And, a walk-through on the battery replacement, for the original Clip:
http://www.anythingbutipod.com/forum/showthread.php?t=55110&highlight=disassembly
But if you still are within warranty (and perhaps even otherwise), I would telephone (better than emailing) SanDisk: less than 3-4 hours of battery life after a year is not normal, and the recharging that was being done was not excessive or harmful. And what the heck: the phone call is free and might result in a positive solution.
