Touchstone Mod for the S3

[Click This]

Got it to work with my TPU case. With the stock magnets, it requires some fiddling around on the dock to make the magnets align and charge, but it's looking good!

 

[jjbrotherton]

I'm curious if anyone has checked the charging current values with this mod?
I use Battery Monitor Widget by 3C

I have this setup working on an HTC Evo 3D through the USB port. It definitely takes longer to charge through the touchstone and struggles to keep charging while running apps (Nav, Pandora, ect)

Is anyone having issues charging and running apps and what is your charging time compared to plugging into the wall adapter?

 

[jjbrotherton]

I am confused by the magnet discussion. The magnets are in the Touchstone charger, not in the cover.
Take a paper clip and it will stick to the Touchstone charger. The little round disks in the cover are just metal disks.

I'm wondering how these magnets you reference would work, magnet to magnet should repel each other?

 

[jjbrotherton]

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 casemate pop with stand for the S3

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.

Where did you get the copper tape?

 

[johnj2803]

Ebay


Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S3 using Tapatalk2

 

[jjbrotherton]

Ebay


Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S3 using Tapatalk2

I have this setup working on an HTC Evo 3D through the USB port. It definitely takes longer to charge through the touchstone and struggles to keep charging while running apps (Nav, Pandora, ect)

What is your charging time compared to plugging into the wall adapter?

Do you have any issues running apps while on the touchstone? - Does it keep up?

 

[bulls96]

magnets are both in the charger and the cover. They are polar opposites so they stick well. It is also important to have the proper alignments of the magnets of the both.

 

[jjbrotherton]

magnets are both in the charger and the cover. They are polar opposites so they stick well. It is also important to have the proper alignments of the magnets of the both.

Thanks that helps

Any input to charging at USB speeds as apposed to AC speeds?

I have been reading in other posts, that a kernel mod is required?

 

[Uncle Louie]

Are you using the tape method? I could never get it to charge reliably as others have been able to, that's why I used solder. I don't a voltage meter yet, but it doesn't seem to take much (if any) longer that USB. I don't really do much with it while charging though.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Android Central Forums

 

[gobigred303]

Love this mod. Had it on my Galaxy Nexus and now on my GSIII. I don't see why this isn't a feature being built into phones these days. It's amazing how much more convenient it is than plugging the phone in.

I did the mod inside of my case (between the case and my phone). It is kinda ghetto rigged but I wanted to be able to use my case with the Touchstone and even the stronger magnets wouldn't hold with a case on. I am not able to get NFC to work, though. I'm not sure if that's because the magnets are outside the battery cover?

 

[jjbrotherton]

Are you using the tape method? I could never get it to charge reliably as others have been able to, that's why I used solder. I don't a voltage meter yet, but it doesn't seem to take much (if any) longer that USB. I don't really do much with it while charging though.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Android Central Forums

You could download the free app - Battery Monitor Widget and see what it reads while plugged into the wall and what it reads sitting on the touchstone

 

[jrgreenman1]

Anyone have a little bit of leftover tape you could drop in an envelope for me? Am trying to avoid buying 9 feet of the stuff. Actually, if you give me more than I'll need, I'll happily pay it forward to some others here on the board.

 

[Uncle Louie]

Love this mod. Had it on my Galaxy Nexus and now on my GSIII. I don't see why this isn't a feature being built into phones these days. It's amazing how much more convenient it is than plugging the phone in.

I did the mod inside of my case (between the case and my phone). It is kinda ghetto rigged but I wanted to be able to use my case with the Touchstone and even the stronger magnets wouldn't hold with a case on. I am not able to get NFC to work, though. I'm not sure if that's because the magnets are outside the battery cover?

Maybe a combination of the case and the magnets. My NFC works fine when I take my TPU case off, but if I leave it on its hit or miss (mostly miss).

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Android Central Forums

 

[jjbrotherton]

No, NFC still works like a champ.

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

K&J Magnetics - Products

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).

Do you have a link to the replacement battery cover you used? There a ton of them out of Hong Kong with mixed reviews.

