• Enclosure for Pi plus disk plus fan?

    From bob prohaska@3:770/3 to All on Sun Aug 23 18:00:06 2020
    Does anybody know of a fan-cooled enclosure for a Pi4 that includes
    space for a 2.5 inch hard drive? The wiring needn't be integral,
    cables sticking out from a standard usb-serial adapter are fine.

    It's pretty clear that a Pi4 needs cooling, it wouldn't hurt to
    cool the disk while at it. All that's asked of the enclosure is
    to prevent accidental electrical contact and direct air flow.

    I've been trying to think up a homebrew scheme but nothing clever
    comes to mind.

    Thanks for reading,

    bob prohaska

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  • From Juergen Bruckner@3:770/3 to All on Sun Aug 23 20:58:30 2020
    Hello Bob,

    im not sure where you are located, but i have this [1] in use with my RaspberryPi

    best regards
    Juergen

    [1] https://electronics.semaf.at/Pi-Desktop-fuer-Raspberry-Pi

    Am 23.08.20 um 20:00 schrieb bob prohaska:
    Does anybody know of a fan-cooled enclosure for a Pi4 that includes
    space for a 2.5 inch hard drive? The wiring needn't be integral,
    cables sticking out from a standard usb-serial adapter are fine.

    It's pretty clear that a Pi4 needs cooling, it wouldn't hurt to
    cool the disk while at it. All that's asked of the enclosure is
    to prevent accidental electrical contact and direct air flow.

    I've been trying to think up a homebrew scheme but nothing clever
    comes to mind.

    Thanks for reading,

    bob prohaska






    --
    Juergen Bruckner
    aka microangelo
    microangelo@microangelo.priv.at

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  • From Martin Gregorie@3:770/3 to bob prohaska on Sun Aug 23 19:18:59 2020
    On Sun, 23 Aug 2020 18:00:06 +0000, bob prohaska wrote:

    Does anybody know of a fan-cooled enclosure for a Pi4 that includes
    space for a 2.5 inch hard drive? The wiring needn't be integral, cables sticking out from a standard usb-serial adapter are fine.

    Its been a while since I last looked, but I don't remember seeing
    anything I wanted.

    It's pretty clear that a Pi4 needs cooling, it wouldn't hurt to cool the
    disk while at it. All that's asked of the enclosure is to prevent
    accidental electrical contact and direct air flow.

    I've been trying to think up a homebrew scheme but nothing clever comes
    to mind.

    Would any of the cases sold for iTX motherboards work for you or they all
    too big?

    For a more homebrewed approach, you could always build a case from 0.8mm
    or 1.5mm epoxyboard. If you're not familiar with epoxyboard, here's an
    eBay reference for the stuff:

    https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FR-4-Epoxy-Glass-Board-Glassfibre-Plate-Sheet- Thick-1-0mm-to-8mm-High-TEMP-155/283668675793? hash=item420bf87cd1:g:qgkAAOSwZ15dwkkE

    Its easy to work with: very strong, easy to cut with a small hand saw or
    a cutting disk on a Dremel and equally easy to stick together with two
    pack epoxy glue - (Araldite or JB Weld) and readily available online from
    good hobby stores or eBay. 1.5mm thick may seem like overkill, but its
    very easy to assemble because the material is thick enough for the sides
    to stay upright while you assemble the bits and hold them in place with
    masking tape while the glue sets and with enough meat to let you round
    the corners after assembly.

    I'll be using epoxyboard an epoxy to build a case for a portable system
    I'm about to assemble using a Pimoroni 4" TFT touch screen and a Pi 2.


    --
    Martin | martin at
    Gregorie | gregorie dot org

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  • From Jim Jackson@3:770/3 to bob prohaska on Sun Aug 23 18:57:54 2020
    On 2020-08-23, bob prohaska <bp@www.zefox.net> wrote:
    Does anybody know of a fan-cooled enclosure for a Pi4 that includes
    space for a 2.5 inch hard drive? The wiring needn't be integral,
    cables sticking out from a standard usb-serial adapter are fine.

    Sorry don't know of such a case.

    It's pretty clear that a Pi4 needs cooling, it wouldn't hurt to
    cool the disk while at it.

    Might need cooling but that doesn't necessarily mean a fan. I'm running
    a Pi4 8Gb as a desktop with passive cooling ("Aluminium Armour") running
    off a 2.5in spinning disk. All running fine and not getting up to silly temperatures.

    Good luck with the search for a case.

    All that's asked of the enclosure is
    to prevent accidental electrical contact and direct air flow.

    I've been trying to think up a homebrew scheme but nothing clever
    comes to mind.

    Thanks for reading,

    bob prohaska





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  • From Adrian@3:770/3 to All on Sun Aug 23 20:42:49 2020
    In message <rhuar6$g35$1@dont-email.me>, bob prohaska <bp@www.zefox.net>
    writes
    Does anybody know of a fan-cooled enclosure for a Pi4 that includes
    space for a 2.5 inch hard drive? The wiring needn't be integral,
    cables sticking out from a standard usb-serial adapter are fine.

