DIY Z1 charging dock and magnetic charger cable - Xperia Z1 Accessories

Hi,
People used all sorts of stuff to make DIY docks for the XZ, cardboard, plastic, wood, duck tape etc... there's a great thread here with some great low tech solutions:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2167089
it'd be interesting to see if the Z1 gets the same DIY love?
Anyway, I've got my z1 today and now need to make a new dock/charger cable and car dock, sadly I'm going to have to start from scratch as my wife wants the ones i made for my xz.
I have some spare sugru and pogo pins so will post back later this weekend once I've put something together
EDIT: added pictures of my first attempt at a maglock cable, it works but is not very neat, the pin polarity is the same as the XZ, the top pin is positive
method:
put some soapy water on the charger contacts and push the sugru in to take an impression, peel off the sugru impression and let it dry overnight( keep the sugru impression thin, the soapy water stops the sugru sticking)
solder pogo pins to tails of an old USB cable
stick pogo pins through the contact positions in the dried sugru impression
use more sugru to make the plug, adding a magnet behind the impression
let it dry
mine comes unnattached from the phone too easily at the moment, but I'll modify it with a longer stronger magnet, although it will do for a desk stand or car dock where the phone is held in place, thus not relying on the magnet to get the contacts in the right position

Pictures of my home made dock using bits left over from my XZ dock
Wood back, Perspex bottom screwed to wood with pogo pins pushed through 1mm holes in perspex and held in place with a bit of glue. Then used a bit of sugru to position the phone in the exact place to make contact with the pins. No more plugging in at night.
Sent from my C6903 using xda

I bought a magnetic cable from eBay approx £6 and then built a dock from lego around it. There's even a door to open just in case I want to plug my headphones in
Sent from my C6903 using xda app-developers app

jcgswims said:
I bought a magnetic cable from eBay approx £6 and then built a dock from lego around it. There's even a door to open just in case I want to plug my headphones in
Sent from my C6903 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha, nice one great idea
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

This is exactly what I am looking to do with my wife's z1. Planning on using old fashioned wood and a couple of nails to act act the contacts to the z1 charging points to which I'll solder to a stripped usb cable.
My question, as I don't want to damage the phone: which contact point is which? I assume one is gnd and the other 5v, but which is which?
Thanks,
STDOUbT
jimsey said:
Hi,
People used all sorts of stuff to make DIY docks for the XZ, cardboard, plastic, wood, duck tape etc... there's a great thread here with some great low tech solutions:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2167089
it'd be interesting to see if the Z1 gets the same DIY love?
Anyway, I've got my z1 today and now need to make a new dock/charger cable and car dock, sadly I'm going to have to start from scratch as my wife wants the ones i made for my xz.
I have some spare sugru and pogo pins so will post back later this weekend once I've put something together
EDIT: added pictures of my first attempt at a maglock cable, it works but is not very neat, the pin polarity is the same as the XZ, the top pin is positive
method:
put some soapy water on the charger contacts and push the sugru in to take an impression, peel off the sugru impression and let it dry overnight( keep the sugru impression thin, the soapy water stops the sugru sticking)
solder pogo pins to tails of an old USB cable
stick pogo pins through the contact positions in the dried sugru impression
use more sugru to make the plug, adding a magnet behind the impression
let it dry
mine comes unnattached from the phone too easily at the moment, but I'll modify it with a longer stronger magnet, although it will do for a desk stand or car dock where the phone is held in place, thus not relying on the magnet to get the contacts in the right position
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

jcgswims said:
I bought a magnetic cable from eBay approx £6 and then built a dock from lego around it. There's even a door to open just in case I want to plug my headphones in
Sent from my C6903 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
nice work :'D

WOW,great work.Really !

Related

Is there a skin/case that would fit over the Powermat dock door for the Evo?

