ITouch question-not charging?

my itouch is a first generation. recently it died and when i went to plug it in to charge, all that came up-for 3 hrs straight- is a black background with a battery that has a red sliver at the front and underneath that is a little white lightening bolt. i have tried pressing the home button, the power button, holding them both down, switching chargers, and switching outlets. none of this worked. what it wrong with my itouch and how do i fix it without going to apple?