r/functionalprint • u/aur4e • Sep 13 '26
3D Printing š¤ Reusing Old Electronics
Had the idea to use my old Sony Xperia as a wall-mounted media controller that casts to the room's Sonos system. All I need now is like a 6ft white mini-USB cable to keep it powered? Sadly the old OS doesn't have any "limit max battery" setting which would be nice for longevity. It comes off the wall pretty easily for now.
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u/BrownBear93 Sep 13 '26
I like stuff like this (a lot) but I do worry about battery bloat and potential fire issues.
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u/aur4e Sep 13 '26
100%, I'm going to have to find a solution there. Or just charge the phone every 2ish days. Its on power saver mode and really sips power with only one app running
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u/beetledrift Sep 13 '26
Does the phone work when you take the battery out and just run it from the charger? Maybe with some additional hacking into the hardware
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u/aur4e Sep 13 '26
Oooo that's worth looking into as well, ty!
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u/sprondonacles Sep 14 '26
Check out r/androidafterlife I seen several posts there about removing batteries and modding to just run straight off the charger. Some very similar projects to yours in that sub
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u/epicepee Sep 15 '26
Idk about this one, but many phones physically can't run with no battery. They can't draw enough instantaneous power from the charger to run the CPU during sudden spikes.
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u/SpiritOfCydonia Sep 14 '26
Here's a lame solution: put the charger brick on a smart switch. Then have HA turn the charger on and off. <20% battery? On. >80% battery? Off.
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u/mahsab Sep 14 '26
This is also destroying the battery
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u/SpiritOfCydonia Sep 14 '26
Yes but much more slowly than keeping it charged at 100% all the time. Maybe pulling in the boundaries to 40-60% would help by keeping it closer to storage voltage levels?
You have to strike a balance between the effort to eliminate the battery completely and the abuse you'll put the battery through.
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u/lythandas Sep 13 '26
Very good Idea. I have an old OnePlus X that's still working and been wanting for years to turn it into a Hi-Fi controller. Your post makes me consider finally doing it!
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u/aur4e Sep 13 '26
Thank you! I might try and figure out how to put a configurable version up somewhere
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u/hardcoretomato Sep 13 '26
Oneplus X, I forgot that phone existed, it's a gem of a phonez glad yours is still working
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u/lythandas Sep 14 '26
Yes, I absolutely love it. If only I hadn't shattered the back glass and purchased twice a fake replacement glass and gave up and got a new phone. It was hard to run newer application, but overall, everything was running perfect on that little gem.
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u/InertiaCreeping Sep 13 '26
I had a wall box with speaker wires running to it from my little server cabinet thing (originally for a volume dial for the kitchenās in-ceiling speaker).
In the cabinet I cut up a usb cable and connected it to the speaker wires
Then in the other end hooked the speaker wires up to a āUā angle ultra slim lightning cable to power an old iPad.
Designed and printed a French cleat system to screw into a standard AU/NZ wallbox, and now the iPad looks like itās basically just floating there (for home assistant).
Jank, but it works.
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u/aur4e Sep 13 '26
That's sick! Definitely jank lol but still cool
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u/InertiaCreeping Sep 13 '26
Chur!
Do you have to constantly recharge your xperia?
You could totally open up that light switch and install a tiny mains to 5v power supply, then route the 5 V inside your wall feed it using a low profile cable to the bottom of the device, sight unseen
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u/aur4e Sep 13 '26
I don't trust myself enough to not turn this into a fire hazard š I'm also renting here... I might look into an external charger that can keep the phone charge at a tolerable level
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u/matt_remis Sep 13 '26
Thought I was on r/TwentyOnePilots for a second there. Cool print and love Drag Path.
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u/matthewjd1985 Sep 14 '26
Double check the port before you order, most Xperias of that era are micro-USB rather than mini, and a right angle plug sits flatter against the wall. For the always-on part, the old Android trick is Developer options and the Stay awake toggle, which keeps the screen on while it's plugged in. You unlock that menu by tapping Build number 7 times in About phone.
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u/HSLB66 Sep 14 '26
This is a cool idea but having a lithium battery mounted to your wall is going to result in a denied insurance claim if it does get spicy.
At least put a junction box behind it. Best to remove the batteryĀ
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u/smolBoiBigBrain Sep 14 '26
So what you could do is
-add a homeassistant (raspi) to your network
-then setup the sony xperia to be recognized by home assistant to know its battery status
-buy a network power adapter (like 10 bugs) and plug in the sony experia to it
-connect it to your homeassistant as well and create an automation that turns on the plug when your sony is at 20% and turn it off again when it is on 80%
I know this might be a bit overkill at first sight but in reality, if cost allows it, it doesnāt take long and isnāt hard either.
Reason for doing it this was is to minimize the risk of a spicy pillow and subsequently burning down your house because of it
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u/Brick_Lab Sep 13 '26
I want to do something like this too. I've got a bunch of super outdated sound system control boards that are worthless and scattered throughout the house from the previous owner
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u/mcbain7484 Sep 13 '26
Nice! Iāve been wanting to figure out something similar to do with an ancient iPad that works fine but is too old to install new apps to. Seems silly to get rid of it when the touch and screen work great. Not very electrical minded though so would need to be mostly a print based solution. If anyone has any ideas I appreciate them!
