Touchstone Mod for the S3

**bimmer007** · 08-09-2012, 02:45 PM

Originally Posted by shadowcat1017

Ok, I'm a little late jumping on this bandwagon, but I've decided to try and do this mod today. I just had one question (if you're still even checking this thread!) about that first picture that you posted - you said you did no soldering, so I'm assuming that the copper that's on the GS3 body is copper tape. What'd you do there exactly? Push some copper tape down around the connectors to make it a more protuberant connector? I haven't the first clue how to solder something (although the Jonathan posted was very informative), I don't have or want to buy a soldering iron, and I'm really hoping I can make this work without having to do any of that. Are you still finding that your connection is maintaining and it's charging well without soldering? Thanks!

I hope you've figured it out but if not, I'll try to explain the best I can...

1. Cut two small thin strips (maybe about the width of 2 matchsticks and about double the length) of copper tape, one for positive and one for negative.
2. Fold over 1 small square's worth at the end of each piece of tape so you have a section of shiny tape on the very end of the adhesive side
3. Position the shiny square over the coil's touchpoint and press down firmly and let the adhesive side keep this in place
4. Tape down the rest of the tape to the cover and route it to your marked spots on the cover where the phone's touchpoints are aligned
5. Be sure to leave the excess tape as you'll need to fold it over making multiple "squares" to have an elevated touchpoint to press into the phones contact points
6. Do just that, fold over the end of the tape and position the "layered square" and tape it down in the spot it needs to be
7. Use electrical tape to cover up the copper tape and leave the touchpoints showing
8. Cut 2 more small pieces of copper tape that you can fold over and bunch up and "strategically shove" them into the two small sockets on the phone that houses the contact points
9. (Optional) Install free apps Plug In Launcher (set it to launch "Desk Clock" once a charge is detected) and Caffeine (to keep the screen on once a charge is detected) from the Play Store

I've removed my back cover numerous times and it's worked flawlessly every single time still without solder. It never fails to start charging immediately upon placing the device on any of my 6 touchstones, yes six...

**bimmer007** · 08-09-2012, 03:06 PM

Originally Posted by mc_gusto

ack, both of you are confusing me whether its flipped or not on the pixi. i have like 3 pixi touchstone covers. If i do the reverse polarity by mistake will i mess up my s3??

My first attempt of doing this installation was with a Pre induction coil and the polarity was flipped (provided that I put it into the S3 cover in the same orientation as was in the Pre cover). I got it to work for a day and then soldered the wires. In soldering the wires - I messed up that coil and ordered the Pixi back cover instead. I read online that is was thinner than the Pre's and also the contact points are opposite the Pre's meaning you don't have to overlap/criss cross/route wires to match the S3. I installed the Pixi in the same orientation and used copper tape this time and the polarity lined up to the S3. As in my above post, I've been using this for awhile now with no hiccups.

Just curious though - please do post your results and the polarity that you ended up getting to work...

**bulls96** · 08-09-2012, 07:34 PM

One problem I have is that the phone says it is charging but looking at the percentage it really is discharging very slowly.

Any ideas why? Loose contact?

- Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S3 using Tapatalk

**Uncle Louie** · 08-16-2012, 02:52 PM

Originally Posted by 1996bulls

One problem I have is that the phone says it is charging but looking at the percentage it really is discharging very slowly.

Any ideas why? Loose contact?

- Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S3 using Tapatalk

Any luck?

**bulls96** · 08-16-2012, 03:00 PM

Finally got it to work using small thin copper wires instead of the copper tape. Made a little loop at the end of the copper wire to make sure the contacts stick. Still have some connectivity issues but mainly related to positioning relative to the touchstone.

- Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S3 using Tapatalk

**kryptonite_2448** · 08-26-2012, 10:30 PM

I was wondering if anybody who has done this has had any of the following problems:

1. It seems when I charge it, it doesn't charge nearly as fast as if I just plugged it in. I remember reading somewhere (I believe it was on the GNex forum) that they had to make a custom kernel in order to charge via the TouchStone correctly (and not think its USB charging)

2. Just recently I have been woken by the sound of my phone as though its just been placed on the charger. When I go to bed at night obviously it charges to 100%, but I'm woke up in the morning by a constant beeping. Any clue? I just rebooted my phone as it just started. It had been awhile... can't seem to figure out the odd behavior.

Other than that the mod is working great!! I missed it dearly from my webOS days. I soldered a Pre back inside the cover and then made hooks out of the cord so they stay and place and put a little bit of electrical tape... no problems getting a charge yet!

**navinag** · 08-26-2012, 11:04 PM

I did mine a few weeks ago...I soldered it..was a piece of cake...ended up soldering it after trying the take method. Tape method worked for a bit but then I had to constantly mess with it. I have noticed that it charges slower than when plugged in via usb...but other than that..works great...

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

**astrokidd57** · 09-05-2012, 03:44 PM

Did mod to s3 AT&T with pixi back. Any suggestion on keeping bulge to a minimum?

**Uncle Louie** · 09-05-2012, 04:16 PM

Originally Posted by astrokidd57

Did mod to s3 AT&T with pixi back. Any suggestion on keeping bulge to a minimum?

How did you do your mod? Here's mine...

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Android Central Forums

**astrokidd57** · 09-05-2012, 06:37 PM

That looks awesome, mine is still work in progress. I have not taped down yet. Still moving around to minimize bulge.

**Uncle Louie** · 09-05-2012, 07:23 PM

Originally Posted by astrokidd57

That looks awesome, mine is still work in progress. I have not taped down yet. Still moving around to minimize bulge.

I see the problem... You need to take the coil off of the plastic backing to avoid the bulge.

I also ordered some stronger magnets in order to keep it on the touchstone better, but I don't think that that's absolutely necessary.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Android Central Forums

**astrokidd57** · 09-06-2012, 06:03 PM

I see you have the coil higher than I do. Does that interfere with nfc since it's on the battery. Thanks for removing tape to show me what you did. Your mod looks factory. Great mod you did. Also gonna get magnets also. Are those 1/4 by 1/32.?

**Uncle Louie** · 09-06-2012, 08:42 PM

No, NFC still works like a champ.

Here's a link to the magnets (they work great)...

I bought a replacement battery cover off of Ebay to do the mod on, just in case I messed up and damaged it, and/or I had to take the phone in for warranty work (which I ended up needing to do).

**astrokidd57** · 09-06-2012, 11:12 PM

Thanks for the quick reply and link for magnets, I will definitely be picking some up. Going to work on mod in next couple of days. I will post pics when done, thanks again for all your help.

**Uncle Louie** · 09-07-2012, 05:24 PM

Originally Posted by astrokidd57

Thanks for the quick reply and link for magnets, I will definitely be picking some up. Going to work on mod in next couple of days. I will post pics when done, thanks again for all your help.

Cool, good luck!

Sent from my GT-P3113 using Android Central Forums

**XChrisX** · 09-08-2012, 09:25 AM

Originally Posted by jaltman

HA! Indeed, lets see what do I miss about the pre3? Slider keyboard, multitasking via cards, touchstone, a million patches, etc etc.

Dont misunderstand, i love the gs3, lte, all the apps, but this phone with all these apps and webos would have been great. Damn fools, thats what HP is.

Keep in mind, while I strongly believe webOS is superior, and more polished than Android. Android has the mindshare. There's a slew of things Palm could have done in the beginning(like launch with Verizon first) that would have severely changed the course of smartphone history and quite possibly made this a 2 man race between Palm, and Apple.

