Okay, I finally made ten posts, so here is a full walkthrough. I hope you like it!
The case I used:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005P0YJBG/ref=oh_o01_s00_i00_details
Cable to buy:
http://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-UUSBHAUB1RA-Feet-Micro-Cable/dp/B003YKX6WC/ref=pd_cp_e_4
Really, any micro-usb cable should work, but I like the right angle on this one.
Powermat reciever:
http://www.amazon.com/Powermat-Batt..._1_1?s=wireless&ie=UTF8&qid=1326948784&sr=1-1
As near as I can tell, any of them will work, but this one is really cheap.
Total cost of all three components is less than $20.
Step 1:
Destroy the plastic housing on the powermat reciever. When you get done, you should be left with something that looks like this:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/g9baja3sx4qnc7g/20120118_223732.jpg
Obviously, this one has a usb tip already soldered on to it. We'll get there.
Step 2: Clean all of the sticky stuff off of the powermat with an exacto knife or rubbing alcohol, then remove any leads from the four terminals across the bottom. (There should only be leads on pad 1 and 4).
Step 3: Cut your usb cable in half, leaving around an inch-and-a-half of wire on the end with the micro-usb connector. You can throw away the other half.
Step 4: Now for the hard part. Strip back the black exterior about a half inch, and trim away the braided shielding. Cut all of the wires off EXCEPT the red and black wires. These are your ground and your lead wires. Then VERY CAREFULLY strip them. I would recommend just scoring the material and pulling rather than trying to cut it and remove it without damaging the wires inside.
Step 5: Now position the unit with the black magnet upwards and the four terminals towards you. Solder the red lead wire to the far left terminal, and the black lead wire to the far right.
Step 6: Place a piece of electrical tape over the soldered wires to reinforce them.
Step 7: Trim away as much of the plug end as you feel comfortable with. If you cut the perforated part off, you can get the wire to run straight down and fit much more neatly.
Step 8: Place the unit in the case magnet-side up, and push the plug through the usb port hole in the bottom of the case. It should now look like this:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/245em6bj2clmm8r/20120118_224257.jpg
Step 9: Put your phone in the case, and plug the usb tip in. Your phone will now charge on a Powermat charger.
Step 10: Profit???
Final product in case:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/zmgvnwomuphbv67/20120118_222845.jpg
I'd be interested in seeing this, those seem like a pretty cool idea.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using Tapatalk
Cool. I ordered a case that I think it will fit in to and I'll document it and post it.
TannerBlair said:
Cool. I ordered a case that I think it will fit in to and I'll document it and post it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ill be checking up on this
I'll be keeping up as well!
Sent from my AT&T cellular device.
Ok, the case will be in tomorrow, but I've been using it sans case since I made the first post and so far it works great. Charges fine, and doesn't seem to cause any other issues. Now if only I had a way to post pictures...
Where is it on sale for $1.99? I'm interrested in this too...
okay guys, walkthrough with pics should be up in no time!
Excellent concept but it adds a bit too much bulk to the phone for me. Would love to buy an inductive charging system that replaces the battery back and adds little or no bulk to the phone.
I can see where you're coming from, but it actually doesn't add that much. The powermat unit is thinner than the hump at the bottom of the phone, so the only perceived added bulk is really just the case.I initially considered soldering the leads straight in to the phone, but there is the remote chance that you could absent-mindedly have it on the powermat and plugged in to your computer, and there is a good chance you could wreck your phone. If I had to guess, this is why they don't make ones that replace the battery.
If/when I make a version 2, I am going to play around with making my own adapter as well. I think that i could cut down on a lot of the plug bulk by doing so.
Looking closer at it, I can see that the magnet induction assembly IS pretty small. In that case, my biggest problem becomes the TPU case - I can't stand the feel of those things.
Looking forward to version 2 if you decide to go ahead with it. Just an idea - is there such a thing as a USB pass-through microUSB connector?
Nice. may have to give this a shot.
I love the idea, and really would like to see some pics.
Why is it almost none of the Android phones get the power mat love?
Sent from my SGH-I777 using xda premium
Drop Box doesnt work
None of your images open. Try using imgur
I still don't see the pics...
