I had seen all the photos but appreciate the encouragement.
Dental floss has helped open up a more useable slit. I'll try to be
patient. Thanks.

"Jeff Liebermann" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 12 Aug 2012 10:23:25 -0500, Jim Yanik
wrote:

http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Installing-iPod-Nano-3rd-Generation-Battery-Replacement/749/1
maybe someone who has their IPod apart should snap some pics of the case
and post them so that others can see where the catches are.

That's exactly what the iFixit web site tries to do. See above URL.
Note that the title describes battery replacement as "very difficult".

BTW,there's a lot of uses for the metal banding used to tie down shipping
crates and large packages. Like scrapers,shims,all sorts of things.
When ever I find a large piece,I cut off some strips to stash away.

Different type of band. The back of the iPod is stainless steel,
which is very slightly flexible along the rolled edges. Spot welded
to the inside of this edge is a strip of stainless steel with detents
bent inward forming the hook part of a latching mechanism. The size
and shape of the hooks vary depending on product mutation. Here's the
enlarged iPod Nano 3rd mechanism:
http://guide-images.ifixit.net/igi/SRSp1IEOFyiCabd1.huge

The socket part is provided by the cast aluminum frame of the iPod.
There's a very thin o-ring in a grove in the aluminum frame for
waterproofing. When snapped together, the bent stainless strip locks
into sockets cast into the aluminum.

The problem is that there are no provisions in this mechanism for
disassembly. There's no way to get under the latching mechanism to
release it. A simple goove in the top of the frame would have done
that. Instead, one must pry the very inflexible stainless back of the
iPod outward and hope that the latches will release. Too much
pressure and you can break the glass front. Use the wrong tools, and
you'll mangle the stainless strip or aluminum casting, which won't be
noticable until it fails to snap back together.

Like anything complex, dealing with Apple's award winning and customer
resistent mechanical designs does take some practice. I've
disassembled a few and have noticed that later models are becoming
increasingly more difficult to disassemble. Apparently the highly
"green" Apple is not concerned about the reparability of their
products.
http://www.apple.com/environment/


--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558