3 coil wireless charger install in 2015 Sierra Denali

[CounterMeasure]

Based on discussions in http://www.gm-trucks.com/forums/topic/169653-wireless-charging/, I decided to wire something up, but I wanted it to look very clean and use a 3-coil charger. I know there's a thread on using a 12v Nokia DT-900, but I didn't like that approach as the 12v system isn't a clean regulated 12v per multi-meter once I test at the plug.

 

As such, over-voltage and voltage spikes would definitely shorten the life of the little Nokia charger.

 

So I took the approach of using a slim 5v charger, regulated by a 12v->5v USB charger. I bought the following:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JA7HNZO

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008RBSXJO

 

And they showed up today.

Testing showed the 3-coil charger has a really nice charging distance. I could get a pencil between the charger and my phone and still have the phone charge. Overall, the quality of the charger is top notch.

Both items come apart very easily. The coil charger has four Phillips screws under the stick-on feet, and the 12v USB charger's silver tip screws off and them body comes off in two pieces.

The coil is very compact, and fit well in the test fit, other than having to disregard two screws for the lid insert.

 

The charger does have nicely labeled Vcc and GND points you can solder to if you want to go that route.

 

However I opted to do with a modular approach with USB so I can easily change parts if needed later on. I also route the wire into the lid and tap into the 12v plug on the back of the console. That required taking the bottom of the lid off, which requires removing the 6 Ttorx screws on top, and then popping the clips on the lid bottom with a trim tool. Nothing really to that part other than go slow and find each. The back plate of the console was a bit more tricky for me in that I didn't see there were four screws on the back; two hidden up high and two hidden under the pocket liner.

 

 

Once I got the back plate off, I notice there were two screws missing that would hold the insert to the plate at the top.

My first thought was someone got lazy at the factory and forgot them, but when I dug up two screws that would fit, I noticed a gap in the fit. Turns out the tabs of the insert are not lined up right, so if you tighten them down they make the insert stick out. So instead of fixing the insert design, GM just leaves the screws out so it looks flush. Nice GM. I solved that by filling the gap with a flat washer on each and now its nice and tight. Now back to the actual project....

I solder on two leads to the 12v charger and that would be used to tap the 12v plug on the back.

Next came routing the USB cable, which required drilling a 3/8s hole in the lid insert, and then routed it along the left lid hinge so it would be completely hidden.

Since the lid insert uses standoffs on the bottom, which is a huge positive since it gives the charger room, the two in the middle had to be ground flat to make room for the charger.

At that point, it was just a matter of securing the charger, which I also decided to shave down the USB connector with a razor blade for a very flush fit without a bunch of stress on parts, and tape the charger in place to keep it from moving while I secured everything down.

 

Screw the lid insert back in place with four of the six Torx screws, slowly alternating to make it flush without putting too much pressure on the charger.

 

Now, I did have to trim the rubber mat's two legs so it would be flush as well. The result was a charger that you can't tell its there outside or in.

And works well.

Total cost was ~35 in parts from Amazon, and ~90 minutes to do taking my time and fixing GM's laziness.

Hope this helps someone else!

[Green 1364]

Very cool, nice write up!

[jimlem]

Very nice work. Shows great skills and patience.

[jeffsig]

Very nice and clean!

[krzyd]

I did the same thing, works great.

[Dunc]

Question: how sensitive is it to positioning of the phone? Since the pad doesn't stretch from front to back of the tray, does it matter where you place the phone or can you place the phone anywhere on the tray with no adverse effect on charging?

[CounterMeasure]

Question: how sensitive is it to positioning of the phone? Since the pad doesn't stretch from front to back of the tray, does it matter where you place the phone or can you place the phone anywhere on the tray with no adverse effect on charging?

 

For our phones, we can place them anywhere from about 3/4ths of an inch from the back all the way to the front and anywhere side-to-side for charging. That's one of the reasons I went with a 3-coil charger, as it is more forgiving in placement than a single coil charger.

 

Since the coil is smaller than the lid area, you have room to slide it forward or back to where phone placement is comfortable for you. All you need to do is lay it in there connected, place the lid insert and rubber pad over it, and drop your phone in. The move the phone around to see where it works, and adjust the coil as you need to get your phone in an area you want.

[Isriam]

even on standard desktop qi chargers you have to adjust the phone so the antenna is right over the top. not a big deal imo.

[BowHunter1]

Very Nice!! Thanks for posting that up...I think I found my next project

[TBoneCO]

Ugh, could not get bottom of cover off, nor back of console, so ended up just drilling hole towards the back of the cover (points toward back seats) so that hole can't be seen. Then just ran USB cable through and plug into USB port inside console.

 

Thanks for the idea and pictures!

[rentskiwiz]

Have been digging around the net and found this. http://www.brandmotion.com/wireless-charging/chevy-silverado-qi-wireless-charging-kit-for-bench-seat-fdmc-1271.html

[Cliff14Denali]

Has anyone tried getting a complete console lid from GM with this installed from the factory?

[crewl1]

Subscribed

[Cliff14Denali]

GM part # 23264394

[kverduin]

Im curious as to why my center console looks different under the rubber mat. When i pull the rubber mat up, theres 3 holes in the plastic that the nipples under the mat slip into to secure it. There is no screws or anything. Im debating on whether or not to just drill a hole in the plastic that will be hidden on the inside due to that plastic paper holder piece and then just shaving the nipples off, putting the guts of the charger under the mat, and routing the usb cable through the hole I would drill so the usb cable can just plug into the input thats in the console. Any thoughts?