Sent from my SGH-I777 using xda premium
Seriously though, the powermat is American ignorance at its peak. A magical pad that charges your phone without wires! OK, what about the wire connected to the powermat? That's a wire, and unless your buddy has a powermat as well, you have to unplug the power mat to use it on the go. So convenient! Not to mention the extra girth it adds to the device. Effectively doubles the weight on most phones as well. People, its not that cool. Just use the cord that came with your phone. There's a reason radioshack marked them down from $50 to 10.
Sent from my SGH-I777 using xda premium
Next on your hitlist: Logitech forums and their wireless mice/keyboards.
Questions: Could you take a picture from the side of the Powermat receiver sitting on the back of the phone with the battery cover off?
And, do you want some hosting? Be happy to mirror the images.
Pics don't work. They're just blank white squares
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using XDA App
Would love to see the pics re-uploaded for this walk through.
Oxy
Related
Have a spare cord I found to use at work. When it comes to 'shaving' down the micro end of the cord so it fits in the Fascinate, is it okay to just use a knife? Appx how far back in the assembly does the connector go before it turns into wires?
I would say that it's ok to use a knife, but I would make sure it is sharp, possibly a utility knife or xacto knife. It would likely be safer to just angle the plastic/rubber so that it can fit down into the port on the phone though, rather than removing it completely as different manufacturers may make shorter/longer connectors, so there is really no telling how far in to the plastic the wires start.
Or use a power sander.... more likely imnuts solution would work best though.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App
Yea you absolutely can cut a cord to fit. I however found it much easier to by a half dozen from amazon at around $1.30 per with free shipping.
imnuts said:
I would say that it's ok to use a knife, but I would make sure it is sharp, possibly a utility knife or xacto knife. It would likely be safer to just angle the plastic/rubber so that it can fit down into the port on the phone though, rather than removing it completely as different manufacturers may make shorter/longer connectors, so there is really no telling how far in to the plastic the wires start.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did this very thing to modify my wife's Lg enV cord. Had to remove about 1mm of rubber to get a deeper seat & it worked great.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App
Had this same exact issue with eSATA cables
** UPDATED WITH PICS **
I just got a LapDock from an AT&T store thinking I can mess with it to make it work with my Photon. After disassembling the docking connector, I found that there are 2 separate connectors for the ports, which is awesome. This allowed me to manipulate them into position to fit my MoPho. Plugged it up, and it fired right up like the HD dock for the TV. I'm writing this post from it now, it's pretty cool! I plan on putting up some pics in a bit showing the connections. I'll delve into the device more fully later, but this accessory will work with the Photon fully! No limitations (at least, not in my limited testing)
Good stuff! Looking forward to seeing some photos (taken from your Photon of course, right?) of the dock to see what modifications you made!
Awesome!
I just ordered my Photon today and was hoping that by the time it arrived, someone would have pulled a MacGyver and figured out how to rig the Atrix dock.
You sir, are this month's official winner MacGyver award.
Looking forward to seeing the pics too.
Can't wait to see the pics.
...............................................................
Close up of the Photon HD Dock vs the LapDock. You can see the difference in orientation
The Dock connector needs to be flipped out, then can be opened by removing a screw on each side under a small flat cover.
pop open the connector, its just clicked together at this point. unscrew the metal clip holding the individual connectors to the chassis. the individual connectors can now be manipulated into position for the Photon.
the connectors can be routed under and behind the LapDock so that the Photon lays on the table. I want to figure out a way to rearrange the connectors to hold the Photon like it should, in the dock normally. Webtop fires up and operates as it does on the HD Station.
Nicely done...and glad to give you your FIRST Thanks! I might hafta find me a LapDock on the cheap!
Further disassembly. Flip the LapDock over, remove the screw in the middle near the back of the unit. remove the 2 rubber feet at the back of the unit and remove the 2 screws revealed.flip back over. pry (carefully) the back top cover off the unit, working along the very back of the unit. This should pop the cover off. There is a thin wire running to the charge indicator along the front of the top cover, so work carefully. once off, the circuitry can be examined. the connector that leads to the dock is along the left edge of the board. one PCB connector feeds both dock connectors. This connector is like laptop LCD connectors, and easily pops up and off the board
Bandage said:
Nicely done...and glad to give you your FIRST Thanks! I might hafta find me a LapDock on the cheap!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL thanks! kinda funny, been lurking here for years, ran into a problem posting this writeup since i was a 'new' member with only 2 previous posts. had to wait 5 minutes between updates.
