Database Develop

inductive charging mod for defy

I finally made one.
wanted to do this for a long time.
One of the harder mods i made.
-extremly small solder points.
-should still be water resistant afterwards
-wont charge without data pins connected - but usb should still be usable.
here it is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOSdcRLA-mo
I spend more then 10 hours in total to do this. Was it worth it?
=D hell yeah!

strong electromagnetic field does not damage data on a memory card?

its not long term
yes you can charge like this but with this kind of chargers your phone's life + memory life will reduce because of strong magnetic / electromagnetic field so try use it in emergency only

rucheat said:
yes you can charge like this but with this kind of chargers your phone's life + memory life will reduce because of strong magnetic / electromagnetic field so try use it in emergency only
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i call bull****! sorry to sound like a prick, but i strongly dislike people talking out of there ass about things they don`t know **** about.
This wont damage anything. Infact, this "strong magnetic / electromagnetic field" won`t even reach the phone.
Maybe you read some more about that topic:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inductive_charging
http://www.engadget.com/tag/inductive charging/

Hi puked,
I would be very interested in knowing more about this mod you created. Good work by the way.
I was planning on doing something similar, I wanted to modify the car dock to charge the phone automatically when docked. I was thinking of adding 2 contact points on the back cover which would mate up with springs or some such on the car dock. I hate having to plug cables into the phone when putting the phone into the dock, bluetooth takes care of the audio nicely, just needed to get the charging sorted!
I'm particulary interested in hearing your experience of where you tapped into in the Defy. Did you solder directly to the back of the the USB connector? And you mentioned needing to connect the data pins to invoke charging, can you explain a little more?

hi jurgen,
i should have made some photos during the process of making the mod. Sorry for that -.-
Yeah, I soldered directly to the back of the USB port. Only one wire needed for Vcc.
A pinout can be found here:
http://www.talkandroid.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/pinout-microUSB1.png
this is the micro USB port, when you look into it from the front.
A guide, how to disassemble the phone can be found via youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3uSH1UuEOvI
you only need to remove the backcover and the plastic shielding over the USB Port - this is easy.
To be able to reach the pin for soldering, you need to remove the antenna, too.
I drilled a hole into the plastic shielding to lead the cable through. You have to do this; there is no room to lead the cable otherwise.
Put the plastic shield back on, and fixate the cable on it.
to lead this point to the top of the battery, I used adhesive copper-foil.
GND can be taken from different points - I used the slot of the sim-card. lead this point to the top, too.
The receiver i used is from the cover of a palm pre.
The problem I had after I finished the mod: Phone won`t charge. Why? Well - dumb Moto decided the phone will only charge if USB is connected. You have to shorten the Data-Pins.
How did I do this? I got myself some micro USB plugs. remove the pins and dremel/saw it so small, that it fits into the slot completely. Remove the metal shielding and insert one of the pins from underneath (there are small holes, that normaly hold the pins in place). you eventually have to melt the plastic between the holes, so that the metal bridge fits. It should be flat and not stick out. You now have to shorten the pins sticking out on top, so that they are exactly as long as the pins would be.
Sound complicated and is complicated and damn frustrating, cause the whole thing is so tiny. we are talking about maybe 2mm at most.
Afterwards you have to isolate the whole thing. Instead of re-attaching. the metal shield, use some duct tape or similar.
This thing is sturdy if done correctly and easily removable, if you should need the USB Port.
I`m sure there are other possibilities do do make such a plug. This method worked for me.
I`ll make some photos later and post some links to a similar project for the Samsung Galaxy+. I hope it`ll be quite clear afterwards.
If someone wants to do this mod, I suggest you to start with the micro USB plug. Would be very frustrating, if you mod the phone first, and fail making a plug. Without it the whole mod is useless.
Maybe someone knows if it is possible to change something in software (CM7), so that the damn phone will charge without the pins connected. I still hope, this is possible, but didn`t get any feedback to this question as of yet.

Thank you for the very detailed response and the links.
I'll look into the links later, the shorting plug sounds like a pain to get right! Hopefully, as you say, there is a software setting/workaround that can bypass this.

Very interesting project!!! Impressive! One question that comes up: How long does it take to fully charge the battery?

