Well the factory warranty ran out so why not paint it! Here it is in a flat black. I really, really like the look of it. But the bad part is...the paint that I looked all over town for...is worthless. I used the Krylon Fusion that's supposed to freaking bond to the plastic and not even require sanding. However I used 2000 grit sandpaper to just give it something to grip on to. Then following the instructions it says to wait 7 days for it to become fully chip resistant. Not only does it chip...easily...the paint comes off! The first time I put it back together after waiting a week...I made a call and of course the oil from my face got on the front bezel and screen. No biggie I thought...I wiped off all the smudges with my shirt...and the paint came off onto my shirt! I couldn't believe it. So I'll have get this paint off and redo this phone with a much better paint. Anybody have any suggestions for a flat black?
Haven't tested as i'm not that skilled (i think) and phone's still under warranty.
http://www.instructables.com/id/E5MGY2CF5EB7KDV/
hope it helps. cheers
Painting over is not a good idea :\
Hi everyone,
I'm currently looking to buy a Nexus One, possibly a used one, and I recently saw one pretty cheaply but with the back engraved.
Now, I don't really mind that it is engraved seeing as the back would be covered with my hand most of the time and I wouldn't really see it.
However, I was wondering if anyone had tried to remove the engraving off a Nexus one. I read somewhere that it can be taken off with some cleaning kits. If not that, I may be able to get an engraving shop to engrave over it.
Has anyone had any experience with this, is it possible, or am I just crazy for thinking about it?
Thanks.
Put a sticker on it, or get a rubber/gel case to cover it.
you might be able to scratch off the top layer without any toolds but i doubt you can remove it completely without some type of kit maybe. the engraving i got is partially faded from normal wear and tear so the engraving isnt as defined but its still visible and readable.
I'd try taking a wash cloth and some toothpaste to it.
Toothpaste is a mild abrasive, but it might be enough to remove it?
If not, at least the back of your phone will have a fresh minty smell to it.
let me know what you do....I have an engraving on mine as well, I paid $220for an iphone 3g back in november or so, and traded the iphone for the n1 with engraving on it. I unlocked and jailbroke the iphone for a local carrier but only had 2g network....traded for n1...3g service is pretty solid! loving the n1, engraving on isnt bad just dont care for it
You'll need something a bit more powerful than toothpaste to get rid of laser etching. Basically, you'd have to drill out the surrounding material so that it's just a big blank spot on the back of the phone. This is probably a lot more work, and would require a lot more skill with machinery, than you're willing to put in.
My recommendations:
1) A Case
2) Legally change your name to whatever one is on the phone. If it's a girl's name, optional sex change operation.
ATnTdude said:
2) Legally change your name to whatever one is on the phone. If it's a girl's name, optional sex change operation.
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This is clearly the right answer.
I'm not sure how's the engraving material is like. But I have seen some people try to remove the "T-Mobile" or "Sprint" engraving on the front with sugar cane. Look on youtube and see for yourself. It leaves no scratch for the phone obviously.
I've been trying to find out if there's such a thing as touch-up paint for the N1's unibody. If it exists, or you can find something similar, you could always paint over it? The "engraving" is laser-etched, so it's only a few hundredths of a millimeter thick...meaning it would be covered completely with any layer of paint, which are easily measurable in tenths of millimeters.
Thanks for the answers. I actually found another Nexus one being sold for cheaper which didn't have engraving.
No need for a name/sex change now as that was the only feasible option
I recently bought my N1 on eBay, and it came with engraving. It's not a must-remove since it's just "Simmetry Wireless" instead of a person's name or worse.
Any good stickers for covering it up? Android/Google related?
lets just say i tried paint thinner/remover, didnt help one bit
EdwardUong said:
I'm not sure how's the engraving material is like. But I have seen some people try to remove the "T-Mobile" or "Sprint" engraving on the front with sugar cane. Look on youtube and see for yourself. It leaves no scratch for the phone obviously.
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That's silk-screened paint, not an engraving. If you want to remove the Google and HTC markings from the back, it will probably work.
e4604 said:
lets just say i tried paint thinner/remover, didnt help one bit
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I don't think the metal band, where the engraving is located, is painted. I'm pretty sure it's just "naked" anodized aluminum. As such, paint thinner (either enamel or lacquer) won't work. Oven cleaner probably would deoxidize it, which would remove the etching. It would also remove the entire outer layer of the metal body and melt just about anything else (plastic, electronics, YOU) leaving a clean (as in soda can silver) aluminum frame. You could also get exotic with stuff like nitric acid, but I really don't recommend any of this unless you've done it before. And if you've done it before, you probably wouldn't be asking about it here.
As another FYI, there's several types of paint acrylic (rarely used in electronics), enamel, and lacquer (most common). A thinner for one (e.g. rubbing alcohol will dissolve acrylic, but do nothing to enamel or lacquer) will not work on the others. Lacquer is the "hottest," meaning that it and (especially) it's thinning/stripping agents have a decent chance of eating into whatever surface you're applying it to. So if you really have to strip the paint off your phone, take the damn thing apart before you try.
