Project - Wireless charging, magnetic, CD-Mounted phone holder

[Matticus91]

I've had a variation of one of these CD-mount phone holders for many months now - the one linked above being my current model. I'm a huge fan of them since they take up very little space, put my phone in a perfect location, and since I never use CD's/DVD's it removes zero functionality for me.

The next step in this idea process was getting an S7 Edge, which has built-in wireless charging (way before the iPhone 7, pssh ).

20160916_195311 by Matt Steele, on Flickr

Sooooooooo the butchery has begun. I snagged a cheapo wireless charger with decent reviews off of amazon. They all work on the same basic principles so I looked for one with a single-coil design for compact size and preferably an easy-to-crack case. I hit the jackpot since the one I ordered is super cheap ($8!!!) but also has a soft rubbery case that I could easily cut the coil out of. It took all of 20 seconds to get the coil free from the case.

20160916_195346 by Matt Steele, on Flickr

The Coil itself is not much bigger than the original mounting plate on its own:
20160916_195407 by Matt Steele, on Flickr

Woo! We're in business. Coil is free and my CD-mount is cut up and ready for whatever I want to glue to it. Next step is making a new case for the wireless charger. My first attempt at this used a blue plastic electrical outlet box, it was a miserable failure and will not be further mentioned.

The goal here is to use the hardcore neodymium magnets from the CD-mount to hold the phone, while the wireless charger....charges. So I needed a piece of plastic that was about the size of a deck of cards to hold the charging coil and mount the magnets. This was surprisingly difficult to find but I found some "homemade soap" molds (thanks Michael's) that were the perfect size (the upper right mold in the link) and made of rather stiff, yet workable plastic.

Update:

"HOLD ME BACK BRO."
20160919_181352 by Matt Steele, on Flickr
These little magnets pull like crazy. I figured out my layout and started epoxying the magnets to what would become the inside of the case. I had to hold the magnets back from each other for about 8 minutes before they wouldn't drift toward each other.

All magnets on and coil in place. I decided not to epoxy the coil and simply place it in the middle, so if I ever want to re-use it I can take the case apart without damaging the coil. Note the little window for the cable to pass through.

20160919_185510 by Matt Steele, on Flickr

All put together and the top part of the case has been attached. Actual thickness of the whole unit is less than half an inch! I'll trim back the sides once everything is totally dry.

20160919_185514 by Matt Steele, on Flickr

Back view, "vent/window" for the cable, and the cup mount for the cd-mount arm.

Aaannnd arm/cd mount attached! All that's left is paint and microsuction tape for the face to help the phone stick.

20160919_190512 by Matt Steele, on Flickr

Total project cost me $31:
Qi Charger: $8
Plastic: $8
CD Mount: $15

It's actually thinner than the original car magnet mount, so my phone sits farther from the shifter, and it charges at a better rate than I expected. Overall very happy with it.

Painted up and microsuction tape applied!

20160923_092409 by Matt Steele, on Flickr

20160923_092358 by Matt Steele, on Flickr

In car shots!

With my hand on the shifter in 5th gear you can see there is plenty of clearance:
20160923_152204 by Matt Steele, on Flickr

And an overall shot:
20160923_152155 by Matt Steele, on Flickr


Update on this (7/6/17), I've had the charger in my car for nearly a year now and it still works perfectly! I use an Omaker usb charger in the cigarette port under the arm rest, it has three USB slots and this only takes up one (I use the 2.4a slot). It will keep my phone charged even while running Google Maps/nav and Spotify over Bluetooth with the screen on - that's a lot of load to keep up with. If you plug other devices into the USB adapter it will not be as powerful but will still keep the phone from dying.

Looks just as good as dayay one and any time the microsuction tape starts to get less sticky I can just wipe it off with a damp napkin and it's good to go.

20170706_210802 by Matt Steele, on Flickr

[Matticus91]

I should mention that this exists as a product, but is stupidly expensive for what it is! You also then have to buy the CD mount separate, which is a huge and outdated style and would put my phone in a spot where I'd be hitting it constantly while shifting.

http://www.theairdock.com/product/ai...6-edge-note-5/

[ianc]

Very nice project! My car came without idrive, so I have the BMW dash mount Garmin. Unfortunately, the thing is completely obsolete as it has no intelligence about traffic, hence running Waze on my phone has become a necessity.

I bought the exact same Koomus mag mount you started with from the bay and love it. Unfortunately, my ancient Note 4 doesn't support wireless charging. Upgrades do occasionally happen though (it's a work thing), so I applaud your ingenuity and will be looking forward to the final result. Thanks for posting,

ianc

[Matticus91]

Originally Posted by ianc

Very nice project! My car came without idrive, so I have the BMW dash mount Garmin. Unfortunately, the thing is completely obsolete as it has no intelligence about traffic, hence running Waze on my phone has become a necessity.

