Center cubby wireless charging mod

[ngng]

I refuse to pay for a wireless charger, so instead I'm going to spend way too long building something

The plan is to use the center cubby and install two 10W wireless chargers. Just some photos now, I may put a video together when I'm done.

Surprise, more things held in place with clips!

Top removed

Just enough room for two 3.9"x3.9" charging pads

 

[ngng]

At least to me, it seems to make the most sense to raise the "floor" of the cubby to accommodate two chargers and then place the existing rubber mat on top. I haven't had anything slide that I've placed in the cubby, but, based on my experience with these wireless chargers they can be picky about the device placement. To address this, I think a set of inserts that guide my phone in would make sense. But, I'll try it without anything to start.

I picked two Anker charging pads for $8 from Amazon: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07THHQMHM

To supply the chargers I need enough amps for the QC3 spec. I think the easiest way to do this is with a cig lighter adapter. There are a few other things I'd like to add to the car, so I will likely run power from the battery to a digital fuse power distro module I have left over from one of my motorcycles. When I had the trim off, I think there's enough room to stick everything above the glovebox. This will also simplify my life so I don't have to run a bunch of wire taps all over the place.

 

[ngng]

Gotta love Amazon. Both pads showed up today and, while they will charge through the rubber mat it adds a lot of thickness which will make reattaching the top difficult. I think, what I might try to do is fab an insert to replace the rubber floor piece. The insert is slightly shorter than the Anker charger, which has a grippy surface material. I'm hoping this will be enough to hold everything in place. If not, I can add some bumpers. This has the added benefit of giving the user a positive tactile response when they've mated the phone to the charging pad.

I've got some inserts cut out of the bottom for the USB cables. If this design doesn't work out I'll raise the height of the insert to be flush with the chargers and add a thin rubber piece on top to cover everything up. These chargers will charge as long as there is <5mm of obstruction.

 

[chukiechz]

That’s a whole lot of work!! I bought this thing and have been very happy with it.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07R1NPFX6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apip_pVQlkfEmFYPpC

 

[ngng]

That’s a whole lot of work!! I bought this thing and have been very happy with it.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07R1NPFX6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apip_pVQlkfEmFYPpC

I saw that! Wanted to charge two things at once and retain my cupholders

 

[ngng]

First test print gave me a bunch of information. Made some adjustments and am working on V3 now. Getting closer.

 

[ngng]

Pretty happy with how everything is fitting. Looks like the chargers can charge slowly off a "slow" USB port. They will have higher output once when I get around to wiring the QC adapter. I thought about enclosing the top of the plate , but I don't think I'm going to do that since the charger grips nicely.

 

[djillusion]

That’s sweet. Nice work!

Is it easy to confirm your phone is centered on the pad for charging esp when driving if you hit a bump, etc. considering the cubby is dark and you need to poke in there - was kinda curious.

You mention it grips well, so that surely may help.

 

[ngng]

That’s sweet. Nice work!

Is it easy to confirm your phone is centered on the pad for charging esp when driving if you hit a bump, etc. considering the cubby is dark and you need to poke in there - was kinda curious.

You mention it grips well, so that surely may help.

Thanks! Going to test it all out today, hopefully. Because the charger extends out of the plate ever so slightly you'll encounter some resistance when sliding the phone in. It also vibrates when it starts charging. Whether or not this actually works...we'll see. I wanted to avoid anything protruding from the charging pad so I could throw other stuff into the cubby.

From the handful of tests I've done the phone seems to stay in place. I'll drive around and see how it works out. Luckily, removing the cubby only requires a quick tug. If the phone ends up shifting I have a simple alignment piece that sits within the charging ring and will self center a phone. I guess the added benefit here is you can swap out different pieces for different phones.

 

[Harvey Danger]

Impressive stuff

 

[tengtengvn]

The problem with single coil pad is sometime you have to position the phone just right for it to charge. This pad is probably a better option.

https://www.amazon.com/CHOETECH-Wireless-Charging-Compatible-Included/dp/B07KRZ9127/

Also, when hard braking, do you afraid that the phones may fly out of there because nothing is holding them in place?

 

[ngng]

The problem with single coil pad is sometime you have to position the phone just right for it to charge. This pad is probably a better option.

https://www.amazon.com/CHOETECH-Wireless-Charging-Compatible-Included/dp/B07KRZ9127/

Also, when hard braking, do you afraid that the phones may fly out of there because nothing is holding them in place?

That's cool, I didn't even know those existed! The only downside to me is it can't charge two phones at once. It would be easy to modify my design to use this. Most of my time was spent measuring.

I've been driving around town and have not had any issues. I'm sure it'll fly out if I floor it, but I haven't got on the freeway to test this yet. No issues braking since the phone sits all the way forward.

 

[ngng]

A few more photos in the daylight.

 

[ngng]

I've confirmed the phone does not eject itself under Ludacrous launches

 

[Dechidus]

Really cool, but you just paid for wireless charging regardless lol

 

[idonotmatch]

I've confirmed the phone does not eject itself under Ludacrous launches