Posting this in the GS7E forums because it's the reason I did this, but this project would be equally effective for other Qi friendly devices...
I always seem challenged to get a charging dock for my car that fits all my criteria. I have an older, but in-great-shape vehicle and don't have the techno luxuries of in-dash phone connectivity, so I rely on my device to do all the things. Music, nav, voice commands, etc. I assume I'm not alone in this situation. As a result, I've modded desktop docks and dismantled other chargers over the years to fill the void.
What I want is something that will un/dock fumble-free, preferably one-handed and will charge automatically, without the need to plug in any cables. Additionally, it needs to support the battery draw of GPS, so I don't run low on power during longer trips. With the Galaxy S7, wireless charging offered some interesting opportunities, but I was unable to find any offerings that met the above requirements. I came close with the SOJITEK Wireless Qi mount/charger which is actually a pretty good holder and fairly elegant solution. The problem was that it does not support fast charge and I was definitely losing battery when GPS was activated. It also had the additional challenge of "hitting the sweet-spot" since it is a single-coil charger. There is very little room for placement error to get it to charge.
I figured I'd deal with it and plug the phone in directly for longer trips, but that just didn't sit well with me. Yeah, obsessive like that.
Then I found this video (about a year old at the time of this post): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBn7yGpZ3DA
I liked what was going on there, and that same charger used in the video is now available in a fast-charge model. Sweet. What I didn't like was the janky rubber-band solution, so I decided to kick it up a notch and see if I could make something a little more professional and durable. Oh, and it also had to play nice with my Proclip mount system already in place.
Here's the hardware I used:
Arkon AMPS Ball Adapter (to attach to Proclip Base/holder)
Choetech Fast Charger
Onyx Car Mount. I went with this one because the video showed that there was enough arm clearance to hold the charger and the phone. In practice, there was not as much as I would have liked. More on that in a bit.
PlasticWeld. This stuff is kinda awesome. It's my solution to janky rubber-bands.
Aukey Quick Charge DC Power Adapter
The Build
As I said above, there was not quite enough depth on the arms, so I opted to remove the back part of the padding. The stuff was actually pretty thick and bought me a few extra millimeters.
Next, as demonstrated in the video, I measured, then cut out the center of the backplate. Note there were clips inside that I wanted to retain for support purposes and I was able to straddle them pretty well. I used a dremel with a cutting disk for that work. It got the job done.
The fit turned out pretty good.
There was minor gapping, and I quickly realized that the plasticweld needed to somehow connect to the mount base and back, but without obstructing the sliding arm mechanism, or I would run the risk of freezing the arms in place. I came up with a workaround by using the leftover plastic from the the back cover. This gave me extra surface to bond and clearance for the arms. I super glued these in place
Then I applied the plasticweld. Just as an aside, I was completely new to this. Perhaps there are better ways of setting it, but I did my best. Given that it's on the back of the thing, I wasn't too concerned. I gently added it to each side being careful not to smoosh it into the tracks where the arms expand. Additionally, I slid the jaws open and close at regular intervals while the weld was setting, ensuring that it would continue to function when it hardened.
The scratches were intentional because I wanted to have a rough surface for it to bond. I sandpapered it, and the sides of the mount as well.
Here you can see the clearance the removed padding and inset mount bought me:
Next, I finished the hardened plastic with another dremel tip to give it a cleaner look. Once happy(ish) with that, I masked it, then hit it with a little matte Krylon spray paint. There's me obsessing again.
And finally, the finished product, mounted in my car.
Overall, I'm happy with the result, and it's a far more powerful and elegant solution than anything else I've seen. I haven't tried, but I'm pretty sure I could even remove the backplate/mount if desired. If I had to do it again (you never know), I'd like to find a holder with a push-button release, and ideally one with a longer side arm. Ironically, the Sojitek product has arm-length to spare. I'm considering removing the rest of the red padding because it's beveled at the end. I could probably replace it easily with a black rubber that would not taper off in the same way, giving me just a little more breathing room for holding the device.
