Battery Cover Replacement

[Guytronic]

I know this is an old thread, but I just got the lumia 521 yesterday. I also thought this phone was too slippery, and was worried about dropping it.

As far as simply coloring it goes, I found this tutorial online: tmblr.us: To dye your Nokia Lumia 521?€™s white shell to a new...
It looks like the case is easily dyed with RIT dye.

As for making it less slippery, I found this tutorial which involves spraying the phone with plasti-dip. I'm likely going to try it sometime this week, and I'll post pictures when it's done.

I'd be interested to see how your phone looks afterwards.
Could be the start of something big I'm thinking.

 

[Baldo Ficalora]

I order my stuff from wirelessemporium

 

[MrSherboto]

So it is done. And I think it turned out pretty great. Here are some pictures that I took after it was finished: Plasti Dipping My Nokia Lumia 521 - Imgur.
It's a hell of a lot less slippery now, I can use it with one hand without worrying about dropping it. It still pivots a bit when you're using it on a desk, but much less than before.

I'd recommend it to anyone with some extra time and a steady hand. I like small phones so I wanted to avoid the bulk of a case, so while this was a cool project, it ended up costing me more than a case would.

I got the plasti-dip from Amazon: Amazon for about 8.50.
I know that the cap looks more like orange, but as you can see from my pictures, it's actually a nice deep red.
I ended up buying some paint thinner at a local hardware store for around 7.50.
Other stuff I ended up needing for the project which I already had: x-acto knife and masking tape.

If any of you are going to try the same thing, here are some tips in no particular order:

• Clean the case with soap and water before spraying.
• Don't spray with the body of the phone attached (duh).
• Buttons are really difficult. I inserted thin strips of paper into the spaces between the buttons and the case. Even with that, they needed some pretty significant cleanup with an x-acto knife. They didn't turn out as well as I would have liked, but they still work, and probably will get less gummed up with use.
• You NEED to shake the can well before use. If you don't you will get bubbles.
• If you get bubbles (which I did) you can get rid of them by getting some paint thinner on your finger and rubbing until they are smooth. Paint thinner will re-liquify the plasti-dip, so you can do this once it dries. After using the paint thinner, give it another coat.
• As per the directions, approximately 30 minutes between coats.
• Let it dry for 4 hours minimum after the final coat. You don't want this stuff coating the inside of your pockets.
• Don't lie the front of the case directly on your drop cloth when you spray, it will stick and be very unpleasant. Instead, I used a toilet paper tube to elevate the case above the drop cloth.
• Don't spray the entirety of the inside of the case, instead mask most of it, while leaving a little bit of space on the inside edges, to prevent peeling.
• If you mess up, this stuff will peel right off of non-porous surfaces. I'm not sure how non-porous this case is, but it seems like it'd peel just fine.
• You'll probably want about 4-5 coats, but more if you keep messing up.

 

[Guytronic]

So it is done. And I think it turned out pretty great. Here are some pictures that I took after it was finished: Plasti Dipping My Nokia Lumia 521 - Imgur.
It's a hell of a lot less slippery now, I can use it with one hand without worrying about dropping it. It still pivots a bit when you're using it on a desk, but much less than before.

I'd recommend it to anyone with some extra time and a steady hand. I like small phones so I wanted to avoid the bulk of a case, so while this was a cool project, it ended up costing me more than a case would.

Wow
Pretty slick!

Great idea and good effort.
You have talent!
:smile: