A $1.48 goes a long way... Black Battery Cover!

Why did u take so many pics

[bog3nator]

i just did this and it looks good, seems to have made the cover alittle harder to get back on. it also dyed were it says htc but didnt dye the camera holes

edit: nm it didnt dye were it says htc..but it worped the plastic alittle, which is ok b/c i can still get it on and it is a tighter fit now so no more squicking.

[jvjr06]

I have been looking for a better battery cover for my TP. Yours looks awesome i will give a try with the dye i hope they have a dark blue

[D\/8]

Originally Posted by jvjr06

I have been looking for a better battery cover for my TP. Yours looks awesome i will give a try with the dye i hope they have a dark blue

Don't cook it too long or it will turn out Black...

[[sammich]]

Also if you want the dark blue, don't use too much dye or it'll come out too dark. I think a few people mentioned that their covers turned out black because of it.

[Fuzzy Wuzzy]

Originally Posted by ☢ ⓈⒶⓊⓂⒶⓊⓃ

Also if you want the dark blue, don't use too much dye or it'll come out too dark. I think a few people mentioned that their covers turned out black because of it.

Yeah, mine came out as a mixture of purple and black. :X

[jvjr06]

THIS COME OUT AWESOME

[kskirin]

Originally Posted by Boon

Yea she works at the main office on Byron Center. She is the front desk chick, 26 or so. Still small world...................

Originally Posted by TreyBeno

1. First off I use the lighter version of all colors. For example I use sunshine orange instead of tangerine orange. The reason being is that u can start with a lighter color and gradually deepen it depending on how long it stays in the pot. If u start with a dark color u run the risk of making it too dark and way off color and risk it turning out an almost black color. Same thing goes for the other colors. If u want royal blue then use the lighter evening blue and so on.

2. Next I only use half of the packet of dye bcuz this was made for much larger amounts of water and we want to keep the ratio of dye to fluids about the same. Less water= less dye.

3. I run scalding hot water from the tap into the pot and then place it on LOW heat on the stove. At this point I add the dye and stir it in and let it sit for 5 minutes. I use the powdered version. Its just like dissolving sugar in water. PLEASE LET ALL THE DYE DISSOLVE FIRST OR IT MIGHT MAKES SPECKLES OF DARKER COLOR WHERE THE GRAINS OF DYE SETTLE ON THE COVER WHEN ITS IN THE WATER!

4. i wash the cover with dish washing soap and get all the dirt, oil, and residue off the cover. iF IT DOESNT SQUEAK WHEN U RUN UR FINGERS ACROSS IT THEN ITS NOT ALL THE WAY CLEAN. Drying is optional unless u know u have really hard water and it might leave drying spots.

5. At this point I stir the pot again and slide the cover in texture side up. PLEASE USE A SOFT OBJECT LIKE A RUBBER SPATULA SO U DONT SCRATCH THE WARM PLASTIC. Hell I used a straw from a fast food spot actually myself.

6. At this point its all about the clock now. Bcuz u use a lighter color and low heat it gives u more time to work with. U need to stir it every minute or so. Nothing vigorous but enough to make sure any undissolved dye doesnt have a chance to settle on the cover. Every minute or so. Every few minutes bring the cover to the surface and check the color. THIS IS KEY. Take it out when u hit the color u want.

7. After u get to the color u think u want then immediately rinse it in cold water. Most of the extra will run immediately. Rub it with ur fingers until it squeaks again or about a minute or so. Then dry it with a paper towel but dont buff yet.

8. At this point hold it under some light inside and out if u can and see if its really the color u want. If its not then put it back in for only 1 minute at a time, then repeat from step 6.

9. If ur really satisfied with the color and have completely dried it let it sit for a minute before buffing. When u do buff it, use something that has a fine texture as well like paper towels or denim. Buff it for a good minute and ur done with the cover.

10. Now u have to take pictures and post ur results. Please mix it up and try some different shades. Its worth it. Good luck and please NO BOILING WATER

thank you thank you thank you!!! I feel so proud, it's like I got a new phone =D> You are awesome for posting such detailed instructions, it was easy!!

[fireballmonkey]

Hey everyone. I know this is getting to be a very long and old thread, but I figured I'd share my experience, especially since I've been browsing these forums for months, yet never posted anything.

First off, I stopped at 2 Sprint stores in my area. One of them (Maple Grove, MN) had a spare cover for me, the other didn't. I went to Wal-Mart to pick up some black and red dye. They had the powdered version of black, but the only red they had was "scarlet" as a liquid. So I bought both. It turns out the experience I had was basically the same between the two, so it really doesn't matter what you go with. Here's the process I used:

1. I heated up a medium size pot of water on the stove until steam just barely started coming out, then turned down the heat to a minimum to sustain the temperature.
2. I poured in about a tablespoon of black dye, and stirred it up until it was all dissolved.
3. I carefully dropped in my spare battery cover.
4. I kept stirring periodically, and checking periodically to see what the color was. Each time I checked it was a darker purple color, until after about 20 minutes it was black.
5. I rinsed it off with cool water and dried it with a paper towel. Surprisingly, absolutely NO dye rubbed out into the paper towel! I thought there would be at least a little.

I wanted to add a reddish tint to the black, in hopes that it would have a red gleam when held in the light, so I repeated the process with the red dye. Unfortunately, the thing just stayed black. The black cover looked exceptionally good, but I just wasn't satisfied, so I tried something different with my original cover. With the red still in the pot, I clipped the battery cover onto a wooden spoon using some clothes-pins, and gently set the spoon across the top of the pot, so that the battery cover was suspended and only part of it was submerged. After probably about 10 or 15 minutes, it was a very nice red. It still wasn't dark enough for me though, so I added a little black to it and stirred it up. After re-submerging the cover at the same level, it came out the color I had in mind. I then flipped it around and did the other side a few times at different levels. I finished it off by adding more black and dipping the last section in for about 10 minutes. It turned out really cool. I then (unsuccessfully) proceeded to search the house for other things I could dye because it worked so well.

A couple things to take note of:

1. You don't need very much dye if you use a pot that's about twice as wide as the length of the battery cover. Over the course of this whole thing, I used maybe a third of the black powdered dye and maybe a couple tablespoons of the red liquid. It might go faster if you use more, but I'm not sure.
2. As has been said several times already, the water shouldn't be boiling hot, but just hot enough for a little steam to come out.
3. Once the cover is black, it's black... You can't add any other colors to it.
4. Mixing a little black into other colors can definitely darken them.
5. From my experience, "buffing" the cover with a soft cloth was not really necessary. It came out without any of the weird streaks that other people mentioned.
6. Interestingly, the black looks blacker after submerging it in red, yet it has no reddish tint to it.
7. Also interestingly, the red stained the backside of the cover a little, but the black didn't.
8. I just did this yesterday, but so far no dye has come off on my fingers, pants, etc.

Now, without further ado, the pictures!

[99accordv6]

I can make black covers if anyone is interested for a low price