**Tkbredx** · 09-08-2012, 03:33 PM

the more I see these mods the more I want one. But my case gets in the way. I'll probably just buy a dock

**Uncle Louie** · 09-08-2012, 04:04 PM

Originally Posted by Tkbredx

the more I see these mods the more I want one. But my case gets in the way. I'll probably just buy a dock

Yup, I can see how that might be a problem. I use TPU cases, so it's really easy to take off to charge. Then again, you can't use a case with most docks.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Android Central Forums

**Gamer_Radar** · 09-09-2012, 08:03 PM

Originally Posted by Uncle Louie

Yup, I can see how that might be a problem. I use TPU cases, so it's really easy to take off to charge. Then again, you can't use a case with most docks.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Android Central Forums

I have a otterbox defender lol. If it can work through this I'll be happy lol

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Android Central Forums

**Uncle Louie** · 09-09-2012, 08:24 PM

Originally Posted by GamerRadar

I have a otterbox defender lol. If it can work through this I'll be happy lol

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Android Central Forums

Ooooo... That would be interesting. I bet it would work if you mounted it to the inside of the case instead of the battery cover, and had stronger magnets to hold it in place...

I don't have an Otterbox case, though, so I don't know how thick there are.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Android Central Forums

**sledge007** · 09-12-2012, 06:40 AM

With 4 Touchstones laying around the house, I am considering doing this. I don't really want to tear up my Pre3 though. Looks like I'll have to hit up eBay, or maybe webOSNation Marketplace for an old cheap phone. Glad I found this thread, I thought I remembered hearing about this somewhere.

**Uncle Louie** · 09-12-2012, 09:30 AM

Originally Posted by Sledge007

With 4 Touchstones laying around the house, I am considering doing this. I don't really want to tear up my Pre3 though. Looks like I'll have to hit up eBay, or maybe webOSNation Marketplace for an old cheap phone. Glad I found this thread, I thought I remembered hearing about this somewhere.

You won't need to tear a phone apart... You just need the coil from one of the touchstone covers (a Pixi works best, since it's thinner, and the contacts are in the right place). You can get the for a couple of dollars on Ebay or Amazon.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Android Central Forums

**sledge007** · 09-13-2012, 05:48 AM

Thanks Uncle Louie, I'll see what I can come up with

**scobb** · 09-13-2012, 04:58 PM

Originally Posted by Uncle Louie

I also ordered some stronger magnets in order to keep it on the touchstone better, but I don't think that that's absolutely necessary.

I too am a "touchstone junkie". I have been playing around with the mods and placements, but haven't committed yet.

I like the idea of the extra magnets. Do you have a source?

Thanks!

**johnj2803** · 09-13-2012, 06:18 PM

Originally Posted by johnj2803

I have just completed the Mod successfully using only copper tape and electrical tape.

NO SOLDERING.

I would recommend also reading this thread for reference

I would Recommend watching these videos
[YT]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=0ga4N_Ih9GE[/YT]

and the video posted above
[YT]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAqP3T_Mbzg&feature=player_embedded[/YT]

this method i think produces the least bulk to the back case.

I can confirm that is does not work with

hope this helps

just to update my post

the copper tape adhesive I have used does not work reliably, the adhesive is not enough make the tape adhere to the contact points from the coil. Electrical tape does not stabilize it enough. Couldn't find a way to make it stay. My charging would go on and off sometimes.

I soldered the copper tape to the contacts of the coil. Note that the soldering parting not on the phone itself but the part you removed from the back cover of the webOS device I used.

also, I think it is better to use one continuous strip of copper tape.

I think this has all the links you need to do the mod.

Just to update. I went on a road trip with my whole family. From Miami to Orlando, took around less than 4 hours. My navigation was on, bluetooth streaming music and podcast to my vehicle, tho those muic and podcast are pre-downloaded.

My s3 was on the touchstone all the time. It was charging but it wasn't gaining charge. I had to turn off the screen for a positive charge.

Experiance overall was excellent. No fumbling wih wires. And phone is not falling from the touchstone even on bumps.

Portrait or landscape

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S3 using Tapatalk2