pictures of a……
James the wonderhubby (and electronics technician/engineer) says it was likely the battery that he hit. Nasty though. I’ll keep my daughter’s knives and her iPod from playing together.
did ur freind got hurt , did she burn her face something like that
He must have shorted something with his knife, the only way to discharge it would be to leave it on and let it run, but having said that apple didn’t make it to be opened.. it wont be a capacitor, i dont know any capacitor that can fit inside an ipod that can blow can cause enough heat to melt the case like that. however when he pluged into the laptop on a shorted shuffle, lucky it was only the ipod that was on fire. I hope nothing got in his eyes
That’s funny the guy must be embarrassed
[...] who zapped themselves but good by taking apart monitors. Here’s one more reason not to do it: iPod Shuffle of Doom! “…[He] must have hit a small capacitor and I found him running around the room swearing and [...]
T____T how sad!!!
Awesome! Very funny.
this is fake and no one should believe it…….. BS
This is so fake……..dont believe it…………….. BS
was his ipod on whn he did this?
[...] read more | digg story [...]
capacitor do not burst into flames they may spark if shorted out. Electrolytic capacitors can explode but all they do is spray a toothpaste like substance every where. I have a hard time believing that the sparks caused by any cap in an iPod could cause something to catch fire.
this is BS
i have one ipod of apple and my ipod is no work porperly so please tell me that at which he service station is there in gujarat in india ok
i’m already crying. what a waste of “good” hardware.