Multi Purpose Raspberry Pi Box

Multi-Purpose Raspberry Pi Box.

You'll find that this box comes in three parts (each has an STL file):

i) Pi Box Chassis.
ii) Pi Box Socket Panel.
iii) Pi Box Lid.

I wanted a case for my Raspberry Pi that had the following characteristics:

1. It absolutely HAD to have the room to attach prototype boards on top of the Pi in the usual Pi Hat way.
2. I wanted to integrate the ability to easily attach/detach Krone styled RJ12 and RJ45 Sockets to the case.
3. I shouldn’t have to open the box to connect things once it’s set up. As many ports had to be accessible from the outside. This includes power, HDMI, (Through panel mounted extension sockets) and of course, the Ethernet/USB ports on the Pi itself (through holes in the case itself).
4. The option to mount it to the wall.
5. Passively cooled… now I know many of you will want to include a fan, but this is a prototype and I want to see how this goes without it. To this end, I’ve added quite a lot of venting on the sides of the chassis. I left the top alone as I’d probably want an extraction fan there.. but at this point. I’ve left the top sealed to add rigidity, and to discourage dust.

OPTIONAL FAN UPDATE:

A friend of mine simply hot glued a small 40mm fan to the inside of the vented side to his PETG case, and wired it up. He said there's enough room for his setup in the top-left corner (assuming the unit is wall mounted) to allow all the ports to be used (if cable management is employed).

ORIGINAL DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS:

This was designed with a Pi based weather station in mind, to house the main circuitry and to mount it somewhere on a wall indoors (I must stress the indoor part). However, there are many potential uses for it beyond a weather station.

Why Krone-Style Sockets?

A lot of commercial weather station kits include two RJ12 cables that connect the rain gauge, vane, and anemometer. I designed this case with three Krone port mounts so people can use the two “kit” cables as they arrive, and simply adding the third for the Temp/Humidity/Pressure sensor.

… Of course, you could condense the 6 wires of the kit into one RJ45 connection, leaving you with 18 wires of spare connectivity in the 3 available Krone socket mounts… assuming you use RJ45 sockets.

Krone styled network/telephone sockets add a lot of connectivity in a convenient, quick to setup/change manner. Perhaps more importantly, network and telephone cables can be found in many homes, or are easily obtainable. This is great for DIY electronics, educational kits, and just reducing ugly wiring.

However, Krone "clone" sockets aren't all exactly the same, so I can't guarantee every port will work perfectly with the mounts in this panel. It was provided as a prototype, one that worked for me, but again, there's a few brands out there. However, please let me know which brands did (or did not) work for the mounts, and I'll outline them here.

OVERALL DIMENSIONS:

This box will protrude 75mm (3") from the wall when mounted, and is 150mm x 150mm (6" x 6") high/wide.

PLEASE NOTE: INSTALL SOCKET PANEL THEN RASPBERRY PI!

The socket panel is designed for the usb/ethernet sockets to be partially inserted into it. As such, you need to install the panel into the chassis first, then slide the Raspberry Pi into position, and screw it into the mounts.

BEWARE LONG PI PROTOTYPE HATS:

I've used a few different hats. Many will work with this box without issue. However, if the Pi Hat board extends beyond the Pi's circuit board (at the end with the USB/Ethernet ports, then this will not allow the Pi to move into place.