Motorola Moto 360 2nd Gen Battery Replacement

Written By: kushyal Budhan
  • Comments: 47
Motorola Moto 360 2nd Gen Battery Replacement

Difficulty

Moderate

Steps

14

Time Required

20 - 40 minutes

Introduction

Use this guide to replace the battery in your Motorola Moto 360 2nd Gen. The battery part numbers are FW3S and FW3L for the 42mm and 46mm respective case sizes.

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    • Use your finger or the tip of a spudger to compress the pin securing the watch band.

    • With the pin compressed, remove the watch band.

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    • Insert an opening tool to into the small notch next to the microphone hole.

    • Slide the opening tool around the perimeter of the trim ring while prying up slightly to slice through the adhesive securing the ring to the watch.

    • If the trim ring does not readily separate from the watch, heat it with an iOpener or hair dryer to soften the adhesive.

    • Remove the trim ring.

    I am salivating at the trim ring because I've needed one for about a year and a half ?

    Buff Boi -

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    • Use an opening tool to slowly pry the button trim ring straight up.

    • If you bend or rotate the trim ring while removing it, you may damage the small pins that secure it.

    • Remove the trim ring.

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    • Use a small pin spanner to unscrew the button.

    • If you don't have access to the proper spanner, you can use a pair of tweezers, a very small screwdriver, or a paperclip to unscrew the button assembly. Insert your chosen tool into one of the grooves around the button and push sideways.

    • There is blue thread locker on these threads, so light heat on the button may help to soften the thread locker.

    • Remove the button.

    • There is a small red o-ring that may fall off the button threads when the button is removed. Make sure not to lose the o-ring.

    Leave the ring from the previous step partially in and use it as a wrench on the actual nut.

    bennettr8 -

    It's a great idea in theory, but how do you grip the ring to turn it?

    Ryan Erickson -

    You are my hero! Heating and trying to turn it using tweezers didn't work, but this did.

    Brent Womble -

    Literally jabbed myself with tweezers trying the op way. Thank you for this. I’d rather keep the rest of my blood in my body.

    Giovanni -

    Brilliant suggestion many thanks.

    Barry van Uden -

    How do you get the ring to do that? Having a hard time with this step 😅

    Andres Duran Kenny Espinosa -

    Note that the recommended Spanner Set on this page is too big for this job, None of the "pins" fit.

    Andres Duran Kenny Espinosa -

    Ik heb werkelijk geen idee hoe ik die pijn los krijg. Kan dit vergroot worden getoond op de foto? Eventueel met meer uitleg (welke kant draai je op, wat draai je precies). Verder super blij met deze uitleg, maar ik loop dus helaas vast.

    Roger Milder -

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    • While holding the outer case steady, twist the inner watch assembly clockwise until it stops.

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    • Hold the outer watch case steady and push against the bottom of the inner assembly to remove the inner assembly from the frame.

    • It should not take much force to push the inner assembly out of the watch frame. If it seems stuck, make sure that you've rotated the inner assembly far enough to release it from the frame.

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    • Use a fingernail or opening tool to pry the plastic lower assembly away from the display assembly.

    • Do not completely separate the lower assembly from the display assembly yet. There is a cable connecting the two that must be disconnected first.

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    • Use tweezers to remove the small rubber strip between the battery and the display ZIF connector.

    What if the rubber strip tears? What is it’s purpose?

    Neil Myrick -

    This and the following step are unnecessary.

    Drive Foxes -

    Adding another comment not to do this step or the subsequent ones for removing the display connector. They are unnecessary, and the parts are fragile. Otherwise an excellent guide.

    Andrew Champion -

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    • Use a spudger to lift the locking flap on the display ZIF connector.

    Reattaching this is a nightmare. I never found any locking flap. The cable pulled out, but getting it to stay when I put it back together was tough. Not sure how long it will hold while in actual use.

    bennettr8 -

    I cannot reattach my display cable and my watch is now useless. Really angry as this step IS NOT NECESSARY. You can easily change the battery without doing this. DON’T DO THIS.

