Raspberry PI 5 Case Storage Solution

Description

I wanted a case for a Raspberry PI 5, with a Radxa Penta SATA Hat. Knowing that the system would run a little hot, I decided that it would need a large fan.

I figured that designing a cylinder with openings in the bottom, pulling air up and out the top would create enough airflow to keep things cool. This seems to be working as the system reports approximately 35C in my environment.

Printing

Everything was printed in PLA, with the exception of the feet. The feet were printed in TPU. Printed on a Prusa MK4, printer settings 0.2mm Quality, with a 0.4 nozzle, infill 15% with very minimal supports.

Hardware

1 – Raspberry PI 5

1 – Radxa Penta SATA Hat

4 - 33mm of standoffs

1 – GeekPi Micro Connectors 40 pin, with right angle

1 – Noctua NF-A8 5V PWM Quiet Fan

4 – 2.5mm Screws (or what ever fits your stand offs)

Links

Penta Hat - https://radxa.com/products/accessories/penta-sata-hat/

Right Angle Connector - https://www.amazon.com/GeeekPi-Connectors-Raspberry-Expansion-Compatible/dp/B0888W3XN4

Noctua 80mm Fan - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DXMF32M?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title
 

Assembly

1. Follow the install for the Radxa Penta SATA hat (https://docs.radxa.com/en/accessories/penta-sata-hat/penta-for-rpi5). Don’t forget to insert the GeekPi right angle connector.
2. Flip the case bottom over and press the feet in. You may need at pair of needle nose pliers to pull the tab on each foot from the inside, while pressing on the bottom of the foot.
3. Once all 3 feet are inserted, flip case bottom back over for installation of the Raspberry PI unit.
4. Disassemble a female to male ribbon connector, by carefully lifting the small plastic flap, and sliding the connector out of the plastic shield.
5. Make the plastic shield shorter, by approx 2mm.
6. Reassemble the connector.
7. Connect the shortened connection to pin 1 on the GPIO header (yellow in my picture)
8. Connect ground to pin 6 (purple in my case)
9. Note I also have connections on 12 & 18 for PWM, but did not implement it.
10. Insert the Raspberry PI unit into the case bottom. You may need to wiggle things about a bit to make it fit.
11. Using 4 2.5mm screws, connect case bottom to the PI.
12. Install the fan. Make sure the air flow is pointing up and out of the case. Slide the fan down into the case top, and secure with 4 screws supplied with fan.
13. Connect ground and power to the fan. Fan has a black wire for ground, and yellow for power (at least mine does, see picture). Note, I ordered a PWM fan, but I am not using PWM because the fan is so quiet.
14. With fan connected, place over the top of the case bottom, line up tabs with slots and give a 1cm (approx) twist to connect.
15. Place case top onto the top of the case body.

Power up and have fun