Raspberry Pi Mini Desktop Vertical Case with 40mm Fan

Last crawled date: 4 years, 3 months ago

EDIT: October 28 2019 - I made an iteration of this case that is optimized for shorter print time, fewer screws and nuts, and to show off the Pi board more when used with clear acrylic panels instead of wood. All that at the expense of a fair amount of strength.
Link to new version here --> https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3942831
I made a (not very good) video detailing some aspects about this thing.
https://youtu.be/nZuMiytBGjc
This is a case for the Raspberry Pi 3 or Raspberry Pi 4.
They hold the Pi vertically on its side. Power and HDMI cords plug into the Pi through the bottom between the uprights. The fan is at the top and can be oriented to blow in either direction (up or down).
There are two variants.
The taller variant has holes for cable routing and an option strain relief and/or cosmetic cover for the cord holes if you choose not to use them.
The shorter version is cuter, but requires some 90 degree adapters (or special cables with 90 degree ends) as it sit too short for most cable connectors to fit under.
It is quite sturdy and features pressed in captive nuts for all structural screw locations.
All exterior screws are countersunk for a clean look.
There is 27mm of headroom above the processor for a large heatsink.
There is 10mm of headroom below the board for heatsinks on components on the bottom of the board.
The fan blows across both sides of the board.
There is room next to the fan under the lid for cable management without excess cable length blocking airflow through the cavity around the Pi.
There is a recessed divot to ease access to the SD card.
The parts are designed to print flat on their face (get your first layer game on) and require no infill, require almost no support (only around the recessed divot for the SD card access). There is a part ( SDdivotSUPPORTtest.stl ) so you can tune your support settings for this part before endeavoring to print the whole side.
There are two faces of the finished case which in the pictures are made from wood. These are intended to minimize print time and to give the maker the opportunity to customize their case. The slots that hold these sides are .25" (~6.5mm) and the inserts are intended to be 75mm x 86mm.
There are 9mm x 2mm recesses in the bottom for silicon foot pads. These are the foot pads I use for all of my designs. -->https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07QW58TZH/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
There are more pics of the shorty version here --> https://imgur.com/a/UoAlEnf
There are more pics of the tall version here --> https://imgur.com/a/RjQQ7zu
NECESSARY HARDWARE
16x m3x8mm countersunk screws
16x m3 nuts (for 5.5mm wrench - 2.5mm thick).
4x m3x16mm screws for fan
4x m2x6mm screws to mount Pi to structure
2 m3x6mm screws for optional strain relief and/or blank plate on tall version
If you would like to customize the strain relief for your particular cables, they are simple a 22mm radius quadrant, for an 8mm thick hole. I made mine 21.5mm radius with a 5 degree draft angle on the sides to ease installation.
I originally designed these to not use nuts, I can upload files designed for the screws to self-tap into the printed parts on request, but there are so many file already I decided to only upload the nut version. I found that upon repeated assembly and disassembly during the iteration process that the threads tend to pull out - thus the redesign to use nuts.
The total print time on my Ender 3, sliced in Cura, with 5 walls and no infill, at .2mm layer height, at 50mm/s (Cura default print speeds) is about 10 hours. Maybe an hour less for the shorty version.
If you wish to mount the fan so that it blows upwards (drawing hot air out of the cavity) screw the mount screws in from the bottom. The fan will be held captive by the lid. Or use countersunk screws.
Mounting the fan so it blows down from the top, standard m3 cap head screws can be used.
10/24/2019 - Uploaded FACEshimADJUSTED which is the same as face shim, just slightly taller (2mm) and slightly narrower (.5mm) for a better fit.