Very good. It would be simpler, for those who can contemplate it, to just cut the wires to the heating element and thermistor a couple of inches away from them. and splice the new ones in, paying attention to heat-shrinking the joints. Then you don't have to rewire all the way back to the PCB. You need soldering and heatshrinking facilities for this procedure.

The 'you need' list should also include zip ties.

Not everybody has a microwave. You should provide a target temperature for the iOpener and instructions for a conventional oven, or pot of warm water, or whatever. Although I will probably use a heat gun …

This is a poor place to start. You risk damaging the volume control. It makes more sense to start at the bottom, at the Home button, where there is plenty of room and nothing to damage.

Having done this a few times I now disagree with step1. The thing to do is to pry *at* the clips, to release them. Not between them. Thay way you don't risk breaking other things such as the volume control, dock connector, earphone socket, etc. Just pry at each clip in turn, bend inwards to release the clip, and catch the cover edge so it doesn't slip back into position.

The first thing to do before any work on the hardware is to synchronize the iPod with iTunes. It may come up in a state which needs resetting and restoring from the latest backup. I agree with the comment saying more photos and better instructions are needed at steps 2-6. This is the hardest part and it is also a step where you can do serious physical damage. I also agree that a metal tool is needed for this step, although to be used very carefully. The plastic one provided is not strong enough and flexes too much in the first stage. Solder wick is definitely the answer to the desoldering step, and if you're a competent solderer with a good iron you don't need the masking tape at steps 23-4. The other hard part is reattaching the cable removed in step 8. If your big round button doesn't work on reassembly, this is why. You need tweezers, or sensitive fingers, for this step, and patience. The hints about cleaning should be given at the end, not at the beginning.