Scott G Sanders

How to fix a dead Apple AirPort Express Power Supply

So your Apple Airport Express stopped working.  Well you have a few options you can buy a new one or try to fix it.  At this point what do you have to lose, it is already dead and most likely out of warranty.

Keep in mind this will VOID your warranty.  If your unit is DEAD contact Apple first to see if yours can be replaced under warranty.

After reading a few different webpages I decided I could do this on my own. So, I went to eBay and searched for dead AirPort Express units and bid. A few days later I had it in my hands. The first thing I did was try to reset the unit, who knows not everyone thinks to do this. Then I called Apple to see if this was still under warranty. As I expected it was not so on to fix.

Disclaimer: If you choose to follow my guide you are doing so at your own risk. I am not responsible for any damaged caused. I am only sharing my experience.

Here is the dead unit.
For $18 I had a dead unit to fix.

Required parts
I had these parts on hand.

  • USB power adapter: You can use any USB power supply as long as it supplies 5v.
  • Part 2: Inland Products ALL-IN 1 CARD READER/WRITER 8312 or most other usb card readers.

Locate the 3.3v and 5v points
Using a multimeter I located a good spot to get a ground, 5v and 3.3v.

Get into the AirPort Express
There are 2 options to get to the power lines inside the unit. The first would be to cut along the sides and open it up, the second and my preferred method is to cut a hole in the corner to get access to the power lines.

If you choose this method carefully cut out an opening.

Solder the wires together. In my example green is my 3.3v and the red is my 5v source. I used shrink tubing around my solders to make sure there would be not contact inside the AirPort Express housing.

  • Green to Orange (3.3v)
  • Red to Red (5v)
  • Black to Black (Ground)

Bypassed Power Supply
I left a little slack in the power lines that easily tucked into the AirPort Express housing.

Completed Bypass surgery
I then used some Plastic Weld to bond the plastic cases together.

Completed Bypass surgery
While this proves it has power the light is still Amber because I took this picture before I configured to unit to work with my wireless network.

If you find this helpful, or you try this please leave a comment and let me know how it went.

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Comments

26 responses to “How to fix a dead Apple AirPort Express Power Supply”

  1. Marc Jansen Avatar
    Marc Jansen

    Thanks alot for this wonderful description.
    Marc

    Reply
  2. Fergal Avatar
    Fergal

    Awesome! I’m going to give this a try but i’m a complete newbie in terms of soldering… could it be dangerous to try this with no experience?

    Reply
    1. Scott Avatar
      Scott

      Be careful you are working with electricity. If you incorrectly solder bad things could happen when you plug in your new power supply. Proceed at your own risk. I am not a great solderer myself, but I’ve been soldering things for at least 15 years. I started out soldering small thinks like remote control cars and walkie talkies, all battery powered.

      If you decide to do this, you are doing so at your own risk. All I can say is take your time and be patient.

      Reply
  3. Nicole Avatar
    Nicole

    This is great! Could you give more detail on how you located the the ground, 3.3v and 5v points using the multimeter?

    Thanks!

    Reply
    1. Scott Avatar
      Scott

      Nichole,
      Are you referring to where I found those points on the memory card reader?

      Reply
      1. Nicole Avatar
        Nicole

        Thanks I figured the voltage part out. Yes, I was talking about the card reader. The new problem is that, although the unit is now getting power, my mac is not recognizing it, despite multiple different restart reset attempts. Any advice?

        Nicole| Try this http://scottgsanders.wordpress.com/2008/09/14/itunes-8-and-airport-express-fix/

        Reply
  4. Gregg Bond Avatar
    Gregg Bond

    Sorry to ressurect an old thread, mine has recently given up the ghost.

    Don’t suppose you know the amps required at 3.3 and 5v do you?

    Reply
    1. Scott Avatar
      Scott

      Gregg,
      I am not 100% sure, but I googled the specs on the iPod charge that I am using as my power source and the specs seem to be 5V, 500mA. Again, this is just what I found online. Please do further research before you do anything as I did not verify this information.

      Reply
  5. lummox Avatar
    lummox

    Pretty nifty, but why did you use a card reader? Couldn’t we bypass it all together and splice from the usb cable? Or does this thing mount cards and make them available over your wireless network? :-0
    If so, that would be really cool. Great hack either way.

    Reply
    1. Scott Avatar
      Scott

      The reason I used the card reader is that I needed a way to drop the voltage from 5v (standard usb voltage) to 3.3v. The AirPort Express requires both voltages. I had this extra card reader on hand and it was easier than cutting the entire APX open to get full access when I knew the location of the power plug.

