Mp3 Player Modifications
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These are some different modifications you can do an mp3 player. Some of them can only be done on hard drive based mp3 player, however im not sure if this can be done to a micro drive. The instructions are going to be pretty general because of the different types of mp3 players out there.
I started doing most of these because I crave being different. Not only was I not going to be one of the mindless millions who bought ipods (I am the anti pod) but I was going to have a mp3 player completely different from anyone else's.
The mp3 player I modified was a Creative Zen Nomad 20 gig.
These are some different modifications you can do an mp3 player. Some of them can only be done on hard drive based mp3 player, however im not sure if this can be done to a micro drive. The instructions are going to be pretty general because of the different types of mp3 players out there.
I started doing most of these because I crave being different. Not only was I not going to be one of the mindless millions who bought ipods (I am the anti pod) but I was going to have a mp3 player completely different from anyone else's.
The mp3 player I modified was a Creative Zen Nomad 20 gig.
Duct Tape Sleeve
The first mod (this is more of an accessory, but whatever) I ever did was make a duct tape sleeve for my mp3 player. I wanted a sleeve that I could slip my mp3 player in and out of. I probably could have just duct taped directly on to the shell, but wheres the fun in that
All you need is a roll of duct tape, scissors, a razor, and some parchment / wax paper. I started by making a sheet of duct tape that was slightly more then twice as tall as my mp3 player and about 2 and a half times as wide. The basic idea is to have a sheet that if folded around your mp3 player would be able to cover all of its faces.
To make the sheets you will cut strips of duct tape as long as the double height length. So if your mp3 player is 3 in. tall you will want strips 7 or 8 in. tall. Place one strip face up on the wax paper, then place the next strip face down on the first one, so that half of it is on the first strip and half of it is on the wax paper (look at the picture if your confused). Flip the piece over and then place a third strip down half on the exposed sticky tape, and half on the paper. Repeat this process until you have a sheet wide enough to use.
This method of making duct tape sheets can be applied to anything that you want covered in duct tape, but that you dont want to get sticky or that you want to be able to remove it.
When you are done making the sheet fold over the remaining sticky edges. Place your mp3 player in the middle of the duct tape and try to figure out the best way to fold it on. You will probably need to cut at least 2 sides to get the right folds. I cant really give instructions for every mp3 player, so just do it to the best of your abilitys. If you have a somewhat rectangularish mp3 player like mine, you can cut out the corners of the duct tape sheet, so you are left with a piece somewhat resembling a cross, and then fold up each face, to cover each side of the player. Then use extra pieces of duct tape to seal the different faces together around your mp3 player.
Use the razor to cut out any buttons and the screen through the duct tape. Make sure you take your mp3 player out first, so you dont scratch it with the razor.
All you need is a roll of duct tape, scissors, a razor, and some parchment / wax paper. I started by making a sheet of duct tape that was slightly more then twice as tall as my mp3 player and about 2 and a half times as wide. The basic idea is to have a sheet that if folded around your mp3 player would be able to cover all of its faces.
To make the sheets you will cut strips of duct tape as long as the double height length. So if your mp3 player is 3 in. tall you will want strips 7 or 8 in. tall. Place one strip face up on the wax paper, then place the next strip face down on the first one, so that half of it is on the first strip and half of it is on the wax paper (look at the picture if your confused). Flip the piece over and then place a third strip down half on the exposed sticky tape, and half on the paper. Repeat this process until you have a sheet wide enough to use.
This method of making duct tape sheets can be applied to anything that you want covered in duct tape, but that you dont want to get sticky or that you want to be able to remove it.
When you are done making the sheet fold over the remaining sticky edges. Place your mp3 player in the middle of the duct tape and try to figure out the best way to fold it on. You will probably need to cut at least 2 sides to get the right folds. I cant really give instructions for every mp3 player, so just do it to the best of your abilitys. If you have a somewhat rectangularish mp3 player like mine, you can cut out the corners of the duct tape sheet, so you are left with a piece somewhat resembling a cross, and then fold up each face, to cover each side of the player. Then use extra pieces of duct tape to seal the different faces together around your mp3 player.
Use the razor to cut out any buttons and the screen through the duct tape. Make sure you take your mp3 player out first, so you dont scratch it with the razor.
SKIN IT ALIVE
Many people after owning a certain electronic device for a number of years, get bored of it and go out and buy a newer model even though there is nothing wrong with their current one. However, instead of abondoning my mp3 player I decided to give it a makeover. I SKINNED IT ALIVE.
Ive had much experience in skinning living things, just ask one of my many victims, however that is an instructable for another day. When doing electronics, though, the first thing you want to check is if it is possible. (everythings possible, its just would skinning it be too much effort to be worth it? Is some vital component incorporated into the case, in the ipods case the click wheel, that you dont want to bother messing with, if so then you probably wouldent want to do this) For my player the only thing in the case was the battery which I could easily move.
The first step in skinning is to find the main screws that are holding the thing together, and remove them. Be careful though, cause many times manufactures like to hide their screws like underneath batteries or warranty void stickers, so dont actually pry apart the case until you are sure you got every single screw. Many can also be held together with snaps which you can unhook by pushing a small screwdriver at. Because the people reading this probably eat reverse engineering for breakfast I dont think I need to describe removing the case too much.
Replace any vital components that you may have removed by taking off the case. In my case the only thing was the battery which I simply glued to the circuitry and against the leads. I already had all the buttons memorized, so I didnt need to label them or anything. If you want to waterproof it you could probably use shrink wrap or something to cover the entire thing, if not you are done.