I saw LapDocks on AT&T's site for only $175 for refurbished units, not too bad considering I paid 300 to get a unit to hack apart....
After removing the dock portion from the rest of the unit, I removed the connectors and took an Xacto knife to the openings for the individual connectors. I removed the shaped openings for the micro hdmi and micro usb, leaving plain rectangular openings. I then fitted the connectors back in, rotating them to match the orientation on the Photon. Luckily, the Atrix has the same spacing between the ports, just a mirror layout and shifted down the edge of the phone. with longer wires, this could be made to be a perfect fit for the Photon, but Moto apparenly knows best
anyway, after getting the connectors set properly, I then pieced it all back together. the new layout strains the wires just a bit, so that everything else is not quite as smooth as it was starting out. It's fine, and works properly, but theres that little bit thats just noticeable. the MoPho hangs off the edge of the dock, and has to be pressed tightly to ensure a good connection, but works great. There is a small piece that pops off of the dock portion, i think its removed if you're using a case with the Atrix, Make sure this piece stays off, I dont think the connection will be very good otherwise.
cdthomas9 said:
After removing the dock portion from the rest of the unit, I removed the connectors and took an Xacto knife to the openings for the individual connectors. I removed the shaped openings for the micro hdmi and micro usb, leaving plain rectangular openings. I then fitted the connectors back in, rotating them to match the orientation on the Photon. Luckily, the Atrix has the same spacing between the ports, just a mirror layout and shifted down the edge of the phone. with longer wires, this could be made to be a perfect fit for the Photon, but Moto apparenly knows best
anyway, after getting the connectors set properly, I then pieced it all back together. the new layout strains the wires just a bit, so that everything else is not quite as smooth as it was starting out. It's fine, and works properly, but theres that little bit thats just noticeable. the MoPho hangs off the edge of the dock, and has to be pressed tightly to ensure a good connection, but works great. There is a small piece that pops off of the dock portion, i think its removed if you're using a case with the Atrix, Make sure this piece stays off, I dont think the connection will be very good otherwise.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey CD...what about flipping the connectors around in their sockets so the Photon would sit flush, but facing away from the LapDock?
Webtop runs great, i like the environment as a whole, but there isnt much to do natively. Email apps and maneuvering around the phone UI is a little irritating. You can just make the Mobile View full screen, but some of the interface doesnt scale well. I'd like to see native webtop apps, like firefox is, but I'm not sure how that works.
cdthomas9 said:
the connectors can be routed under and behind the LapDock so that the Photon lays on the table. I want to figure out a way to rearrange the connectors to hold the Photon like it should, in the dock normally. Webtop fires up and operates as it does on the HD Station.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This thread excited me!!! Have you found a way to make it sit inside yet?
Bandage said:
Hey CD...what about flipping the connectors around in their sockets so the Photon would sit flush, but facing away from the LapDock?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought of that, but the micro hdmi connector doesn't have enough give or length to do it. I also thought of breaking out the soldering iron, kynar wire and HST but I think that theres a lot of wire in those bundles...
ScandaLeX said:
This thread excited me!!! Have you found a way to make it sit inside yet?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Post 13 shows the closest i can get, without lengthening wires i think. or getting Moto to make me a longer connection set
newalker91 said:
I would just dremel a nice little hole through the plastic immediately above the base connector and run the wires up the back of the screen, then build a cradle onto the back of the monitor for the phone. I need to save up and buy one and get to work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL, I was thinking of doing the same thing. Just mount the phone to the back of the screen somehow, but the wires are literally no more than 2" long. I think Bandage was looking into micro usb and hdmi extension cables though....
cdthomas9 said:
LOL, I was thinking of doing the same thing. Just mount the phone to the back of the screen somehow, but the wires are literally no more than 2" long. I think Bandage was looking into micro usb and hdmi extension cables though....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah...no luck finding an effin Micro HDMI extension cable tho. Anyone else find someone who makes / distributes them?
