Yes it does ^^.
I’ve invested way too much money in new filament etc. sunk. What the heck, I’m having fun!
3 Likes
Latest revision of what I’m calling an “L5 Hard Insulated Case”. I’ve pulled those corners in big time (since the phone’s corners are round, I realized that I was leaving a huge gap that could be further rounded), and then rounded off all edges (it’s really a multi-faced bezel operation in Blender) with a more aggressive curve.
Still have the large gap on the left edge, and I also added small standoffs for the back of the phone (see 6 squares on the back) to reduce contact of the phone with the case. So there’s about .5mm of insulating air between the case and the phone. Plus the gaps on the edges are still there. The top edge still doesn’t have any standoffs but the bottom edge does.
The small numbers in the pic are the standoff measurements which essentially suspend the phone in the air. I don’t know if these .5mm/1.57mm etc. gap really allow for anything resembling “airflow”, but I guess in theory air can leak into the bottom of the phone where the USB plug is, up along the sides and back of the phone, and then out of the side slots where the buttons are and the camera/vent cutouts on the back. The diagonal vent also leaves a significant space between the phone’s presumed hot spot and the case (over 1.5mm!) while still having quite strong diagonal vent… things. Okay, I don’t know if that’s needed, but it looks cool.
I also slightly indented the top part of the case where the buttons are so they’re easier to press, especially the volume/power buttons. Kill switches have a less aggressive dent since of course we don’t want to hit those by accident.
Red/blue arrows: The back is 2.5mm thick (blue arrow). Case thickness on the bottom USB side was reduced slightly to 2.5mm. The sides still add a massive 3.5mm (less actual plastic on the left side to allow for the air gap). Top headphone side is 3.5mm thick still.
Anyone who read this far have any suggestions?
I’m thinking maybe the top should be slightly thinner with standoffs, and possibly a thinner back. I’ve already had one comment “Wow that’s a thicc phone!”, which of course is a good/bad thing: it’s a good conversation starter (“It’s more like a mobile computer…”), but of course people are brainwashed to think thicc == bad (I guess). Should I try toning down the back thickness?
I haven’t tried printing this version yet so no actual photo.
4 Likes
I think the airgap is indeed going to be insulation. I mean, that’s how insulation works, to gather and keep heat - it prevents efficient transference of heat. Proper airflow would need a better airgap but probably also mechanical airmovement (a fan of some size). A fan is more efficient the more surface it has to move the air over (and transfer that heat to air, thus cooling the phone). So, my position is that a firm fit would allow for better heat transfer away from the innards to the surface.
A solid structure (as opposed to either porous material or structurally not-filled printing pattern) would also help that. Normal plastics have a disadvantage already in this. A heavy/dence material also, as it can absorb more heat (more mass the better). Metals would be good for transferring heat - a metal pieces in the hottest places (with large surface area, like in heatsinks) with fan would be the most efficient (excluding liquids and gasses [liquid nitrogen L5 overclocking 
, anyone?]).
…And it goes without saying, not all of those are feasible here, with printing-only model or with L5 in general. One such more “out there” idea would be to design the case so (from thermal point of view only) that there wouldn’t be any normal back cover, but the external case would connect a fitted metal heat transfer plate (printed case would hold the metal plate) against the hottest inner surfaces via thermal pads (absolutely no airgap)…
2 Likes
No, your case was designed to address thermal management, not to appeal to consumers’ sense of aesthetics over functionality.
1 Like
Well, depends on the consumer. Might be that even more is needed for some: some want their bumper cases welllll overdone - beyond “tactical” and “military grade”… the “geek hack grade”! 
[I almost put “beyond “toddler proof” and “idiot proof””, but having something at some grade does not make it proof of anything, just that much safer - they are always making more evil toddlers and better idiots to overcome protections 
]
2 Likes
Yeah it’s pretty tricky when we both want to pull heat out of the phone and not feel the case heating up - conflicting goals.
The idea of trying to get a tiny fan in there to push air through is still an interesting one, but definitely a v2 type of project, maybe I will try that some day when I get crazier.
2 Likes
If you do… A standard mini fan or two would be easy to fit - just make the back that thickness, glue them in their holes and add a couple of holes for replacement air to get into the airgap + make recesses for cables, battery and switch (could fit coin batteries into that 5mm back). Would be more sane than what is sold for “gaming phones” (do a search for phone cooling fans - it’s pretty wild). Mini fans also come with usb-c connectors, if you want to use phone battery.
