FIELD TESTVERDICT
A small, elegant
solution to
Raspberry Pi 4
cooling.9 / 10
LED to give visual feedback, from green to red, to
indicate the temperature of the computer. You can
also, using the example given, use the button on
the side of the Fan SHIM to manually override the
automated settings and turn the fan on and off. If you
find an automatic set of settings you like, they will
persist, and the Raspberry Pi will start the service on
subsequent boot ups.
We found the fan to be effective as well. We set a
load of YouTube videos running in numerous browser
tabs and set the fan to kick
in at 50 degrees and to turn
off at 40 degrees which it did
perfectly, and it only had to run for a minute
or so to bring the temperature down. It really is a
quick and effective solution. One thing that is worth
considering is that the tactile button on the side of
the Fan SHIM protrudes the edge of the Raspberry Pi
footprint. While this is accommodated for in Pimoroni
cases for Raspberry Pi 4, we have an aluminium
case from another vendor which doesn’t have space
for the button (yet – we have our rotary tool primed
and ready).
With the latest firmware, Raspberry Pi 4 doesn’t
overheat unless it’s under heavy load, but if you’re
doing some serious number crunching, the Fan SHIM
is a good cooling option that doesn’t take up too
much space.Left
It’s a simple couple
of bolts and a few
nuts to assemble the
kit in a few minutes
Below
The kit fits onto
Raspberry Pi 4
header pins and is
a friction fit, so
there’s no need for
soldering. You can
also get a header
extension kit to allow
you to use other
devices on the
header pins
Below
The kit consists of a
small PCB and a
good-quality and
quiet 30 mm fan