Hi puked,
that's awesome work, congratulations for getting it working!
I did the same thing to my defy a couple of months ago, but I had less success unfortunately. I soldered it in and, like you, I noticed it did not charge when power was applied to the port. I eventually figured out that the pins need to be shorted, so did so, and have managed to nearly get it working.
The problem is, it only works if i take the coil out of the back and push it onto the touchstone base so there is little to no air gap. If it's even slightly off centre, the charging constantly restarts and it doesn't work. I haven't managed to get it to work with the coil in the case. I haven't installed the magnets/steel discs, as I wanted to get it working reliably first.
I wanted to ask, did you find it had to be perfectly centred for it to work? Did gluing the magnets in help here? Did you do anything special with the metal sheild behind the coil?
Craig

puked said:
i should have made some photos during the process of making the mod. Sorry for that -.-
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Puked,
Can you please take the battery cover of your phone and make a picture of the inside? This might help me to see if I will try to make this mod myself....
Thank you.

Hi Puked
First of all Thanks and Congratulations for making it work. Awaiting photos before I touch the screw drivers

Hi and sorry for not responding for such a long time. I´m very busy at the moment, sorry :/
I promise i will make some more photos this evening and update this post with them.
To answer Craigms questions:
I cut the "metal shield, so that it fits - it`s a bit to wide to fit in without shortening. I diden`t use the little round metal plates from the palm cover (these are no magnets), instead i used sheeting from a tin.
To find the best spot on the touchstone, i used wires to link cover and phone, so that i could move the cover around. when i found the optimal place on the touchstone, i attached the sheeting and fixated it.
I also had to dremel down the plastic inside the battery cover so that it fits and closes without pressure.
Notice: The first touchstones seem to be faulty - they have problems even with the original HP phones.
I have problems aligning the phone as well, sometimes. But that only happens, if battery drops below ~30% - that rarely happens since I modded my phone.
Edit:
pictures:
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Nice work. I've actually just finished a Touchstone Car-Cradle for my Defy.
My problem is the shorting of the data pins... damn those tiny plug .
Puked, you wrote that one doesn't need the metal shielding of the plug but in the picture you've posted there is a metal shield around the plug... Without the shield it seemed to me, that the plug is too lose and the data pins have no connection. On the other hand, with shield it's really hard to remove the plug from the defy... in fact there's currently one stuck in the USB port :|.
Having destroyed three plugs with my oversized soldering iron, I now need to wait for new ones before I can continue :/.
Could you please post a picture of the micro-USB plug alone? So I can maybe follow your lead

Yeah - the plug is a pain in the ass. If I would have known, that the phone wont charge without them connected, I could have solved this problem in a different way.
best thing to do would be to solder 2 more cables to the data pins and shortem them via battery cover - similar how I did it with Vcc and ground - just with data.
You are indeed right - there is a metal shielding. I made a new plug. Will make photos later.
btw. I still believe (hope) that one could make the phone charge without the pins shortened via software.

