ER-0056

Official Active Cooler for Raspberry Pi 5

Description

The Active Cooler is a single-piece anodised aluminium heatsink with an integrated blower. It has pre-applied thermal pads for heat transfer, and is mounted to the Raspberry Pi 5 board directly using spring-loaded push pins. It connects to the same 4-pin JST connector as the case fan.

A radial blower, again selected for low noise and extended operating lifetime, pushes air through an extruded and milled aluminium heatsink. The cooling performance of the Active Cooler is somewhat superior to the Fan Case, making it particularly suitable for overclockers.

NOTE
Blowers are electromechanical systems that direct air towards a specific direction using a fan and designated channels. While fans displace large volumes of air and promote circulation within a designated area, blowers provide a degree of air pressurisation to drive it out and forward.
The Active Cooler has not been designed to be repeatedly removed from the Raspberry Pi 5.

Thermals

A stress test was started on all four cores of the Raspberry Pi 5 to load the CPU. Two main thermal management regimes were examined during the test: no cooling, and managed active cooling. The managed active cooling tests were run using both the Active Cooler, and the Raspberry Pi Case for Raspberry Pi 5. With no cooling, we see an idle temperature of approximately 65°C, with a maximum temperature above 85°C during extended testing leading to sustained thermal throttling after the temperature reported by the processor rises above throttling limits.

Thanks to the passive heatsink that is fitted with the Active Cooler, we see a much lower idle temperature, around 45°C. During extended testing under load, the fan of the Cooler spins up at low speed to stabilise the CPU temperature at 60°C, with a maximum temperatures of 62 to 63°C being seen during the tests.

Using the fan case we see idle temperatures a couple of degrees hotter than with the Active Cooler on its own, at around 48°C. With the lid removed we see a maximum temperature of approximately 72°C under sustained load, and with the lid in place we see a marginally higher maximum of around 74°C under load. While temperature under load is higher than with the Active Cooler, the maximum temperature under load is still well below the 80 and 85°C throttling temperatures.

Raspberry Pi 5 has been designed to handle typical client workloads, uncased, with no active cooling. For normal use adding cooling is optional, although performance may improve with active cooling. However a heavy continuous load, such as rebuilding the Linux kernel, will force the new Raspberry Pi 5 into thermal throttling. For heavy loads thermal throttling can extend processing times, and passive cooling is probably insufficient thermal management.

However, cooling of any type isn’t mandatory, and no harm will come to the Raspberry Pi if left uncooled.

Features

Efficient Temperature Management:The Active Cooler for Raspberry Pi 5 effectively reduces idle temperatures from approximately 65°C to a much lower 45°C, providing efficient temperature management during normal usage.
Sustained Cooling Under Load:During extended testing under load, the Active Cooler's fan operates at low speed, stabilizing the CPU temperature at 60°C. This ensures sustained cooling, with maximum temperatures reaching only 62 to 63°C, well below throttling limits.
Enhanced Performance during Heavy Loads:The Active Cooler proves particularly beneficial during heavy continuous loads, such as rebuilding the Linux kernel, where thermal throttling can occur. It helps maintain a maximum temperature under load that is significantly below the 80 and 85°C throttling thresholds.
Flexible Cooling Options:The Active Cooler can be used independently with a passive heatsink or integrated into a fan case. This flexibility allows users to choose between different cooling configurations based on their specific needs and preferences.
Optional Cooling for Improved Performance:While the Raspberry Pi 5 is designed to handle typical client workloads without active cooling, the Active Cooler offers an optional solution for users looking to enhance performance, especially under heavy continuous loads. It ensures that the Raspberry Pi 5 operates optimally, minimizing the impact of thermal throttling.
No Mandatory Cooling Requirement:It's important to note that while the Active Cooler provides significant benefits in terms of temperature management and performance, cooling of any type, including passive cooling, is not mandatory. The Raspberry Pi 5 can still operate safely without active cooling, and no harm will come to the device if left uncooled.

