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A REAL wireless charging pad for the Model 3

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#183
Is it true that the Note 9 doesn't fit the Nomad?

voip-ninja said:
No pictures unfortunately. Install was super easy, took maybe 5 minutes at most. The unit is nicely packaged in a sturdy black box that says "Nomad", I re-purposed the packaging to store the original Model 3 mat and cables.

I intentionally let my iPhone run down last night and then used the Nomad on my drive into work this morning. On my 25 minute drive my iPhone X went from about 50% charge to about 70% charge which is pretty good I'd say! The phone and charger were a little warm but nothing alarming. Nomad has built a lot of iPhone accessories so I have to trust them that they've done good level of testing on the batteries they are using.

As others mentioned the new charging base is thicker than the factory Tesla one, but there's still enough room to close the lid. Having the phone a centimeter or two higher up isn't bad since you can reach in and get it more easily. The Nomad is really grippy and on my drive it didn't move even a tiny bit even when I threw the car around a couple of corners to really try to shake it loose.

The charging lamps are nice too, they glow amber/orange when charging and go green if the phone is fully charged.

This is the solution that Tesla should have put into the Model 3 out of the gate, no question. I expect a refresh to the Model 3 that puts something similar in.

I don't have any experience with other charging solutions but it's hard to see how anyone could do it better than these Nomad guys are doing it... I would be especially leery of anyone who is doing this as their first rodeo.... Lithium Ion batteries need to be really tested thoroughly especially at higher temps for automotive use.
Click to expand...
 
#190
Technical note on Nomad wireless pad installation:

I wanted to save the 2 front USB ports for a music jump drive and the soon-to-arrive TeslaCam drive. I have seen conflicting reports about using USB hubs (Tesla Model 3 manual suggests that this won't work). I also wanted the Nomad to get full power. I got the low profile Aukey 12V dual port 2A/10W USB adapter, and a couple of 1 meter USB extension cables. I tested the cables with my iPhone--seemed to work fine. I ran the cables from the 12V in the rear console of my 3 to the front (as per the RPMTesla video) and hooked up the Nomad--no joy. I could not get the Nomad to kick in and charge. If the Nomad was connected with its hard wired and short USB cables directly to the Aukey, all good. Same if I connected the Nomad directly to the front 2 USB ports. And I could still charge my iPhone with the Lightning cable plugged into the USB extension cables. I have sent this to Nomad tech support. Maybe there is some kind of voltage drop or signaling issue using the extension cables that makes the Nomad unhappy.

Plan B:

I am running 12V from the wires powering the 12V outlet (as seen in other videos) and will install a new additional 12V outlet in the front phone compartment next to the existing USB ports. PITA but necessary. YMMV.
 
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#191
JPP said:
Technical note on Nomad wireless pad installation:

I wanted to save the 2 front USB ports for a music jump drive and the soon-to-arrive TeslaCam drive. I have seen conflicting reports about using USB hubs (Tesla Model 3 manual suggests that this won't work). I also wanted the Nomad to get full power. I got the low profile Aukey 12V dual port 2A/10W USB adapter, and a couple of 1 meter USB extension cables. I tested the cables with my iPhone--seemed to work fine. I ran the cables from the 12V in the rear console of my 3 to the front (as per the RPMTesla video) and hooked up the Nomad--no joy. I could not get the Nomad to kick in and charge. If the Nomad was connected with its hard wired and short USB cables directly to the Aukey, all good. Same if I connected the Nomad directly to the front 2 USB ports. And I could still charge my iPhone with the Lightning cable plugged into the USB extension cables. I have sent this to Nomad tech support. Maybe there is some kind of voltage drop or signaling issue using the extension cables that makes the Nomad unhappy.

Plan B:

I am running 12V from the wires powering the 12V outlet (as seen in other videos) and will install a new additional 12V outlet in the front phone compartment next to the existing USB ports. PITA but necessary. YMMV.
Click to expand...

I got the Nomad today. I love the fit and finish. However....I was really dismayed to find out that you cannot disconnect one of the cables and just not use that side of the charger (to leave the other front USB open for the dashcam). You can disconnect one cable and it will appear to still work...until the car powers off. Once it powers back on, the Nomad will not function unless you plug the second cable back in. I don't know what to do now because I really want to be able to use the dashcam and I don't want to tear my console apart trying to run extension cables only to find it doesn't work as JPP describes.

Also, does anyone know what constitutes a "small phone" that would require the spacers the Nomad comes with? I have an iPhone 8 and it seems to fit fine and charge without the spacers, but I'm not sure if it is optimally aligned with the coils to be able to get the best charge rate. The spacers seem so awkward that I don't really want to use them. I tried testing with a USB tester to see if I'm getting good charge rate, but this proves impossible as I think I'm seeing the rate of the charge to the Nomad's built in battery, not the rate of charge the phone is getting.
 
#192
ConcordeSST said:
I got the Nomad today. I love the fit and finish. However....I was really dismayed to find out that you cannot disconnect one of the cables and just not use that side of the charger (to leave the other front USB open for the dashcam). You can disconnect one cable and it will appear to still work...until the car powers off. Once it powers back on, the Nomad will not function unless you plug the second cable back in. I don't know what to do now because I really want to be able to use the dashcam and I don't want to tear my console apart trying to run extension cables only to find it doesn't work as JPP describes.
Click to expand...

Wish I had a better answer for you. I think Nomad did not fully understand or anticipate the necessity of keeping the front USB ports available for jump drives for music and the TeslaCam (we all did not even know how Tesla was going to implement the dash cam with the need for external storage). And I am waiting to hear from Nomad why the USB extension cables I got would not work with the Nomad. It does require a bit of skill and confidence to deinstall the center console bits to run cables, and a bit more skill to tap into the existing 12V outlet power (I used Positaps) and bring the power up to the phone area.
 
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#193
ConcordeSST said:
I got the Nomad today. I love the fit and finish. However....I was really dismayed to find out that you cannot disconnect one of the cables and just not use that side of the charger (to leave the other front USB open for the dashcam). You can disconnect one cable and it will appear to still work...until the car powers off. Once it powers back on, the Nomad will not function unless you plug the second cable back in. I don't know what to do now because I really want to be able to use the dashcam and I don't want to tear my console apart trying to run extension cables only to find it doesn't work as JPP describes.

Also, does anyone know what constitutes a "small phone" that would require the spacers the Nomad comes with? I have an iPhone 8 and it seems to fit fine and charge without the spacers, but I'm not sure if it is optimally aligned with the coils to be able to get the best charge rate. The spacers seem so awkward that I don't really want to use them. I tried testing with a USB tester to see if I'm getting good charge rate, but this proves impossible as I think I'm seeing the rate of the charge to the Nomad's built in battery, not the rate of charge the phone is getting.
Click to expand...


Easy solution. I already installed and tested.

I have the new Nomad charging pad and I bought the USB cable splitter and a 256GB USB 3.1 Samsung Flash drive:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07D7Q41PM/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01KX4TKH6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I have the right Nomad usb cable plugged into the USB power cable on the splitter and the flash drive on the data cable side.

I tested Nomad with no issues and it fully functions while the usb flash drive is also fully functional as a media storage. I have not been able to test Dashcam functions since I do not have v9.
 
Last edited:
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#194
#200
Just got my Nomad order from Aug 18th. Overall quality is excellent! I have a note 9 and it "fits" with my Spigen liquid crystal case, but it's SUPER tight and the lid cannot close. If I had a thin PC case, it would probably fit a little better, but it's clearly not intended to fit.
 
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