DIY - How to modify eBay dock to work with N7 + Slim Cases

So I bought THIS DOCK off eBay, and if you're looking for one, this is the one to get since it's a US seller who is only charging $1 more for it than the one you have to wait 2+ weeks for coming out of China:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/160860164735?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649
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Images above borrowed from the eBay auction page, they are not my own images
If you can't find this one months or years after it disappears from eBay, you're looking for something similar to a Charging & Syncing Docking Station Dock Cradle for ASUS Google Nexus 7. All in all, it's a good dock, I felt it leaned a little forward prior to installing a case on the N7, but some people may want that for their uses - I personally have it mounted on my charging valet in my bedroom, so it is a little above my waist when looking at it on the dock, in which case I'd like it to lean a little further back compared to the intended usage of placing it on your desk at work so that it's nearly at eye level.
When I got the Cruzerlite case for the N7, the dock wasn't going to work at ALL. The MicroUSB charging port wouldn't even come close to mating up to the connector on the stand, and would put the N7 at a horrible viewing angle even if it did, leaning like 20+ degrees forward instead of 10 degrees backwards! So time to get to work on this lovely Labor Day, here's what you'll need to modify the dock:
Eyeglass Phillips Screwdriver
Small Flathead Screwdriver
Needle-Nose Pliers
Electrical Tape
X-Acto Knife
Crazy Glue / CA Glue (for hobbies and crafts) / Hot Glue Gun and Glue Sticks
Protective Eyewear
Sanding Apparatus (I used a belt sander, but if you don't have one, use a Dremel or good old fashioned hand sand paper)
Finishing Sand Paper (400 grit and up)
USB charging plug out in the garage or wherever you'll be doing this so you can test the connections
Time and Patience
I'm going to apologize in advance for not taking pics of the modifications. I'm awful at this, but since I do custom stuff like this for a living, it really isn't in my nature to take pics all the way through doing custom work, so I'm sorry but the descriptions will have to hold up for now! This is what it will look like when you're done though, I'll show that first:
Before you ask, the wallpaper was something custom I worked up, and isn't available for download, sorry.... using trademarked logos is something I don't mind doing for my personal device because no one can complain about it, providing it for others isn't cool though!
And here's what you need to do to get it to look like that:
Start by pealing off the little rubber pads adhered to the bottom of the dock, they conceal the small Phillips head screws to disassemble it.
Remove the screws and don't lose them!
Make sure you have the cable disconnected from the wall outlet and start picking at the hot glue stuck to the inside of the dock, but BE CAREFUL not to damage any wires in the process! Once you get it started on the very outside with the Flathead screwdriver, just peal the rest of it up by hand, slowly. You'll want to remove the glue from around the LED and the MicroUSB connector.
Once the glue is off, the MicroUSB connector will pop out with some force to the top of it - just push down with your thumb and it should break through the melted plastic that was tacking it in place from underneath.
Completely remove the USB cable from the docking station and set aside, now the seat back of the dock is clear to sand without the MicroUSB connector in the way!
START SANDING, however you have planned. Do this evenly and make sure you are starting with knocking down the high spot on the top of the seat back of the dock. Yes, read that again, and then continue with this description. The "seat" of the dock is "L" shaped, if you will. The bottom of the L needs no sanding, just the top of it, on the face of the L. You want it to lean like an italicized L would look, or maybe a J for you visual learners. Again, sorry for no pics of the progress.
Do a little at a time and check your progress - clean your hands, pick up the tablet that should have been far enough away from the sanding process, and while looking from underneath the dock, see if you can visually line up the charging port on the N7 with the slit that the MicroUSB connector used to protrude from. Not yet? Keep sanding! Man, I feel bad if you're doing this by hand, I ground the crap out of the dock to get it where I wanted it....
One thing that you may encounter if you're using a belt sander or even a Dremel is that you'll start to sand through the material on the very top corners, or at least get to an outline of the molded plastic from the inside. That's okay, it actually turned out interesting for me when I finished, and you'll see why. Just be careful not to sand right through it and leave a gaping hole, it isn't easy to do, but it's not hard if you're not paying attention to what you're sanding, and stopping every few seconds to see the progress.
After you've got it perfect, whatever that means to you, hit it with the high numbered sand paper to smooth it all down and finish it up, I used 400 because that gives plastic a really nice feel, in my opinion.
Wash the dock down and your hands as well, and rub it all over to get off all the loose sanded plastic. Dry with a paper towel and blow dry before continuing.
Now line up the charging port to where the MicroUSB connector once resided, and while holding the N7 with the case on it in place, see if that's the right angle you want it in, mine has a nice gangsta lean to it, and that's what I was going for.
If you sanded too much, you may want to use some heavy duty glue to repair it from the inside. I did just to strengthen it and since I sanded it down a little too much on one side (the belt sander will do that, quickly!), I actually created a second window from the front for the blue LED to shine through by using glue on the inside! You'll see what I mean below in pics.