The Powermat dock door comes with a blockage that plugs into the usb port and keeps it covered when its on, and the case for the Evo I have now wont fit over the new dock door, so is there a case that anybody knows of that would.
I second this. I would love to get a case that covers the new door as it is larger than the original back case.
-Hank
what cases do you have? I would think a Gel case (I have the one from Sprint) might have enough give in order to stretch around it.
Joeriginal said:
The Powermat dock door comes with a blockage that plugs into the usb port and keeps it covered when its on, and the case for the Evo I have now wont fit over the new dock door, so is there a case that anybody knows of that would.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What I am trying to figure out is why the hell they designed it with that nub. If you want to usb to your computer do you have to take the battery cover off? Or how about charging in your car?
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
I currently have a Trident Cyclops case. Now, me being me saw this post and looked at my case and said, "Surely this can be modded to fit." The other voice in my head said "This can be modded, and don't call me Surely." Any who, I wanted a Powermat for some strange reason. Do I really need one, you ask? Doesn't my battery last almost all day anyway, you ask? Yes, but who doesn't want something that passes electricity wirelessly through the air to their phone? So off to Best Buy I went to blow my niece's Christmas present money on a shiny new door and base charger. After a few hours with a dremel, some sand paper, a file, and my utility knife, I had a hard case that supported the nub and the slightly thicker door. It being my first mod ever of sorts like this, it worked out all right. Looking at it, you would not notice any modded difference other than my knife slipped while trimming the rubber flap that covers the USB and HDMI ports and a few mishaps with the dremel (that thing spins REALLY fast!). I wish I had something to post screen shots with of it on my phone, but I am too lazy to break out the DSLR at the moment, It's beddy bye time. Any way, I am pretty sure that the second time around I would be able to mod the case so you would not notice any difference from stock other than the rubber door being trimmed. This mod also allows for me to remove the connector from the door to the USB plug with out having to remove the case at all, and easily too, in case I need to throw the USB cable in it to link to my computer. If any one is intetested, PM me and I will throw up some screen shots tomorrow night. When the holidays are over and my wallet can support it, I may blow my other niece's birthday cash on another Trident Cyclops case and redo it to perfection.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
mitchellvii said:
What I am trying to figure out is why the hell they designed it with that nub. If you want to usb to your computer do you have to take the battery cover off? Or how about charging in your car?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And if your only concern if the USB plug, it is actually a separate piece that easily removes from the phone in case of needing car charger or USB cable for the computer without needing to pull the battery door off.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

