Help with 9650 Touchstone hack...

Ok, so I've got a Touchstone charger and a charger cover for a Palm Pre laying around and I've decided to try to hack this badboy into my Otterbox commuter case in order to charge my 9650... what I'm planning on doing is installing the coil and magnets into the plastic outer covering of the otterbox along with some sort of contact points that will go through the silicone back and contact the 9650s cradle charging points... unfortunately, I'm not sure which point is which on the back of the 9650 (i.e which is positive and negative)... can anyone offer any help? Also, anyone know which is which on the Touchstone coils?

Thanks!

Well, already figured out the touchstone polarity... still searching for answers on the Bold charging contacts though...

Hmmm well this thread was pointless as I have now noticed that the battery clearly indicates which side is positive and negative... time to grab out the good old multimeter :) I'll post up some pics when I'm done :)

Ok - here are pics of the completed hack - I simply removed the coil from the Palm Pre battery cover (pretty simple as its all held on by a large sticker) and salvaged the spring contacts out of a busted tv remote's battery compartment. The springs are attached to the otterbox with a bit of gorilla glue. There isn't a noticable bulge in the case after adding it, so that's a plus but I do believe I need stronger magnets installed as they don't seem strong enough to hold the heavy beast that is the 9650 in a car installed setup - for the desktop however, works great! And now the pics!













There you have it - leave comments or criticisms below :D

Nice job! A buddy that just dumped his Pre was talking last week about me trying something like this for my 9650 too, using one of his spare Pre battery covers. It sure helps to see that it works.

How much power is moved through the coil? How long does a full charge take?

Originally Posted by Underway99

Nice job! A buddy that just dumped his Pre was talking last week about me trying something like this for my 9650 too, using one of his spare Pre battery covers. It sure helps to see that it works.

How much power is moved through the coil? How long does a full charge take?

It charges a bit faster than the stock Blackberry charger... I haven't tried a full charge yet as far as time goes... the Palm charger outputs 1.0 amp while the normal Blackberry charger puts out 700mAmps, so the Palm puts out a little more power...

Originally Posted by rustmonkey

It charges a bit faster than the stock Blackberry charger... I haven't tried a full charge yet as far as time goes... the Palm charger outputs 1.0 amp while the normal Blackberry charger puts out 700mAmps, so the Palm puts out a little more power...

Do you get the full amp through the coil? And is there a problem with heat? If there's 40% more power going into that battery, then I'd expect the battery to get pretty hot inside that rubber case.

Originally Posted by Underway99

Do you get the full amp through the coil? And is there a problem with heat? If there's 40% more power going into that battery, then I'd expect the battery to get pretty hot inside that rubber case.

Well the battery was warm to the touch and the actual coil was warm as well... so I plugged in the standard BB charger to the touchstone (its a micro usb) and it seems to work as well... so I'll run it this way for awhile and see if it causes the battery to warm up too :)

Originally Posted by rustmonkey

Well the battery was warm to the touch and the actual coil was warm as well... so I plugged in the standard BB charger to the touchstone (its a micro usb) and it seems to work as well... so I'll run it this way for awhile and see if it causes the battery to warm up too :)

I'd wondered about using a smaller power brick. Good luck.

Originally Posted by Underway99

I'd wondered about using a smaller power brick. Good luck.

Using less amprage resulted in a cooler battery and coil... however, looking into the Blackberry premium charger (which I believe is the same one that came with my Playbook) it puts out about 1.5 - 1.8 amps (can't remember for sure off the top of my head), I think using the Palm charger should be ok for a more rapid charge... the battery by no means got *HOT* just warm to the touch... I'll look into the amperage a little more this evening...

I must say this is rather Mcgyverish.... But ill be damned if it isnt cool as all ****. Nice Job bro....

Now of you could keep it in there and do the seidio extended battery hack with the touchstone that would be nuts.
I know it's pretty impossible to have my cake and eat it to but we all can dream.

Good job tho man. I would have never thought of that idea.


Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk

Originally Posted by eve6er69

Now of you could keep it in there and do the seidio extended battery hack with the touchstone that would be nuts.
I know it's pretty impossible to have my cake and eat it to but we all can dream.

Good job tho man. I would have never thought of that idea.


Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk

You probably could get away with it with the extended battery but you'd most likely end up installing the receiver coil *in* the phone and hard wiring it to the charging points... :)

As I understand it, the magnet is molded into the Pre battery cover. How and where did you mount the replacement magnets?

Also, would you be willing to post pics of the outside back?


Sent from my BlackBerry 9650 using Tapatalk

Originally Posted by Underway99

As I understand it, the magnet is molded into the Pre battery cover. How and where did you mount the replacement magnets?

Also, would you be willing to post pics of the outside back?


Sent from my BlackBerry 9650 using Tapatalk

If you look at the picture of the mod with the palm sticker visible, the four small circles around the large inner circle are the magnets... there are molded slots for them in the pre back but they fit under the sticker with out any problem when its in the case... also the back of the case hasn't been modified - everything is contained inside the otterbox shell.

Originally Posted by rustmonkey

If you look at the picture of the mod with the palm sticker visible, the four small circles around the large inner circle are the magnets... there are molded slots for them in the pre back but they fit under the sticker with out any problem when its in the case... also the back of the case hasn't been modified - everything is contained inside the otterbox shell.

So the magnets are strong enough to grip the charger through the outer shell? Good deal. It looks like I'll have to order the Touchstone. I hear from somebody at PreCentral that you can get 2 of them for about $8.

Originally Posted by Underway99

So the magnets are strong enough to grip the charger through the outer shell? Good deal. It looks like I'll have to order the Touchstone. I hear from somebody at PreCentral that you can get 2 of them for about $8.

Stock magnets inside the cover are strong enough to use for a desktop setup; you'd probably want stronger magnets installed for in car use with the touchstone... for stronger magnets, google touchstone magnet upgrade - should find a post in the precentral forums with a link on where to get the new magnets. Also, touchstones are available from verizonwireless.com for 4.97 each with free two day shipping (and under $4 if you have a corporate account) - Good luck! If you need any help, feel free to ask.

Rustmonkey,
I think they also did the mod with the extended battery on the phone to work with the otterbox case, and from what i saw from the youtube video it is as simple as cutting the rubber membrane around the extended battery and going from there. I don't see there being an issue with running the extended battery and the touchstone hack together.