Like (5mm thick, 15mmx15mm widths):
These would be cool too (very mini at 4mm): BSB01703HA3-01 17mm blower fan 17x17x4mm DC3V 0.20A cooling fan for mini devices | eBay or 15x15x4 mm Super kleiner bürstenloser DC-Lüfter Ultra Tiny Mini Micro Kleinster | eBay or SUNON 1703 17x17x3mm1.7cm UF5H5-503 DC 5V 3 Lines Micro Mini Axial Cooling Fan | eBay)
2 Likes
Other things… You seem to have .05mm spacers for that gap I think I may need to be bigger gap but that’s not the point for this: you could try making those static form spacers into more flexing bumber shape - and/or maybe use such on the sides too. The idea being that when kinetic energy is transferred to the case (you drop it and it hits the floor) and it transfers that energy to the phone (but dampens it via the case), the static shapes transfer as well as their form and material allows. But if those same shapes would be something that itself bends, then the transfer of that kinetic energy could be much less. For this flexing movement a bit more room may be needed, depending on the shape but thick back and sides would allow to create such recesses.
One such shape would be something similar to a diving board: a longer piece that’s only attached from one end, is a bit of an angle (or is arch like) towards the phone and can bend a bit down. If those are on all sides, it would keep the phone snugly in place while allowing for airflow and possibly keeping the phone a bit more safe. If it’s designed right, those should be printable.
A bit more “version 2” maybe.
Like (not to scale and measurements are just suggestions - designs need testing):
2 Likes
I think that would be printable yeah. But possibly better with slightly more flexible PETG (I’m using PLA, that might still work though). I’ll keep that in mind if I start doing further variations, that’s a cool idea.
Edit: Oh, most of the spacers are .5mm, not .05mm. But yeah I guess it’d still need a little more room for “inertial dampeners”.
After the inertial dampeners are invented, we just need the warp drive and shields, maybe a photon torpedo bay at the top for firing at Apple users?
3 Likes
It is more productive to continue developing the Purism community instead since our collective pool of replenishable resources does not compare favourably against the duopoly.
1 Like
“Scotty, we need more power…” - so why not create a case with a built in flat battery/powerbank?
For the joke, we need to ping @Skalman (for reasons) 
4 Likes
Looks like they are already working on active cooling at a ‘micro’ scale: xMEMS | Active Micro Cooling | XMC-2400 (at 1mm thick I would probably call it ‘nano’, holy crap). But since it’s meant to actually be on a chip (I think) it’ll probably never even be accessible for “hobby” consumers.
But this is tempting… it even blows air horizontally instead so you don’t need to leave additional space for airflow… I think.
The next joke was going to be that we need a bigger battery… or some fusion reactors or whatever the Trekkies use.
2 Likes
Replaceing the back cover with a bigger battery and some metall for passive cooling. Und some bumper parts…
2 Likes
Piezoelectric case? Of course you gotta wear it while doing Jumping Jacks.
2 Likes
Revision 4
Made a few minor adjustments to increase air gaps even more. Now a full 1mm gap behind the back and “in theory” (but probably not in reality) airflow possible from the bottom opening towards the top openings.
And the really cool part:
A little bit of residue from a previous print near the top, I’ll have to see if I can remove that somehow.
3 Likes
Zero at reality and better to wait GLES3.
3 Likes
Does the camera see the case at all?
2 Likes
I don’t think so, it looked ok in the last version, but I’ll have to check this version.
2 Likes
I think for an active cooling version, I’d need to seal up most of the gaps near the button openings and such (doable I think), and seal up the camera opening with a wall around it so it’s flush with the phone. Otherwise air would be going out from everywhere other than the hot zone/vent where it’d help the most (plus it might be annoying otherwise).
Then the back would need to be significantly thicker. Right now it’s 2mm (case) + 1mm (gap). Even with one of those fans that shoots air out sideways, they seem to be 4mm thick typically. So 4mm + whatever is needed to hold and protect such a micro fan, and the back (plastic) would need to be made decently thin for airflow.
It would go from “thicc case” to “CaseZilla”, but it does seem 100% feasible. The issue for me would be powering it somehow. My dc electric skills are mediocre at best and rusty on top of that.
4 Likes
Doing a CrafCloud print of it $13 FDM TPU
4 Likes