Please be aware that the color of the module can and will change, depending on the fillament I have.
These modules I would like to offer you for a
small price, which basically covers the costs of manufacturing and
shipping. Please note that this is by no means a finished product but
rather a prototype and requires some skills to assemble. You will also
need the original motor and the speaker from an old (broken) module. All
other parts are already soldered on the PCB (manually, by me). In
addition you will also have to either modify the old FP2 cover to
accomodate the USB-C port or I will provide you with a 3D-printed TPU
cover, this is what I have been using the past months (see pictures)
I have designed these PCBs because I had a few failures which the
original FP2 bottom module, mainly the USB port which failed after a
while and the microphone coming loose and failing. With that in mind I
tried to design my PCB to be more rigid and with a more sturdy USB-C
port. However, this port does not provide full USB-C capabilities, it is
only more durable! I created the housing for that module as 3D-printable
parts since the USB port would not fit into the original housing.
I can offer the PCB and the housing as a kit or I will just send you the
PCB and you can print the housing and the TPU cover yourself using the
attached STL files.
If you want to manufacture the PCB yourself you can use the attached
Gerber files. All these files are provided with out any warranty so use
them at your own risk!
PS: I was unable to do so because of upload restrictions, I can send the files on request.
Congratulations Leo ! Amazing job until the end Thank you for sharing it and thank you for showing that this kind of “homemade” work is possible on our dear Fairphone 2 !
7€ (+ shipping to your country of choice) for just the PCB. I can send you the files to your e-mail.
Be aware that the parts are chellenging prints. They have tight tollerances and need to be printed with a printer of decend quality. Espescially the cover is hard, you need to use quite low temps and slow speeds
It took some time for me to say a fixed price, but now I can say you the price.
It’s 15€ for the module and 20 € for the TPU case. Shipping is around 5€
I can answer your questions and let me tell you it’s not as dificult as you might think.
I carved my case with a knive out, but I don’t reccoment that, as there is then quite a big gap where dust can get inside. I reccoment printing your own case with my files or buying the printed case from me.
There is no soldering skill required. All you need is a torx screwdriver and some Kind of flat pry-tool to get out the speaker. It’s all spring contact.
Normal USB 2. communication works and charging works really well, too.
But the best thing about USB-C is that it’s reversible.
USB-C! I’m interested in this. So to reiterate, no soldering skills required, what exactly do I need to assemble the phone? I need to disassemble the vibration motor and the speaker? What about the mic?
As a side note are you also able to hack NFC on the FP2?
Exactly, No soldering, you need to disassemble the module to get out the speaker and the vib. but you don’t need to modify them, just put them into they new housing.
NFC is really hard, but QI might be possible
However it did increase the size of the case. Back then I didn’t buy it due to lack of time.
For me my main interests on FP2 are USB-C and NFC.
Sure a quicker SOC, more RAM, a better camera, Qi, TouchID/FaceID, and a whole lot more could be interesting and useful. But I just use most of my tooling on macOS/Linux instead of on a smartphone.
Do you recon the USB-C is going to work with say a FLIR One Pro USB-C such as this one here?
I can’t guaranty that it’s going to work, but if it suports USB 2, it’s likely to work. I’ve done some research, it might work for data transfer, but won’t charge off of the phone, you would have to charge it from a adapter or powerbank.
Cool! I don’t actually have that device. If I knew your module existed, I’d have bought it, because buying the microUSB version at this point did not make sense IMO. Instead I bought a C3 (which uses microUSB and WiFi but has its own LCD screen as well so can be used standalone).
Now that the units will shipp soon here is how to assemble.
The modules come with the PCB in the bottom layer of the module and the top layers already glued and loosely put ontop. Remove the top layer of the module. Open your old module and carefully pry out the speaker and push out the vibration motor. Install the speaker in the top half of the module with the contact facing upwards and push in the vibration motor, it can only go in one way. Then press the top half with the speaker and vibration motor and the bottom half with the PCB. Then install the module like you would with an genuine module, take care not to thighten the screws too much. If you have a noisy sound, try loosening the screws. It’s advised to wash your hand after handling the exposed PCB.
The PCB does contain lead. The PCB must not be trown in the ordinary trash.
Although the module case is made out of PLA and is more environmentally friendly, it still is plastik and takes still more than 100 years to decompose. PLA is (even though not as bad as other ones) still plastik, so treat it as such.
Yes, it is.
You can just press in the speaker and vibration motor. It is common that the speaker gets a bit damaged when this is done often, but my speaker is really damaged and it still works without any noticable change in sound. One issue is also that the clips on the original housing can break off and the metal ones can bend, but that’s not a problem, I’ve used a module with broken clips and it worked.
So, Yes you can, but it’s not recommended to do this often
I got the opportunity to test the experimental USB-C bottom module, a big thank you to @Leo_TheCrafter for providing me with his PCB.
For the moment I only tested without the speaker and vibration motor; my regular bottom module is still working and I don’t have the star-shaped screwdriver to open it. However even without those two items my FP2 started flawesly, I could even took the last picture in front of a mirror as I don’t have here any camera except my FP2
Housing was printed by my sister with a Prusa i3 MK3.
See photos below
I got the USB-C module to work. I got the speaker to work. Both worked perfectly fine. Case worked as well.
However not the mic and the vibration motor. I could live without the vibration motor, but without the mic I can’t pick up the phone when people call me.
Tried to swap components with another one of my modules (as I have two microUSB bottom modules, with one of the two a broken mic). Same problem.
Tried a replacement module, same problem.
It felt like we tried everything to get it fixed but we weren’t able to solve it. I send the modules back, and I got my money back. It cost us a lot of time and effort, but we tried. The problem might be related to having screwed it too tight the first try.
Thank you for sharing it and thank you for showing that this kind of “homemade” work is possible on our dear Fairphone 2 !
A DM is on the way…