Seriously, just get a case, a new phone, or do the whole sex change thing I mentioned before.
ATnTdude said:
Seriously, just get a case, a new phone, or do the whole sex change thing I mentioned before.
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LMAO I love this!
I know there was some Colorware threads but just wondering if anyone has done anything first hand ?
Im curious to the results. I actually modded/painted my G1 to all white and changed the keys to black. I always loved the look so now Im getting an itch to paint my N1.
Does anyone have any insight on the materials used ?
The battery cover and bottom piece seem like the same Tefloney coating that the G1 and other HTC covers have. Not sure if the other is aluminum ?
My touch pro battery cover was the same material. I used a clothing dye to make it black. I wonder if i go Dark if I can use that method here.
I guess if nothing else I need to know if HTC sells any of the case parts seperately so I can practice ?
Any help whatsoever is appreciated.
I don't know if this is the right place to post this question (I assume so, since it IS a question) but does anybody have a solution to buffing out scratches on the plastic part of the phone? Like, where to find paint to repaint it, or a way to get rid of the "wear" that happens to the captivate? My friend's captivate has the same problem, and I take pretty good care of my phone. I don't want to use a case on it, so does anybody else have this problem? Or a solution? Thanks in advance.
+1
I need this info too.
i also would like to know this!
If it's a total repaint for the plastic parts of the phone housing i would remove the guts and sand it/rough it up with a very, very fine grit sand paper then repaint. They make several different types of spraypaint that bond to plastic, you may not even have to sand it first. If you do have to sand though i would definitely remove EVERYTHING from the inside of the phone and make sure there are NO specks of plastic particles anywhere inside the housing before re-assembling.
If it's touch up's pretty much the same thing just check with a hobby shop for plastic paint and try and get a match. If it has gouges out of the plastic, i'm not sure but they probably make a compound to fill with before painting. There are so many hobby shops and different types of paint now i'm sure it can be done fairly easy. A friend of mine put scallops/stripes down the sides of his old phone, looked really nice..
Only other option if it gets to bad is to replace the housing, i looked on ebay but didn't see any "full housings" for sale. I'm sure there will be some eventually though..
thank you for the info, that is certainly an option. I'm not a very good painter, but the housing idea seems valid. maybe with some extensive searching I can find a housing for my cappy. :C That is, assuming I get my headphone problem fixed first.
sounds a little hardcore for some scratches...does anyone have a something they put on top of it like a wax/polish or something?
Hey all, I dropped my black one against some metal and the back got scratched to the point where you can see the aluminum underneath. Anybody have any experience with this and how to possibly hide it so it's not as obvious? I was thinking a black marker might cover it up but I don't want to get the wrong tint of black and make it look even worse.
oxipod said:
Hey all, I dropped my black one against some metal and the back got scratched to the point where you can see the aluminum underneath. Anybody have any experience with this and how to possibly hide it so it's not as obvious? I was thinking a black marker might cover it up but I don't want to get the wrong tint of black and make it look even worse.
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I've seen recommendations for black markers. I'm surprised you can actually see the silver aluminum. Thought they had some kind of multi layer black thing going on. Hmm.
Do try the black marker on a VERY small area. wait for it to dry and see whether it works well.
Otherwise if you're still within 30 days of ur phone's purchase. Find even the most minor of defects and bring it in to a store. Maybe they'll accept an exchange.. :S That's all I can recommend :'(
Wait to get other replies first though! Maybe someone else has better experiences (I'm here with a silver One)
I have the black One and tried using a black permanent marker to cover a mark at the top edge. I did not really care about colour differences since my scratched is very small, but my makeup did stay even I waited until it was dried to handle the phone.
I have heard people saying a marker bought from halfords, that's a car shop by the way if you are not in UK. The pen is used to hide car imperfection and can stand rain, dust, and etc, so it must be much tougher to remove.
If you are not sure about colour, yes, I would suggest try a small area first, but if you do have a long scratch it would be difficult to find the perfect colour.
Keep up updated if you find a good pen, so I will stock one as well.
Sent from my HTC One using xda app-developers app
oxipod said:
Hey all, I dropped my black one against some metal and the back got scratched to the point where you can see the aluminum underneath. Anybody have any experience with this and how to possibly hide it so it's not as obvious? I was thinking a black marker might cover it up but I don't want to get the wrong tint of black and make it look even worse.
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Sounds painful
Finally worked up the courage to buy some paint and go ahead with the paint job. Thought I'd give you guys an update. I bought some Tamiya XF-1 paint, it's supposed to be matte black ink for plastic models. So after the drop my phone looked like this.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1308152/phone paint job/IMG_20130531_210230.jpg
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1308152/phone paint job/IMG_20130531_210315.jpg
I used a toothpick to pick up a drop of the paint and blob it on each scratch. Then I used a moist kitchen toilet to scrub away the paint that didn't get into the scratches. End result is this.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1308152/phone paint job/IMG_20130531_211936.jpg
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1308152/phone paint job/IMG_20130531_212012.jpg
Overall I'm pretty happy with the result. You can still see the silver surface pop up at some angles and I'll probably do another few passes of the paint and scrubbing to try and get it perfect.