Boxing up Raspi?

Some people have reported problems with RasPi overheating, so putting it in a closed box may not be a good idea.  The RasPi Foundation has been pretty quiet lately about plans for an official case.  Probably the best would be a metal box with a thermal pad on the bottom to take heat away from the 3.3V regulator RG2, the BCM2835 SoC and LAN9512 USB/Ethernet chips.  Or you can have a perforated metal cover like a power supply.  Highest voltage is 5V so you won't be harmed by electricity.  When I get mine, I'm planning to run it on conductive bubble wrap to start, and then if all works out make up a box I can run with the lid off or make a perforated metal lid.

There are tons of case ideas and discussion at raspberrypi.org.

This is the place for y'all to hang out:  http://elinux.org/RPi_Cases 

@John Beetem: I was researching BeagleBone cases today for a new section at http://elinux.org/BeagleBone , and was saddened that this lovely little board has so few casing options.  I guess I'll have to finish work on my 3D printer and design something new.

Morgaine.

In the USA you can get a tin of dog treats called Yip Yaps, which are shaped like little bones.  I need to see if the tin is the right size for BeagleBone -- much more humorous than Altoids :-)

My philosophy on BeagleBoard/Bone is that making your own case is part of the fun.  I adapted a Christmas candy box for my BeagleBoard.  It includes room for my power supply.

STM32F4-Discovery boards fit *exactly* into hinged 3.5" floppy disk boxes, incidentally.

BeagleBone is just a bit too small for them, unless one doesn't mind one end being some way inside the box.

Many thanks for your response. I was also worried about the voltage, but if, as you state, it is only 5, then that's fine.

The idea of a perforated metal cover/box would seem a good idea. I will get the tools out!

Thanks again

Thanks for the link to the "cases" site!

Good collection, and clever!

Bud has created a box that solves your problems as it has open sides that allows not only for ventilation, but also for easy access to connections including the flat cables and i/o ports that other boxes ignore.  Here's a quick video on it.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKV29FfZoO4&feature=g-all-lik.  Here is the link to the product on the farnell page - it should be in stock in a few days.  http://uk.farnell.com/bud-industries/ps-11591/raspberry-pi-enclosure-pcb-box/dp/2102397?Ntt=ps-11591.  it is pretty inexpensive also. 

But sadly £15.95 delivery to the UK !

I was going for the Mod my pi case, https://www.modmypi.com/products.php but as they weren't shipping, I bought one of the SK Pang cases http://www.skpang.co.uk/catalog/raspberry-pi-cover-red-p-1077.html

Even with this relatively small coverage, the Pi seems to get pretty hot so I'm not sure how one will fare with little or no cool air circulation. Perhaps a mod my pi case with a small fan blowing over it. It also seems to be linked to my pi not booting properly after a while, similar problems have been noted elsewhere as John says above.

It will be interesting to see what happens as more people case thier pi's I guess.

We are in the process of getting stock to UK, which should cut the costs considerably.  In an open case, heat build up should not be a problem. 

Blair, it is more open than I realised after looking at the video, so it will certainly go on my 'thinking about' list if it is available from the UK direct. Have you had a pi running for a long time in the case ?

Mine has been on for about an hour in my SK Pang case streaming BBC TV (QI as it happens) and there is quite a heat build up on the top of the case.