My modded powermat inductive charging case for the galaxy s2

I've been wanting inductive charging on my phone for ages, and got tired of waiting for a retail solution.
So I bought a cheap leather flip style case on ebay for £3 and a powermat battery cover and charge pad off amazon.
The battery cover was for a blackberry bold and cost just £5 on amazon uk, and the powermat pad was reduced to £10 on amazon uk.
How I did it:
I dissassembled the charging element from the powermat blackberry cover, it's just glued in so comes apart with a pry tool.
next I peeled the plastic holder from the leather flip case.
I glued the power mat charger element to the flip case behind the plastic holder and soldered a micro usb jack to the charger element.
Then glued the plastic cover back in flip case on top of the charger element.
Not bad looking for a first try and works a treat. No more wires needed to charge.
I Would've liked to have made a qi solution to be future proof, but the energizer plate is expensive and hard to find in UK, as are power receiver cases, i'm hoping my nexus prime will have qi built in when i get it!
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA Premium App
jimsey said:
I've been wanting inductive charging on my phone for ages, and got tired of waiting for a retail solution.
So I bought a cheap leather flip style case on ebay for £3 and a powermat battery cover and charge pad off amazon.
The battery cover was for a blackberry and cost just £5, and the powermat pad was reduced to £10.
I dissassembled the charging element from the blackberry cover, then peeled the plastic holder from the leather flip case.
Stuck the charger element behind the plastic holder and soldered a micro usb jack to the charger element.
Not bad looking for a first try and works a treat. No more wires to charge.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice work! I think my charger gives me more freedom than an inductive solution, but this is a brilliant solution and it's beautiful too.
Very nice man ! Good job done there.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA Premium App
good job....waiting for a retail version
That's really cool! hehe +1 for you
Awsome modding man!
can you please make a tutorial on how to make such a thing with links to the products?
I've added a picture of the powermat charging element under the flip cases plastic holder.
I've refined it a bit now and made a much neater job of it.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA Premium App
powermat car charger
​My next mod is going to be to mod a car bracket with a powermat charger so that i can just sit the phone on a cradle, hold it in place magnetically and have it charge whist i'm using the phone for navigation.
it should work quite well as the powermat element can deliver 5v at 1000mah - more than enough juice for navigation.
I've got everything but a holder/cradle for my car - as I currently just sit my phone in the recess in my vauxhalls dash where the clock is.
parts needed are:
spare power mat plate(amazon)
12v - 18v adapter(powermats supply voltage) A car laptop power supply i already have will do the trick.
Car bracket/holder for the galaxy
a few small magnets
I need a car bracket with a big "plate" to rest the phone on that can preferably attach to the vents - suggestions welcome
jimsey said:
​My next mod is going to be to mod a car bracket with a powermat charger so that i can just sit the phone on a cradle, hold it in place magnetically and have it charge whist i'm using the phone for navigation.
it should work quite well as the powermat element can deliver 5v at 1000mah - more than enough juice for navigation.
I've got everything but a holder/cradle for my car - as I currently just sit my phone in the recess in my vauxhalls dash where the clock is.
parts needed are:
spare power mat plate(amazon)
12v - 18v adapter(powermats supply voltage) A car laptop power supply i already have will do the trick.
Car bracket/holder for the galaxy
a few small magnets
I need a car bracket with a big "plate" to rest the phone on that can preferably attach to the vents - suggestions welcome
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tomtom has quite some solutions for attaching it to the air vents. You could mod one and attach so? Een sort of surface to it.
Tomtom has their own solution but there are a few third party solutions too. I would say about 35 euros.
mark 2 modded case
I have now modded a Casemate tough case to accommodate my powermat inductive charger. As can be seen in the pictures the inductive coil is stuck to the hard layer of the case and I have cut out some rubber from the the soft layer so that it all fits without being able to tell it has been modified.
I have a small nib type usb jack connecting the inductive coil to the phone( from a droid x powermat pack.
I have also added a few magnets to the inside of the case and some inside a powermat single position charger. this is now mounted on my car dash to provide an easy plug free charge whist driving - i will add some pictures for anyone interested soon
How did you modify the droidx usb nib to fit the hump on bottom back of phone? Mine bends when i plug it in
Good work folks
The Droid x nib fits neatly, I had to cut a notch in the case mate soft shell to make it fit properly. all I kept from the Droid x powemat cover was the nib, the 4 pin female port for the nib and the coil.
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA Premium App
Just finished my PowerMat car charger project. It's a combination of several different parts put together. I used a Mountek mount to secure it, modified it to connect to an adjustable ProClip mount, then modified a Powermat 1X base to the ProClip mount. I powered this using a laptop car charger. I also removed the Powermat speaker because the turn-on chime was getting annoying every time I started the car.
For my phone, I'm using the parts from a Droid X Powermat cover and an Otterbox Commuter Case. As of right now, my only camera is my phone so I can't take pictures of it.
here are the links to the individual components:
ProClip mount:
http://www.proclipusa.com/?sectionp...older=false&have_mount=true&p_pageid=1&dtype=
Mountek mount:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/MOUNTEK-Car...744?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2564ab7f18
Laptop car charger:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/270630019548?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649
Look s like a neater job than my car charger as I use one of those flexi spider thing s to hold the powermat in place - stuck to a vent. Hopefully Sammy will see the lengths people will go to to avoid plugging in and build qi into the sgs3
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA Premium App
dang, this is awesome. wonder if its possible with the palm touchstone kit everyones been doing with the samsung galaxy S...
Looks amazing *__*
Maybe will do the same...
And I will have a look for smth. like this for my Sensation XE
Guys
I'm really interested in doing this.
1. Any chance of some good quality close up photo's of the USB connector and how you've wired it to the powermat receiver?
2. Any chance of documenting what wiring you had to do to receiver?
3. In the last series of photo's you've cut the powermat before fitting it to the in car vent holder, is there anything I should specifically watch out for before cutting the X1?
What I'm thinking of doing is fitting the receiver to an Otterbox case for a S2 and then mounting the X1 onto one of these.
http://www.slipgripcarmounts.com/Sl...2-i9100-Using-OtterBox-Commuter_p_100415.html
Any help appreciated guys.
very nice job man! really like it
Any chance of updates from the guys who did this?