    Richard Storer -

    Agreed - this should be removed from instructions. It is just destructive. Wish I had seen these comments before I did this.

    Robert Long -

    Agree with all the above. AND I am replacing the display so I MUST attach the new cable and cannot for the life of me figure out this ZIFF connector. It is a mystery.

    Gary Blasberg -

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    • Lift the display cable straight out of its connector on the motherboard.

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    • Use the flat end of a spudger to gently pry the battery out of the case.

    • The adhesive can be stubborn. If the battery does not come out initially, apply heat to soften the adhesive.

    • If the shield over the motherboard comes off with the battery, use an opening pick to separate the battery and the shield, then snap the shield back onto the motherboard.

    • Do not pull the battery all the way out after you separate it from the shield. There is a fragile battery cable that must be disconnected before the battery is completely removed.

    It mentions that the glue is to be replaced, but it does not explain what glue to use and how to use it.

    brandon graham -

    Elmer’s rubber cement worked for me. I put some on the bottom of the battery and on the ring that had the glue softened in the first steps. It has held well so far, maybe 3 weeks or so.

    Daniel Jacobs -

    At this point, I would connect the new battery and re-assemble the watch (without the crown and ring) and test the battery and watch by trying to charge it. This way, if it doesn’t charge, you don’t have to do a full disassembly to figure things out. Once the watch is charged to 100%, you can re-assemble. Also, it took about a minute before the new battery looked like it was charging (while on the charger) so give it some time.

    Something not mentioned here is that the gold crown trim piece has 3 long and 3 short prongs. You need to align these to the matching sized holes in order for it to go in correctly. If you don’t, the trim piece will not go in properly. Before concluding your work, ensure that pressing the crown results in going to the menus (to verify it’s screwed in enough and functional).

    Dennis Periquet -

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    • Use tweezers to lift out the grey plastic cover over the battery connector.

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    • Use the point of a spudger to pry up the battery connector and disconnect the battery.

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    • Remove the battery.

    Completed, but have a spot on the screen now. I have a feeling that taking this watch apart has killed all the water resistance and I’ll be in the market for a new watch very soon. Everything about this repair feels like a moonshot. Frustrating. it’s just a battery. they should be easily replaceable. Full stop.

    bennettr8 -

    Agree with the first comment. Also, does the copper foil that is on the old battery need to be installed on the new battery?

    Neil Myrick -

Conclusion

To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.

Author

kushyal Budhan

Member since: 02/10/17

634 Reputation

26 comments

Hi,

bei mir hat die Anleitung zu 100 % gepasst.

Meine Moto läuft nun wieder mit neuem Akku.

thomas01 -

Just went through with this. Had a few comments/suggestions for anyone trying this:

Step 1

- I moistened a small hand towel (you could probably use a paperwork) and microwaved it. I put it in a ziplock bag and it worked fine.

Step 2

- I only had two small flat head screw drivers (from an electronics repair kit.) I used one to pry near the microphone then worked the other around. The adhesive is a strip so it may come off on the ring in some areas and the watch body on others. At the end I scraped it from the body and reapplied it to the ring and it seemed to work well when I reassembled.

Step 3

- My watch had a gold ring and I couldn’t find a way to remove it at first. I ended up just using my smallest flat head and got underneath it to pry it off. Went pretty fast after that.

Ben -

We’ve updated this guide with better photos and instructions. Thank you for your comments and suggestions!

Arthur Shi -

Step 3 (continued)

- As for removing the button, use a small flat head and place it at an angle in one of the spanner sockets. Then gentle tap the end with another object to loosen the screw. Once loosened, it unscrewed pretty easily by using one screw driver.