Now that you've visually got the port lined up with where the connector will go, we need to mate the two together. Start by cutting the MicroUSB connector slit open even more than it once was. You need to widen that opening because the MicroUSB plug will need to sit higher than it did previously, as the case will raise the N7 off the base of the dock about 1/8th of an inch.
Where the plug used to sit, you'll see from the inside that it looks thinner at the very base of the opening. Using the X-Acto Knife, cut perpendicularly to the hole on the very left and right of it, making an "H" on from the outside, where the horizontal bar on the letter H is the exisiting MicroUSB plug slit. Once you cut deep enough, you can use the Needle-Nose Pliers to break off the thin tabs. You will now have enough room for the entire base of the MicroUSB plug to feed through (see macro pictures of the plug below for reference to see how much the hole is widened and how high the plug sits in comparison to before).
Before you even TOUCH the MicroUSB cable after removing it in step 5, let's tape it up so you avoid any accidents. Grab the electrical tape and carefully wrap all the bare wires and the base of the MicroUSB plug. Be very gentle with the wires, they are VERY fragile and will break if you use force in tearing the electrical tape - trust me, I know.... I had to repair a loose wire because of it! Don't use too much on the base of the plug though, the more you use, the more you'll have to shave down with the X-Acto Knife to widen the opening for the plug to fit through. Don't use too much on the cables because it won't bend easily later.
Now, if you're handy enough, you can hold the N7 and the dock with one hand and feed the plug up through the dock with the other, if not, get some help holding it up. Be careful not to break the plug or bend it too much while test fitting it!!! Once fitted, plug in the cable and see if your N7 is charging - if not, you need to feed the plug up higher and most likely shave down the sides of the hole to feed more of it up to reach the dock. Now's a good time to check the viewing angle as well, making sure you're okay with it!
Optionally, you can stop here before hard mounting the MicroUSB plug and prep and paint your dock, I recommend using texture black spray paint if you want to, but I didn't care that much to do it.... Think about what you want to do with it now, once you continue, you can't paint it effectively.
Holding the N7 to the dock and the charging port securely fixed to it and verifying once more it charges the device, tack some glue to the inside to hold the port in place. The reason I use CA Glue is because with the accelerator, it takes 10 seconds for it to go from a liquid to ROCK SOLID, speeding up the time I need to hold something firmly together for it to stay glued together.
Carefully remove the N7 from the dock, making sure it didn't break the tacked glue (if it did, repeat the process clearing out the glue you just tacked), and smother the inside of the dock with glue to seal that sucker in there for good.
Depending on what glue you used, you may even want to apply some glue to the top, by where the MicroUSB plug sits on the base to strengthen it even further - if you're only using hot glue with this, don't even think about it!
Optionally, you'll want to glue back the blue LED, but before you do, you can put some electrical tape over the hole to dampen the brightness of that damn beacon of a light! Why the Chinese think we need such a bright light to tell us that these docks have power, I'll never know....
Keeping the cable connected to the power supply to ensure the blue LED stays lit, carefully bend the wires and reinstall the base with screws.
Put the rubber feet back on the dock once the screws are all snug, and your dock has been modified!
Optionally, cover the bottom with industrial strength Velcro and mount it to the place you're going to keep the dock positioned. I do that to all my docking stations, the one for my Harmony 1000 remote, my cell phone, everything. There's just something so appealing about being able to grab the device with one and and pulling straight up without having to hold the dock or base with the other hand to keep it from coming with the device! Trust me, you'll thank me later....
Oh, yeah, one more thing, and this isn't really optional.... You want to throw out the 1.0A wall plug that came with this and find yourself a 2.0 - 2.1A wall plug to charge your tablet. Newer devices require more power to charge them faster, some, charge at ALL, so ditch that 1.0A one because it isn't designed for your tablet. You can find the right one by using the one that came with the device, just not using the USB cable since this one is attached to the dock, but don't use the cheap 1.0A one that comes with this dock!
Here are more images as I promised:
If this has helped you in any way, please don't forget to say thanks! I wasn't planning on doing this write up but after seeing some of the ones done on here for other simple little things (that DIY DVD Case / Tablet Stand is awesome!), I figured I'd try and help if possible. I'm not looking to boost my ego or anything here, but as you can see, it took me a white writing up these 25 steps!
Enjoy and let me know if I need to be more clear on any of the steps! I'm always open to criticism of my write ups, just be kind and don't get crazy, I'm here to help but need to know what you need help with first.... Also, PLEASE don't click reply to this post and quote this whole thing, it wastes a lot of space and reproduces this whole post for no reason - if you need to quote something from what I said, quote just what you need! Also, we will laugh at you for quoting the whole post.... Thanks!