A couple of months ago, one of my co-worker's Palm Pre phone attempted to swim in a pool and drowned (electronically anyway). My co-worker replaced it with a Samsung Galaxy S2 and when he got it he was complaining about how much he loved his Palm touchstone inductive charger. Basically you just stick the phone near a little hockey-puck thing and magnets align it and it starts charging without connecting any wires.
We thought about it and had this great idea to mod his new SGS2 phone and at the time we thought we were the first to think of this. So, I bought an inductive charging kit on Amazon and we both mod'd our phones and I'm very happy with the inductive charging system.
While lots of people have done it for lots of different phones, this thread is about the i777 and I haven't seen any mod instructions out there for the i777 SGS2.
First you need to get a Palm Pre inductive charging kit. Go to Amazon and search for a Palm Pre inductive charging kit. They run less than $10 including shipping (yeah, seriously, I couldn't believe it either). I paid $8.35 for mine. While you are there, get a Palm Pre AC adapter... the kit is finicky about the AC adapter and most of mine didn't work with it. So that's another $3.70 (inc. shipping), so you are now up to $12 or so.
Once you get it, it should look like this:
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
And inside it looks like this:
Open the kit box, and you will see a touchstone that you stick on your desk that is the charger and then the Palm Pre case back cover with the inductive coil on it. Peel off the inductive coil very very carefully as well as the four silver circular magnets and try to leave everything intact. Set it aside because when you put it on you want the contacts to line up.
Now comes the fun part, taking apart the phone, soldering the wire, and then routing the wire.
To take apart the phone, your best bet is to watch a Youtube video (that's how I did it), but fundamentally, unscrew the 7 small silver screws and then carefully, use your fingernails (best) to work your way around the gap in the edge of the plastic. Or - if like me you don't really have much in the way of fingernails - use a guitar pick or a thin credit card... like a store shopper reward card. Slide it into the gap and work your way around... not too hard. Don't use anything metal or it will scuff the plastic. Just start in a corner and work your way around, be patient and don't try to take them apart until you've worked all the way around. And if this description doesn't make sense, then watch a i777 disassembly video on YouTube.
Once you are done, you need to solder a wire to a resistor at the bottom. There's a close up here:
You could try to solder to the VCC pin on the USB connector but it's tiny and I personally thought the resistor was much easier to solder to without risking shorting any pins. I suck at soldering so if I can do it, others can too. Just get a fine tip for your soldering iron, get it hot (but not red hot), put some solder on the wire, and then touch the iron to the wire and then the resistor quickly. Do it quickly to make sure you don't damage the resistor or the PCB. It took me three tries but I got it.
Then route the wire.
You can see the wire route. I routed right... if you are looking at it yourself, you might think the the left side looks better, but it's next to the antenna and I thought the right side was less risky. I routed down, across the speaker (the bare black gap at the bottom is where the speaker is), under the PCB, then crossed up, and then dodged the screw slot in the upper right of the battery compartment by tucking the wire under the plastic there. But you don't have to do it like this... do it any way you want (although I'd steer clear of the antenna), you just want to route from the VCC resistor at the botton up to wherever you want to put the contact.
For the ground connection, any of the screws, or the sim slot metal or anything else works. I used copper tape and just routed with the tape to the screw in above the upper right of the battery compartment. But it doesn't matter. The metal of the SIM card slot works too... whatever you want. Ground is easy.
When you are done, it should look like this (more or less):
I used copper tape ($5 from a hobby store, look in the jewelry section) for the contacts, then lined them up with the contacts from the Palm Pre coil by putting the stock cover with the coil onto the separated plastic from the phone and lining them up by looking at them together.
Yes, this mod is not easy, and it voids warranties, but it is magic every time you stick your phone on a touchstone and it just starts charging. I bought a touchstone for my car, and then one for my nightstand. For <$20, I have a car charger and a home charger and it's super easy to just put the phone near the touchstone and let the built-in magnets hook it up.
Things to be careful of:
Do not short anything. Make sure not to short VCC to ground on the USB connector
Do not flip the power connections. Make sure not to tie VCC on the inductor coil to ground in the phone and visa versa.
Don't damage the resistor when you solder to it. Be fast. But get a good connection too
I used a multimeter to check for shorts and to make sure that I got VCC -> VCC, GND -> GND.
