This is great. I've always wanted to do something similar for my phones' battery compartments, but don't have the tools or knowledge.
I'm curious, is it possible to create fake 'batteries' for devices that pass the current directly from the charger into the device? I'm imagining something that looks like a battery, but doesn't hold any charge so people can use their old phones exactly as you do and never have to worry about it pillowing.
I can see a market for something like that, albeit a very small one since it would be device specific. I'd buy one if it existed.
I would definitely be in the marker for such a fake battery as well, though I suspect the fact that modern phones don't have normal battery connectors (and instead rely on glue and ribbon cables to connect power) will make a standardized product quite difficult.
Still, though, a correctly set voltage regulator with a normal USB plug and a few easy solder joints to attach the device's battery connectors to would already make the process quite a lot easier.
For some products, such things are already available.
For example, want to mains-power your Panasonic digital camera? [1] provides mains power in a battery form-factor. Just what you need for long term time-lapse photography.
The first model I designed and 3D printed was a dummy battery pack for an Android PDA. (We use cheap ones at work and the stock batteries puffed up after a year.) The idea should scale down to a phone with a removable pack, but may not be useful on devices with soldered batteries.
I'm curious, is it possible to create fake 'batteries' for devices that pass the current directly from the charger into the device? I'm imagining something that looks like a battery, but doesn't hold any charge so people can use their old phones exactly as you do and never have to worry about it pillowing.
I can see a market for something like that, albeit a very small one since it would be device specific. I'd buy one if it existed.