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Dye Back Battery Cover

First off I did do a quick search and didn't find anything over here on xda about this topic. If its here, my apoligies for a redundant post.
Second off I take 0 credit for this b/c it was alredy posted over a ppcgeeks.
RIT dye will allow you to get your back cover black or whatever color you want. It works amazingly well, no rub off. Looks like a factory job.
Pic posted with my new black back cover sitting next to an original.
Sweet deal. If you do use this be sure to thank xweaponx over at ppcgeeks, not me.
http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=46487&highlight=phone+back+walmart

Came out super clean, nice job

jd885 said:
Came out super clean, nice job
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I have to tell you, I was nervous about dropping my nice back cover in a pot of nearly boiling water and adding dye....but you really can't tell its moded at all. Unless someone told you, I don't think anyone could notice.
Best $1.60 I have spent in a long time.

nice i had a friend that was askin me about if the fuze back cover would work on sprint which it wouldn't but this is a good way to get a nice lookin back cover

I wonder if I can do this with a fuze back cover @[email protected]

Kraize said:
I wonder if I can do this with a fuze back cover @[email protected]
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I can't confirm this, as I have Sprint version. In fact I have never even held a fuze. Does the back cover have some texture to it? The dye seems to only attract to certain textured surfaces. The dye didn't stick to the inside of my cover, or the plastic camera lens cover.

I use RIT dye to dye lacrosse heads, and works real nice. Just be aware that it may fade a little.
And if you hit your phone against something (why I'm not sure), the dye will come off a little.

Color
Okay, went for grey charcoal by mixing blue & black as stated on the Rit dye site. Well, it came out flat black. Looks like a xbox 360 elite (flat black w/silver).
Personally, I think it is kinda ugly, however, better than the original silver.
Anyhow, another confirmation that the process works. I have the Sprint version & everything is the same cept the color.
Gonna try to dye it back a bit lighter & will post results.
--Update--
Ok, so, the cover started to turn a reddish purple (probably due to the blue), anyways, I tried to dye it just black and it eventually started to turn purple. Never did get a dye remover or try to dye it lighter.
Soo, for me the black sucks because it is a fingerprint magnet, and in my case it turned purple / red (again, probably due to the blue).
In the end I got lucky & acquired a new silver cover -not gonna dye this one.

Painting my Nexus One ((in progress))

Well I got seriously bored of the Battery cover and bottom piece. I was just never a fan of the bronze like tint to it.
I initially started with the Ol Touch Pro battery cover method using Rit Dye.
The results were great but it started running leaving my hands tinted =-(.
I placed an order for paint which arrived but was the wrong finish so Im awaiting the return shipment.
In the meantime I went ahead and started on the Battery Cover/Bottom panel with some left over paint I already had.
Im using Krylon Fusion but I may regret not switching to Duplicolor as there bonding is to plastics may be better. Im worried that the teflon coating of the pieces may mess up the finish.
Removing the bottom panel is a PAIN unless you have a pry tool. I highly suggest going to Ifixit.com and order a few of there tools if you make a habit of pryin open phones/electronics. They help out a bunch.
http://www.ifixit.com/Tools/Plastic-Opening-Tools/IF145-000
This is what I used for bottom panel.
Second problem was the little metal contacts. Fortunately I have no intention of getting a dock. They are too small to duct tape and was worried about removing them. If they are removable I may just do it after as scraping the paint off copper shouldnt be a big deal.
Masking the camera is a pain as the metal circle doesnt give one an indent to xacto blade smoothly. It was a bit of trial and error but definitely doable.
Anyways pics of coat one below. I wont continue until I get the right sandpaper and paint finish. Still tossed up between gloss and matte.
This was my original goal.
http://www.colorwarepc.com/p-216-nexus-one.aspx?2907=54726&2908=54787&2909=54877&2910=54955
I really like the black covers and the way it now matches the front paneling. I may not rip the rest apart to paint it white just yet.

Much prefer stock compared to that to be honest.
I know you're not done but the finish doesn't look to great.