      The card reader only functions as a voltage drop. I could have gone to Radioshack and purchase the necessary components to drop the voltage, but I already had the card reader on hand and it turned out to be a good choice. The card readers can be purchased for around $5 US. Going with this route added the benefit of an enclosure for my circuit and a mini USB port allowing me to plug in a USB cord from my old Nano’s power adapter completing the fix/hack.

      Reply
  6. Liviu Ionescu Avatar
    Liviu Ionescu

    Another solution may be:

    http://ilg-the-geek.blogspot.com/2009/11/apple-airport-express-resurrection.html

    Reply
  7. Daniel Avatar
    Daniel

    Thank you, Scott.
    The card reader is a very good idea. Although not that beautiful in the end, I did it right that way and was successful with it. My 5 year old AE came back to life and it feels good.

    By the way: To all those who keep asking how to find the right spot for 3.3 and 5V connections on a card readers board I can say that what I did. I plugged it in to the USB charger, took the multimeter (set it to DC), put one sensor (what is it in english?) on the housing of the USB-port and tried different places on the board which I found useful for soldering a cable to it. I pretty soon found spots with the desired voltage. It’s easy.

    Thanks again and greetings from Germany.
    Daniel

    Reply
  8. Woody Avatar
    Woody

    Bypass surgery on an airport express. Nice job! Also extreme overkill. I like it.

    Reply
    1. Scott Avatar
      Scott

      It worked well until the wifi radio died then it was time to replace it.

      Reply
  9. Sylvester Blacksher Avatar
    Sylvester Blacksher

    hey Friend , i love w/ u idea. i will come to your blog again tomorrow

    Reply
  10. Matt Garcia Avatar
    Matt Garcia

    Hey Scott, great post. I just have one problem, I opened up my APE and the powerlines aren’t color coded anymore. They’re all black. How do I tell which on is the 5v, which is the 3.3v and which is the ground?

    Reply
    1. Scott Avatar
      Scott

      Matt that is a great question. I do not know off the top of my head.

      Reply
      1. Matt Garcia Avatar
        Matt Garcia

        Thanks anyway Scott, I’ll just try it out with a power supply first. By the way, can the USB power adapter supply more than 5v? I think the one I have lying around supplies 8v.

        Reply
  11. thakur shrestha Avatar
    thakur shrestha

    my airport express is not detected by my mac book. it stopped working, i connect my modem, only orange light is on.it never turns green. i am looking for a easy and safe way to open my airport express apart so that i can check whats goin on inside it, please reply me thanks

    Reply
    1. Scott Avatar
      Scott

      The best advice I can give you is take your time and be careful. The circuit boards and wires are packed in tight. If you use a Dremel go slowly. A hack saw along the seem will also work.

      Reply
  12. 2010 in review « Scott's Blog

    […] How to fix a dead Apple AirPort Express Power Supply August 200820 comments 3 […]

    Reply
  13. mark Avatar
    mark

    Does the card reader still work……?

    Reply
    1. Scott Avatar
      Scott

      Mark,
      I do not see why the card reader would not work as I did not modify the internal circuit. However, the computer’s USB may not provide enough power to run the APE and transfer data. I never tested this functionality as I used an old iPod A/C power adapter as my power source.

      Reply
  14. How to fix a dead Apple AirPort Express Power Supply « Scott's Blog

    […] http://scottgsanders.com/13/2008/08/airport-express-power-supply-fix/ Share this:Like this:LikeBe the first to like this post. Tags: Apple, Apple AirPort Express, eBay, Fix, Hack, How To, iTunes Comments RSS feed […]

    Reply
  15. Hamlin Avatar
    Hamlin

    Hi,
    I just made the fix, and it seems that I need some help… I have locate the ground, 5v and 3.3v on my CF Memory Card reader, wire them, plug the power cable back into the AE and Power up the USB CF memory card reader. Eureka; the AE light up in green! But that’s all… My AE is not visible on the wifi network… 🙁 So i recheck my wires with my multimeter, and then i see the 3.3v was no longer on 3.3v but on 1v! So I unsolder this wire, check an another time the 1v on the CF Memory Card reader and mesure 3.3v… In conclusion the 3.3V drop to 1v when i wire it on my AE. May this explain the fact that the AE does not work? How to explain and remedy the voltage drop? I really need to fix my AE… Thank you in advance for your help.

    Reply
    1. Scott Sanders Avatar
      Scott Sanders

      Hamlin,
      Not really sure how to explain the voltage drop. I’ve since replaced my AE after the WiFi died (still powered up). So, I have now way of testing it. What are you using to power the card reader?

      Reply

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