This guide should cover the process of installing both ionity batteries (no longer available) and replacement ipod batteries such as those made by Newertech. Note that it requires the iriver be disassembled which will void your warranty.
If you are reading through this guide and debating whether to go ahead or not then there is another option to consider. Misticriver has its own replacement service
here [LINK].
What Battery to use and where to buy it
Any first or second gen ipod replacement battery should work. Smaller capacity (
<1700mAh) batteries will fit better than the larger capacity 2200mAh ones.
Saints created this thread in which links to sources of batteries can be found:
LINK [click me]
Useful Stuff to have:
Set of small flat-head and Phillips screwdrivers.
A few small secure boxes.
A Large working space: helps when you drop a screw.
A knife with a broad blade.
Pair of tweezers.
Optionally a small sharp knife/penknife
Replacing the battery
There are two methods for changing the battery: one involves Switching the polarity by changing the wires at the molex plug, the other is to cut and then splice or solder the wires. Although splicing or soldering avoids completely disassembling the unit but there is allot more to go wrong. If you are completely happy with performing such procedures on such thin wires then it may be worthwhile but i cant recommend it.
There is also a video
here [link] with an alternative method to the one below.
Please note: That video guide does not include the polarity swap essential to all ipod batteries except ones bought from the people who made the video.
This guide describes how to do it the first way.
Step 1 - removing the H300's back case
First, you need to remove the five screws from around the sides of the unit, There are two at the bottom and one on each of the other sides. The ones at the bottom are longer than the others so when it comes to rebuilding the unit remember where they go.
After that the back of the case can be pulled off by hand. If it wont move then wedge a knife under it at one edge and lift it off.
Do not attempt to remove the front now, it will not budge.
Step 2 - removing the hard drive and padding
Now that the back case is off you should see the battery, carefully move it to one side (it will still be attached).
Next, remove the metal piece ringed in red by simply pulling it upwards:
See also:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y19.../metalbit2.jpg
Then remove the blue padding covering the hard drive (it may feel like it is stuck on but should peel off easily).
The hard drive can be removed by gently lifting it up and pulling it in the direction of the red arrow (away from the pins that connect it):
Sorry about the image quality on this one, it was taken with my phone camera.
Place the hard drive somewhere safe and remove the next piece of blue padding.
Step 3 - Removing the front case of the iriver
You should now be able to see the circuit board of the h300. There are eight screws holding the front case to the rest of the unit, these must all be removed.
This photo shows where they all are. Be very careful not to forget the one behind the hard drive connector. The 'hidden' screw also holds a piece of metal in place, put that with the screws.
This part is where some tweezers come in handy. Use them to remove the screws from the board once they are unscrewed.
Once all the screws are out the front can be pulled off in the same way as the back but to help get it off do the following:
Push a small flat head screwdriver down between the black plastic making up the side of the case and the metal prongs which the screws on the side screw into:
Keep pushing until the side part separates like so:
Repeat this on the other side of the case. The front should now come off easily.
Step 4 - detaching the old battery
You should now see this:
The molex is highlighted.
To remove the molex I find the following method the easiest:
Look through the back of the case so that you can see the bottom of the molex plug. The carefully align a flat-head screwdriver up with the bottom of the molex plug like so:
Next, try to get the player into the position shown in the next photo. This can be fiddly.
Move the screwdriver in the directions of the arrows, but don't press upwards to hard. The molex plug should pull out quite easily.
Step 5 - Reversing the polarity on your new battery NOTE: this is for ipod replacement batteries only. If you have a Cameron Sino battery then it may have the correct polarity for use in H300's. Usually compatible batteries have a sticker saying they are designed for iriver models on the packaging but this is not always the case. If you are unsure of your batteries polarity then using a multimeter to check it against the original is advisable.
This is the fiddliest bit of the whole process.
Before you begin it is a good idea to note which wire goes into which side of the molex.
The wires are held in the plug by two plastic prongs which can be seen in this photo:
To remove the wires from the plug, use a very small flathead screwdriver or knife to
gently lift up one of the prongs:
Some have reported that the metal sheath at the end of the wires can be pulled off when using a screwdriver, and found a knife better for this step, but this has never happened to me.
Once you have a situation like the one in the picture the wire under that prong can be easily pulled out.
