Heylo,
I guess I’m on a roll with these posts. This time, I wanted to create an affordable wireless charging setup for my Model 3. I know this has been done before and mine is probably the easy way out since I didn’t make the actual chargers, but it definitely saved me quite a bit of money over the Jeda, Nomad, Taptes, and even a little over the RPM charger. So I thought I would post my process for anyone who was curious.
Materials Needed:
1) Foam Pads with adhesive on one side from a craft shop like Michaels or Hobby Lobby (2) - $2.00
2) Energy Pads from Amazon (2) - $32.00
3) Scotch Double Sided Tape (1) - $2.49
4) USB Splitter from Amazon (1) - $9.00
5) Razor Blade
6) Ruler with Metric
7) Scissors
8) Pencil
9) The Rubber ‘Phone Dock’ from your Model 3.
10) A compass (thing to draw circles) if you don’t already have the wireless chargers.
Note: Sorry I forgot to take pictures of the foam pads and their prep. :/
Steps:
1) I started by taking off the paper covering the adhesive on one of the foam pads, and placing it directly on top of the other foam pad. Make sure they stick together securely across the whole surface area.
2) Take the Model 3 Phone Dock rubber pad thingy, and carefully trace the outline onto the foam pads you just secured together. Then carefully cut out the traced shape from the foam.
3) Use the dimensioned drawing I posted above with the materials photos to trace the circles and the rectangular cut outs to fit the USB’s through. These will house the chargers obviously.
4) Using the razor blade, carefully cut out the circles and rectangles.
5) The prep is basically done, now move everything over to the car. Remove the paper covering the adhesive on your foam pad. Position the foam pad on the phone dock area and when you’re comfortable secure it by applying pressure all over the foam pad.
6) Take the two EnergyPads and place two strips of double sided tape on the bottom of each.
7) Thread the USB plugs down through the foam and the phone dock and press the chargers down into the circles and onto the phone dock making sure they are secure. Clean up the wires with the included twisty ties, and plug the USB splitter in and plug the two chargers into the splitter.
8) That should be it! Randomly, the thickness of the two foam pads together is nearly identical to the wireless pad thickness (3.49mm). So they are almost perfectly flush.
Testing:
1) Testing to make sure both chargers work.
2) Testing to make sure the cover still closes.
Overall:
1) It works pretty well and I like the look of being able to see the chargers. If you don’t like that look, you could place a thin piece of foam or felt over the top as these chargers supposedly work up to 8mm away.
2) In retrospect, I do not believe the rectangles for the USB plugs are really required. It would be easy to thread everything through prior to placing the foam pad down since it’s such a high gauge wire.
3) There is actually quite a bit of friction between foam material and my leather phone case. It’s also good on my gf’s plastic case. I don’t know how it will be for those who don’t use cases.
4) I am working on a 3D printed pad to house the chargers but my current design says it will take 12 hours to print with my TPU filament, and I wanted a quick solution. The foam really does work well for now.
Anyways, just wanted to put this out there.
Giggity,
CK
I guess I’m on a roll with these posts. This time, I wanted to create an affordable wireless charging setup for my Model 3. I know this has been done before and mine is probably the easy way out since I didn’t make the actual chargers, but it definitely saved me quite a bit of money over the Jeda, Nomad, Taptes, and even a little over the RPM charger. So I thought I would post my process for anyone who was curious.
Materials Needed:
1) Foam Pads with adhesive on one side from a craft shop like Michaels or Hobby Lobby (2) - $2.00
2) Energy Pads from Amazon (2) - $32.00
3) Scotch Double Sided Tape (1) - $2.49
4) USB Splitter from Amazon (1) - $9.00
5) Razor Blade
6) Ruler with Metric
7) Scissors
8) Pencil
9) The Rubber ‘Phone Dock’ from your Model 3.
10) A compass (thing to draw circles) if you don’t already have the wireless chargers.
Note: Sorry I forgot to take pictures of the foam pads and their prep. :/
Steps:
1) I started by taking off the paper covering the adhesive on one of the foam pads, and placing it directly on top of the other foam pad. Make sure they stick together securely across the whole surface area.
2) Take the Model 3 Phone Dock rubber pad thingy, and carefully trace the outline onto the foam pads you just secured together. Then carefully cut out the traced shape from the foam.
3) Use the dimensioned drawing I posted above with the materials photos to trace the circles and the rectangular cut outs to fit the USB’s through. These will house the chargers obviously.
4) Using the razor blade, carefully cut out the circles and rectangles.
5) The prep is basically done, now move everything over to the car. Remove the paper covering the adhesive on your foam pad. Position the foam pad on the phone dock area and when you’re comfortable secure it by applying pressure all over the foam pad.
6) Take the two EnergyPads and place two strips of double sided tape on the bottom of each.
7) Thread the USB plugs down through the foam and the phone dock and press the chargers down into the circles and onto the phone dock making sure they are secure. Clean up the wires with the included twisty ties, and plug the USB splitter in and plug the two chargers into the splitter.
8) That should be it! Randomly, the thickness of the two foam pads together is nearly identical to the wireless pad thickness (3.49mm). So they are almost perfectly flush.
Testing:
1) Testing to make sure both chargers work.
2) Testing to make sure the cover still closes.
Overall:
1) It works pretty well and I like the look of being able to see the chargers. If you don’t like that look, you could place a thin piece of foam or felt over the top as these chargers supposedly work up to 8mm away.
2) In retrospect, I do not believe the rectangles for the USB plugs are really required. It would be easy to thread everything through prior to placing the foam pad down since it’s such a high gauge wire.
3) There is actually quite a bit of friction between foam material and my leather phone case. It’s also good on my gf’s plastic case. I don’t know how it will be for those who don’t use cases.
4) I am working on a 3D printed pad to house the chargers but my current design says it will take 12 hours to print with my TPU filament, and I wanted a quick solution. The foam really does work well for now.
Anyways, just wanted to put this out there.
Giggity,
CK