Very nice, only problem I see is you should of posted to the accessories forum. But overall a very nice mod and the directions were clear.
Sent from my SGH-I777 using xda premium
Nice mod! Thanks for posting it up. What's the difference in charging time compared to charging via USB?
Sweet, the TouchStone has been one of my favorite features with my TouchPad. I saw lots of people doing this with the Galaxy Nexus, but I wasn't sure if it would work with the i777. I know what I'll be doing with my next Amazon gift card.
Sent from my Galaxy S II (i777)
Now THIS is the kind of inductive charging mod I wanted to see!
Saving the pics for later, just in case.
I see that you have a case on your S2 in the first picture, does the inductive charging work through cases?
Hasn't this been done on the sgsiiet?
Sent from Optimus-Prime's SGSII
mfreywald said:
Very nice, only problem I see is you should of posted to the accessories forum. But overall a very nice mod and the directions were clear.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, good point about the Accessories forum. I didn't think of that.
f1456 said:
Nice mod! Thanks for posting it up. What's the difference in charging time compared to charging via USB?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't timed it, but it's not significantly slower. I'm not sure what the difference is, though, because I just stick it on the charger when I go to bed and wake up and it's charged. But when I was testing it, it seemed to charge at a rate slightly slower than the USB charger.
quarlow said:
Sweet, the TouchStone has been one of my favorite features with my TouchPad. I saw lots of people doing this with the Galaxy Nexus, but I wasn't sure if it would work with the i777. I know what I'll be doing with my next Amazon gift card.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cool. If you have any questions let me know. And send me a message when you get it working.
Ashhong said:
I see that you have a case on your S2 in the first picture, does the inductive charging work through cases?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You, my friend, have incredibly sharp eyes. I'm using a bumper case - so there's no backing to it. I don't know how well the system would work with a real case, but I'd assume you'd lose some charging current/efficiency by increasing the gap.
Optimus-Prime said:
Hasn't this been done on the sgsiiet?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, but not as far as I know on an i777 and the internal routing is a bit different from SGS2 model to model.
This is a cool idea. Maybe make a side job out of it for those that don't have the patience or time to do it? I work in electronics for the semiconductor industry so I have the hardware skills but between life and work i don't know if/when i will find time to get around to doing it. Just wanted to suggest it to ya since it is a really cool idea. Thanks for sharing it.
Sent From My KickAss ATT SGS2 SPORTING my CobraRom
Nice. Would you be willing to post some higher res pictures showing the contact placement and the inductive coil installed on the back panel?
Also, were the inductive coil contacts labeled, or did you have to figure out which one was VCC and which was ground?
I've been meaning to attempt this mod after I saw a Galaxy S video showing it.
Can I get a picture of the back of the phone after everything is complete? Without the case, ofc.
sjwaste said:
Nice. Would you be willing to post some higher res pictures showing the contact placement and the inductive coil installed on the back panel?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can do ones of the inductive coil, but I'm not going to take the phone apart again... I should have taken better phones when I had it apart last night... but every time I need to put it back together, it takes a while. I think what we have will have to serve.
There's only one resistor near the USB connector so even though the photo is a bit blurry, if you take the phone apart, you'll see right away which one it is. There's not much there... just a capacitor (the yellow thing) a small IC (the black thing) and then the surface mount resistor (the orange thing in the photo).
As far as the coil, I just peeled it off of the Palm Pre kit and stuck it on the case of the i777. The only thing was lining up the contacts so that they matched the places that I put the copper tape. For that I used to back plastic that was off the phone, that the back cover would attach to, attached it as if the phone was together, and then eyeballed it from the other side.
Also, were the inductive coil contacts labeled, or did you have to figure out which one was VCC and which was ground?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used a multimeter to check. But the contact farthest from the coil is 5V, and the other, the inside one closer to the coil, is GND.
yahoowizard said:
Can I get a picture of the back of the phone after everything is complete? Without the case, ofc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It looks like this:
It might look like the wire would interfere with a real SIM (instead of the microSIM that I have in there now) but it doesn't. Last week I was in Costa Rica and I had an ICE full SIM card in there and it worked fine. The wire doesn't push into the SIM card slot as much as it looks... or rather, you can tuck it under the plastic so that it's more out of the way.
