Hi all,

I have recently been given a dead iPod Nano 2G to play with and have this evening stripped it into it's component parts. I have the housing, LCD, motherboard, click-wheel-thingy, LiPo battery all separated and have been looking for info as to which parts I can salvage and use for my own projects.

During browsing, I came across some very stern warnings about LiPo batteries - over charged/discharged cells, punctured cells, bent cells, overheated cells being susceptible to balooning/catching fire/exploding as long as up to 24 hours after damage.

This iPod had been wet previously and evidence of a little electrolysis was found on the docking connector on the motherboard. Also, electrolysis was found around the charger/temp sensor IC's, so that board was removed and the cell checked for voltage. The cell measured around 2.6V and that, combined with some degree of flexing when removing it from the motherboard, led me to beleive that I may have a potential problem after doing a little research.

Sooooo, the cell is now in the back garden with the terminal strips taped up, inside a taped up tin, with a brick on top.

Am I being over-cautious?

I haven't used LiPo cells previously, so don't really know how to handle them.

What would you do with it?

P.S. I haven't tried to charge it.

 

Charge it up, of course! How much damage could those tiny little batteries do? Aren't you just a little curious? I think most battery packs have some built-in protection. I just started messing with LiPos a few months ago, and no smoke or fire yet.

The LCD should be usable, just saw something yesterday, but it was for PIC, so didn't pay enough attention to remember where. The had the pin assignments though. I don't use PIC or Ipod...

 

I know the thread listed below is from a few years ago, but it has to make you wary:

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=209187

Scroll down a bit for the pics and horror story links...RC planes crashed & put into the car, only to have it engulfed in flames later, pets chewing on cells & setting fire to homes, cells igniting after tens of minutes inattention during charging etc. etc.