Specifications

Pinout

The fan connector is a 1mm pitch JST SH socket and has four pins:

Pin	Function
1	+5V
2	PWM
3	GND
4	Tach

Gallery

Product outlook

\* Active Cooler features [left\|800px](File:ER-0056-01.jpg "wikilink")

===Specifications===

\* Compatibility

 Compatible with following SKU: ZP-0162, ZP-0165, ZP-0168

Heat dissipation effect

===How to install it===

==Package includes==

===NOTE=== If the board is not hot, the fan will not spin. It's an actively managed cooler. If the board is cool enough, the fan doesn't spin because the board doesn't need cooling. As the temperature of the Raspberry Pi increases, the fan reacts in the following way:

Below 50°C, the fan does not spin at all (0% speed)

At 50°C, the fan turns on at a low speed (30% speed)

At 60°C, the fan speed increases to a medium speed (50% speed)

At 67.5°C, the fan speed increases to a high speed (70% speed)

At 75°C the fan increases to full speed (100% speed)

The same mapping of temperature ranges to fan speeds applies to temperature decreases as well, with a 5°C hysteresis; fan speed decreases when the temperature drops to 5°C below each of the above thresholds.

See [ https://www.raspberrypi.com/news/heating-and-cooling-raspberry-pi-5/ ] for a discussion of heating and cooling for discussion and documentation.

How to config it on HAOS

To control the armor lite V5 on a Raspberry Pi 5 running Home Assistant Operating System (HAOS), you need to modify the config.txt file and potentially use a custom integration. The fan is controlled by temperature thresholds set in config.txt, which can be adjusted to customize fan behavior.

Steps to Control the Armor lite V5 Cooler:

Access the config.txt file: Connect a monitor and keyboard to your Raspberry Pi 5. press "ctrl + F2 " Log in to the command line as the root user with no password, Navigate to the /mnt/boot/firmware/ directory. Edit the config.txt file using a text editor vi.

vi /mnt/boot/firmware/config.txt

adding following parameters

dtparam=fan_temp0=35000
dtparam=fan_temp0_hyst=5000
dtparam=fan_temp0_speed=175

Add or modify fan settings:

Add or modify the following lines to control the fan's behavior based on temperature: dtparam=fan_temp0=35000: Sets the first temperature threshold to 35°C. dtparam=fan_temp0_hyst=5000: Sets the hysteresis to 5°C. The fan will turn off when the temperature drops 5°C below the threshold (30°C). dtparam=fan_temp0_speed=175: Sets the fan speed to 175 when the temperature reaches 35°C. You can adjust the temperature thresholds, hysteresis, and fan speeds to your desired levels. Refer to the README file in /boot/firmware/overlays/ for more available options.

Save the changes and reboot:

Save the config.txt file and exit the text editor. Reboot your Raspberry Pi for the changes to take effect.

How to monitor fan speed on HAOS

Add this command line sensor, you must be running HassOS:

- sensor:
    name: Armor Lite V5 Fan
    unique_id: Armor_lite_v5_fan_rpm
    scan_interval: 15
    command: "cat /sys/devices/platform/cooling_fan/hwmon/hwmon1/fan1_input"
    unit_of_measurement: "RPM"
    value_template: "{{value}}"

Fan speed and temperature dtparms explainations

Please refer to following chart to setup your Fan.

        fan_temp0               Temperature threshold (in millicelcius) for
                                1st cooling level (default 50000). Pi5 only.
        fan_temp0_hyst          Temperature hysteresis (in millicelcius) for
                                1st cooling level (default 5000). Pi5 only.
        fan_temp0_speed         Fan PWM setting for 1st cooling level (0-255,
                                default 75). Pi5 only.
        fan_temp1               Temperature threshold (in millicelcius) for
                                2nd cooling level (default 60000). Pi5 only.
        fan_temp1_hyst          Temperature hysteresis (in millicelcius) for
                                2nd cooling level (default 5000). Pi5 only.
        fan_temp1_speed         Fan PWM setting for 2nd cooling level (0-255,
                                default 125). Pi5 only.
        fan_temp2               Temperature threshold (in millicelcius) for
                                3rd cooling level (default 67500). Pi5 only.
        fan_temp2_hyst          Temperature hysteresis (in millicelcius) for
                                3rd cooling level (default 5000). Pi5 only.
        fan_temp2_speed         Fan PWM setting for 3rd cooling level (0-255,
                                default 175). Pi5 only.
        fan_temp3               Temperature threshold (in millicelcius) for
                                4th cooling level (default 75000). Pi5 only.
        fan_temp3_hyst          Temperature hysteresis (in millicelcius) for
                                4th cooling level (default 5000). Pi5 only.
        fan_temp3_speed         Fan PWM setting for 4th cooling level (0-255,
                                default 250). Pi5 only.

More information

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Keywords

Official Active cooler for raspberry Pi 5, active cooler, pi5 active cooler.