Sony WH-1000XM3 Battery Replacement

Written By: Dominik Schnabelrauch

Comments: 32

Difficulty

Moderate

Steps

Time Required

20 - 40 minutes

Introduction

Use this guide to remove or replace the battery on your Sony WH-1000XM3 headphones.

If your battery is swollen, take appropriate precautions.

For your safety, discharge your battery below 25% before disassembling your headphones. This reduces the risk of a dangerous thermal event if the battery is accidentally damaged during the repair.

You’ll need replacement adhesive to reattach components when reassembling the device.

Tools

Parts

Step 1

Before beginning any repairs, turn off your headphones.
The earcup cushions of the Sony WH-1000XM3 are held in place by small plastic clips and it's the same removal procedure for both, the left and the right cushion.
In case you want to replace the battery you're required to remove the RIGHT earcup cushion.
Insert a spudger into the gap between the earcup cushion and the earcup frame.
A screwdriver or a flat pencil will also do the job but might scratch your headphone housing or damage the cushions.
Pry up the earcup cushion by tilting the spudger downwards to release the plastic clips.
Repeat the previous step around the perimeter of the earcup cushion to release the remaining clips.

Step 2

Remove the earcup cushion.

Step 3

The foam liner covering the speaker is held in place by two small pieces of mild adhesive.
Avoid separating the different foam layers during the following procedure.
Carefully peel the foam liner off the earcup frame.
Remove the foam liner.

Step 4

Use a Phillips screwdriver to remove the four 10.4 mm-long screws securing the plastic cover of the earcup frame.

Be careful, the speaker diaphragm is VERY fragile. Don't go anywhere near it.

Kevin Bennett -

Step 5

Turn the headphones over.
Insert an opening pick into the gap between the plastic cover and the earcup frame.
Use the opening pick to pry up the plastic cover until you can get a good grip to it.
Don't try to remove the plastic cover all the way yet. The electrodes inside the cover which sense gesture controls are still connected to the headphone assembly.

any old plastic card works fine for this, no need to buy "opening picks"

AviC -

Step 6

Avoid straining the gesture control cable during the following procedure.
Carefully fold the right earcup cover to the left like you would open the front page of a book and place it next to the earcup frame.

My headphones have an elastic band on the right side that prevents me from folding over the earcup cover to the left.

Bhavesh Kakwani -

In case anyone is reading this, the elastic band mentioned is a seal that goes in between the earcup cover and the earcup. The seal might get stuck on a small ribbon cable right above and just to the right of the charging port, just gentle wiggle it free from the ribbon cable and it should come away free

Ronald Mitchev -

Avoid straining the gesture control cable during the following procedure

The gesture control in my headphones is malfunctioning (performs some actions "on its own") for over a year already. The frequency gets more and more annoying so I thought about just disconnecting it (I'm not using it at all tbh.). The quoted comment sort of implies that the headphones may stop working properly without the gesture control panel.

Anybody any experiences?

I know my question is kinda "niche", just taking my chances before disassembling the headphones 🙃

Entio -

Step 7

Use a pair of blunt nose tweezers or your fingers to disconnect the gesture control ribbon cable by pulling it straight out of its socket.

Step 8

Don't jab the battery with any sharp tools. A punctured battery may leak dangerous chemicals or catch fire.
Use a pair of tweezers to carefully peel the protective foam sticker off the battery and the thermal sensor.

The foam became detached from the adhesive on the battery, a small amount of rubbing alcohol helped soften the adhesive and a small spudger helped pull the temperature sensor free

Ronald Mitchev -

Step 9

Use a pair of tweezers or your fingers to carefully remove the protective cloth sticker.

Be very careful here, the sticker covers some very thin wires and some of the wires may become stuck to the sticker. It helped to use the tweezers to hold the wire steady while I pulled the sticker free with my fingers

Ronald Mitchev -

Step 10

Use a pair of tweezers to carefully bend the thermal sensor to the side to get free access to the battery.

Step 11

The black and red battery cables are routed underneath a little plastic hook on the battery frame.
Use a pair of tweezers to carefully free the battery cables.

while these two photos make it seem like you can magically pull the battery cables through the tan piece of plastic, it's actually a bit tricky getting them out while keeping the other black cable in place

AviC -

Step 12

Use the flat end of a spudger or an opening pick to carefully fold the cables blocking the battery connector to the side until you get free access to the connector.

Step 13

Use a pair of blunt nose tweezers to grasp the sides of the battery connector.
Pull the connector up and out of its socket, gently rocking it back and forth to loosen the clips securing it.
Always pull cables by their connectors and not the wires themselves.

It was helpful to use a credit card to gain some leverage to pry out the connector

AviC -

Step 14

Insert the tip of an opening pick into the gap between the right edge of the battery and the battery housing.
Rotate the opening pick to insert one of its long edges into the gap.

A credit card works fine

AviC -

Thanks! I was struggling to get the battery up, as the pick I had was too thick

A old credit/debit card worked a treat, jumped when the battery came out though, as it sounded like something snapped/popped.

Toastery -

Can you provide the make and model for the battery replacement?

Rod Talingting -

1-853-710-12 is the part # for mine purchased in the US mo # wh-1000xm3

phillip -

Step 15

Slide the opening pick underneath the battery.
Pry up the battery intermittently to work it away from its adhesive.