Very snazzy. Got my parts in and going to complete this evening.
Stupid radio shack didn't have any copper tape tho...I'm going to try using the wire ends strategically placed and/or taped to get the same effect.
Sent from my SGH-I777 using XDA
I tried it last night, but it didn't work for me. I'm trying to find out what I did wrong. I solder a wire to the resistor and to the touchstone cover directly to test. Then I wrapped the ground cable around a screw and screwed it down. The tester displays that the cables are receiving all 5 volts.
Mine seems to be a different model because that "U" that is next to the resistor in the picture appears to be on top of my resistor.
I'll keep trying to see if I can get it.
chilean03n said:
I tried it last night, but it didn't work for me. I'm trying to find out what I did wrong. I solder a wire to the resistor and to the touchstone cover directly to test. Then I wrapped the ground cable around a screw and screwed it down. The tester displays that the cables are receiving all 5 volts.
Mine seems to be a different model because that "U" that is next to the resistor in the picture appears to be on top of my resistor.
I'll keep trying to see if I can get it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
NVM I got it to work!
I soldered only the right side of the resistor and it works flawlessly!
Sorry, I stopped reading the forum as things got busy at work.
chilean03n said:
NVM I got it to work!
I soldered only the right side of the resistor and it works flawlessly!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cool. Congrats.
Mine is still working great too.
For the copper tape, I should have elaborated on that. I bought it at Michael's (a hobby/craft store). I think hobby stores that have supplies for making jewelry have it. I tried Radio Shack as well and they had no idea what I was talking about. Amazon has it too. But I think the cheapest option is a place like Hobby Lobby or Michaels or any other jewelry or stained glass window supply.
I tried aluminum tape - from Home Depot - but I had a really hard time soldering to it without soldering through it. Someone at work recommended copper tape instead.
Also, someone on another forum (I'm the moderator of the mobile devices forum at Anandtech) mentioned that their back cover has been popping off. This hasn't been a problem that I've had much - very rarely a corner will pop off after a day in my pocket, but otherwise everything fits pretty well. If people have problems with that, one could move the coil further down on the back cover and that should solve it. Or else you could use double-sided permanent tape from an office supply store and apply it to the inside cover where the cover is coming off.
I just picked up the parts to do this. $3 each for kits with charger and back from Amazon, so I picked up three. I have a couple of batteries that charge off USB that this could work for as well.
Test fit inside my otterbox commuter case seems ok, but will need more metal for the magnets in the charger to hang onto.
Tapped out by infinite monkeys on an Atari 800
just bought the parts to do this
just need the courage now
Sorry to bump an old thread, but this is an awesome mod.
@pfmahoney (or anybody else who has done this) have there been any adverse effects over time? I've read that on some other phones, you can't use the touchscreen while connected to the Touchstone. Is that the case on our model? I've also heard about overheating issues and compass issues. These reports were on other phones, though. Any thoughts?
Danation said:
Sorry to bump an old thread, but this is an awesome mod.
@pfmahoney (or anybody else who has done this) have there been any adverse effects over time? I've read that on some other phones, you can't use the touchscreen while connected to the Touchstone. Is that the case on our model? I've also heard about overheating issues and compass issues. These reports were on other phones, though. Any thoughts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, you are right, you can't use the touchscreen while it's charging... well, actually, you can... just not the spot right in the middle. There's a circle about the size of the inductive coil that doesn't respond to input or responds erratically.
I haven't had any issues over time. I put it on the charger every night and it's been fine.
It does get a little warm, but not what I would consider excessively hot. I've had it get hotter playing games than it does on the inductive charger, but it definitely does warm up.
I have never noticed any issues with the compass - by issues, you mean the compass not working? I have never noticed that. I just tried the compass now and it seems to work fine... are these issues with the compass while it's charging? I've never tried that and I can imagine that there might be problems using the compass while it's charging inductively. If you need the compass while it's charging (for example in the car), you can always just plug it in to the USB plug - the inductive mod doesn't stop the regular USB plug from working.
Wondering if anyone has seen or knows of a right angle 40 pin charging connector? Either that or im hacking up a keyboard if i can find one cheap enough. Im dead set on getting this tab in my dash =D
Sent from my Transformer
What do you mean right angle? Do you mean so the cable is lines to to right rather than at the bottom on the sync/charge cable?
