Replacing a Phone Battery....
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On a modern "sealed-back" phone.
So, I decided that rather than buying a new phone, I would try the frugal method and replace the rapidly dying battery in my three+ year old release-month OnePlus 5T.
The OnePlus 5T is not as glue-fest as some, but as the iFixit guide warns: "The clips that hold the back on are VERY strong"
I purchased the iFixit battery replacement kit that includes the required tools for $29.95, plus a (on sale) iFixit basic kit, mostly to get an extra pile of opening picks. Also, you can always use more mini-screwdrivers, and these kits have TRUELY tiny bits.
step one: remove the absolutely microscopic torx screws in the bottom of the phone that bracket the USB-C port...
Next I used the plastic pry-tool to get a gap I could slip a pick into between the back and the screen just above the port... Terrifyingly, the back of the 5T is extremely rigid and in order to get the phone loose from the back initially, the method is to use the suction cup to pull up on the screen hard enough to flex the entire internal chassis and screen sufficiently to reduce the pressure on the bottom clips. YIKES.
BTW: avoiding turning the phone on accidentally while doing this is a PITA, I had to stop and turn it off again five times.Once the picks are jammed in, one on each side of the bottom, the iFixit guide suggests continuing to pull up on the screen with the suction device while working the pick on the left side up toward the top of the phone, popping the clips loose as you go.
after repeating the process of sliding the pick up the right side the back is mosty free of the main frame...
Now we flip the phone over on it's face and carefully disengage the last clips at the top... but the back is connected to the main chassis by two ribbon cables...
cable to the fingerprint reader pops off easily, the thicker one is held on by a tiny hinge-clip thing, which also hold the battery cable on.
with those popped loose I still have to pop loose the digitizer/screen cable that runs over the battery, this one is also one of those weird little hinge-clips, but also has a dab of reusable adhesive, sort of like the goop from a postit.
The green pull-tab on the battery makes pulling it off the very strong adhesive that holds it in place possible. Not easy, mind you, just possible. The battery bent significantly in the process and is stored in a metal can in the basement in the middle of the concrete with nothing closer than three feet to it, should it decide to burst into flames... The old battery's date stamp was 20171122 BTW.
the battery kit comes with a selection of rubbery adhesive to replace the factory crap that amazingly peels right off once the battery is no longer stuck to it...
there we are, new battery in place! Date stamp: 20200514, nice.putting the cables back on was not too bad, though the stiff one to the USB/Speaker/Headphone jack sort of requires three hands to hold the back, the cable, and the clip-hinge thing at the same time.
The back snaps back on with quite a bit of force required and loud, satisfying click noises. Putting the microscopic torx screws back in was an exercise in chanting "please don't drop this on the floor..." over and over to myself until the threads bit. They screw in with satisfying torque and really do cinch the case closed neatly.
Done! now I just have to charge the battery to 100%, shut off the power and charge it to 100% again, then wait two hours, and charge it to 100% again, then run it dead until the phone shuts itself off, and the phone is calibrated to the new battery.
We'll see how the life is now, or in the next two days or so...
I like big boost and I cannot lie.
But mostly I drive tractors. -
Nice write-up. The battery in my Pixel had tanked and I'm wondering if I should attempt this, because I'm never spending so much money on a damn cell phone again
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@dr-zoidberg said in Replacing a Phone Battery....:
Nice write-up. The battery in my Pixel had tanked and I'm wondering if I should attempt this, because I'm never spending so much money on a damn cell phone again
eep, that one looks brutal. Google does not want users fixing their own phones it seems. Or anyone fixing them, really...
instructions: https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Google+Pixel+Battery+Replacement/89128
I like big boost and I cannot lie.
But mostly I drive tractors. -
@jawzx2 I only read through step 10. No way I can pull that off.
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Nice work! I've done phone repair many times, but mostly given up on doing it recently as it's gotten to be so very difficult for no reason other than to be difficult.
I recently had the screen in my Pixel 3a replaced, then it broke again a week later. OEM glass my ass! An OEM replacement screen was $150 to do it myself though so I bought a Moto G power, been fine but a little slow. I'll limp it along a bit longer as I'm not using it a ton, then probably replace it with an iPhone SE.
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@jawzx2 Nice. It sounds very familiar to all the iphone screen replacements I’ve done. I’ll never pay for screen or battery replacements at the dealer or shop.
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@dr-zoidberg said in Replacing a Phone Battery....:
@jawzx2 I only read through step 10. No way I can pull that off.
Sure you can! Didn’t you see there’s a little suction cup to help you?
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Well done!
I once replaced the screen in a motorola droid mini (my work phone, when it broke they told me "you'll have to pay for a new one" so you bet your ass I replaced the screen myself instead). It was difficult, but not impossible. I'm sure that, as phones are getting newer, it's getting harder and harder. I would be pretty hesitant to try it again on something new.
