Overview
Cover for Raspberry Pi 3 that fits the GeeekPi dual fan cooler, and provides back supports to add screws to fix it.
I use Raspberry Pi boards as the compute core in several of my robotics projects, and a bare board sitting exposed on a robot chassis is asking for trouble: stray screws, dust, and the occasional short circuit from something metallic brushing against the pins. Active cooling helps a lot too, since a Pi 3 under sustained CPU load, running vision or sensor fusion code for example, will throttle itself once it gets hot enough, so a dual fan cooler like the GeeekPi kit keeps the board running at full speed for longer.
The trouble with most cooling kits is that they are not designed to be mounted inside anything; they just sit loose on top of the board’s heatsinks. This cover solves that: it wraps around the Pi 3 and the GeeekPi dual fan assembly together, leaving the fans free to pull air through, while adding back-panel supports so the whole thing can be screwed down onto a chassis or enclosure instead of floating loose inside it.
The CAD 3D model for remixes is publicly available on OnShape, so if your project uses a different fan kit or you need extra cutouts for cabling, you can adjust the model instead of starting from a blank canvas.
Note: users reported that it does not fit the Rpi4 model.
The Pi 3 and Pi 4 look similar at a glance but moved several connectors and mounting details around between generations, which is exactly the kind of small change that breaks a snug-fitting case even when the board’s overall footprint stays close to the same. If you are on a Pi 4, it is worth checking for a case designed specifically around that board rather than assuming this one will fit; a mismatch is usually only a couple of millimeters off, but that is enough to block a connector or leave a fan misaligned.
Printing
| Profile | Settings | Print time |
|---|---|---|
| ABS | 0.08mm layer, 2 walls, 30% infill | ~1.7 h |
A small enclosure, but one that has kept more than one Pi running cool and dust-free inside a robot chassis.
A close-fitting shell around hardware that used to sit exposed on the chassis.
Download
The model is free to download and print, licensed under the Standard Digital File License.