Modify Case for Pogo Pins

I'd like my new CaseMate Pop! case to have pogo pin functionality. After looking at the case, I don't think it'd be wise to cut a big chunk out to accommodate the pins. Does anyone know of any pass-through pins that I could "poke" through the rubbery part of the case?
Feel free to look around the DIY workshop. By my records, the material used for pogo contact so for include:
Actual pogo pins
Guitar strings
Thumbtacks
Battery terminal prongs
Copper tape
Card reader prongs
Bare wires
Nails
Paperclips
So, If it conducts it should work. Just gotta be careful about scratching the phone. Some guys have actually made indents on each pin contact from using sharp stuff.
In your case, I think you should think about the heads of tiny screws from glasses hinges, poked through from the inside of the case....
subvertz said:
Feel free to look around the DIY workshop. By my records, the material used for pogo contact so for include:
Actual pogo pins
Guitar strings
Thumbtacks
Battery terminal prongs
Copper tape
Card reader prongs
Bare wires
Nails
Paperclips
So, If it conducts it should work. Just gotta be careful about scratching the phone. Some guys have actually made indents on each pin contact from using sharp stuff.
In your case, I think you should think about the heads of tiny screws from glasses hinges, poked through from the inside of the case....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds like me
The battery terminal pogo pins i took from my old phone have kinda strong springs.
Can't focus properly since i'm using a point and shoot camera....
But i'm sure the indent is visible.
subvertz said:
Feel free to look around the DIY workshop. By my records, the material used for pogo contact so for include:
Actual pogo pins
Guitar strings
Thumbtacks
Battery terminal prongs
Copper tape
Card reader prongs
Bare wires
Nails
Paperclips
So, If it conducts it should work. Just gotta be careful about scratching the phone. Some guys have actually made indents on each pin contact from using sharp stuff.
In your case, I think you should think about the heads of tiny screws from glasses hinges, poked through from the inside of the case....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tiny screws are a fantastic idea! However, I just realized that I got the 1st version of the Pop! Case from Case Mate. I will have to return it to Amazon. Don't buy from Case123USA. It's bad news bears!
CNLiberal said:
Tiny screws are a fantastic idea! However, I just realized that I got the 1st version of the Pop! Case from Case Mate. I will have to return it to Amazon. Don't buy from Case123USA. It's bad news bears!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with your be careful remark. I am considering using some heads of ballheadpens and see where it leads me.

