Thread: Make your dual dock compatible with the 3G

I threw out my bedside clock long ago in favor of my iPhone.

The dock is a perfect stand to make the phone readily accessible and easy to use with one hand when checking the time or hitting snooze.

If you are like me you probably have about 3 redundant docks laying around the house that came with various purchases.

On top of those I had one dual dock that came with my bluetooth headset. The dual dock was perfect, it charged both my phone and my headset, kept them conveniently locater near one another, and made for one less cord to clutter and gather dust.

One problem, the old iPhone dock is not compatible with the 3g....worse there doesn't seem to be a dual dock available for purchase.

It was time to do some modification.

Before going out into the garage to perform surgery I found this article:
Lightsource Media

A few things to mention:

A dremel will really make this easier. A tapered bit, and a small round diamond bit really work well together

Use a carpenters pencil or a regular pencil to trace your outline.

Use tape to cover the holes and to protect the metal plug. I used electrical tape, it is more resilient.

Go slowly on high speed. Do a little then test the fit. The back curve needs the most. The sides get fitted pretty quickly. The phone tapers towards the bottom so grind accordingly.

Use compressed air to clean everything.

Finish it with 180 grit, then 600 wet sand.

If you do it right it will be plenty smooth and even take on a shine.

The dock works just fine and will do until the real deal hits the shelves.

Way to go MacGyver! Forget the real deal, sounds like you are good to go.

Yes. Sue Capitalism and Human Nature.

:

I have been trying to convert my wife...but she insists on using her clock...I like to laugh at her and hurl insults when the power goes out and her time is blinking 12:00.

You know I just noticed that the title of this post is all wrong....how the...could it be backwards compatible with the 3g?

Changed.

This may go without saying but it happened to me...

I was "polishing" my stand and putting the final touches to it...it was perfect, you could barely tell it had been modified.

I was being very careful not to let the pastic overheat...however I was trying a new technique of actually heating the plastic in 2 hard to sand spots to give it a like new polish...it was working. Until the fiber on the polishing head started to spontaneously combust and left an ugly brown crust that melted the plastic.

After grinding and sanding again it has a low spot...but wtf it works right?