How I fixed my Apple iPod Touch pin corrosion issue for under $10 US

A couple of days back I started noticing that the iTunes on my computer could not detect my iPod and on the rare occasion it did I had to reset the iPod to factory settings before it could re-sync. My computer is a 64-bit machine running Windows 7. I wasn't sure what was causing the error. After the first two instances I ran out of patience and called up Apple support. Thats when I find that I'm just out of warranty (add to that I never paid for the extended warranty!).

Apple charges a small fee for diagnosing your iPod online and I was pretty certain thats not going to work if my computer couldn't detect it right. So I drove up to an iPod store in Minneapolis and was told that I needed to get an appointment. Phew!!!! I got an appointment for the next weekend (since I wasn't ready to get out of work early to get my iPod fixed on a work day :P). I finally met an Apple representative at the store - Apple calls their Tech support team "Genius Bar". I had my laptop, connectors to the iPod and the iPod touch and Apple could still not fix the issue. The guy at the genius bar did show me the cause of all the problems - Corroded pins on the connector port. I was given the option to trade my iPod in for a refurbished iPod for no money or a new iPod for $299. The refurbished option sounded great but I'd loose the custom engraving at the back of the iPod. I wasn't ready to do this and so came back quite disappointed.

Now here's where the in-born Handy Man mentality kicks in. I stopped at a Drug store and git myself a new powered tooth brush and then stopped at Walmart to get a small amount of paint thinner. The thinner is generally acetone.

With this little bit I brushed the terminal and applied a couple of swabs / drops of the acetone. Brush again after the application to scrub off the terminals. Repeat this atleast twice. Once this is done you should be able to connect to the computer through the USB cable again. One thing to keep in mind is to check how bad the terminals really are.

I studied the root cause of this issue since Apple does certify that the iPod can handle humidity. I found that the connector I use to connect the iPod to the speakers of my car were generally laying on the mat of the car. Since the mat was always wet with snow and salt this winter the terminals in that connector corroded and as soon as I connected my iPod to the cable my iPod went bad.

So here's a couple of things to take care of about your iPod:

• When you connect to any connector take a quick look at the physical condition of the connectors.
• Try and avoid connectors used by multiple people - Its hard to live without an iPod for a little while when you compare it to paying for a brand new one!
• Do not use your iPod in the shower - Yes, its dumb but I've seen a lot of people take their iPod's into the bathroom. 

Once you're done with this quick fix if you still see that iTunes does not detect the iPod go to the task manager on your windows PC. The simplest way to go to this is by pressing CTRL, ALT and DEL keys simultaneously. In the task manager go to the Process tab and close all Apple processes including help. These include iTunes, Quicktime and generic Apple processes. 

Now reconnect your iPod and make sure that the iPod battery indicator (on the iPod Touch) shows a "Sync" symbol - this is similar to a lightning strike symbol and not the plug symbol (charging only). Once you see this open your iTunes. Your iTunes should be able to detect the iPod without any problems. Its worked for over a month for me. 

By the way I did get myself a new protector skin with a cap for the connector ports to make sure this doesn't repeat. Let me know if this worked for you!

Cheers!