Stage 2: Building a case

After some discussions on PDA Phone Home I decided to build the sled out of the extended battery. Initially, I was planning on making the standard battery fit inside the extended case, but then I got a first hand lesson in the volitile nature of li-ion batteries. After the 2 FOOT FLAME, which looked like a smoke flare going off, this MESS is what was left of the battery...

Yes, that metal is the 'battery bag' that shot out from the plastic.

What caused that? Believe it or not, it was LIGHTLY nicking it with the tip of my jewlers screwdriver! It doesn't take much.

Back to work-- the fact I nearly destroyed my house, head and phone didn't stop me. Now I know I'm crazy. But, after all, I have a worthless battery case now! Might as well get out the dremel, and mold it to the size I want! Here's the test fitting of my BT circuit.

Okay, the sled is getting much closer to completion now. Almost all the circuitry is in it, and it is functional with bluetooth. I have not finished the speakerphone mod yet, or added the switch for headset vs. speakerphone vs. internal speaker.

This cable will always be there on my phone, but it's small, and right next to the case. If I wanted I could dremel the case, and make the cable run smaller.

Under the second "S" in Samsung you can see the LED port I cut into the case. I melted some clear plastic from a CD case so that there isn't a hole there-- but instead a perfect 'clear' portal. The lower hole really is a hole-- using the stylus back (the part to hit reset) you can press the internal switch to initiate bluetooth pairing. You could also turn the sled off (but why?!)

A little trimming was necessary to let the battery release button still be pressable. I think the case looks good!

Next will be to install the switch to change modes, speaker for the speakerphone and finally install the battery latches to hold the sled in place. Overall the project is coming along nicely-- albeit one standard battery more expensive than planned for!

Continue to Stage 3-- Almost done

_Scott