Hello, I'm currently starting to buld a DCC++ system. I'm already a big fan of Raspberry PI and was planning on putting JMRI on it for a while anyway, as I have a USB interface for my NCE system and about 10 years ago was using it with my windows laptop. My train hobby was sorta on hold for about 6-7 years. I was at a train display a local club has, and I saw a guy using JMRI on a Raspberry PI with screen hooked up that displayed some nice info and found out JMRI runs on Linux/PIs and more. I just didn't get around to it. unti now. I've ordered all the parts to bulild the DCC++, I build things a bunch and tend to mount my custom train circuits on boards. I saw some stackable cases for Arduino and PIs, might use them. If all goes well this might become my main DCC system. What does everyone use to mount or where do you put your Arduino and/or rasp Pis if you use one.? Custom cases? Mounted to Boards? Let me know, looking for some ideas. Also, do many of you just use WiFi directly from the Arduino and use phone throttles? Thanks in advance, Ted
I have some print files up for 3D printable cases down near the bottom of the page here...... http://1fatgmc.com/RailRoad/3D-Printer/3D-Printer-Index.html Sumner
I really like sumners case . it prints very nice and contains everything in one spot. every thing fits perfectly too.
Can it be made in aluminum? This is a case for the first Pi with >2 GB RAM as they run much warmer? Very well liked on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07WG4DZR6/ref=ox_sc_saved_image_10?smid=A28U2Z9L46X7LP&th=1 The electronics on my layout are naked and mounted to the underside with standoffs primary due to thermal reasons and size constraints..
I really like Summer's case too. I have no 3D printer so can't print myself. Anyone have one they are willing to sell? Did I put up a photo of mine? I bought open air stackable case, and I have an aluminum case with fan for my Raspberry PI 4. It's functional, but I'd like something more functional and enclosed like the one above. EDIT: Here's what I have now:
Aluminum Pi cases don't help much with cooling unless they include internal features to make contact with the tops of the SOC and RAM ICs on top of the Pi board (same side of board as almost all of the connectors). This contact provides direct conduction of heat away from these chips. Thermal grease or heat-conductive pads (the thinner, the better) should be used between the tops of the chips and the aluminum of the case. This turns (at least the top of) the case into one, big aluminum heatsink for those devices. Without a heatsink (or even with the individual chip heatsinks), the most efficient mounting for passive cooling is to mount the board vertically, so the heat creates its own convection current across the surface of the hot chips (or their heatsinks), with nothing blocking airflow (like solid sides of an enclosure.) Since the ethernet and USB condo connectors take up a lot of the end space (and extend well above the board and ICs), it is best to keep those connectors pointing horizontally (in other words, the long edges of the board should be horizontal, and the short edges of the board should be vertical). Naturally, if heatsinks on the SOC and RAM ICs have fins (rather than a grid of posts), those fins should be oriented parallel to the short edges of the board, for best airflow through them when the board is mounted as suggested. Of course, adequate clearance above and below the mounted R-Pi is essential for efficient airflow.
Sumner, Very nice enclosures and connection diagrams. However, I would use up the black (USB 2) ports for low bandwidth uses (including the Arduino, a mouse, keyboard, etc.) first, and save one or both blue (USB 3) ports for higher bandwidth things like external USB SSDs, etc. if possible. Plugging a USB 2 device into a USB 3 port works fine, but not any better than if plugged into a USB 2 port. A USB 3 device with slow down when plugged into a USB 2 port.
Yes, I'm very familiar with computer cooling. It's not that the aluminum case I have is for cooling, but the high speed fan mounted on it is. Stays very cool, I run a utility on my pis that can measure temps over long periods. My other Rasp PI 4, with 8gb of ram, is in a custom tower case with vertical CPU cooler with fan (with thermal paste), and an extra case fan. I run it at a full 2.3MHz and it never gets very hot. I also overvoltage some. It runs several benchmarks as fast as older Intel I5s, it is truly a desktop replacement with high speed 1Tb SSD drive too! I run Ubuntu Mate 64bit on that one. Amazing little machine. Cost without SSD only about $130. I only have a large SSD for storage of media. I could build the same thing with a smaller cheap SSD. Note, the SSD is not in the photo. See photos below. Also, a PI 4, and this one specifically, will run JMRI much faster and I recommend them over an older PI. The network interface is also faster. EDIT: Also, I have 5 desktop PCs all with liquid cooling, it works very well in my experience. Yes, properly installed heatsinks are a key. I also put heatsinks on the chips in my Raspberry PIs, they are very inexpensive.
Wow, nice cases! I'm kinda limited in case choices, since my R-Pi 4b w/2GB hosts a Pi-SPROG 3 hat for my command station, all in one nice unit. I use an aluminum Argon Neo case. The case includes an aluminum cover that fits in between the R-Pi and it's installed hat, and raises up and over the Ethernet & USB receptacles on the front end. It includes the pedestals and thermal pads for the SOC & RAM. It has worked very well for me, but I don't over-clock the CPU either. It also came with a cover for hats that don't extend upwards very high (and don't extend the expansion header.) I cannot use it, because the Pi SPROG hats extend the R-Pi expansion header topside (though I could cut off the extension pins). I assembled and use a USB3 SSD on mine as well, per Jeff Geerling's component recommendations (not all USB3 SATA controllers are created equal!) It is much quicker than SD cards (especially for the tons of small, random file updates that Linux systems do while running), and makes it much easier to maintain backups on SD cards. SD cards can be very fast for large bulk accesses, like backups; that's what they were created for in high resolution digital cameras. But they rather suck at lots of small, random accesses (not unlike rotating platter drives). I also added a 40 pin ribbon cable connector (sans ribbon cable) that plugs onto and protects the pins on the expansion header (or on the SPROG hat, in my setup) from mechanical damage & electrical shorts. That connector is cheap insurance, IMHO. When I run Decoder Pro, or otherwise need a user interface on the R-Pi, I VNC into it from my laptop. I completely agree that a Pi 4b (or 400), with sufficient RAM, makes a dandy personal computer for the majority of users that don't need Windows or Mac compatibility. I'm eagerly waiting for Steve Todd to publish a 64-bit Raspberry Pi OS image (with JMRI already installed and configured.) I could putz around and build my own, but I'm lazy, and his 32-bit version is more than adequate. But everybody knows that 64 is better than 32!
