Introduction
Use this guide to replace the worn out battery in your Apple Watch Series 1.
Note: If your battery is swollen, take appropriate precautions.
Tools
Parts
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Prepare an iOpener (or grab a hair dryer or heat gun) and heat the face of the watch until it's slightly too hot to touch.
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Leave the iOpener on the watch for at least a minute to fully heat the screen and soften the adhesive holding it to the case.
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Place the curved section of the blade in the gap between the glass and case on the lower edge of the watch face, and press firmly straight down into the gap.
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When the glass has lifted, gently rotate the knife down, opening the gap more by pushing the glass up.
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Once you've opened the gap enough, insert the tip of an opening pick under the glass.
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Slide the pick along the bottom edge to separate adhesive holding the screen to the case.
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Roll the opening pick up the side of the button side of the watch, gently pushing in to separate the adhesive and widening the gap as you go.
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Continue working the pick around the perimeter of the screen, rolling down along the left side to cut the last of the adhesive.
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While holding the first pick in place, use a second to check that all of the adhesive is separated around the entire perimeter of the screen.
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Pry slightly up on the right side of the screen, to free it from any remaining adhesive.
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Pry up on the left to free it as well—but do not attempt to remove the screen as it is still held in place by two cables.
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The top layer of the sensor may be adhered to the back of the screen—if so, push it back down and separate it.
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Place the watch on an elevated surface, at least 1/2" or 1 cm tall—a small box or the edge of a book will work great. This will allow the screen to hang down vertically and give better access to the battery.
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Use scissors to cut one of your opening picks to about the width of the battery. Try not to leave any sharp corners.
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Insert the modified pick between the right side of the battery and the case.
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Use constant, steady pressure to slowly pry the battery up, separating it from the adhesive securing it to the system board.
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On the larger (42 mm) models, it's possible to accidentally pry at the system board underneath the battery. Insert the pick only far enough to get underneath the battery, not the system board.
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If needed, apply a little high concentration isopropyl alcohol (90% or greater) around and under the battery to help weaken the adhesive.
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Hold the battery up and out of the way, to expose the battery cable connector.
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Use a plastic opening tool, prying against the bottom of the case to separate the battery cable connector from the watch's battery cable.
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Remove the battery from the watch.
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Continue from Step 17 of our Force Touch Sensor guide to re-seal your watch and complete your repair.
18 comments
Hi,
I am replacing a battery that swelled and pushed the screen up. This is the original Apple Watch it was working prior to replacing battery but only lasted a few hours. Got first battery and it didn’t do anything, retailer replaced it since it was a dud. New battery in and placed on charger and I got the snake charging symbol then nothing. When I try to force reset, shows white Apple logo and then disappears and does nothing. Help!? Thanks
Same!!!! The Apple logo comes up and then disappears when charging only??!!
Ditto.
I replaced the battery with a new battery and when charging, the Watch will display the Apple Logo for <1 second, and then be blank for a while.
Hi, i had the same problem. After changing the battery, firstly the watch has started. So i have let the watch until the battery was empty and charged it. After a night of charging trying to start the watch : green snake !
So i have let the watch during one week without recharging it. Then i have put the watch on the charger during 2 hours and the watch had started by itself and now all is ok.
luc poli -
Hello, I just replaced the battery on my Apple watch series 1 and have the same issue as some other were already facing while trying to charge the watch : the apple logo appears for few seconds and then disappear again and do the same continuously (sometimes it disappears in a red tainted color). I tried the hard reset, but it was unsuccessful. Does anybody have a solution to this issue ? Many thanks in advance for your help !
Hello!
Did you found the solution?
My Apple Watch serie1 it’s doing the same thing as you described. I’m wondering if did you found the solution, before makes the inversion on a new battery. I would really appreciate!!!
A solution for me : Look at the response i made for Michael Gagne on this page.
luc poli -
If you have this problem, the battery is not connected properly. Although it may look as though it is, the battery connector is either misaligned or not pressed together correctly. Once connected correctly, the watch will need to be placed on its charger where is will show a white apple logo for a number of minutes before finally booting into WatchOS.
Same issue i am also facing