Stock Samsung Galaxy S3/Note 2/S4 Micro USB Cable Modification

Since the plastic housing in the micro USB end of my USB cable was falling apart, I decided to open it up to see what's inside. The following will be half a recount of what I did and half instructional directions.
The cable actually uses a very surprising design. The wires aren't soldered onto the micro USB receptacle, but instead there are vampire teeth (because they puncture two holes into the wire) like contacts on the plug that pierce into the wire through the insulation.
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The wires are threaded into this green plastic retainer through each of the 4 holes. Directly above each hole, there is a letter in the recessed triangle area shown below but they are so small that they are invisible to my Note 2's camera.
The letters read from left to right as follows: R W G B - corresponding to Red, White, Green and Black respectively as shown in the above picture.
And here is a closeup of the vampire teeth contacts:
Note that there are only 4 contacts - there isn't one for pin 5 ID, meaning you can't make it an OTG plug.
What I did was ditch the original cable for a 3 metre long one. I just so happened to have a broken 3m Apple Lightning Cable lying around, so I cut the Lightning connector and stripped the white cable by about 1 cm, leaving the individual coloured cables unstripped.
In order to remove the cable anchor, I had to strip it off the original cable like you would with a regular wire (without cutting through the core and pulling the insulation off), cut it lengthwise (horizontally/inline with the micro USB connector) then remove the twisted wire and foil shielding. Then from the inside of the anchor I also had to remove the remnant cable insulation to accommodate for the new cable.
Then in the correct order, I insert the four wires into the green plastic retainer and snap it back against the vampire teeth contacts. To ensure they make good contact, I used a pair of pliers to clamp the green plastic retainer into the dark grey vampire teeth holder with just enough force to not break the plastic (if that made sense). At this stage, plug the cable into the phone and then to a computer to make sure it is making good contact to avoid having to open it up again.
I then re-assembled the metal case (noting the up/down orientation) and crimped the wire anchor securely onto the new cable.
To re-install the two halves of the cable anchor, I used a generous amount of brush-on super glue on anything that needed it, also noting the up/down orientation of the parts. If unsure, assemble the connector without any glue to ensure the correct orientation.
And this is the finished product! It is as close to original as I could make it without using the "traditional cut-both-cables-and-reconnect-Frankestine-style-using-heatshrink" method. As seen here, the cut made to the cable anchor is visible but it seems like a very stable bond.
The plastic casing is almost as if it hadn't been opened before.
Now I have a custom-made 3m micro USB cable that looks like the stock one, but with much more flexibility!

Wow! Thanks for the very informative post. I've been staring at a pile of near dead cables wondering if it would be easy to revive them.
Are you getting a full charge strength through it (using something like GCC to measure)? All the microusb cables I've bought thus far won't carry but maybe 700, if I'm lucky; generally about 400.
-----
I would love to help you, but help yourself first: ask a better question
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

spycedtx said:
Wow! Thanks for the very informative post. I've been staring at a pile of near dead cables wondering if it would be easy to revive them.
Are you getting a full charge strength through it (using something like GCC to measure)? All the microusb cables I've bought thus far won't carry but maybe 700, if I'm lucky; generally about 400.
-----
I would love to help you, but help yourself first: ask a better question
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I suppose I am getting a full charge current. It's the same reading as the stock cable, anyway. 1698 mA is about 1.7 A.

Update: Realistically though, I think it only charges at around 300 mA, which leads to my Note 2 to charge to only 80% in 8 hours. How disappointing. I should've known better than to use a cheap generic cable that was obviously too thin.

Good looking job anyway!
Do you suppose this plug could survive another operation?

looks very good

vantt1 said:
Update: Realistically though, I think it only charges at around 300 mA, which leads to my Note 2 to charge to only 80% in 8 hours. How disappointing. I should've known better than to use a cheap generic cable that was obviously too thin.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The ONLY cable I trust is from monoprice: http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=103&cp_id=10303&cs_id=1030307&p_id=5457&seq=1&format=2 (you can also find it on amazon).
They clearly specify 24AWG rating for power wires (max 3.5A), and 28AWG rating for signal. Plus you get ferrite core filter, which I suspect only wrapped around power wires to filter out any high current spikes and to keep EMI away from signal wires, and gold plated connectors. I have been using these wires at home and in my car for years. For $1.20 (for 3ft) and also in black or white and 1.5ft, 3ft, 6ft, 10ft, and 15ft variation you can't beat it.

vectron said:
The ONLY cable I trust is from monoprice: http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_id=103&cp_id=10303&cs_id=1030307&p_id=5457&seq=1&format=2 (you can also find it on amazon).
They clearly specify 24AWG rating for power wires (max 3.5A), and 28AWG rating for signal. Plus you get ferrite core filter, which I suspect only wrapped around power wires to filter out any high current spikes and to keep EMI away from signal wires, and gold plated connectors. I have been using these wires at home and in my car for years. For $1.20 (for 3ft) and also in black or white and 1.5ft, 3ft, 6ft, 10ft, and 15ft variation you can't beat it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried the 10 or 15ft version?

vantt1 said:
Have you tried the 10 or 15ft version?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, only have 6ft version; found it to be the most ideal length in the car and also at home/work.
With a wire that thick, 15ft will not be a problem since you will have a very small voltage drop.
The problem with ebay and some other cheap amazon cables, they use pc usb wires intended for 500 mA standard.

I was looking for a high quality USB cord. All of them have been pos (plural form) I just ordered 3...for that price you can't beat it.... Just need a spare charger that gives me a rated 1.8 minimum. I see it's an ongoing problem with the cords and or chargers when it comes to these phones. This really helped. Thanks
Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda app-developers app

It might be possible for me to go down to an electronics shop, buy a long 4 core 24-ish AWG cable and make my own high-current USB cable from my existing cable.