DIY Qi/Wireless Car Dock idea

I've been thinking about creating my own wireless car dock. Basically I was thinking of using a case protector and trimming the edge off that locks the phone into the case to provide for easy insertion/removal from the "dock". On the back of the case I was going to cut an opening for the wireless charging transmitter...preferably one with magnets to assist with keeping the phone in place. Not sure if I'll just buy/use the Nexus 5 charger I currently have build my own. On the back of the charger I was going to attach one of the swiveling mounts which can then attach to one of the mounts similar to what the Pro.Fit mounting brackets and such use.
Any comments, concerns, better ideas?
sorry bro its been done.
The Air Dock
and the official website
http://www.theairdock.com/
undivide said:
sorry bro its been done.
The Air Dock
and the official website
http://www.theairdock.com/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not really the same thing at all. The OP is looking for a solution that uses magnets. You could get a random car dock, trim any plastics past the ball joint to fit, epoxy a nexus wireless charger to it, and be done. That would work nicely.
did you even read anything about the air dock ?
you probably skipped over this part...
"Inside the Air Dock are magnets that pull the phone tightly into the foam face"
the FAQ also covers the nexus 5 & 7 + magnets
only reason I bothered posting the product is because the price seems reasonable when you consider how much it would cost to "rig up" something hack style which, in the end, would probably not function as well nor look as nice as the air dock does.
I realize the air dock exists...and it's $69. I already have numerous cases and Qi chargers I can use to do this. The only thing I really need is the swivel adapter and the bracket to install in the car. I think the air dock is great but I feel like I can create something very similar that would work just as good if not better and for less money. The way I look at it, the air dock is missing one thing that I would like just for my own piece of mind, especially since I drive in Pennsylvania a lot (and if you ever have driven in PA, you know you can practically lose your car in the potholes there). I like the idea of a case/surround that doesn't require it to "snap in" to but provides just enough support for a solid hit so it doesn't pop out/off. Basically my idea is very similar to the air dock except it includes a case around the charger part. The way I look at it, even if I were to buy everything to make this, I can still make it cheaper than the air dock. The "case" I would hack apart I can get as cheap as $10 or less, and I already have 3 spares. The charger can be had for around $12 (even if I want to buy just the coil and PCB) unless I want to spend a lot and get another nexus charger which is $50. The only other thing I need is the adapter and mount which is about $9-15. So I can make the same thing for as little as $31-$37.
hey man thanks for writing back ! yes I used to live in PA near philly, now I live south of wilmington DE, this winter has been hell ! my rearview mirror fell off 2 weeks ago from hitting a pothole so I see your concern. one of the reasons why I stopped mounting my phone in my car (used to have an iphone 5) I bought a cheap mount from walmart as you can see here they say the stickiness lasts awhile as long as you wet it when it starts to dry out however mine will no longer get its stick back so its worthless to me.
are you going to fix mount this to your dash, or suction cup it to your window ? the latter I would not recommend
I'm sure you've seen the ram mounts x-grip, it looks top notch and I think if I ever upgrade from the cupholder recess in my scion my phone would be so lucky to find its place there.
sometimes I rest it in front of my stereo so I dont have to look at the word "aux" while the music's on!
Pandages said:
Not really the same thing at all. The OP is looking for a solution that uses magnets. You could get a random car dock, trim any plastics past the ball joint to fit, epoxy a nexus wireless charger to it, and be done. That would work nicely.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's exactly what I did just yesterday lol.. iMagnet dock with the Qi Nexus charger. The iMagnet dock has 4 strong mangets on the end, well I took those and put them on the plates that you're supposed to put in between a case and phone and glued them together to create a flat surface for the nexus charger.
It works perfect for me. Also had to order a charger to support the nexus charger.
iMagnet Dock
Car Charger
Truck is dirty, shhhh waiting for a nice day to clean it, damn you Michigan!
I know what I'm getting with my next paycheck
I just hope the magnet on that dock is strong enough to hold my phone through its fairly thick silicone case
ilikethepenkils said:
That's exactly what I did just yesterday lol.. iMagnet dock with the Qi Nexus charger. The iMagnet dock has 4 strong mangets on the end, well I took those and put them on the plates that you're supposed to put in between a case and phone and glued them together to create a flat surface for the nexus charger.
It works perfect for me. Also had to order a charger to support the nexus charger.
iMagnet Dock
Car Charger
Truck is dirty, shhhh waiting for a nice day to clean it, damn you Michigan!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's pretty similar to what I want to do, although I was thinking of taking a Nexus 5 case and cutting a hole in the back and epoxying it to the charger two allow 2 things. One is to provide a little extra support for severe potholes and also to allow the wireless charger to sit directly on the phone maximizing the charge rate. I was going to cut the lip off around the edge of the case so the phone can just be placed into the case instead of snapping it in since the magnets will take care of the bulk of keeping the phone in place while the sides of the case will just provide extra support. Just an idea. If anything I'll start off with the same/similar thing as what you have and possibly add the case idea if I notice issues of slipping or popping off with pot holes.
