iPod Battery replacement for iPod Nano 4?

[Riku7]

Time to face the facts: My 4th generation iPod Nanos all need a new battery.
Two out of three batteries are already swollen, judging by the black stain that has appeared to the screen. The stain on one is about 1cm long, and another one just developed a smaller stain at the end of this summer. The small stain seems to go away sometimes but I decided to clear them from data and not charge them anymore so I wouldn't make the situation worse. I have to deal with this.
The only battery that doesn't show signs of swelling lasts less than 2 hours. I have acquired these iPods in a used condition within the last 1,5 years or so, because I wanted to keep different types of data on separate iPods and not run out of space.

To my surprise, I've just sourced a shop that actually sells replacement batteries for these. But has anyone actually done it, successfully or unsuccessfully?
For the iPod with the asymptomatic battery, I would probably dare to just follow the iFixit guide if I can convince myself to not break anything due to clumsiness. But I'm worried about the swollen batteries on the other two; How dangerous is it to operate on them when in such condition?

I recently removed a swollen battery from an iPhone 3GS and it was my first such job; The front display had bulged from the edge slightly. I got the battery out but with the iPhone, it's more like "undoing a sandwich", while with an iPod Nano 4, you're supposed to slide its contents out from the top or bottom end.

Thoughts?

 

[barbu]

just follow ifixit and you should be fine. Handling the swollen batteries should be fine, unless they have ruptured. Have some gloves on hand.

 

[Tritto]

I recently tried replacing the battery in a Nano 4. It's a lot trickier than a classic or an iPhone, but of which I've done a few times.
I actually messed it up - damaging the click wheel cable when reassembling it. I then took it all apart and put the guts into a second case (which had a damaged LCD) and that never came to life. Basically, I've likely busted two nanos. I'll go back and try again sometime, but it's far from an easy repair.
I've bought a batch of iPod Minis since they're much easier to work on and I can increase the storage cheaply.

 

[Riku7]

Have some gloves on hand.

For?

I've bought a batch of iPod Minis since they're much easier to work on and I can increase the storage cheaply.

Yikes, the story sounds pretty scary. I've got 3 and I have to start somewhere, but... Uhh, I wish there were a service that did these.
What about the battery life on the Minis? How much storage can you get, and are they new parts or something that you have to hunt? I kind of do appreciate having the cover images though... I use iPods for my own music stuff sometimes and being able to create cover images for the tracks is a massive help in navigating the content without having to wait for the track names to scroll.
And I'd rather not go for Nano 5 because I hate add-on cameras on everything except computers, and the surface looks distractingly shiny; As in, if you're supposed to look at something and see the actual contents properly, surely the material choice isn't right if you can see your own reflection and the surroundings from it a bit too well. Back when I had an aluminium iMac, I just removed the shiny plastic covering the screen, because it was like a mirror. Absolutely hated it, coming from the practical and perfect matte screen on iMac G5.

 

[musknikki09]

If it is out of warranty, Apple once would replace the battery in any iPod nano model for a cost of US$59 plus US$6.95 shipping, but it no longer does.

 

[Riku7]

If it is out of warranty, Apple once would replace the battery in any iPod nano model for a cost of US$59 plus US$6.95 shipping, but it no longer does.

It's hard to imagine that many people would've needed a battery replacement within the warranty period already. And I think it takes much longer for a battery to start swelling up. I'm pretty sure that the swelling happens when the device hasn't been charged for a long time, then it's sold as unnecessary, charged again, and there it goes. Batteries are meant to be charged regularly.

 

[Riku7]

Got a new battery. It would be great to put it to the otherwise working iPod that has the worst battery life, but because it also has the most storage capacity, I thought I'd practice with the one that only shows swollen battery signs on the screen when charged – so it definitely needs a battery change because it can't be used anymore, but it might not be too swollen yet.

Well, after releasing the ends, I can only pull the contents out by about half a centimeter. Extremely hard to get a nice grip of the bit that I'm supposed to be grabbing to pull. Succeeded on the next day, but now pushing in the display feels weird: The way they do it in videos makes it seem so simple and easy, but mine isn't coming off and I'm afraid to use more pressure because pushing it makes the black bits appear onto the screen again due to the battery pushing against it...

And is there any actual proof of someone having changed a battery that is already showing signs of swelling? Or is it too late for those iPods?