Be very careful not to short the wires when you are doing this. Shorting the battery can damage it
Repeat this with the other wire and simply push the wires into the opposite holes they were in before. Make sure you put them in the right holes (the note made earlier helps), because as simple as it sounds I got mixed up once.
Thread the molex and wires through the back of the case and plug the molex back into its socket. Just carefully push it in.
Step 6 - Testing and Rebuilding
You may want to add an
inskin [link] to the player now as the case is easily accessible.
The first thing to check is that the battery is connected properly. To do this just try powering on the player whilst it is dissembled (it does not matter if the hard drive is plugged in or not). Batteries are usually shipped with 60% capacity so if the connection is ok it should turn on. If the player fails to power on it could be the battery has gone flat in storage (If you are a rockbox user please also check the
'For rockbox users' section below). Plug in the charger and leave it for about half an hour. Unplug it and try again. If it still will not turn on then there is probably a connection issue (note that some players will display the 'charging' message when the AC-adaptor is plugged in even if no battery connection is present, so this is not a basis to test whether the battery is connected properly). Try re-seating the molex plug and make sure the wires are pushed far enough into the molex. If it still wont work then there may be other problems with your player, or the battery may be faulty/dead.
Next check that you have left no dust or fingerprints on the LCD or the inside of the front case's screen. Its very frustrating if you put the unit back together and the display is dirty.
Push the front case onto the player until it clicks in place. Turn the player over and replace the screws to the circuit board. Tweezers help allot when doing this. Don't forget to replace the small piece of metal removed from behind the hard drive connector in step 3.
Replace the bottom piece of padding, then plug the hard drive back in. The HDD should fit snugly into the bottom piece of padding.
Replace the topmost padding and the metal piece shown in step 2 :
[link - click me]
Most batteries will fit into the remaining space without much trouble, there should never be any need to leave out the blue padding. You can/should remove the black sponge padding from the inside of the back case if you have a larger battery.
Also, if you have a big 2000mAh+ battery it is recommended that you sand/grind down the metal protrusions inside the back case (see pic below). This helps reduce pressure on the battery and hard drive, and also prevents the protrusions denting and therefore damaging the battery.
Next, Fit the battery into the back part of the case and line it up as if you are going to replace the back. Make sure that the wires from the battery are tucked down the side of the hard drive so they wont be squashed. Push the case back on.
It is unlikely the large batteries will fit as easily as with the old battery but if you gently squeeze the case closed when you are replacing the screws around the side of the case it should be fine. As well as that trimming some of the foil from the side of the battery (down the side where the foil wraps around there should be some excess) can help. Batteries of similar proportions to the old battery will fit with no trouble.
Remember to put the long screws into the bottom of the unit.
Finally, turn your modded iriver on and enjoy.
Side effects of battery replacement
> Longer charge time. The battery should take longer to charge but in some instances it can take excessively long. If the battery has been charging for over 4h 30min (from flat) then try turning the unit on and off(while its still plugged in) and the iriver firmware will usually display the 'complete!' message. It is unclear whether this damages the battery but mine is still going strong after a year and its always been like this.
> Hard drive noises / 'Check HDD connection' message. These can be caused by the battery putting pressure on the hard drive. This happened to me and all I did was open up the unit and shift the battery a little. Constant dropping had somehow moved the battery.
This will also be caused if the battery balloons. This can occur with faulty batteries and any batteries that do this should be disconnected and thrown away, do not pierce them.
Check
www.batteryuniversity.com for more info on ballooning batteries and other info on batteries in general.
> Warming up during charging. The batteries can produce allot of heat when in the initial stages of charging (from flat) this is normal, although the unit should not get hot.
For Rockbox Users
Important: When booting the first time after reconnecting the battery, the screen may stay black because of an issue in the bootloader. Force a boot into the original firmware *once* to turn the backlight on.
You can change the capacity of the battery in rockbox once the new battery is fitted. (General Settings > System > Battery Capacity) This is so that the time remaining can be calculated correctly. This has no effect on runtime.
If you need any more info or have a question PM me.
*DISCLAIMER* I accept no responsibility for people damaging their irivers whilst carrying out the process above. Nor do accept responsibility for any damage occurring as a result of battery replacement.