Raspberry Pi Standoff Size
Instead of buying a case for your Raspberry Pi, why not just prop it up on standoffs? For the price of a case you can buy a small pack. You can use one pack to prop up several boards, attach HATS or even stack your boards together. But what type and size do you need?
The holes in a Raspberry Pi are made for M2.5 size screws. I would suggest buying a kit that contains an assortment of female to female and male to female spacers, matching nuts and screws. I'll list the kits I use below.
Where to Buy
- Sutemribor M2.5 Male Female Hex Brass Spacer Standoff Screw Nut Assortment Kit (180Pcs)
- this is the kit I used to provide the spacers pictured with my Raspberry Pi 4
- HanTof Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ Standoffs Pack 24 Pieces/LoT M2.5 (11mm Body + 6mm Screw) Hex Brass Standoff Cylinder + Screw + Nut Kits for Raspberry pi 3 B Plus/3B/2B/B+/A+ Hat
- this is another kit I've used when I just needed male to female spacers for stacking
- this is the kit I used to provide the spacers pictured with my Raspberry Pi 4
- this is another kit I've used when I just needed male to female spacers for stacking
Type of Spacers
A good kit should contain at least two types of spacers:
- female to female spacers - contains threaded holes on each end
You can use four (4) female to female spacers along with four (4) screws to add "legs" to a Raspberry Pi. Put the screws through the holes in the top, and attach that spacers underneath.
- male to female spacers - one end is in the form of a screw and the other end is a threaded hole
You can use (4) male to female spacers to stack boards together. You would put the male end in the hole through the bottom and screw it into female spacers above.
Nuts and Screws
Be sure to get a kit that also has matching M2.5 nuts and screws. They can be used on either end of the spacers. The nuts can also be used to provide smaller spacing.
FAQ
What's a HAT?
HAT - stands for Hardware Attached on Top. Sometimes referred to as Daughter Boards that sit on top of the Raspberry Pi. They usually have holes that match the dimensions of the Pi. That makes it easy to stack them with your Pi using standoffs.
Related Articles
References
- Raspberry Pi Mechanical Drawings [1]