Step 4

- Similar to step 2, I inserted one then walked one around the outside gentle prying out the innards. Slipping the flat head between the gasket and the inside of the body takes some finesse but once you get about half way around it’s not too bad.

- The innards have a lip that runs around 2/3 the way around that goes under a lip on the body. I found this the most challenging part on removing and reinserting the innards. Just use a screw driver to pry away the body and then use a second to push in the innards. It takes some work. I tore a few parts of the gasket so I don’t think i’ll be swimming with this anymore, but the ring (first step) gives a decent seal against sweat and moisture.

Ben -

Step 5

- Pretty straightforward; pry the rubber away as the guide shows. You may need to pull firmly to remove the ribbon. I just used my finger as I was afraid my tweezers would tear or puncture the ribbon.

Step 6

- As the guide states the adhesive is pretty strong but it doesn’t appear there is much to hurt between the screen and battery so just pry it away slowly (and evenly.) Once the battery is removed, use a small flat heat to pry the plastic out so you can get to where the battery cable snaps in.

Reassemly

- So like any repair, reassembly can be just as difficult as assembly. I ran into two major struggles: getting the innards ribbon cable reinserted and getting the innards back in the body.

- For the ribbon cable, I was being too gentle when trying to insert. I though the ribbon inserted and then the rubber (pried away in step 5) was holding it in place. No the case; the ribbon should (with a firm press) push back into the female end snugly. My ribbon folded over 90d which gave me a place to press on.

Ben -

Reassembly (continued)

- The other difficult part was getting the innards back in. I mistakenly just tried to snap the whole assembly in before I realized the lips on the innards and case were hitting. I ended up shearing some of the plastic on the innards away on one side before I realized I was not doing it correctly. As I mentioned in step 4, you’ll need to pry the body out and push the innards in where they meet.

- As for the gasket, I tore mine in a few spots. It was pretty lose from general age, so I wasn’t very optimistic I would get it back in perfectly anyway, but if you can somehow get it back inside the body without stretching or tearing more power to you.

- I used the same zip lock bag + hand towel trick to reapply the ring. I use the top of a salt shaker and pressed the hot bag between it and the watch on the table to re-adhere it. I just walked it around the outside of the ring until it was snug and had no raised edges.

Ben -

Good luck to those of you trying this! Feel free to ask me any questions; I took pictures but not sure how to post them.

An interesting thing that I ran across was writing on the inside of the screen assembly (where the battery was.) Not sure if that’s some kind of quality inspection initials from manufacture or if this has been previous repaired and the person signed it. Either way if anyone runs across this or knows what it means let me know.

Also my battery was not bulged or damaged when I took it out like other people have seen. Not sure if that means the original battery was fine but I’ve got the repaired watch on the charger so I’ll update with performance in a few days.

Ben -

Hi @hall30, thanks for your comments on this guide, it seems to really be giving people a lot of trouble. It would be awesome if you added your comments and photos to the guide steps—you can click the edit button to the right of a step title, or at the top of the page to do that. If you’re looking for more guide editing details, check out this page. Let me know if you need help adding photos or text, and thanks for contributing!

Adam O'Camb -

Hey @hall30 do you happen to know where i can find a new battery??? i have looked everywhere and no-one seems to have it! Thanks! My Gen 2 sits on charger and vibrates one time then 5 seconds later vibrates twice. was told possibly a battery issue???

robby C -

I need to replace the battery in my Moto 360 Sport…is the battery and method to replace identical to the 2nd Gen 360?

Bill Ferguson -

Anyone having boot loop issues after installing the new battery? Is there a way to fix this?

Cooper Hollett -

My watch just died due to what I’m sure is battery issues. Motorola doesn’t replace them, even if one is willing to pay out-of-warranty fees. I’m not adept at attempting this myself but would be happy to ship it to someone and pay them to do it for me. I have the 42mm size. If anyone in the domestic USA is interested, email me at enggal at hotmail dot com. I really liked this watch and hate the idea of tossing it in a drawer just because the battery died. I also have a slew of new bands and spare chargers for it that would go to waste (unless I eBay them).