Nice work!

I just don't see how in the world you got the white cover off.
My phone slid onto the floor while charging and I guess landed just right. It bent the end of my oem cable (the only freaking cable I had that would charge "quickly")
It is bent at about a 45 degree angle. It also pulled the white casing apart a little.
Since the cable is pretty much useless now, I decided to try to pry that piece open so I could look inside and see if there was anything I could do to "fix"it.
I have been trying for 30 minutes and I cant get it apart. It won't budge except that it is starting to crack.
I guess I'm just not capable of doing these things.
Sent From My Ginormous Note 2

planetbeen said:
I just don't see how in the world you got the white cover off.
My phone slid onto the floor while charging and I guess landed just right. It bent the end of my oem cable (the only freaking cable I had that would charge "quickly")
It is bent at about a 45 degree angle. It also pulled the white casing apart a little.
Since the cable is pretty much useless now, I decided to try to pry that piece open so I could look inside and see if there was anything I could do to "fix"it.
I have been trying for 30 minutes and I cant get it apart. It won't budge except that it is starting to crack.
I guess I'm just not capable of doing these things.
Sent From My Ginormous Note 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine just so happened to conveniently break along the seam on one side, so I just needed to lift it up. Also, I'd consider myself to be pretty good at taking things apart without breaking them, then reassembling it to look like it hasn't been opened before.

Overheating, anyone modded yet?

Have read about someone modding a battery, added a heat sink and trimmed the case to allow the heat sink to protrude out of the back, anyone else modded their setup to dissipate heat better?
Suggestions?

Small electronics fan maybe?

I used a 9cmX4cm heatsink from Amazon and some thermal paste/epoxy, fit perfectly, and it hasn't overheated yet, just gamed for about 45 min, and the heatsink was barely warm.
http://www.amazon.com/20mm-Aluminiu...50MR8CG/ref=cm_cr_pr_pb_i/179-5237737-1717433
Have a replacement back and second battery/external charger coming, will trim the back to fit the heatsink and have a back/battery for day to day use of the Note 4, will swap them out for VR use. I can trim the fins a bit and get the transparent cover on it, I think it'll work fine with a bit less surface area with the trimmed fins.
Am still pretty impressed with what Samsung has done, but it's not ready for general consumer use yet till they get the heat management sorted out.
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I'm sure someone will come out with a little clip on "fan " back that runs off a triple A battery.

I put an ice pack between the phone and visor.

ciscostud said:
I put an ice pack between the phone and visor.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any condensation or fogging issues? If your face is warmer than the lenses you will fog.

mitchellvii said:
Any condensation or fogging issues? If your face is warmer than the lenses you will fog.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was just messing around, however there may be a way that I've been thinking about that might work for everyone!
I used to have a IcePack collar for my dogs neck. It may fit perfectly around the removable plastic visor and they also come in all sizes.

I created a solution that utilizes a 50x50x10 fan with an on/off switch and made a circuit board with 3 USB ports in various locations, which powers the fan and the phone. no more overheating and no more swapping batteries or any of that nonsense. lol

I only use the Gear VR for movies. I have tried games though and they run hot and suck the battery quickly as others report. Hence why I use mine just for movies now. Still a worthy purchase IMO just for movies

Fan.
I needed the most modular setup to attach/detach Note quickly. To keep heat under control, you only need minimal amount of airflow, best directed at warmest spot, right below the camera.
In my experience, even 40x40x10mm will do. I was able to demo Gear VR for 4 people in a room with ambient temperature over 72 deg, with constant videos and 3D.
Anything that involves removing back plate sucks. Your default back plate will wear out the little tabs, start creaking if done often. My wireless charring back is harder to put on (and expensive to monkey around with). I ended up with small piece of black velcro on the back, and the 40mm fan is quick to put on/remove (connecting velcro piece placed on its hub), it doesn't need to be aligned carefully, you don't need to worry about sticking fingers in it etc. I have it rigged to USB, fed by USB port on MOGA controller or a small battery pack.
The only time when I was able to overwhelm that fan was when my buddy played Anshar Wars while we were casting the screen to Chromecast - but this is extreme. 50 mm would probably keep up just fine.

