After about a year of usage one of my Estimote iBeacons ran out of battery power this spring. I couldn't find any proper instructions explaining how to replace the CR2450* battery inside, but I did find some guidance in a comment on an Estimote blog post.

...the best and easiest way to cut the Beacon is a vertical cut across the top of the enclosure.

I followed the advice, and I have to say it worked out well enough.

Using a razor blade I made a cut down the middle allowing me to, with some effort, wrestle the actual beacon hardware out of the enclosure and replace the battery.

The beacon enclosure does carry a visible scar from the operation, although I doubt you'd notice unless you knew to look for it. I also suspect the device is no longer weather resistant. But it is, once again, a fully functioning iBeacon!

Extending battery life

Earlier this year Estimote released an update to their firmware with a set of power saving features. The firmware update is applied using the Estimote iOS app.

After briefly playing around with the power settings, the new battery in my Estimote beacon has a life expectancy of 32+ months.

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*Estimote beacons shipped in May 2014 and later use a bigger CR2477 battery.