Tee Vany -

I am just getting vibrations when I finish reassembling my watch. Any ideas?

Andrew Scheel -

I managed to successfully replace the battery. Here is a few tips.

(1) I followed this detailed video.

(2) I used a hairdryer heavily through out the whole process.

(3) I used the ring around the crown as a spanner to unscrew the button (this is where I diverged from that video). I just grabbed it with pliers and rotated. After all the previous attempts with tweezers, pins and paperclips, this went surprisingly smoothly.

(4) I didn’t pry the assembly out of the body. Instead, as suggested in the video, I rotated the internals against the metal frame and the internals then fell out pretty easily. The rotation was actually pretty challenging. I used a screwdriver and pushed sideways into the power button hole to move the internals back and forth and loosen it a bit in the frame. After a few attempts I was able to rotate the internals enough.

(5) I did not disconnect the display, I just put both parts of the watch carefully next to each other.

Tobiáš Potoček -

Follow up to the previous comment: The watch booted up and worked for half a day. Unfortunately, then it turned out that charging doesn’t work. I put back the old battery and that one charged, so it’s most likely defective battery. Let’s see if I can get a refund / replacement from eBay.

Tobiáš Potoček -

Here is a video I made on the battery replacement on the Moto 360 Sport, which is based of the 2nd Gen Moto 360 and very similar: '''https://youtu.be/QDi1VjMhe5Y'''

davedogcaddy -

Where can I send the watch to have the battery changed

gcdnames -

Which glue could be used to re-seal the ring?

Rok Končina -

What is the proper glue to reassembly the watch? Thanks!

Robert Bosaz -

I want to replace battery for Moto G 360 46 mm, where can I get it done?

SRINIVAS RAVINDRA VELAGAPUDI -

Is step 8 actually necessary? I’ve seen numerous reviews on YouTube where that cable was left intact and the battery was able to be replaced.

I followed the instructions to remove it and when I tried to reinstall it, it won’t stay in the zif connector. I tried replacing the rubber seal but it broke in two while I was removing it. The watch will vibrate with the new battery in it, but the display won’t come on. :(

Thank you.

Camellia Sheraliev -

Just did this repair, did not perform steps 8-10 at all as I was concerned about damaging the connector/not being able to get it back in.

Sorry to hear about your watch =(

Chris -

Hi I have a 360 sport 2nd gen . It has a silicon strap.

It vibrates none stop in its charging dock.

I thought it was the battery was gone as my son has fist 360 his no longer will charge up any more either I had 9.99 watches last 15 years before battery goes dead and this watch cost me near 600 Canadian so I'm very concerned about fixing this watch. Will ur battery fox my problem. And I probably need like a glue to put the strap back on eh. Please help me I'm trying find someone to help me fix my watch. It's my favorite watch I'm dead and it helps me connect with my phone.

Thanks donnalee

Stephen Studder -

If it’s vibrating constantly it is probably not something a battery can fix. You can see in the final photo of the guide there is a tiny stepper motor on the board that makes it so the watch can vibrate.

If that is going off of its own accord then there is most likely an issue with your mobo on the watch and it will have to be replaced. I’m not sure if the mobo is something you can find online or not, good luck.

Chris -

Hey not sure if you will see this but if you do … I think mine does the same I can’t turn it on without it being on the charger and even on the charger it will vibrate and show the M moto symbol and repeat unless I hold the power button and go into the fast reboot. I was wondering if you ever got your problem solved and if so did it work? Also, was my problem the same as yours? Thanks, James

James Ford -

Step 9/10 is not necessary, you can change the battery without disconnecting the screen ribbon cable. Disconnecting the screen cable left me unable to get it back together - the cable no longer gets clamped in the socket and my watch is now useless.

Richard Storer -