In that case - no, never seen. But its not super-hard to do it yourself. It will still stick stick out around 1cm though, because theres a PCB inside.
Although the PCB can be removed as well, but that requires some very fine soldering (we're talking pins that are like 0.7mm, if not less, with like 0.5mm spacing)
I had a hell of a time to just resolder the data cables on the cable, and the points are located on the PCB so theres only 2 'pins' near there. Soldering those cables on the connector itself would be.. ugh... *nightmares*
Lol no, no micro soldering for me. Just wondering if there has been or is or what miss match parts could possible go together to go from the existing 40 pin port down and back. Like a right angle but coming down and away from you. The ipads have em. But we arent comparing that crap here. I want to make a dock of sorts, to have fiberglassed in. Tab slides down and plugs in to charge. Thats why i mentioned hacking up a keyboard if need be.
Sent from my Transformer
Yeah ok. No I dont think theres any such cable.
But if you just want to angle the cable its quite easy, and if youre careful wont require any soldering.
All you need to do is open the cable up, cut a new hole for the cable in the casing, align it and reassemble it (it will probably have to be glued together again, or plastic welded, simple stuff really).
And even if you would manage to rip off the cables, the + and - cables are (relatively) big. ground is just soldered directly onto the shielding, and + is soldered to 3 pins next to each other, and theres only 1 other pin nearby you have to look out for, but that pin is sortof protected by some plastic thing (which will probably melt from the heat of the soldering iron though lol).
The hardest part of all this is actually opening the damn casing without damaging it too much
Curious if anyone is using the Palm Touchstone wireless charging mod for the SGS3. I got everything for a Palm Pre, touchstone, cable, etc.. Did the mod which was stupid easy... but the buldge of the back cover is driving me nuts. I have no idea how to make it more flush again. There is ZERO chance of putting an case on here now, for 1 it seems like the charging signal wouldn't be strong enough... and the buldge would absolutely prevent it.
Any help would be appreciated.
BTW: I used super thin 24 gauge wire out of a cable (like a usb cable/printer cable) to go from the palm pre charging pads to the pins of the sgs3.
I used the palm pixi's back for my mid. It is thinner that the pre's so there is less bulge.
Edit: I also used copper foil/tape to make my connections. I don't know if that would reduce bulge or not though.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2
I read somewhere the pixi back was thinner but I read that after I ordered the pre back. I didn't have any copper foil tape so I used wire from a usb cable, and if I did use foil tape it seems like I would need something to push down into the phone connectors as they seem a tiny bit recessed.
Don't get me wrong, everything works, and charging works, but the bulge is noticeable and there is no way I could use a case back now. Glad I got the whole body Zagg invisible shield. :thumbup:
How did you address the phone connectors being deep inside? What did you use to make your foil tape touch the leads in the phone? I just kind of pushed the wires in there and used a little rape to prevent shorts.
T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S3 SGH-T999 Tapatalk 2
On the Sprint model there is no sim card. If you cut a square out of the internal cover to the right of the microSD card you have a nice little space to hide the circuit board that causes the buldge. I just posted a question- where to buy the internal plastic cover? I don't want to risk screwing up my original.. BTW I used copper tape. On the pixie back I soldered the tape to the leads. For the phone connection I cut the tape too long and rolled it up to the spot it needed to be to make contact with the S3 contacts.
I have the touchstone and palm charging back. Is it possible to do this mod without soldiering the GS3?
Roll the tape up...:fingers-crossed: Sometimes I hate myself, I always think of the hardest way to do something.... Of course - why not roll the tape into a little ball. DUH!
I think I could probably get the bulge down a little, but I'm not sure it would make a lot of difference... I guess I could always just buy a pixi back and try again? or just wait for Sept and get the samsung kit.
I had read that the samsung kit will charge when the phone is relatively close by - I read 2 meters, but that doesnt sound right - that would be like 6ft... I would settle for 1 ft. The touchstone has to be RIGHT on it... If I had an otterbox case, I am 99% sure the magnetics wouldn't catch and I doubt think the charging field would work, because I can hold it just above the reach of the magnets and no charge. Touch it to the touchstone and BINGO.