    It's pretty clear that a Pi4 needs cooling, it wouldn't hurt to
    cool the disk while at it. All that's asked of the enclosure is
    to prevent accidental electrical contact and direct air flow.


    Have you thought of a 3D printed case ? There might be something
    suitable on thingiverse.com.

    e.g. https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3878491

    If you don't have a printer, you might know someone who has.

    Adrian
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  • From bob prohaska@3:770/3 to Adrian on Sun Aug 23 23:33:19 2020
    Adrian <bulleid@ku.gro.lioff> wrote:
    In message <rhuar6$g35$1@dont-email.me>, bob prohaska <bp@www.zefox.net> writes
    Does anybody know of a fan-cooled enclosure for a Pi4 that includes
    space for a 2.5 inch hard drive? The wiring needn't be integral,
    cables sticking out from a standard usb-serial adapter are fine.

    It's pretty clear that a Pi4 needs cooling, it wouldn't hurt to
    cool the disk while at it. All that's asked of the enclosure is
    to prevent accidental electrical contact and direct air flow.


    Have you thought of a 3D printed case ? There might be something
    suitable on thingiverse.com.

    e.g. https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3878491

    If you don't have a printer, you might know someone who has.


    That's getting kind of elaborate, I was hoping for something along
    the lines of a repurposed Tupperware container 8-) I'm hoping to
    keep the case cheap compared to the Pi and other parts.

    Well, maybe not quite that crude. But, a small food stoarge container
    with spacers to support the disk and Pi and a few holes for cable access
    might come close to what's needed. A fan mounted on a hole in the box
    with vents to guide air across the Pi and disk complete the package.
    One of the harder problems seems to be making it assemble-able.

    It's true that a big passive heatsink avoids a fan, but from what I've
    seen a 2.5" disk gets warm when it's busy, with no passive heat sink
    practical. Seems simpler to just use the fan to cool both.

    Thanks to everyone for replying, I'll keep thinking for a while yet.

    bob prohaska

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  • From Henri Derksen@2:280/1208 to Juergen Bruckner on Mon Aug 24 02:58:00 2020
    Hello Juergen,

    Nice try, but that case is only suitable for the Pi's 1B+, 2B, 3B and 3B+,
    not for the Pi 1B or 4B models, as many connections are changed.
    2 small mini HDMI ports in stead of one big one, and the 4 USB ports and
    RJ45 EtherNet (now GigaBit) port are swapped with each other.
    So the Pi 4B won't fit right in that case.
    Beware, a 2.5" HDD or an SSD also generate heat, the Pi would not like that. There was a kind of laptop case available, may be that's a better solution,
    as you have more room and even a display at hand in one case.
    Some people at our BigBenClub for RISC OS computers use them.
    So Bob has to look somewhat further for a right case.

    Henri.

    *****

    Juergen wrote:

    im not sure where you are located, but i have this [1] in use with my RaspberryPi

    best regards
    Juergen

    [1] https://electronics.semaf.at/Pi-Desktop-fuer-Raspberry-Pi

    *****

    Am 23.08.20 um 20:00 schrieb bob prohaska:

    Does anybody know of a fan-cooled enclosure for a Pi4 that includes
    space for a 2.5 inch hard drive? The wiring needn't be integral,
    cables sticking out from a standard usb-serial adapter are fine.

    It's pretty clear that a Pi4 needs cooling, it wouldn't hurt to
    cool the disk while at it. All that's asked of the enclosure is
    to prevent accidental electrical contact and direct air flow.

    I've been trying to think up a homebrew scheme but nothing clever
    comes to mind.

    Thanks for reading,

    bob prohaska

    Juergen Bruckner
    aka microangelo
    microangelo@microangelo.priv.at

    Henri.

    ---
    * Origin: Connectivity is the Future; UniCornBBS.Demon.nl (2:280/1208)
  • From Adrian@3:770/3 to All on Mon Aug 24 08:14:54 2020
    In message <rhuubv$is3$1@dont-email.me>, bob prohaska <bp@www.zefox.net>
    writes
    That's getting kind of elaborate, I was hoping for something along
    the lines of a repurposed Tupperware container 8-) I'm hoping to
    keep the case cheap compared to the Pi and other parts.


    I haven't looked at that one in detail, but I would be surprised if the
    print costs are more than £1.

    It's true that a big passive heatsink avoids a fan, but from what I've
    seen a 2.5" disk gets warm when it's busy, with no passive heat sink >practical. Seems simpler to just use the fan to cool both.


    I've got a couple of Pis with 1TB 2.5" SSDs attached, neither of which
    are in cool places. Using smartctl, I check the disk temperature every
    30 minutes, and the highest temperature I've seen is 48 degrees, Mean
    is low 30s. Space available means that the disks and Pis don't have to
    be stacked together.

    Adrian
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  • From Theo@3:770/3 to bob prohaska on Mon Aug 24 16:43:33 2020
    bob prohaska <bp@www.zefox.net> wrote:
    Well, maybe not quite that crude. But, a small food stoarge container
    with spacers to support the disk and Pi and a few holes for cable access might come close to what's needed. A fan mounted on a hole in the box
    with vents to guide air across the Pi and disk complete the package.
    One of the harder problems seems to be making it assemble-able.

