Pixel 6 pro case for mobile gaming controller - active cooling & charging

Project target

I had two targets with this project:

• Reduce throttling during longer gaming session (especially when charging during gaming)

• Allow charing while the phone is in the controller

Notes

• USB Charing only works with an USB A to C cable. USB C to C cables do not work as they require some triggering logic which is not present on the "circuit" used here.

• The picture without the cover for the USB Area was made with a previous revision of the case. Most notably the usb port was flipped resulting in wires crossed. This is not the case in this revision anymore!

Parts

• super glue

• 4 m1.6 countersunk screws (unsure about the length, likely 2x 4mm or 5mm and 2 times 10mm)

• blower fan 5V 3004 (30x30x4mm) (others with same size might work)

• very thin wires

• usb c port (has to be exactly this one)

• usb c cable with flat angled plug (has to be exactly this one)

• optional: some resistors (eg 2x10Ω)

• Print every part 1 time. I printed with PETG. TPU might help reduce vibrations (see results)

Assembly

1. Print all parts 1 time

2. Assemble the small back part (near the camera) to the main part using the 2 longer screws and superglue

3. Solder the electronics together

   1. optional: From the usb cable you can remove the data pins. This will give you more space but obviously will disable data transmission when the phone is in the case.

   2. Remove the CC wire. It is not used here.

   3. Cut the wires to the correct length. They have to fit perfectly, tollerance is maybe one millimeter.

   4. Solder the USB parts together. You have the right orientation for both usb parts if you do not have to cross any wires

   5. Now the tricky part: solder the fan to the usb port. Optionally add some resistors between the USB port and the fan to throttle the fan a bit (see results). For me the wires of the fan were a little bit too short, so i had to extend the fan wires a bit (with the very thin cable). Mesaure before soldering!

4. Install the electronics in the case

5. Assemble the cover for the USB area. Again with two screws and super glue

6. optional: add some glue to hold the fan wires in place

Test results

All tests were done while the phone was charging. Test scenario was 3D Mark steel nomad light stability test (20 minutes). The score is always the lowest achieved score, averaged above (mostly) 3 runs.

The used case in these benchmarks is using 2 parallel 10Ω resistors to throttle the fan. The fan noise is quite audible, especially while rotating the case. The fan also produces vibrations especially noticable when holding controller with the phone in it. Printing the case with TPU might reduce the vibrations.

Performance

• reference without a case (lying on desk): 493

• reference amazon phone protection case: 481

• reference phone without case in front of desk fan: 724

• this case: 640

Results:

• The minimum performance is about 31% higher than with a normal case / without any case.

• The minimum performance is about 12% below the theoretical ideal case (in front of a high power fan)

Temperature

The temperatures are the reported battery temperature at the end of a test run

• reference without case / with normal case: ~42°C

• reference desk fan: ~28°C

• this case: ~37°C