As for how/where I was going to mount it (2009 Scion XB), I was thinking of either mounting near the stick shift or possibly to the right of the stereo. Either way I'd rather have something relatively close to the top of the dash. The stick shift would be too low but at least it's accessible if I need to take a quick glance at it.
undivide said:
I know what I'm getting with my next paycheck
I just hope the magnet on that dock is strong enough to hold my phone through its fairly thick silicone case
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the Cruzerlite TPU cases. They've always served their purpose well for me at least. The magnets on the Nexus 5 Qi charger are pretty strong without a case. With the cruzerlite cases it's not quite as strong but it does hold a bit. Probably wouldn't hold well hitting a series of potholes though. I guess it also depends on how vertical it would be to. I would imagine it would have a better chance of breaking loose completely vertical as opposed to some angle to it.
ParadingLunatic said:
That's pretty similar to what I want to do, although I was thinking of taking a Nexus 5 case and cutting a hole in the back and epoxying it to the charger two allow 2 things. One is to provide a little extra support for severe potholes and also to allow the wireless charger to sit directly on the phone maximizing the charge rate. I was going to cut the lip off around the edge of the case so the phone can just be placed into the case instead of snapping it in since the magnets will take care of the bulk of keeping the phone in place while the sides of the case will just provide extra support. Just an idea. If anything I'll start off with the same/similar thing as what you have and possibly add the case idea if I notice issues of slipping or popping off with pot holes..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I live in an apartment complex with speedbumps.. Made the truck go about 40-ish and the phone didn't even budge.. so you should be good. lol
I know what I'm getting with my next paycheck
I just hope the magnet on that dock is strong enough to hold my phone through its fairly thick silicone case
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My N5 is without case currently. Every case I have is too bulky and just eh, thinking about trying the poetic bumper one Ive seen on amazon..
I Made this
DIY wireless car charger: http://youtu.be/dDH2_auNWVs
It would actually be nice if there were a thread specifically for DIY Qi charger projects which included pics/plans etc. I guess creativity and the search feature will have to suffice for now.
I was also thinking of building my own Qi charger. I'd like my case to be much smaller though, similar to the Nexus 5 Qi charger. I was thinking of stacking the coil on top of the PCB but I'm not sure what shielding if any is required between the coil and the PCB.
If only that new NXP semiconductor solution were available right now. Check it out here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50hjojLLDww. Nothing much you can do about the size of the coil, but that tiny PCB is freaking sweet.
ilikethepenkils said:
That's exactly what I did just yesterday lol.. iMagnet dock with the Qi Nexus charger. The iMagnet dock has 4 strong mangets on the end, well I took those and put them on the plates that you're supposed to put in between a case and phone and glued them together to create a flat surface for the nexus charger.
It works perfect for me. Also had to order a charger to support the nexus charger.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bingo! This is exactly what I was suggesting. I think I'll wind up doing the same. I've got one of the CHOE Qi chargers at home, but it is magnet-less. I'm also picking up a PowerBot unit to throw on my desk at the office.
I think you'll find that using a case to hold the phone snugly is not only overkill but also a hassle. Magnets work great on their own, but having a rubbery surface makes it even better.
I have the Air Dock (see here) myself but am considering downsizing to an official Nexus 5 charger fixed to a ProClip (see here) This would not only be smaller but also sturdier. First I might affix the Air Dock itself to the ProClip and see if that satisfies me.
Definitely happy with the Air Dock, though. Great product. The guy making them is great as well.
active nfc, Qi & bluetooth car dock
Hi all, I''ve been messing about with different versions of this for months now, since i had my Nexus 4. When i changed my car last year, the new one came fitted with an active, adjustable Brodit/Proclip iPod dock and a Parrot bluetooth system
The first thing i did was removed the active ipod plug from the bottom of the mount and replaced it with a standard micro usb for the Nexus.
Then i added an nfc tag to trigger a LLama event to switch on bluetooth and start music playback when connected
I decided i didn't like the Parrot system so i removed it and went back to the Belkin Aircast Auto i had from my last car and routed all the cables behind the dash to the lighter socket
Then i thought i'd try a cheap "puck" Qi charger. The jaws on the old ipod mount are very deep and the puck fitted in behind the phone nicely, with the nfc tag on top (first pic). The phone charged well even while streaming bluetooth, but would only maintain charge while using bluetooth and Sat Nav. together, so i kept the option to unplug the Qi and use wired charging when i needed more juice. The charger was a little wider than the phone, hence the foam and slight "v" angle on the mount jaws to hold it firmly
So last week i ordered a new pull tab slip case for my phone and the one that arrived was too small, so i thought it was time to break the guts out of the Qi charger (unclip the 2 halves and remove 4 screws to release a one piece coil and circuit board) and tidy the mount up a bit.
I made a taller plastic backplate for the brodit mount, stuck the circuit board to it with mounting tape and stuck the nfc tag directly to the centre of the coil. Then i added packing to even out the thickness of the whole piece and altered the slip case so it would slide over everything while leaving an access flap so i can still use the wired charger cable when necessary (pics 2 & 3)
If this works well i'll rebuild the charging "sandwich" from better plastic to decrease the thickness a little, then i'll fit an extra lighter socket behind the stereo for the charger