    You could try a Pi 4 case, and add pillars from the Pi screw holes pointing downwards. Then take a 2.5" drive enclosure with a removable lid, eg: https://www.ebay.com/itm/ORICO-2139U3-CR-2-5-USB3-0-Transparent-5Gbps-SATA-HDD- Case-Hard-Drive-Enclosure/293689729868
    (not a recommendation, just an example)

    and drill some holes in the lid to match. Screw the lid into the bottom of
    the Pi, and mount the lid on top of the HDD. Result is a Pi case resting on top
    of the HDD case.

    You'd also need a short USB cable to loop from the port on the HDD to the
    Pi's USB port. You could skip the pillars if you didn't have any, and just
    use long bolts and nuts.

    I'd probably look for a two-part metal HDD case for better cooling.

    Theo

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  • From Jim Jackson@3:770/3 to All on Mon Aug 24 16:34:17 2020
    It's true that a big passive heatsink avoids a fan, but from what I've
    seen a 2.5" disk gets warm when it's busy,

    My experience is only with 2.5in spinners, but I've run "silent" systems
    for nearly 20 years, no fans, and 2.5in disks 'cos the slower ones are
    quieter and use less energy. Never ever had a problem with them
    overheating.

    As a general question to folks out there - do SSD's overheat? I'm going
    to be changing some disks to SSD's soon - probably not very large ones.

    cheers
    Jim

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  • From druck@3:770/3 to Jim Jackson on Mon Aug 24 21:54:19 2020
    On 24/08/2020 17:34, Jim Jackson wrote:
    It's true that a big passive heatsink avoids a fan, but from what I've
    seen a 2.5" disk gets warm when it's busy,

    My experience is only with 2.5in spinners, but I've run "silent" systems
    for nearly 20 years, no fans, and 2.5in disks 'cos the slower ones are quieter and use less energy. Never ever had a problem with them
    overheating.

    The slower ones are designed for laptops, and are generally located in
    an area which does not benefit from any active cooling.
    As a general question to folks out there - do SSD's overheat? I'm going
    to be changing some disks to SSD's soon - probably not very large ones.

    They can certainly get warm under heavy use, but I've never had one
    which has exceeded its limits in smart data. When idle they take next to
    no power unlike normal HDs, so unless you are continually thrashing it,
    it wont be a problem.

    ---druck

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  • From Jim Jackson@3:770/3 to druck on Mon Aug 24 20:56:34 2020
    On 2020-08-24, druck <news@druck.org.uk> wrote:
    On 24/08/2020 17:34, Jim Jackson wrote:
    It's true that a big passive heatsink avoids a fan, but from what I've
    seen a 2.5" disk gets warm when it's busy,

    My experience is only with 2.5in spinners, but I've run "silent" systems
    for nearly 20 years, no fans, and 2.5in disks 'cos the slower ones are
    quieter and use less energy. Never ever had a problem with them
    overheating.

    The slower ones are designed for laptops, and are generally located in
    an area which does not benefit from any active cooling.
    As a general question to folks out there - do SSD's overheat? I'm going
    to be changing some disks to SSD's soon - probably not very large ones.

    They can certainly get warm under heavy use, but I've never had one
    which has exceeded its limits in smart data. When idle they take next to
    no power unlike normal HDs, so unless you are continually thrashing it,
    it wont be a problem.

    reassuring - thanks.

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  • From Juergen Bruckner@3:770/3 to All on Mon Aug 24 22:43:55 2020
    Hello All!

    Am 23.08.20 um 15:58 schrieb Henri Derksen:
    Nice try, but that case is only suitable for the Pi's 1B+, 2B, 3B and 3B+, not for the Pi 1B or 4B models, as many connections are changed.

    UUUPS ... I have overseen that the OP was talking about a PI 4!
    Sorry for that!

    best regards
    Juergen

    --
    Juergen Bruckner
    aka microangelo
    microangelo@microangelo.priv.at

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  • From Theo@3:770/3 to druck on Tue Aug 25 11:23:27 2020
    druck <news@druck.org.uk> wrote:
    On 24/08/2020 17:34, Jim Jackson wrote:
    As a general question to folks out there - do SSD's overheat? I'm going
    to be changing some disks to SSD's soon - probably not very large ones.

    They can certainly get warm under heavy use, but I've never had one
    which has exceeded its limits in smart data. When idle they take next to
    no power unlike normal HDs, so unless you are continually thrashing it,
    it wont be a problem.

    M.2 drives come in a small form factor and the NVMe variants work a lot
    harder than SATA drives. They can burn 5W in a package the size of a USB stick, and so they do get hot. Frequently motherboards and enclosures come with heatsinks for the NVMe stick. They will throttle if needed.

    SATA drives in 2.5" form factor are slow and the casing is mostly empty
    anyway, so the thermal density isn't usually a problem.

    Theo

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