Step 16

Remove the battery.
Do not reuse the battery after it has been removed, as doing so is a potential safety hazard. Replace it with a new battery.
Remove old adhesive backings before installing new adhesive and clean the relevant areas with isopropyl alcohol (>90%).
If your replacement battery doesn't come with replacement adhesive, secure the new battery with pre-cut adhesive or double-sided adhesive tape (OEM adhesive is a 32x32 mm square). In order to position it correctly, apply the new adhesive into the device at the place where the old adhesive was located, not directly onto the battery. Press the new battery firmly into place.

Conclusion

If possible, turn on your device and test your repair before installing new adhesive and resealing.

For optimal performance, calibrate your newly installed battery: Charge it to 100% and keep charging it for at least 2 more hours. Then use your device until it shuts off due to low battery. Finally, charge it uninterrupted to 100%.

To reassemble your device, follow the above steps in reverse order.

Take your e-waste to an R2 or e-Stewards certified recycler.

Repair didn’t go as planned? Try some basic troubleshooting, or ask our Answers community for help.

Author

Dominik Schnabelrauch

Member since: 23/11/16

217902 Reputation

19 comments

Thank you! This is a very detailed and helpful guide. I especially appreciated the battery calibration tip at the end of it! The battery removal was probably the most difficult part, as the adhesive was strong. Slowly working the opening pick under the battery as directed did the trick, though.

Brady Eisert -

Raul Roos -

Thank you very much. This gonna help me out. Draining the battery now and gonna give it a shot later today. I love this headphones and I didn't want to get rid of them.

vectorracer -

Hola. Aparte de cambiar la bateria de estos auriculares, no sabria usted donde puedo comprar para cambiarla la toma del puerto de carga de estos auriculares. Porque parece que se dañó de alguna forma. No me entra el cable , me lo hecha para atras. Tengo que apretarlo con mucha fuerza para que cargue, aun así me lo despide para atras y no carga. Gracias si pudiera ayudarme.

francisco-tiscar@hotmail.com

Francisco Garcia Pérez - 21/08/22

The batterie replacement was very easy. The guide described everything perfectly. Well done and thanks! I already tried to do the calibration once, but it seems it has not worked yet as the software gave me, for instance, 80% first and 5 minutes later it has dropped down to 30% and then very quickly to 10%. I have these 10% now for more than 8 hours. So it seems it is not calibrated. Any ideas? I also tried to reset the headphones. It not really worked.

Michael -

What third party battery have people used here? I see a lot of batteries on the typical Chinese shop, but I doubt those will be as good as the original one. Unfortunately Sony nor iFixit sell the original themselves.

Mathijs Groothuis -

THX you are a life saver! C

Christoph Lepka -

If anyone is looking for the replacement battery and other similar parts, check out this page. It appears to have contracts with the OEMs that let the company sell the original parts.

https://sony.encompass.com/model/SONWH10...

Benjamin Wever -

Thanks alot for this tutorial, helped me to change out the battery in my headphones after not using them for 18 or so months. Used a cheap eBay battery suitable for application.

Thanks again.

CLEM Vacchio -

Thank you Dominik! That was an excellent guide.

If anyone else had trouble with the battery cable connector - my tweezers were a little weak - I used a pair of quality thin-nosed pliers. Did the job very easily.

the_ilhan -

I greatly appreciate these instructions! There is a couple of times along the way where you go "should I really be hearing a snap?" or "should I really be applying that much force?" This great guide gave me the confidence to forge on - was quick and mostly painless.

Sune Hansen -

Good instructions! I didn't see any reason to pull out the ribbon cable though and managed to do it all with it attached.

Kaspar Kuldkepp -

Thank you. Perfect guide, replacement worked fine. Instead of tweezers I used my fingers and finger nails :) Now I'm curious how the battery calibration will work out.

Heinz Ketschab - 14/03/24

I folowed your directions to the letter and had success in repairing my headphone, much to my surprise! What more could I ask for? Thank you for your help.

adamsrpm -

Looking like a greatly detailed guide, I’ve had my pair of headphones for years and that’s the only thing that’s wrong with them in gonna use this guide to extend the life of them 👌🫡

Liam Davis -

ok ordered from the website linked on this guide. hoping to get better results.

previously ordered something that looked legit on amazon. I'm prety frustrated so I think it's worth warning folks that the random china ones on amazon probably are not so good. after replacing the battery the headphones worked well for maybe 6 months, then started to lose charge. Now 9 months later, it won't charge over 80% and discharges to 0% in 5 hours.

Strongly suggest no one use the amazon/ebay batteries.

Augie Liu -

Does anyone know if painting the touch panel plastic will prevent the touch controls from functioning? I'd like to disassemble my headphones and paint all the plastics for a custom look.

Joshua Minett -

To answer my own question;
I tested putting 8 layers of painters tape over the touch panel, and it continued to respond to touch input perfectly. I imagine the same will be the case for paint+primer. I'll test 3 coats of primer, 3 coats of spray paint, and 2 coats of clearcoat on a painters tape swatch, and use that to test functionality on the headphones. If all is well, then it's on to painting!

Joshua Minett -

Thanks the guide was excellent

David E Haydock -