Need a DIY or extremely thin solution for qi wireless car charger (tight budget)

I currently have the satatchi tablet cd slot mount in my car:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00II8JDRM/ref=oh_details_o07_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I also got two nokia dt-900 chargers for $5 each on that att sale.
I am on a tight budget so buying theairdock is out of the question.
The thickness of the dt-900 combined with the space available on the mount make using it in current form impossible, the tablet won't fit at all.
Is it possible to take parts off the dt-900 to make it thinner yet still work correctly?
If not, is there a DIY way to make your own qi wireless charger by taking apart a normal one or building your own from parts?
Or is there an extremely thin qi wireless charger on the market (like 5mm or less in thickness)?
sfetaz said:
I currently have the satatchi tablet cd slot mount in my car:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00II8JDRM/ref=oh_details_o07_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I also got two nokia dt-900 chargers for $5 each on that att sale.
I am on a tight budget so buying theairdock is out of the question.
The thickness of the dt-900 combined with the space available on the mount make using it in current form impossible, the tablet won't fit at all.
Is it possible to take parts off the dt-900 to make it thinner yet still work correctly?
If not, is there a DIY way to make your own qi wireless charger by taking apart a normal one or building your own from parts?
Or is there an extremely thin qi wireless charger on the market (like 5mm or less in thickness)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I purchased one of these: http://www.ebay.com/itm/271329239542?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT
and even though it looked thin enough between the Tx coil and the phone it's self.. I had to open the charger up and use my Dremel tool to remove as much plastic inside as I could to make it as thin and with less space as possible between the phone and the Qi Charging coil. It worked out pretty well. Depending on the Qi Charging coil, like this one here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Qi-Wire...S_Cell_Phone_PDA_Chargers&hash=item43c9a660a3
You can use a rotary tool and Dremel from underneath to fit the PCB and Coil, leaving just enough plastic on the outside, like a thin layer, but strong enough not to break... Place the Coil in first and mount it with a Hotglue gun, then mount the PCB over it, using a smudge of hot glue to hold that in with out making it permanent like if you were using Super Glue so you can make modifications if necessary . You basically have about 5mm of space to work with, anything more than 5mm and your going to have problems... It has to be super thin, but strong enough not to break under pressure. Where you place the coil has EVERYTHING to do with the best type of charge you are going to get. MAKE SURE you have the phone's Rx Coil, and the Qi Tx Charging coil align PERFECTLY.. Experiment a little. Once you find that "Sweet spot", then hot glue everything together, and it should work like a charm.. I wish I had pictures to show you. Good luck!
YouTube is your friend here.. Look at a few DIY videos...
Edit, I have not yet to find a Qi Charger that fits EXACTLY at 5mm, I had to modify mine so that it could get as close to 5mm as possible if not closer.. You will not though be able to charge it with a case on it.. Thats the bad part about all this..
Buy a bare Qi coil very CHEAP, http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/181445605298?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

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