In case anyone is interested. Its about a 6 minute operation to open a V3 or V4 to disconnect the speaker. And its reversible if desired.
On both, check the front of the camera. The front is a bezel. Its held in place with some thin double sided tape. Careful so you can reuse the tape. But if you mess up the tape, some black electrician’s tape will hold that side/corner in place too, and doesn’t drastically hurt the cosmetics of the cameras.
IMPORTANT: REMOVE the SD CARD. IMPORTANT.
Using a blade, pry up and get a toe-hold on a corner or side of the bezel. There’s no snap, just tape, so, slip it under the edge and pry up a little, sliding along to work your way around. Don’t lift too high, you don’t want to warp the bezel, 'cause that will make it less likely to lay flat when you put it back on.
The outside case of the V3/V4 is simply a cube with one side open. And includes a small hole in back for the pigtail.*
Bezel removed. There are three round screw holes and a small square hole - (ignore it). On the V3, you can put use a small Phillips and remove the screws. On the V4, there’s white soft 2mm pads, (I guess), to protect the holes? Use tweezers and put them out. (Not necessary to put them back in.) Or a thin awl and pry them out. Remove the three screws.
SAY AGAIN: IMPORTANT: REMOVE the SD CARD. IMPORTANT. Else, you will regret. Top of the SD Card will prevent the cartridge/frame inside from moving forward.
There’s a red square o-ring surrounding a grove surrounding the lens face plate of the inside cartridge/frame. While not critical to performance, its going to keep water and dust out. Don’t mess up the o-ring.
Using a thin screwdriver for example, rotate around the three screw holes wedging the screwdriver against the inside of the holes to work the cartridge/frame forward and out. It likely will take 6+ cycles around the three holes to get it moving and out. Don’t need to put it all of the way out.
Once you have the cartridge loose, you can see its a frame with PCB, lens** and small connectors, From the top of the camera, its easy to see past the frame/cartridge that the speaker mounted in a white plastic cover. Note the wires and trace them backwards to the front so you can see where it connects. Just grasp the connector and wiggle it out. You are done.
Best to try and put the bottom of the frame/cartridge back in the front opening first, over the lip of the case bottom. The SD Card drive sticks up almost enough to make it obstruct the return of the frame to the inside of the case. Once you get the bottom over the lip, likely the frame will pop in.
Put the screws back in. And replace the bezel. It it doesn’t fit tight, a little tape will help.
*If you choose to go deeper into the removal. You can remove the pigtail. Disconnect it from its connector. Grasp it by the rubber at the outside hole and give it a soft half turn. Its a slotted hold and the half turn allows you to ease it out.
**If you decide to break the cartridge/frame down further, the front and back PCB’s are held together by a couple of screws. Don’t take all out without studying where the go first. Leave the two in that hold the base of the lens housing against the back board. You can remove it later if you must. And notice, there’s some clear silicone glue on the lens threads. Using a small blade or awl, scratch the glue off the treads, then you can unscrew the lens without damaging anything.
No pictures, 'cause I didn’t take any as I was doing the only two. Too lazy to take one apart just to take pictures. Sorry, Charlie.
