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HouseholdHacker/YouTube

How to hack your phone charger into a DIY wireless-charging station

Never plug in again.

 

AJ Dellinger

Tech

Posted on Jun 5, 2015   Updated on May 28, 2021, 3:59 pm CDT

Wireless charging is the wave of the future. But like with most things in their early stages of availability, the price point can be a turn off. Thankfully, if you have a standard phone charger, you’re halfway having your very own docking station.

YouTube DIYer HouseholdHacker put together a simple guide for making your own wireless charging pad. All you need for the homemade hack is a phone case, wireless receiver, wireless printed circuit board assembly, a microUSB cord, and a charging base. (In HouseholdHacker’s example, an old PlayStation 3 game case does the trick.) 

You’ll have to plug the wireless receiver into your phone’s charging port, then hide it on the back of the device with a case. This is how your device will receive the charge. 

Inside the case, you’ll glue down the circuit board and connect it to its coils, then plug the microUSB cord into the board. The USB will plug into the wall, so you’ll want to cut a gap in the case to allow the cord to extend out. 

Once you plug in, you’ll be able to set your phone down on the charging base and watch it light up, indicating the battery is receiving a charge. That’s all there is to it, aside from waiting for your phone battery to reach 100 percent.

The entire project will run you $15-25, depending on where you buy the parts. The real reward, though, will be your sense of accomplishment. Now, could someone please explain what sort of wizardry makes wireless charging possible?

H/T Pixable | Screengrab via HouseholdHacker/YouTube

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*First Published: Jun 5, 2015, 8:22 pm CDT