Ive had much experience in skinning living things, just ask one of my many victims, however that is an instructable for another day. When doing electronics, though, the first thing you want to check is if it is possible. (everythings possible, its just would skinning it be too much effort to be worth it? Is some vital component incorporated into the case, in the ipods case the click wheel, that you dont want to bother messing with, if so then you probably wouldent want to do this) For my player the only thing in the case was the battery which I could easily move.
The first step in skinning is to find the main screws that are holding the thing together, and remove them. Be careful though, cause many times manufactures like to hide their screws like underneath batteries or warranty void stickers, so dont actually pry apart the case until you are sure you got every single screw. Many can also be held together with snaps which you can unhook by pushing a small screwdriver at. Because the people reading this probably eat reverse engineering for breakfast I dont think I need to describe removing the case too much.
Replace any vital components that you may have removed by taking off the case. In my case the only thing was the battery which I simply glued to the circuitry and against the leads. I already had all the buttons memorized, so I didnt need to label them or anything. If you want to waterproof it you could probably use shrink wrap or something to cover the entire thing, if not you are done.
I Would Like the Number 7, Please. Yes, the Hard Drive Platter With Extra Ketchup.
WARNING: In doing this step you risk killing your mp3 player, so before you continue you have to ask yourself one question. Do you feel lucky... well do ya, punk?
In this mod you will pry off the hard drive's solid exoskeloten, exposing the raw pink flesh inside (im making myself hungry). The photos for this kind of suck due to the reflection comming off the platter, oh well.
Before you start have a sealable plastic freezer bag near by to shove it in once you remove the cover. If one single piece of dust gets on the platter it could kill your drive, at least thats what I read, although once I finished this I saw some particles had gotten in, but it still worked fine. To make the window you will need a plastic cd case, I decided to go with clear because it would give me the best visibility, but you can use one of the colored jewel cases too. Oh and make sure the plastic does not have scratches on it, thats something I overlooked and now regret.
Measure out the size of the hard drive onto the plastic case. To cut it I used a razor and scratched each line deep into the plastic, and when I felt it was deep enough I snapped the piece out (the first one I tried cracked from this method, so make sure that you cut really deep with the razor). Once you have the window you are ready to unscrew the hard drive cover.
Unscrew the screws from the hard drive cover, put the entire hard drive in the freezer bag, and remove the cover. You can attatch the window in a number of different ways. The first thing I tried, and failed, was drilling the screw holes through the plastic and trying to screw it on. The reason this didnt work was because the metal cover I removed wasnt flush with where it was screwed on, it actually had an raised surface where the spindle was (like most hard drives do). So to fix this problem I put the screws into the hard drive, but did not screw them in all the way, this way they acted as risers, and lifted the plastic far enough off so that it wasnt touching anything inside. However, this didnt hold the plastic on, and there was a big gap between the plastic and the hard drive case. To solve that problem I filled the gap with Devcon multi purpose glue.
When putting the glue on, you have to be absolutely certain that none drips down inside of the hard drive, to do this I suggest you use only a small amount at first, and after you apply it flip the case over so it is resting on the plastic, this will prevent the glue from dripping towards the inner workings. Once the first amount dries, you can apply more glue to make it air tight, also let this glue dry when the harddrive is resting on the plastic side.
When it dries go show it off to your friends, they will be able to see the platter spinning and the arm moving back an fourth picking up your 0's and 1's and turning them into music.
In this mod you will pry off the hard drive's solid exoskeloten, exposing the raw pink flesh inside (im making myself hungry). The photos for this kind of suck due to the reflection comming off the platter, oh well.
Before you start have a sealable plastic freezer bag near by to shove it in once you remove the cover. If one single piece of dust gets on the platter it could kill your drive, at least thats what I read, although once I finished this I saw some particles had gotten in, but it still worked fine. To make the window you will need a plastic cd case, I decided to go with clear because it would give me the best visibility, but you can use one of the colored jewel cases too. Oh and make sure the plastic does not have scratches on it, thats something I overlooked and now regret.
Measure out the size of the hard drive onto the plastic case. To cut it I used a razor and scratched each line deep into the plastic, and when I felt it was deep enough I snapped the piece out (the first one I tried cracked from this method, so make sure that you cut really deep with the razor). Once you have the window you are ready to unscrew the hard drive cover.
Unscrew the screws from the hard drive cover, put the entire hard drive in the freezer bag, and remove the cover. You can attatch the window in a number of different ways. The first thing I tried, and failed, was drilling the screw holes through the plastic and trying to screw it on. The reason this didnt work was because the metal cover I removed wasnt flush with where it was screwed on, it actually had an raised surface where the spindle was (like most hard drives do). So to fix this problem I put the screws into the hard drive, but did not screw them in all the way, this way they acted as risers, and lifted the plastic far enough off so that it wasnt touching anything inside. However, this didnt hold the plastic on, and there was a big gap between the plastic and the hard drive case. To solve that problem I filled the gap with Devcon multi purpose glue.
When putting the glue on, you have to be absolutely certain that none drips down inside of the hard drive, to do this I suggest you use only a small amount at first, and after you apply it flip the case over so it is resting on the plastic, this will prevent the glue from dripping towards the inner workings. Once the first amount dries, you can apply more glue to make it air tight, also let this glue dry when the harddrive is resting on the plastic side.
When it dries go show it off to your friends, they will be able to see the platter spinning and the arm moving back an fourth picking up your 0's and 1's and turning them into music.