Any other solution to get over this direct problem please?
Can anyone post images of slim moded solution ?

pliablemoose said:
I used a 9cmX4cm heatsink from Amazon and some thermal paste/epoxy, fit perfectly, and it hasn't overheated yet, just gamed for about 45 min, and the heatsink was barely warm.
http://www.amazon.com/20mm-Aluminiu...50MR8CG/ref=cm_cr_pr_pb_i/179-5237737-1717433
Have a replacement back and second battery/external charger coming, will trim the back to fit the heatsink and have a back/battery for day to day use of the Note 4, will swap them out for VR use. I can trim the fins a bit and get the transparent cover on it, I think it'll work fine with a bit less surface area with the trimmed fins.
Am still pretty impressed with what Samsung has done, but it's not ready for general consumer use yet till they get the heat management sorted out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Jeepers. If channeling that much heat through the battery to need this, that is bad for the battery and the device overall. Another reason why I just watch movies, since seems too much for the current chipset design. That, or poor power management firmware........

I'm avoiding this problem for a long time by selecting saving mode in note 4, don't disturb mode and confortable mode in gear vr. Last day I could watch the entire 3 chapter of game of thrones, and after that 30 minutes playing hero of bounds, and no heating message showed up, I just stopped to go to bed
Keep pushing

Cold As Ice
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bz0FuWF9yY7LVU9XZFFlMVhjS3c/view?usp=sharing
All setting turned up all the way! Never gets hot!!!

brekstar said:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bz0FuWF9yY7LVU9XZFFlMVhjS3c/view?usp=sharing
All setting turned up all the way! Never gets hot!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey @brekstar i have a question for you please pm me you have yours turn off so people cant send you pms. Thanks

Dumb question but can you use the Gear VR without the battery in the phone and just power it via the USB cable? Would that help with the overheating?

pliablemoose said:
I used a 9cmX4cm heatsink from Amazon and some thermal paste/epoxy, fit perfectly, and it hasn't overheated yet, just gamed for about 45 min, and the heatsink was barely warm.
http://www.amazon.com/20mm-Aluminiu...50MR8CG/ref=cm_cr_pr_pb_i/179-5237737-1717433
Have a replacement back and second battery/external charger coming, will trim the back to fit the heatsink and have a back/battery for day to day use of the Note 4, will swap them out for VR use. I can trim the fins a bit and get the transparent cover on it, I think it'll work fine with a bit leurface area with the trimmed fins.
Am still pretty impressed with what Samsung has done, but it's not ready for general consumer use yet till they get the heat management sorted out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I went "the heat sink route" as well today.. I bought this 60x150x25mm aluminum heat sink. Since the heat sink was so large i drilled a hole for the camera so or else the heat sink wouldn't be tight enough to the phone to work properly. But the after the hole was done and I was going to try it for a fit... the heat sink was actually too wide to fit between the clips that keep the phone in place.
So I had to cut of a couple of centimeters. Of course my previous camera hole had to be cut away. But after a while I got the whole thing pretty right. Now I fitted the heat sink to the external cover. There it sits quite tight so I can press the the heat sink against the phone before use.
Often I sit with one hand one the touch pad and the other hand on the left side.
But what was so awesome was that I could play for like... forever... before I've always ended up with overheating . But now the there was no heat problems, no lagging or any smoothness problems. Btw I have Note 4 Snapdragon. A new experience.. I've tried all the gfx and cpu intense stuff.. and it was smooth like butter..
And the moment the mod is pretty rough.. just a proof of concept.. . maybe I Dremmel the sharp edges at least.
On first pic I covered the contact points and the lens.
Here is the heat sink from the front in the mount:
Here is the back side with hole for the lens.. look for the drill/break removal hole
Then a couple of pictures of the Gear VR in his shiny new armour:
OMG is that Daft Punk? No it is not easy to take a selfie with Gear VR:

Recently saw this post on the Seattle VR/AR Facebook group
He added a fan with aux power:

Moga controller + 80mm fan = perfect cooling solution.