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One of my few regrets in life is doing a screen replacement on my old iphone SE without replacing the battery at the same time. Because it doesn't matter if you shatter the screen if that's the reason you're in there in the first place! So change the battery while you're in there.
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@Jawzx2 That is amazing. Thanks for the write up. I recently cracked the screen on my Samsung Galaxy J3 and simply bought a Pixel 4a. I half want to try replacing the screen but then what would I do with two phones?
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@functionoverfashion said in Replacing a Phone Battery....:
One of my few regrets in life is doing a screen replacement on my old iphone SE without replacing the battery at the same time.
Damn, dude, I have worse regrets than that every year.
On walkabout. Back soonish.
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@Jawzx2 oh yeah, that battery better have been the source of the problem!!
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Just did it on an old Nexus 5 for fun, got it for free a while back from a friend when my old BlackBerry had problem to use as a backup. I use it as a bedside comic reader now and the battery has less than an hour life. Battery was like $10 on eBay, let's see how it holds up now.
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I can probably comment better on electronics than I can about cars. My day job is as a product safety engineer where I do the safety certification testing for lithium-ion battery powered phone and tablets.
Here are my recommendations for replacing the battery in your device.
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Would you like the battery to last longer? Lithium-ion batteries will last longer if you keep the charge in the 20 - 80% range. Don't leave a device charging overnight. At least unplug it when it's fully charged. Keep the device near room temperature and only charge at room temperature. Avoid charging in extremely hot or cold environments. If you have seen the charging carts the NFL uses for the Microsoft Surface devices, it's because it provides a temperature controlled environment for charging. It lets the devices charge at a reasonable temperature whether its a preseason Arizona Cardinals game or a December Green Bay Packers game.
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Generally, I would recommend letting a professional handle the battery replacement. I've seen what happens when it's done wrong. Will something bad happen to your device? The odds are that it won't, but what odds to you want to take?
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If possible, use an OEM battery. They are going to be expensive, but they will work and and will have the right certifications. (I recognize that many manufacturers won't sell replacement batteries for their devices.) Otherwise, get a battery that is safety certified. I strongly recommend a UL Recognized battery. The cell should be tested to UL 1642 and the pack to UL 2054. At a minimum, it should have a CB report. You can look up that report by using the battery's model number in the "Free text" field at this site. http://certificates.iecee.org/
New batteries should have a CB report to IEC 62133-2. Older batteries might only be tested to IEC 62133. OEM batteries will be tested to IEEE 1725 which is one of the more comprehensive safety standards for cell phone batteries. -
Watch out for cheap batteries. They are cheap for a reason. Buy a battery from a reputable seller. Amazon allows third-party sellers to set up virtual storefronts, and you might need to be very careful shopping there. I personally wouldn't recommend getting batteries on eBay.
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Discharge the old battery as much as possible before removing it. A lithium-ion battery with less than 30% charge is much less likely to be a problem. A fully discharged battery can more likely be removed without it becoming a safety hazard later.
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Dispose of the old batteries properly. Your waste hauler may have information on hazardous waste disposal.
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Lithium-ion batteries don't like to be bent or dented. Make sure that the battery compartment is clean with a smooth surface on which to place the new battery. The adhesive you use should be flat and smooth across a large area of the battery.
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Press the new battery into place with an even pressure across the face of the battery. Don't push on parts of it with your thumb or fingers.
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Lithium-ion batteries are stacks of anodes, cathodes and separators. To increase energy density, the separators are made as thin as possible. They can tear easily. When they tear, the anode and cathode plates can short together leading to a battery failure. The handling guidelines are to keep the flat stack of layers intact.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer.
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I've got a OnePlus 3T and I recently changed the camera and USB port. I had to resort to a screwdriver to get the back off, the plastic tool being neither sharp or strong enough.
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@cé-hé-sin said in Replacing a Phone Battery....:
I've got a OnePlus 3T and I recently changed the camera and USB port. I had to resort to a screwdriver to get the back off, the plastic tool being neither sharp or strong enough.
That's why I keep expired credit cards around, they make great pry tools.
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@cé-hé-sin the iFixit guide specifically recommends pulling with the suction cup to flex the internal chassis. I wonder if that works on the 3T as well? The 5T's back is an incredibly solid piece for how slim it is, the main chassis was definitely flexing before the back and I think it would have been impossible to remove without the suction cup tool.
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@just-jeepin While it's an exaggeration, I really try hard not to have regrets, honestly. I regret not studying abroad in college, that's a big one.
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@jawzx2
The videos I saw just showed pry tools being used but they must have had better ones than me ... -
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