GoPro waterproof case power supply

Back quickly, and back to electronics! Or in this case, electrics!

The problem is well known: You have a GoPro camera and would like to power it beyond the battery life for e.g. some outdoor long time-lapse movie.

There are some external batteries available, and some projects that connect a USB cable through the case, but they either require a hole in the case to pass the cable, or involve some very thin conductors, which, do not damage the case, but do potentially compromise the water proofness of the case.

So here's what I've done:

Got a USB cable and stripped it to the connector, and trimmed the connector as to be able to put the camera with the cable back in the case:

Connected the 2 power wires to two of the buttons on the case, from the inside.

Since the buttons are metallic, all that is left is to connect the other end of the USB cable to the buttons on the outside! Lo and behold, you have power to the camera via the buttons, with no damage to either camera or case, and all it costs is the price of the USB cable, which you probably have lying around anyway!

Next step is to make a nice connector to put on the outside over the buttons, with all the wiring!