Galaxy Note 2 (Verizon / I605) Wireless Charging Mod

Intro: Galaxy Note 2 (Verizon / I605) Wireless Charging Mod

So Verizon went and destroyed your dreams of wire free charging by leaving off the the perfectly good wireless charging connectors and covering them up with plastic? Yeah, me too. So I fixed it, and I'll show you how I did it.

To follow these instructions you will need:
- a QI wireless charging receiver module like this one:
http://www.amazon.com/standard-Wireless-Charger-Re...
- a small philips screw driver
- a soldering iron with a very fine tip

You should also have some decent soldering skills. There are only two small connections to solder, but they are awfully close to some other phone components, which you probably don't want to overheat. Some other folks have documented methods for doing this mod without soldering, but they tend not to end up being very clean looking or very reliable IMHO. But if you are reluctant to solder on your $600 device you can google around for those.

Also, I'm pretty sure that following these instructions voids your warranty. And if you screw this up, you could definitely break your phone. And of course, neither I nor Instructables can be responsible for that.

Seriously though, it's not that hard. You'll be fine. Better than fine, because you will be charging your phone with no wires.

STEP 1: Open the Phone

• Turn off your phone
• Remove the battery cover
• Remove the S-pen, the battery, the SIM card, and the MicroSD card.
• Remove all of the screws that hold the back cover on.
• Peel the back cover away from the front cover. You can start this with your fingernails, but to get all of the clips undone it is nice to have something thin, tough and plastic. I used a guitar pick, and it worked very nicely. Just work it all the way around the perimeter of the joint slowly and carefully popping it loose. There are also two clips in the hole left by the battery, one at the top and one at the bottom. These are the toughest. I've pointed them out in the photos. I was able to get under these with my fingernails. Once you have all of the clips loose, you should be able to just peel the back cover all the way off.

And now you're in! Warranty voided!!!

STEP 2: Case Mod Time!

How many people can say that they've case-modded their cell phone? Well, you're about to add yourself to the short list.

Take a look at the first photo and note the two unused bare copper contacts I've circled. This is where you will solder on the receiver in the next step. Take minute to lay out the receiver inside the case, noting where the connector will need to pass through the case, and mark the material that needs to be removed.

Now file a groove in the inside edge of the case back to make a slot for the connector pass through to the contacts. Test the fit as you go. I'm sure you could expedite this process with a power tool or two, but I was nervous about damaging the case, so I did it the slow and careful way, with couple of needle files.

STEP 3: Solder It On!

I'm sure that there are several ways to skin this proverbial cat. Here's how I did it:

• Remove the little connector bumps from the receiver. Just heat them up with the soldering iron and they will pop right off.
• Tin the pads on the receiver and on the phone
• Line the receiver up where you want it, and reach in with a fine tipped soldering iron and marry the solder between the pairs of tinned pads

This is a touchy process, but I was able to get it done in just a few frustrating minutes. If you want to make it easier on yourself, you could probably get your self some jumper wires to go between the two.

STEP 4: Put Your Phone Back Together and Test It Out

Just snap the back of the case back on. You should probably test your phone out on your wireless charging pad before putting all of the screws back in. You should be able to just bend the receiver up out of the way and drop the battery back in. Then just fold the receiver back down onto the back of the battery. The battery cover should snap on over it with a barely noticeable bulge where the coil is.

Test it out on your wireless charger. It should start charging just like the first picture I showed in the intro.

Nice work! Tesla would be so proud of you!

Comments

[compmaster1]

Worked perfectly on the first try! I would take pictures also but the camera in my phone ... you know :)

[rlane4]

awesome instructable i just did this mod to my verizon note 2 frist try didnt work checked my solder pads and top didnt join properly

second try was just the trick and works beautifuly

thank goodnes for the jtag and rgh mods these points were ginormous in compaision

[twoLsRbetterthan1]

Thanks, Jan.
It's been a couple of weeks now, and the mod is still working great.
But my charging pad is very picky about phone placement with the case on. It works, but it is not nearly as easy to get it going as it is with the phone naked. Does anyone have any suggestions for the best QI charging pad? Something a little more powerful to punch through the plastic?

[JanaMarie]

very nice!! :)