Building my first case

dancingmexican

Hi all,

I am new to this and i feel like having a go at building a case to fit my needs,

I currently have an original Pi running RetroPi and am loving it!!! I will soon be upgrading to a Pi3 so that I can run everything smoother.

I carry my Pi and all the cables around in my bag so all I need is a TV and I'm off.

What I want to build is a "self contained" case using retractable HDMI and USB cables.

There are a few questions I wanted to run past the experts here..

I am going to use a PowerBlock and an illuminated latching switch to control the on/off, can I run a fan off of the additional pins? If so what size/power can I run?
Do I need a fan at all?? or will heat sinks be enough?
I would also like to install an LED so that the whole thing has a cool "glow", where can I get the power form? Lots of post tell me how to control LED's I just want it on when the pi is on.

Thanks very much for all your help

GtBFilms

@dancingmexican

Hi, I believe you can run a 5v fan off the powerblock, you can solder an additional USB A connector to it and use that to run the fan:

http://blog.petrockblock.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/IMG_2673_Snapseed1024.jpg

I have my Rpi3 in a picade case, which is quite roomy. I have a couple of cheap aluminium heatsinks on it and have never encountered any heat or throttling issues, so not sure if you will need a fan.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3pcs-One-Set-Aluminum-Heatsink-Cooler-Adhesive-Kit-For-Cooling-Raspberry-Pi-New-/161982408521

If you just want the LEDs to light when the pi is on, I'd just run them directly from a USB (ir via a hub connected to the pi if you are running short of available USB sockets)

My marquee lights (and couple of illuminated buttons) run directly off one of the pi's USB ports.

The marquee lights came with the USB connector.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/50cm-USB-30-LED-Strip-Light-PC-TV-Background-Lighting-Kit-Waterproof-DC-5V-/301809580976

For the buttons (also 5V) I cut open an old USB cable and used the red and black lines (5v and GND) to the button LEDs, the green and white data lines I just trimmed off.

dancingmexican

@GtBFilms

Thanks very much, i never thought of using the USB's

I have seen your Picade on a different post and I saw the vid of your LED switch (which is where is got the idea for mine)

In your video the LED pluses (I assuming showing star up) then stays on how did you get that and can i make ALL the LED's do that??

GtBFilms

@dancingmexican

That's the powerblock that does all the clever work for that. There are a couple of pins out for the switch - the actual switch itself, and the LED pins. (you can kind of see them in the photo below, although I have connectors plugged on to them)

When powering up the powerblock pulses the LED, then when it's on, it's steady, then on shutdown it pulses it (slower I think).

As it's just a couple of pins on the Powerblock, you can connect any LED to it - doesn't have to be the LED in the button, so I guess you could connect a whole bunch of LEDs to that and they would all pulse on startup, be steady on power on, and pulse again on shut-down.

I probably wouldn't try to run a Christmas tree off of those two pins, but if it's just a few additional LEDs it should be fine I would think.

Anything running of the normal rpi USB ports though (like my marquee light and couple of illuminated buttons) is just on all the time (when the rpi is powered on). Actually they flash a couple of times on boot up, I'm not sure why that is.

I've refined my LED power switch now, and upgraded to a chrome one. Also shortened the cabling and heat shrinked it as it was very messy.

I still have some spare ones (green plastic LED latching buttons) if you want one. I made a couple of shorter 20cm ones and also no longer need my old ridiculously long cable one (as seen in that video!). If you want one, drop me an email at GtB at GtBFilms dot co dot uk and I'll stick one in the post.