Got this idea from another guy (steveelliss99) over at Oculus Forum then put my own spin on it. Pretty simple and can probably use parts you have laying around the house:
1) Need a Moga Controller to power the fan (or one that has full USB out power port).
2) 80mm case fan.
3) USB cable.
4) Wire connectors (crimp style).
5) Pliers.
6) Double sided velcro tape.
7) Extra battery back for N4 (I just stopped by Sprint store and said I lost mine. They had an extra in the back and gave it to me). If you use a case with your phone, you probably don't even need an extra back as you don't need one with the case on.
So anyway, they do make USB 80mm case fans but in case you don't have one and you have a normal one laying about, cut off the connector and expose the wires on only the red and black. Trim back any others. Do the same with a USB cable retaining the large male end. Using wire connectors (crimp style for snug connection since these wires are very thin), connect red to red and black to black. Once done wrap electrical tape around your entire connection.
Now cut 4 small velcro tape squares and place one on each corner of the 80 mm fan so that the air blows against the back on your N4 battery cover. Stick fan to cover.
Now just plug the USB cable into your Moga and game away. You can game for hours and phone will remain nice and cool with no warnings or shut downs.
** The guy at Oculus actually cut a hole in the GVR cover and attached his fan with screws. I didn't want to go that extreme so I did the velcro thing.
Here's a pic of my mod:
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Good luck. Here's the original Oculus Forum thread if you wish to see the other mod (hat tip to steveelliss99).
https://forums.oculus.com/viewtopic.php?f=62&t=20753

Been using this for a few days now and it continues to perform perfectly. Haven't had a single cool down warning and phone remains cool to the touch after long gaming sessions. Obviously better for the phone. I use the Samsung Flip Cover as my case so when I'm done using the GVR I simply pop the "fan back" off and the Flip Cover on and good to go.
Anyway, if you have the Moga Controller (got mine on sale at BestBuy for $24) this is a solution that really works.

Looks like only 60mm x 10mm will fit under hood.
Hard to tell without actually trying it, but looks like a 60mm x 10mm sleeved fan might barely fit under the GVR hood. If you went sleeveless would probably fit even better. Just a thin heavy duty mounting square in the middle to attach it. Would be close though.
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/6157/fan-328/Cooljag_Everflow_60mm_x_10mm_Fan_126010DL.html
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/1...lacement_Fan_-_Bury_Frame_-_EC6010M12S-B.html

Seems that no one sells a 10mm thick USB fan. If you don't like splicing wires you can get this adapter at Amazon, although for a piece of wire, $19 plus shipping seems crazy high.
http://www.amazon.com/FAN2USB-12V-USB-Converting-Adapter/dp/B00MNB40ZU/ref=pd_sxp_grid_pt_2_1

This thread is worthless without pictures of you wearing this ...

axewater said:
This thread is worthless without pictures of you wearing this ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But then everyone would be intimidated by my physical beauty and I'm hated enough as it is.
* You'll look only slightly dumber than you look wearing the damned thing anyway.

We won't see much of your face since you have an 8 foot fan hanging in front of it

axewater said:
We won't see much of your face since you have an 8 foot fan hanging in front of it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
80mm. Only missed it by 7 3/4 feet.
As many have mentioned here my thought processes are not typical. While most users are concerned with how cool they look wearing their Gear VR, I'm motivated by not melting my $800 phone. Freaky.
If you got a 60mm x 10mm fan you could actually place it under the Gear VR cover and solve the problem "invisibly".

Was only kidding about the 8 feet obv.
I like that you are at least trying alternative solutions. But I seem to recall another thread somewhere saying that an external fan did not influence overheating time. Let me try and dig it up ...
---------- Post added at 07:54 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:49 AM ----------
Not sure where I thought I read that, but now I'm reading the opposite Many threads reporting that even a fan in the room helps.

I knew you were kidding bro. Yeah this solution wont make fashion week but it does work. Cool breeze is nice too.

This is working for me. I took a fan from my old Google tv. It has a cowl that forces the air down. Epoxied it to a rechargeable battery pack with Switch. Added Velcro to the battery pack and Gear VR cover. Air is forced down into opening of cover.

MotorcycleMike said:
This is working for me. I took a fan from my old Google tv. It has a cowl that forces the air down. Epoxied it to a rechargeable battery pack with Switch. Added Velcro to the battery pack and Gear VR cover. Air is forced down into opening of cover.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cool. And I thought mine was fugly.

You guys did see my cooling fan and battery packs months ago right?

Which moga controller do i need? Amazon has the old basic one for less than 12 bucks. Does that one work?

JLine05 said:
Which moga controller do i need? Amazon has the old basic one for less than 12 bucks. Does that one work?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Get the moga pro so it has A and B switch. Less problems.

VR Headset Fan Mod
I used the 80mm fan with usb connection and bought a $5 2600mla power bank battery charger from ebay, I connected the battery to one of the VR head straps, works perfect and keeps my phone cool for hours, even screen casting and heavy gaming didn't get it hot, thanks so much for this mod idea. I have pics below on how the set up looks.