With summer bike riding around the corner, I decided to charge up my Tunebug Shake. The trusty device fired up and seemed to be charging, but I found that when I unplugged the USB charging cable and played music, it soon turned off on its own.

Figuring it might be the battery, I visited Tunebug’s website and was surprised that they do not offer a battery replacement and worse, this is what their support site advises:

Does Tunebug offer a battery replacement or upgrade?
Tunebug does not offer a battery replacement or upgrade service. The device will need to be recycled in the event the battery completely wears out over time.

Since the Shake seemed like it could be destined for a recycling facility, I decided to take it apart to see what sort of battery was inside and how easy it might be to swap it. Turns out, it is very easy to work with – only 4 screws need to be removed with a Torx T-6 bit.

Once inside, I found a battery measuring about 25 mm x 25 mm that was easily removed by pulling the battery’s plug from the board. The battery had a slight bulge to it and wasn’t registering much of a charge on my multimeter, so I looked for replacements on the web. I found AtomIndustries.com selling a ASD1190 – 3.7v Lithium Ion Polymer Lipo Battery 500mAh on eBay. The replacement battery was about $10 shipped and I would only have to swap plugs from the old battery to the new one with a little bit of solder, so I decided to try it. The replacement battery arrived a couple days later, I cut the plugs and soldered the swap, and the Shake fired right up and ran on its own again! It was obviously much tighter getting the new battery back inside the Shake, but it worked and should provide several more years of enjoyment. Thank you atomindustries.com!