Selfmade SLIX-L Tags

[Robert]

Hey there, i want to share my work at building custom tags for the Toniebox.

What i did:
Buy 5,6µH inductors + SLIX-L chips and put the parts together

For those who want to make their own tags, more like the original Tonies, here is my (short) description.

BOM:

1x Bourns RLB0608-5R6KL
1x NXP SL2S5002FTB,115

Toollist:

Sharp knife (cutter or scalpel)
Super glue
Soldering iron
Solder (i used 0,3mm) - parts are veeery small
Normal Solder tip (i used a round one with 1,2mm tip)
Small Solder tip (i used a round one with 0,8mm tip)
Small side cutter
Tweezers
Needle nose pliers
Magnifying glass (to check the soldering points)
A vise or something to hold the inductor in place
Optional: small metal brush

Step 1:

Remove the heat shrink tube from the inductor. You can heat it a little bit or just cut it and pull it down.

Step 2:

Take the soldering iron with the normal solder tip, heat the spot where the leg of the inductor is soldered to the wire, and pull the leg out with the needle-nose pliers. You should be able to remove the entire leg, leaving only the wire.

Step 3:

Clean the flat area at the bottom of the inductor. I used a knife and a metal brush. This is where you will place the SLIX-L chip. You can also straighten the wires and cut them a little with the side cutter.

Step 4:

Apply a very small amount of superglue to the cleaned flat area. I used one of the inductors leg dipped into the super glue to add just a micro drop.
Apply the SLIX-L chip as shown in the photo and allow the glue to dry for a moment.

Step 5:

Tin the two contacts of the chip with the small solder tip. Cut the wires to the correct length and solder them as shown in the photo. The third contact of the chip is not used.

Step 6:

Test the tag and read the ID with any preferred device. I used my android smartphone (must have NFC) and the free app “TagInfo” from NXP that is available in the Playstore.

Have fun building your own custom tags and “original Tonies look-a-likes”.
Please share your results too!
For those who cannot order at the distributors of the needed parts (Mouser, DigiKey, Farnell etc.) - contact me.

[OliKo]

Very nice project. I think try it out, too.

[DSR]

nice nice

How much did you pay for the 2 parts?

especially for the Fimo figures this is perfect!

[Robert]

Depends on the quantity i order it is between 0.55€ and 1€ for both parts.
Yes, perfect for Fimo but i did not test that yet.

[K_T]

Nice!

It is pretty fiddly but can be done with a normal soldering tip, a “normal” 0.8-1mm wire and no magnifying glass at hand. The lack of a vise added the most discomfort in my case.

One thing I noticed is that if I put the chip in a figurine positioned ~1cm above a 10x3mm magnet, the chip is not recognized - apparently the magnet blocks the signal somehow. A 1mm magnet works though (i.e. does not block the signal), but doesn’t hold much.

[Robert]

You could try to increase the distance of the tag to the Toniebox.
Another way is to use 2 magnets and spread everything a little.
Here you can see a picture of a self made tonie with two magnets and the tag in the middle.

[DSR]

Awsome! Thanks a lot for sending me the Parts! Even though I m not good at soldering I managed to do it with my normal solder iron😊

I will create a fimo figur with it. Its soo nice to have such a small Tag!

[Robert]

Great to hear from you and that you managed the soldering part. I hope that the tag survives the baking now
Greetings

[DSR]

I did make my first Fimo Figure with a selfmade Tag and it survived the baking fine

FIMO / Polymer Clay Figurines

[20240630_223854] Here is an other FIMO figure, this thime with a “self made Tag”: Selfmade SLIX-L Tags it survived the baking fine and its nice to have such a small TAG. The figure could even be much smaller. I put two magnets in the two feet.

[eric1905]

Is there anybody from germany who already bought those parts? I only find it on mouser or digikey, but there the shipment is higher than the product prizes

[Robert]

Send me a DM, i have a few parts at home or can order more on Digi-Key without shipping costs.

[Alex]

Up to what distance do the homemade tags work reliably without magnets?

[Robert]

The minimum distance where the tags get recognized is 2mm, the maximum distance is 75mm.

[Alex]

Hello everyone,

after Robert’s tags worked so well, I wanted a flat version of them too. So I ordered various coils from Asia and tested them. Here is the version with the best result.

Greetings Alex

[henryk]

just out of curiosity… why are you creating these flat ones? there are such available for less money?

[Alex]

Hello henryk,

the free coil without support material gives me even more options for the figures. In addition, the coil also works with a magnet in the center, which makes it possible to create small round bases. And of course I’m also interested in the technology and the possibilities

[henryk]

Ok. These are still very similar to the ones from rfid friend.

[Xerox]

Nice project, I love the small dimensionale the tags and the new possibilities.

[chaesinidau]

Hello everyone!
After successfully patching my box - i tried now to create my own micro-nfc tags as mentioned above.
After having little issues with soldering, i finaly managed to create one…
Its recognized correctly with the nfc-tools on my phone - but im not able to add it in my teddycloud.

Is there anything else, i need to do?

Box: CC3200, patched firmware, different patches tried.

Screenshot of the recognized tag above:

Thanks for your help!

[Alex]

Hello Simon,

if you hold the tag about 2 cm vertically above the box, will your Toniebox announce it? The tag should appear in the Teddycloud with a question mark when it is recognized.

Greetings Alex