Yeah the finish is nowhere near done. But the contrast the black creates is just alot better.
Already had someone ask me what phone I'm using ... in 11 months that's only happened twice.
Hopefully it'll look the way I intend it to.

wet sand, wet sand, wet sand
also make sure to use super high grit paper.
dont be afraid to wet sand the clear coat either...its necessary to keep it glossy with out any orange peel

ewwwwwwwwww

Here's to destroying the resale value of the your phone I do appreciate the idea though and DIY mentality.

irishrally said:
Here's to destroying the resale value of the your phone I do appreciate the idea though and DIY mentality.
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lol Same thing was said about my G1.
After I changed it to all white I sold it for 50$ more than I paid.
I was REALLY bored. With Gingerbread not around yet I figured why not.

seeking said:
wet sand, wet sand, wet sand
also make sure to use super high grit paper.
dont be afraid to wet sand the clear coat either...its necessary to keep it glossy with out any orange peel
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Thanks for tip about the clear coat.
Already ran into some trouble as the paint doesnt seem to adhere as good as I thought. I went at it without adhesion promoter..may have to hit the do over if it doesnt settle well.

xManMythLegend said:
Thanks for tip about the clear coat.
Already ran into some trouble as the paint doesnt seem to adhere as good as I thought. I went at it without adhesion promoter..may have to hit the do over if it doesnt settle well.
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Did you sand the pieces before painting?
Your paint is going to fall off if you didn't.
It's the entire idea behind teflon coatings.

A little painters trick. Next time don't try to tape off the contacts (or any small area) just get a toothpick and some Vaseline. Put the Vaseline on the contacts then paint. After you are done just wipe clean.
Also watch your flash time between coats. Believe it to not wet paint doesn't bond to dry paint that well. You first coat should still be a little tacky when applying your second coat.

JCopernicus said:
Did you sand the pieces before painting?
Your paint is going to fall off if you didn't.
It's the entire idea behind teflon coatings.
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Only a light sanding. I did the same with the G1 and had zero issues (I did use adhesion promoter with that one though). Nexus one must have super super teflon.
[IO]ERROR said:
A little painters trick. Next time don't try to tape off the contacts (or any small area) just get a toothpick and some Vaseline. Put the Vaseline on the contacts then paint. After you are done just wipe clean.
Also watch your flash time between coats. Believe it to not wet paint doesn't bond to dry paint that well. You first coat should still be a little tacky when applying your second coat.
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Great tip.
I actually tried that with Elmers but vaseline would be MUCH easier for the tiny spots.
I may have let it dry too long. I normally have only painted in warm weather months so I can let it sit longer. With the cold weather it seems I have to reduce time between coats.

BTW
How many coats of clear coat is recommended ?
I only had my G1 a few months after painting when I sold it. If I plan to keep the N1 for longer ((no trackball or leds on Nexus S *sigh* Im looking for more durability.))
I recall reading on another forum where someone skipped clear coat altogether and put a zagg/BSE ever on top and it looked great after over a year of usage.

I would prefer spending $15 on full back black available on ebay rather than painting, it doesnt look smooth and highly finished.

charnsingh_online said:
I would prefer spending $15 on full back black available on ebay rather than painting, it doesnt look smooth and highly finished.
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You mean a case ?
Cant stand the extra bulk.
Anyways..
Had to go back and sand everything off to get all the teflon removed.
What a pain.
I did the bottom piece over much improved. Battery cover will have to wait till after turkey day.

xManMythLegend said:
You mean a case ?
Cant stand the extra bulk.
Anyways..
Had to go back and sand everything off to get all the teflon removed.
What a pain.
I did the bottom piece over much improved. Battery cover will have to wait till after turkey day.
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There's a couple of people selling black battery covers/antenna bottoms on ebay. With htc/google logo and all.

heres some pics of my painted nexus.. decided to paint it while waiting for replacement digitizer and lcd came in.. one coat primer -> lite sanding -> 2 coats rustoleum flat white -> lite wet sand (just to knock off some of the orange peel) -> 2 coat clear matte rustoleum (not a fan of glossy finishes) -> wet sand.. was going to do the battery/bottom, but am not sold on paint holding up well to that rubber.. will probably end up buying the black ones of ebay later on..

famandeggs, your Nexus looks amazing. Excellent job.
Expecting more pictures once you collected the black Nexus covers and complete your project.

Kelvino9 said:
famandeggs, your Nexus looks amazing. Excellent job.
Expecting more pictures once you collected the black Nexus covers and complete your project.
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thanks man, will do.. it was a frustrating process lol.. i first tried a gloss enamel gloss paint, but the cure times where a pain (48 hours), and im all thumbs (dropped it a couple times while it was still drying, or wet sanded it to far down exposing the aluminum, forcing me to start over).. eventually just went w/a normal paint, im hoping w/the clear it'll hold up

famandeggs said:
thanks man, will do.. it was a frustrating process lol.. i first tried a gloss enamel gloss paint, but the cure times where a pain (48 hours), and im all thumbs (dropped it a couple times while it was still drying, or wet sanded it to far down exposing the aluminum, forcing me to start over).. eventually just went w/a normal paint, im hoping w/the clear it'll hold up
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I can only imagine all your efforts you put in. Judging the pictures the paint job looks amazingly smooth.

Kelvino9 said:
I can only imagine all your efforts you put in. Judging the pictures the paint job looks amazingly smooth.
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looks very nice indeed. but you got dust on your camera lens

remove scratches/drop marks from nexus one body

hello, i have a couple of scrtaches on my nexus one body. is there any product that can remove them?
your help is appreciated
thanks

hnijhar said:
hello, i have a couple of scrtaches on my nexus one body. is there any product that can remove them?
your help is appreciated
thanks
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Best bet go in to a car shop which have loads of paint, ask the guy what he thinks the best match would be, buy smallest bottle and spray sum in a tiny plastic cup, get an earbud, add a very small amount of paint on the bud from the cup, den dab on a clean area of the cup to remove 90% of paint from ear bud, so there's a extremely tiny amount on it then rub on smoothly on discolored areas.
Tip. Buy smallest bottle as very little is required.
/ Go 0.5 shade lighter/ use mixing compound once dried to blend paint very cheap 2$ can get from any car/paint shop rub on with lint free towel./do this only on front metal bit of phone as this will look stupid on plastic, ps. you can buy a plastic battery back cover from eBay for $7 from china
hit the thanks button... thanks

kuljit55 said:
Best bet go in to a car shop which have loads of paint, ask the guy what he think the best match would be, buy smallest bottle and spray sum in a tiny plastic cup, get an earbud add a very small amount of paint on the bud, from the cup den dab on a clean area of a cup to remove 90& of paint from ear bud, so there's a extremely tiny amount on it then rub on smoothly on discolored areas.
Tip. Buy smallest bottle as very little is required.
/ Go 0.5 shade lighter/ use mixing compound once dried to blend paint very cheap 2$ can get from any car/paint shop rub on with lint free towel./do this only on front metal bit of phone as this will look stupid on plastic, ps. you can buy a plastic battery back cover from eBay for $7 from china
i kindly spent 10mins of my time writing this so please hit the thanks button...
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Have you done this? Does it end up looking OK? Do you happen to have any before or after pictures?
Thanks for the detailed instructions!

i have tried this on a slight chip of paint. it worked very well, i can show an after photo but i did not take any before. but i would only do this if you can find a very simular shade like a could. make sure u test the shade first on somthing metal to see final colour. show the shop keeper your phone and say i need this colour. s/he should have expertese on best colour available

Why don't you just change the housing is like 40 bucks My Nexus One ended up looking new. I already polish the old housing I just need cream to make it shine and I'm gonna paint the back door white and the bottom too maybe this weekend. this is the cheapest housing on ebay. http://cgi.ebay.com/Housing-battery...796?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3a659866e4 32.00 bucks.

I'm actually way too much of a wuss to consider changing the housing...at least for now.
Way back when I had a Moto Razr vx3 or something and I attempted to change the housing and messed up on putting it back on and a corner of it was always loose.
Anyway, my Nexus One only has two tiny scratches just below the search hard key...not really worth it to change the entire housing. Though perhaps I could pick up a spare housing set in case something were to happen in the future.

Unfortunately, since our N1s have a kinda brushed look to them, there isn't a way to get rid of the scratches without it being more noticeable than the scratch itself.
There was someone who ended up completely polishing his N1 until it was a mirrored finish... I saw the pictures on here a few months ago.

bassmadrigal said:
Unfortunately, since our N1s have a kinda brushed look to them, there isn't a way to get rid of the scratches without it being more noticeable than the scratch itself.
There was someone who ended up completely polishing his N1 until it was a mirrored finish... I saw the pictures on here a few months ago.
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yeah that is what made me polish the housing but I been so busy to even finish, He did a incredible job too

[Q] Chrome Bezel

I dropped my phone yesterday and scratched the chrome bezel that goes around the from of the phone. Where can I get a replacement part or is there any way to repair it?

your best bet is to just put a cover on it, its not easy to change, this cover is good, it covers the bezel
http://www.daydeal.com/product.php?productid=45703&cat=5483
or get an otterbox which is more expensive
http://www.daydeal.com/product.php?productid=50482&cat=5483

Or the body glove
Sent from my SGH-T959V using XDA Premium App

Is there any site i could get the part from? I've changed the housing on my HTC Hero from sprint many of times how much harder could it be?

dont really know all i can say is try and google it, or you could put a case on it

Someone put up a tutorial a while back to flat black it out.. it was some black magic though idk how he did it lol but stealthy looking
sent from my real Gs move in silence like lasagna

mbernusg said:
Someone put up a tutorial a while back to flat black it out.. it was some black magic though idk how he did it lol but stealthy looking
sent from my real Gs move in silence like lasagna
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o man. that would be awesome. im going to search for it now. lol

This sounds like a CRAZY idea, but I build plastic models, so this might actually work.
Maybe you can try masking off everything on your phone except for the bezel then sand it down til all the chrome is gone (low grit to higher grit for a smooth finish). After cleaning all of it up, use any color spray paint you want to repaint the bezel. You might need primer for it, depending on what kind of paint you use. Maybe topcoat it as well to protect the paint. Just make sure you spray in very light coats and it shouldn't run underneath the masking tape.
Obviously, this will take a lot of work, but that's the only thing I can think of if you can't find spare parts.
Also, the person mbernusg mentioned in his post might've done something similar. Just a random guess though.

