Armour Case with Dual Cooling Fan for Raspberry Pi 4

Learn to assemble the Armour Case for Raspberry Pi 4 in a few simple steps!

Written By: Cherie Tan

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Difficulty
Easy
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Steps
10
The Little Bird Armour Case for Raspberry Pi 4  is a sturdy solution for overheating issues on the newest Raspberry Pi. It is CNC machined out of Aluminum and acts as a giant heat sink, and together with an open dual fan design, it will keep air moving across your Raspberry Pi 4 without affecting Wi-Fi and Bluetooth signals. 

In this guide, we will show you how to assemble it all in ten easy steps!

Complete this guide to eliminate overheating issues on the Raspberry Pi 4.

Step 1 Overview

Note: There is a set of screws specifically for the case and a set of screws specifically for the fans. The screws for the case have a thicker head on them.
The Little Bird Armour Case is a sturdy solution for all your Raspberry Pi 4's cooling needs. It is CNC machined out of aluminum and acts as a giant heat sink, and together with an open dual fan design, it will keep air moving across your Raspberry Pi 4 without affecting Wi-Fi and Bluetooth signals. In this guide, we will show you how to assemble it all in ten easy steps!

Step 2 Peel off backing of thermal tapes

Remove the backing with the wording from the thermal tapes. These require much more care in peeling, with a bit of patience and they should come off with the thermal tapes in-tact.
Gently peel off the transparent backing from the three pieces of thermal tapes. 
Be very careful and gentle when peeling the backing off these thermal pads!

Stick the thermal tapes onto the three chips on the Raspberry Pi 4 as shown. These will be stuck onto the jutting areas found on the case when it is later attached on to the Raspberry Pi.
The side of the thermal tapes that have wording should now be face up.

Step 3 Place Raspberry Pi flat against bottom part of case

Next, lie the Raspberry Pi 4 flat against the bottom part of the case.
Before going any further, please remove the microSD card from the slot found on the Raspberry Pi to prevent any accidental bumps that may damage the card.

Step 4 Place top plate of armour case to Raspberry Pi

Now place the top part of the armour case on to the top of the Raspberry Pi 4. 

Step 5 Attach screws to back of case with allen key

Carefully turn it to the back and insert the four screws into the holes.
Turn the allen key clockwise to tighten them in place. This will now hold the top and bottom parts of the Armour case together. 

Step 6 Place the fans into compartments on top of case

Place the two fans into the compartments found on the front of the case. 

Step 7 Attach fans to case with screws

Next, insert eight screws into the holes found on the edges of each fan. 
Turn the allen key clock-wise to tighten the screws that will keep the fans in place.

Step 8 Connect fans to Raspberry Pi

This is a very crucial step, so make sure to double-check that the fan cables are connected like so! 

If the Raspberry Pi refuses to boot at all later, check that the fan cables are plugged onto the correct pins.
Insert the jumper wires (female headers) into the GPIO pins of the Raspberry Pi 4 as shown. The red wire should be attached to pin 4 (5V) and the black wire attached to pin 6 (GND)

Step 9 Insert micro SD card

Insert the microSD card into the Raspberry Pi 4's microSD card slot.

Step 10 Complete build

That's it! Power it up with the Raspberry Pi Power Supply USB-C 5V 15W and it is all good to go, the dual fans should now be spinning and together with the giant heatsink, your Raspberry Pi will stay cool!