RPi Overheating? Here is a great solution.

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John Nicol
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RPi Overheating? Here is a great solution.

Post by John Nicol »

Peter is a user of the sunlight readable display and has it mounted in a race car. (Awesome BTW). He takes car CAN data and turns it into a display for use on the track. In his particular use he was having RPi overheating issues so he made some modifications to the case STL and added some venting on the top to improve air flow. Here is what he did in his own words:
I was having RPi overheating issues in the car. So I took your STL and added some more venting on the top. I also got a large heatsink. Even with the extra vents and heatsink I was still having issues. So I soldered some headers onto your display, then tapped the 5v source for a *tiny* rotary DC fan and it worked great. At least testing in the garage with consistent ambient temp, I let the dash heat soak for 20 min and recorded CPU temps:

no heatsink, no fan - CPU @ 94C
heatsink, no fan - CPU @ 91 C
heatsink, with fan - CPU @ 59C!

If anyone else has overheating issues this is what I used:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RMGVBKL
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B091L1XKL6/ (I had to clearance some of this heatsink with a dremel and remove the built-in fan as it would bind on the display PCB

I just used VHB tape to stick the rotary fan to the display PCB.

-peter


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John Nicol
Founder, MakerPlane
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