I bought the exact same Koomus mag mount you started with from the bay and love it. Unfortunately, my ancient Note 4 doesn't support wireless charging. Upgrades do occasionally happen though (it's a work thing), so I applaud your ingenuity and will be looking forward to the final result. Thanks for posting,

ianc

Thanks for the kind words! I really love that mount and have gotten one for my fiance and a few friends just because of how solid it is. The first generation (the screw-type) sucked and either broke or became too weak to stay in the cd slot within a few months.

I had the Note 4 and loved everything about it except the GPS lol. It was so unreliable that I got another one under MFG warranty, which still had the same problem. Ended up with me complaining to AT&T and get my upgrade moved up, which is when I got the S7 Edge. The edge screen is cool but really not that functional, overall the size is perfect coming from the Note 4 and it's much faster and more reliable. Would recommend it over the new Note's when the time comes for you to upgrade.

[Fakemike]

Very cool DIY.

How close is the unmodified Koomus mount to your shifter (I'm assuming that you have a 6 MT)? I'm thinking about getting one.

[Matticus91]

Originally Posted by Fakemike

Very cool DIY.

How close is the unmodified Koomus mount to your shifter (I'm assuming that you have a 6 MT)? I'm thinking about getting one.

The Koomus mount on it's own is the only one I was able to find that completely cleared my hand when shifting to 3rd and 5th. I VERY occasionally might bump it if my hand slips during a hard shift but other than that I never have an issue. I keep the mount about 1.5" from the right side of the slot.

[ianc]

Ditto on no trouble with Koomus mount and 6MT.

Matt, what kind of GPS troubles with the Note 4? Mine seeems to run Waze and gmaps OK and gets me where I'm going? A big improvement over my Note 3 at any rate...

ianc

[Matticus91]

Originally Posted by ianc

Ditto on no trouble with Koomus mount and 6MT.

Matt, what kind of GPS troubles with the Note 4? Mine seeems to run Waze and gmaps OK and gets me where I'm going? A big improvement over my Note 3 at any rate...

ianc

I live in the city so roads are compact and plentiful here. What was happening with the Note 4 is every time I came to a stop at an intersection, the GPS would act as if my car was spinning around in circles in the middle of the intersection and change my route accordingly. It was effing infuriating because I would no longer be given the correct instructions and would have to wait to start moving for the GPS to figure out where I was. CS told me there had been a multitude of similar complaints on the 4 and 5.

[dtla1]

Sorta related but not really, I had wireless charging with my Palm Pre back in 2009, way before Samsung or any of the current smartphone makers started marketing it in recent times.

[Matticus91]

Final product pics, painted up and microsuction tape applied!

20160923_092409 by Matt Steele, on Flickr

20160923_092358 by Matt Steele, on Flickr

[Kev!n]

Looks great! You can tell that you definitely paid attention to detail.

[Matticus91]

Originally Posted by Kev!n

Looks great! You can tell that you definitely paid attention to detail.

Thanks, certainly tried! I wanted it to look like a legitimate installation and not just a slapped-together fix.

[ianc]

Looks great, nice job!

What's micro suction tape?

How exactly is this being powered? Any in-car shots?

ianc

[Matticus91]

Originally Posted by ianc

Looks great, nice job!

What's micro suction tape?

How exactly is this being powered? Any in-car shots?

ianc

Thanks for the compliments!

Microsuction tape is the stuff you see on "dash pads" and similar items that hold your phone/keys/wallet/whathaveyou. It's a rubbery surface with thousands of airpockets that adheres to most items without any stickiness/glue.

The coil unit is being powered via a usb hub I have in my car, it has a 2.4amp port that charges things extremely fast. I have it in the port under the arm rest, since my dashcam is in the front port.

In car shots!

With my hand on the shifter in 5th gear you can see there is plenty of clearance:
20160923_152204 by Matt Steele, on Flickr

And an overall shot:
20160923_152155 by Matt Steele, on Flickr

[Matticus91]

Update on this, I've had the charger in my car for nearly a year now and it still works perfectly! I use an Omaker usb charger in the cigarette port under the arm rest, it has three USB slots and this only takes up one (I use the 2.4a slot). It will keep my phone charged even while running Google Maps/nav and Spotify over Bluetooth with the screen on - that's a lot of load to keep up with. If you plug other devices into the USB adapter it will not be as powerful but will still keep the phone from dying.

Looks just as good as dayay one and any time the microsuction tape starts to get less sticky I can just wipe it off with a damp napkin and it's good to go.

20170706_210802 by Matt Steele, on Flickr