Hi,
this is the only thing I could find about bezel replacing:
http://www.freneticrapport.com/2011/05/samsung-gt-i9000-galaxy-s-touch-screen.html
NOTE: HE KILLED THE SCREEN, but I believe it could be done successfully!

Rubberized Battery Cover Mod

Like most of us that keep no cover on our phone, my battery plate was all scratched to heck. I saw the other "mirror polish" mod and it looked great, but also looked like a lot of work and would get scratched again. I bought a can of rubberized spray (see pic) and wound up with a great result (see pic.) The only color Home Depot had was black, and I think a gray might have looked better, but I still like the results and the phone is less slippery now than with the metal cover. This took 3 coats (30 minutes drying time between coats) then I let it dry for 18 hours before using it. Turned out pretty good, but long-term results are TBD...

I like did u just spray the back part? Any trouble with fitting it afterwards as it must add a layer of bulk?
Desire Z Glite 2.0.1

Shambolicuk said:
I like did u just spray the back part? Any trouble with fitting it afterwards as it must add a layer of bulk?
Desire Z Glite 2.0.1
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It added less bulk than I thought it would, it's really not much at all and it fits just fine afterwards. Actually, before, it would slide like a little when locked in place (just enough to notice - probably like .1 mm or so.) Now it is snug and has no jiggle at all.

I forgot to mention the hard part (prepping it...) Removing the original clear plastic coating was the hardest part - a combination of a dremel with the little wire wheel tool and my fingernail took about an hour, then I just hit it with some 220 grit sandpaper and cleaned it with mineral spirits.

I use the same stuff on my car (mid level 2009 Lancer but use the Plasti-dip to black out the front to make it look like an Evo [car guys will understand =p]) Very durable though I have not used it on my DZ yet. You beat me to the punch! I want to do the HTC part in red and the rest in black, will post when I have the time to do it.
Looks sharp though, contrast is nice

Doh! After only 1 day, I caught something on the curved edge and it started lifting the plastic coating... not very durable for this use - I might try again later though and see if I can come up with a better method.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App

I like it! A little bit rougher texture, but you might try Duplicolor spray on bedliner.

I thought about taking my phone apart and using some white plastidip to change it white...
Durability is alright...on thinkpad forums, a couple of people mixed it with some black enamel paint which made it much more durable.

mralexsays said:
It added less bulk than I thought it would, it's really not much at all and it fits just fine afterwards. Actually, before, it would slide like a little when locked in place (just enough to notice - probably like .1 mm or so.) Now it is snug and has no jiggle at all.
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I thought I was the only one who noticed the battery door wiggle room! No one ever mentions it. I really hope you find some way of preventing it from peeling. I'm practically drooling over those pictures you took. It looks extremely professional compared to most mods I've seen. You could easily set up a service where people send you their doors, some cash, and a self address envelope if you wanted to make some extra bucks.

kierren said:
I thought I was the only one who noticed the battery door wiggle room! No one ever mentions it. I really hope you find some way of preventing it from peeling. I'm practically drooling over those pictures you took. It looks extremely professional compared to most mods I've seen. You could easily set up a service where people send you their doors, some cash, and a self address envelope if you wanted to make some extra bucks.
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I've been meaning to update this. I tried again - this time I sanded with 220 grit, used a "self-etching primer" on the cover, then the rubberized paint. This time it lasted 3 days before starting to peel off... I'm also able to scratch off the primer with my fingernails, so the primer didn't really help. I'm not sure what else to try to make this coating stick at this point.

mralexsays said:
I've been meaning to update this. I tried again - this time I sanded with 220 grit, used a "self-etching primer" on the cover, then the rubberized paint. This time it lasted 3 days before starting to peel off... I'm also able to scratch off the primer with my fingernails, so the primer didn't really help. I'm not sure what else to try to make this coating stick at this point.
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I suggest powdercoating the back cover.

primeral said:
I suggest powdercoating the back cover.
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Powder coating would be nice, but I don't have the equipment for that (and don't want to invest in it just for this.) Also, this cover has plastic tabs that I'd be worried about melting or detaching from the battery cover during the curing process.