Raspberry Pi 5 + Pimoroni NVMe + Waveshare POE Case

Onshape: https://cad.onshape.com/documents/809c1d9aeac14ebee1c26306/w/fa98b59d5ea349d41a2c8a12/e/640e785a4a9a0e8f65ca9a5c?renderMode=0&uiState=66e48bfcb9fa683c1c80ea15

So, Dr Dread needs a case for a Raspberry Pi 5 with a Pimoroni NVMe Base and a Waveshare PoE Hat, along with a spare fan he threw in because it was spare and seemed like a good idea..

Yeah thanks for that, wire was too short so had to splice and solder some to make it longer.

Nice and compact, feels solid but I want him to give it a chunky few tasks, make sure the thermals don't get ahead of themselves.

As far as gotchas are concerned, the big one is DONT FORGET TO TAKE OUT THE SDCARD! :)

It's a very well fitting case, just enough space to slot the Pi5 assembly in, but the SD Card pokes out proud on the side, so if you either try to put the Pi5 assembly in the case or take it out without taking out the SD Card something is going to break .

Ok, so assembly is actually pretty simple, don't pre-assemble the Pi and it's hats, start from the bottom and work upwards in the case. 

So, what I mean is first put the long screws in the bottom of the case, that will set the alignment of the NVMe board, so insert that, then cinch down the hex spacers for it.

Then put the Pi on the screw stubs standing proud, get yourself some tweezers or something and fight with the flexible cable to get it inserted.

Be careful with this bit, the rest is fairly simple, but flexible PCB's are a mini-nightmare to convince. If you're reading this having the fear of ‘is the Pi’s flexible PCB connector a flip or a lift?' it's a LIFT, it goes UP it doesn't FLIP, be careful with it, use a soft plastic tool if you have one to pull the brown lock up, then convince the Flex PCB cable into the hole, then realise that doing so has pushed the lock down, rinse and repeat till the Flex PCB is in the slot and CAREFULLY push the brown lock back down to the lock position. 
I know, this is guidance on how to insert a Flex PCB, not how to put this case together, but for me it's the one thing that trips me up every time… so passing it forward in case someone out there has a similar thing.

Once the NVMe board is connected to the PI it's the side fan's turn.

I created the slot for the fan wire to be long enough that it can push air in or pull it out (flip the fan over), so decide which way you want it. At the moment I have no opinion, that space under there is fairly enclosed so air moving one way or another is the important bit.

Guide the second fan's wire through to the fan port on the Pi and plug it in. Personally I pushed the wire down against the edge of the Pi board, along the Pin Header edge and then back up again when it was past it as I wanted to make sure it didn't get pinched by the female header of the PoE hat when it was pushed in.

Speaking of.. Now if the second fan's cable is clear, put the PoE hat on.

When that's done, have a look around, make sure everything is looking right, if it is, put on the lid.

It'll need a bit of convincing to click in place, on my printer the tolerances are good enough that with a bit of push and pull on the top the parts will click together and the gaps will close.  Depending on your printer you may need to get intimate with a hand file to shave down the mating key parts on the lid to get it to fit nicely.

Then insert some screws and you are done.