But if you’re pushing your Raspberry Pi hard, then adding some cooling is cheap insurance against problems that arise from overheating – problems such as the CPU being throttled and the Raspberry Pi running slow, or even hardware damage. The easiest way to cool a Raspberry Pi is to stick heatsinks on the chips to dissipate the heat generated. But if you’re pushing your Raspberry Pi to the limit, then you might want to invest in a cooling case. Don’t worry, they’re really cheap! Also: My 3 must-have Raspberry Pi accessories There are two types of cases – passively-cooled (or fanless), and fan-cooled. The fanless ones use less power, are quieter (although the fan-cooled cases I’ve tried are also basically silent), and don’t have a fan for your finger to jam up. I find that most of the time when I need extra cooling, a fanless case does the job just fine. But here I’m going to show how to fit a fan-cooled case. The process is almost identical except for when we’re dealing with the fans. Also: The 5 best laptop cooling pads Here’s how to fit the case. Also: Where to buy the latest Raspberry Pi and alternatives Make sure to peel both sides – if you don’t do this, the cooling won’t be effective. The first photo below shows a thermal pad before being peeled, the second shows the thermal pads fitted in place. If the fans aren’t turning, you’ve likely connected the connector to the wrong pins. Switch the Raspberry Pi off, check, and restart.
