is confidenthe’llmeetdemand.‘We‘ve
orderedsomemorePrusaprinters,soour
printingcapabilityshouldbesomewhere
inthehundredspermonthballpark,’Myslik
explains.‘AndI presumesomepercentageof
buyerswouldprintit themselves,andsome
morecouldbeservedbythirdparties– who
canevenchargefortheprint.’
Thisideaoflocalmanufacturingis behind
thereleaseofthe3Dprintpartsforfree
download.Thesefilesincludeboththecase
bottomitselfanda hostof
optionalextras,including
a VESAmountanda fan
mount.Ina novelmove,
there’salsoa 3Dmockup
oftheheatsink,whichcan
beprintedtocheckif it will
fitintootherprojects.
Whetheryouprintthe
plasticcomponentsyourself,
havethemprintedororder
fromSensorEq,thedesignis
clever.Cut-outsareprovided
fortheoutsideports,whilean
internalbarroutesouttheCSI
andDSIcablesif required.The
GPIOheadercanberoutedoutCUSTOMISATION / HOBBY TECH
T
he launch of the Raspberry Pi 4
(see Issue 193) brought with it a
dramatic improvement in
performance over its earlier single-board
computer brethren, but at a distinct cost:
considerably higher power draw and
operating temperatures.
Since launch, the Raspberry Pi Foundation
has released a series of firmware updates
designed to reduce the Raspberry Pi 4’s
power needs – with considerable success, it
must be said. However, many people are still
turning to third-party coolers (three of which
were reviewed in Issue 194).
The CooliPi, from Sensor Equipment
(SensorEq), is one among many – but it’s one
of the more eye-catching designs. Available
in a variety of mix-and-match colours,
the design combines a milled aluminium
heatsink with a 3D-printed plastic base to
provide both protection and cooling for the
Raspberry Pi 4 encased within it.
Traditionally,3Dprintingis usedfor
prototypingandsmall-scaleproductionruns.
SensorEqis optingtousethetechnologyfor
massproduction,butfounderLadaMyslikPREVIEW
SensorEq CooliPi
using an optional 90-degree adaptor board,
while a Reset Kit accessory provides soft-
switch support.
Assembly is straightforward, bar one
minor point – the milled contact points on the
underside of the heatsink leave the power
management IC (PMIC) alone, contacting only
the system-on-chip (SoC), Ethernet and USB
controllers. For normal use, it’s not a problem,
but Myslik admits stability under heavy
overclocking can suffer as a result.
It’s an issue Myslik is looking to resolve:
the preview sample we tested was provided
with a small copper shim to bring the PMIC
into contact with the heatsink. Another option
would be to modify the heatsink’s design, but
Myslik warns that this isn’t as straightforward
as it seems. ‘It’s not feasible now,’ he claims.
‘The main reason being the different heights,
and perhaps tilts of all the chips and inductors.
With just three main chips – as in the current
models – the heatsink plane tilt can self-
correct. With five more – the PMIC and four
inductors – I doubt it would fit in all cases.’
This minor point aside, performance is
impressive. Thermal interface material
isn’t included, so the review sample was
assembled using Noctua NT-H1 paste onAvailable in mix-and-match
colours, the CooliPi case is
has an eye-catching designThe heatsink is milled to make
contact with the hottest-running
components, but not the PMIC