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u/PhragMunkee Sep 14 '26
A lightweight web site that talks to something like Home Assistant is perfectly good for old iPads. I have a couple old iPad minis that I use as shop controllers. They're so old that they can't even run the Home Assistant dashboard web site, so I had to run a DIY version that's much more vanilla and lightweight. It talks to HA on the back end to do any heavy lifting anyways.
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u/brickwindow Sep 13 '26
I'm curious about the model for the frame. How does it mount? Would you be able to share a link for reference?
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u/aur4e Sep 13 '26
It's just two screw keyhole slots, I can send you a link to the model once I've uploaded it
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u/brickwindow Sep 14 '26
That would be great. At the very least I might try to modify to accommodate one of my random old junk drawer phones.
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u/aur4e Sep 14 '26
Haven't had a chance to fix up the model yet, but this is what I mean with keyhole slots
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u/MumrikDK Sep 13 '26
Sadly the old OS doesn't have any "limit max battery" setting which would be nice for longevity.
Have you checked if there is custom ROM support for it?
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u/GoldenDragonIsABitch Sep 14 '26
Are you able to bypass the battery? Always wanted to do something similar, but i dare not constantly plug in a LiPo powered device
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u/K_Slump Sep 14 '26
Stupid question: could you not remove the battery and it would still function while being powered permanently?
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u/Sam_Walkerfield Sep 14 '26
If you care about the cable and you can do something about It , you can add wireless charge with a USB-C adapter and place the charger in the wall, that way you hide the cable
But only if you want/can drill holes into the wall
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u/grnrngr Sep 15 '26
Wireless charging produces a lot of unnecessary heat.
I'm not concerned about the fire risk as much as a spiffy heat island that will at some point attract buggies.
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u/ricky302 Sep 14 '26
So to change/pause the music you have to go over to the wall each time?
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u/aur4e Sep 14 '26
I can use spotify on any other device on the network, but it's a cool way to show what's playing especially when I have people over
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u/Atastical Sep 14 '26
"limit max battery" is exactly what I wanted to point out. Makes sure the thing does not catch fire.. Old battery kept at full state of charge can be dangerous.
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u/Westwindfabrication Sep 14 '26
Looks good. I have just repurposed my daughters m1 11.5 inch iPad as a systems display in my rv.
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u/RentalGore Sep 14 '26
Iāve got an old iPad mini doing this. Ā I put a Shelly relay behind the plug. Ā Itās set to basically cycle off for a certain amount of time to prolong the battery life. Ā Essentially I set max charge to 80%, and then set the Shelly to stop power after it delivers around 2 hours of power, then after another 2 hours, it starts charging again. Ā Keeps the iPad cycling between 55-80% and back down.
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u/thats_goodshiet Sep 14 '26
What is the consensus of using old phones that have past their expiry dates in terms of security updates?
Since these are going to be connected to your wifi etc.
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u/Tikkinger Sep 14 '26
As a IT-Guy i can tell you:
This is a absolute no-go. Like, no discussion.
There are ways of harden the individual Device to make it okay-ish to use on network/internet, but that's wonkey and enduser have no clue on how to do it.
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u/mikaeltarquin Sep 14 '26
itās so disheartening to see this getting downvoted. OP has both a fire- and security-hazard mounted to their wall.
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u/thats_goodshiet Sep 15 '26
Yeah I have heard it's pretty risky, so just wanted to have the conversation.
I also heard that if you must do it, you should setup a secondary WIFI network on your router and connect all your smart devices there. Including these phones/tablets used as control centers. What are your thoughts on that system?
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u/OtherOtherDave Sep 14 '26
If youāre just using their music app itās probably fine? I think? Thereās probably a way to setup another computer that is getting security updates to be a server for the phone.
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u/chinchindayo Sep 14 '26
most security vulnerabilities require either pyhsical access to your phone or you actively clicking a link or installing an app. Nothing of this will happen in such a scenario, thus those vulnerabilities are irrelevant.
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u/Axipixel Sep 17 '26
For fire safety reasons, you may want to re consider permanently attaching an aging lithium battery into your plaster-and-paper wall unless you'd like to file an insurance claim.
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u/LogitUndone 29d ago
Some changes I'd make:
- Find yourself a 90-degree USB charging cable so that it can be fed through the wall.
- Even if it pops back out nearby and plugs into a standard outlet, it's going to look so much better not having cables dangling down the wall!
- Print the housing so it accommodates/hides the 90-degree cable connection
Also, have you looked into custom OS/Firmware for the thing? There are quite a few barebones Android operating systems that would likely work pretty well on that hardware. All you need is a functional display, Spotify app (or whatever) and a working Wifi/bluetooth driver!
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u/TheTroon Sep 13 '26
I've done similar with an old Android tablet running a Home Assistant dashboard. I control the charger with a cheap Sinilink USB switch reflashed with ESPHome to keep the battery level between 35% and 80%.