Questions, suggestions welcomed. Thanks for checking this out.
I always seem challenged to get a charging dock for my car that fits all my criteria. I have an older, but in-great-shape vehicle and don't have the techno luxuries of in-dash phone connectivity, so I rely on my device to do all the things. Music, nav, voice commands, etc. I assume I'm not alone in this situation. As a result, I've modded desktop docks and dismantled other chargers over the years to fill the void.
What I want is something that will un/dock fumble-free, preferably one-handed and will charge automatically, without the need to plug in any cables. Additionally, it needs to support the battery draw of GPS, so I don't run low on power during longer trips. With the Galaxy S7, wireless charging offered some interesting opportunities, but I was unable to find any offerings that met the above requirements. I came close with the SOJITEK Wireless Qi mount/charger which is actually a pretty good holder and fairly elegant solution. The problem was that it does not support fast charge and I was definitely losing battery when GPS was activated. It also had the additional challenge of "hitting the sweet-spot" since it is a single-coil charger. There is very little room for placement error to get it to charge.
I figured I'd deal with it and plug the phone in directly for longer trips, but that just didn't sit well with me. Yeah, obsessive like that.
Then I found this video (about a year old at the time of this post): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBn7yGpZ3DA
I liked what was going on there, and that same charger used in the video is now available in a fast-charge model. Sweet. What I didn't like was the janky rubber-band solution, so I decided to kick it up a notch and see if I could make something a little more professional and durable. Oh, and it also had to play nice with my Proclip mount system already in place.
Here's the hardware I used:
Arkon AMPS Ball Adapter (to attach to Proclip Base/holder)
Choetech Fast Charger
Onyx Car Mount. I went with this one because the video showed that there was enough arm clearance to hold the charger and the phone. In practice, there was not as much as I would have liked. More on that in a bit.
PlasticWeld. This stuff is kinda awesome. It's my solution to janky rubber-bands.
Aukey Quick Charge DC Power Adapter
The Build
As I said above, there was not quite enough depth on the arms, so I opted to remove the back part of the padding. The stuff was actually pretty thick and bought me a few extra millimeters.
Next, as demonstrated in the video, I measured, then cut out the center of the backplate. Note there were clips inside that I wanted to retain for support purposes and I was able to straddle them pretty well. I used a dremel with a cutting disk for that work. It got the job done.
The fit turned out pretty good.
There was minor gapping, and I quickly realized that the plasticweld needed to somehow connect to the mount base and back, but without obstructing the sliding arm mechanism, or I would run the risk of freezing the arms in place. I came up with a workaround by using the leftover plastic from the the back cover. This gave me extra surface to bond and clearance for the arms. I super glued these in place
Then I applied the plasticweld. Just as an aside, I was completely new to this. Perhaps there are better ways of setting it, but I did my best. Given that it's on the back of the thing, I wasn't too concerned. I gently added it to each side being careful not to smoosh it into the tracks where the arms expand. Additionally, I slid the jaws open and close at regular intervals while the weld was setting, ensuring that it would continue to function when it hardened.
The scratches were intentional because I wanted to have a rough surface for it to bond. I sandpapered it, and the sides of the mount as well.
Here you can see the clearance the removed padding and inset mount bought me:
Next, I finished the hardened plastic with another dremel tip to give it a cleaner look. Once happy(ish) with that, I masked it, then hit it with a little matte Krylon spray paint. There's me obsessing again.
And finally, the finished product, mounted in my car.
Overall, I'm happy with the result, and it's a far more powerful and elegant solution than anything else I've seen. I haven't tried, but I'm pretty sure I could even remove the backplate/mount if desired. If I had to do it again (you never know), I'd like to find a holder with a push-button release, and ideally one with a longer side arm. Ironically, the Sojitek product has arm-length to spare. I'm considering removing the rest of the red padding because it's beveled at the end. I could probably replace it easily with a black rubber that would not taper off in the same way, giving me just a little more breathing room for holding the device.
Questions, suggestions welcomed. Thanks for checking this out.
Last edited:
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