Boxing up Raspi?

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.

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.

Steve Read wrote:

 

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.

That makes me wonder, does the Roku 2 have a fan, since it uses the same SoC as the Pi and performs the same types of media task?

Of course the comparison would fall down if the Pi's main source of heat is not its SoC.  Which parts get hot?

I will have my tech team test it out - but think ventillation is not an issue because not only are the sides open, but there is also significant space above the board.  I will let you know once they have it running

Morgaine Dinova wrote:

 

That makes me wonder, does the Roku 2 have a fan, since it uses the same SoC as the Pi and performs the same types of media task?

 

Of course the comparison would fall down if the Pi's main source of heat is not its SoC.  Which parts get hot?

The spot right above the SoC is the most noticeable. Blair may be right that the increased headroom of their case may lessen the problem, the SK Pang case doesn't have a lot of clearance which I expect will lessen any natural convection.

Here is the response from my tech team  ". The power consumption on the board is about 8-10 watts which generate the same amount of heat as a standard night light, a fully enclosed case that wraps tightly around the board will accumulate heat over time without an active cooling system. Our design have plenty of circulation and distance from the processor, in addition the material we are using has a softening point of 220 F " 

Blair, I think as soon as it is available from UK stock I will be interested in that case, the additional headroom will certainly make a difference to the one I currently have. Thank you for your response.

I think the Lego case the Foundation currently have on the front page will do wonders for the heat problems some of the Pi's have at the moment.

Great to see they give that so much publicity, but seem to be ignoring the reports of broken TV's, problemattical SD cards, power 'Supplies' not working (they were the ones that decided on using chargers, not us) et al.

Steve

Morgaine Dinova wrote:

Of course the comparison would fall down if the Pi's main source of heat is not its SoC.  Which parts get hot?

The ethernet chip takes about half the heat/power. It gets just as hot as the SOC.

The SMSC Ethernet/USBhub chip gets hotter than the SoC, about 120F with the IR gun, the 3.3V regulator almost 100F.

-J

Hey, interesting measurements. How hot does the SOC get?

Who wants to take the trouble to calculate the dissipated power from the thermal characteristics in the datasheet and these measurements? I'm doing other things today. otherwise I might do it later....

Pointing the IR gun to the SoC shows about 100-115F, just running the console and responding pings from another machine

(I found that if I push it with a ping flood the kernel panics, so there are some issues there).

Answering Morgaine's other question, I've a Roku 2 XS. The enclosure does not have any ventilation holes or fan. I don't have it open but

pointing the gun to it shows ~100F.

There is a nice teardown here: http://tek.io/oMCOjx

-J