 

[Uncle Louie]

Sure! Here's the one that I ordered...

Battery Back Door Cover Replacement For Samsung Galaxy S III S3 i9300 White | eBay

Perfect fit.

I just ordered a few cheaper ones; I let you know how they turn out.

 

[jjbrotherton]

Success!

Finished the Mod today.

First let me thank all of the people who added to this and other posts.
This modification is one of the main reasons I decided to go with the S3 over the IP5

Here is a summary of how I completed mine:

1. Purchased the list of items from this post:
http://forums.androidcentral.com/ve...s-mod-palm-touchstone-no-soldering-phone.html
2. Placed the Battery door on the Touchstone puck. I placed mine exactly in the middle so I can charge in Portrait and Landscape
3. Place the K&J Magnets on the inside of the Battery Cover and let them seat themselves. They will magically move to the correct place
I used 7 magnets see picture below. Left 1 corner magnet off due to interference with the circuit board on the coil.
4. Once you have the Battery door on the puck exactly where you want it, Carefully remove 1 magnet at a time keeping the exact orientation and place a very tiny dab of silicon on the back
I used silicon so that it would keep the magnets in place and could be removed if needed later with no damage to the inside of the cover.
Let this setup over night as it will take a few hours to dry.
5. Place the charging coil (I used the Palm Pre) exactly in the middle of all of the magnets.
I used double sided tape on the back of the coil to keep it in place while I was doing the remaining steps.
6. Place the Silver metal shield over the charging coil
This is mandatory as this will not work with out it.
Note: I did not use the black plastic shield that was used to cover the original Coil. Just used black electrical tape to cover everything.
7. I decided to use very thin gauge wire (used the wire that came with an old PowerMat back)
To get a reliable connection, you really need to solder these onto the contacts on the charging coil
Remember that Positive is on the bottom
8. Added a little ball of solder to the end of each wire so that it would fit into the hole in the phone where the charging posts are located
To insure a good connection, I added a small strip of copper tape over the charging posts
Make sure you push the copper tape down into the hold and around the charging posts
9. Using black tape, I positioned the end of the wires with the ball of solder to the battery cover so that they would make connection with the charging posts once the battery door was put
Back on.
Remember that Positive is on the top (reverse of the charging coil)
This will take a few tries, but will be worth it in the long run as you will get a great connection and will allow you to remove the battery cover in the future
10 Place black electrical tape over the entire assembly and your done!

 

[Uncle Louie]

Nicely done!

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Android Central Forums

 

[pcorlatan]

Thanks for all the advice, photos, and videos. I just crudely finished this mod using parts from a pixi cover and used electric tape to secure everything. I had some tiny flat neodymium magnets laying around so I used those to ensure my phone stays secure, especially since I have a TPU case. In case it hasn't been mentioned, on the Palm Pixi cover the top pin is positive and the bottom is negative, which is the same as the gs3 pins, but this is contrary to the Pre cover which is negative on top and positive on bottom. At first I incorrectly assumed that the Pixi cover would be the same as the pre and the charging wasn't working, but when I tried the inverse it worked great. Anyway, I'm glad I have this working until the official Samsung charger comes out, if ever.

 

[thacounty]

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

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/09/14/gysedesy.jpg

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/12/09/14/ze7yhe5y.jpg

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S3 using Tapatalk2

How did you mount this to a car mount? I have a few ideas, but I want to know what is working.

 

[monkeydog]

Thanks snoopdog for the step-by-step and the great photos. I did this mod today and am thrilled. Wireless charging is a highly underrated feature. I had it on my Palm phones and felt a pang of regret every time I had to plug in my SG3.

Mine seems to recharge very slowly. Has anyone else noticed this? Might that indicate that I have a bad connection? It charges, and will eventually charge the phone all the way, but it takes a long time. It seems like I was getting only 5-10% charge per hour. It's possible I'm having battery usage issues and not a charging issue, because my phone really seems to be chewing through battery. Maybe I'm taking two steps forward and one step back. I'm new to the phone and to Android, so I haven't figured out what's going on yet.