“The Pimoroni fan shim is an excellent solution to a problem that shouldn’t have happened. The Pi 4 is wonderful but if you use it as intended as a desktop computer it gets very hot. The Pi 4 in the official case is just too hot to use and the performance is reduced. Just having a couple of. browser pages open sends it into the eighties. Heat dissipation through the printed circuit doesn’t work well enough. A simple solution: Cut a hole with a hole saw in the top of the case and stick in a fan shim. It switches off when it isn’t needed. The other Raspberry Pi fans just plug into 5v or 3.3v so this is a better solution. The fan shim is small and neat. It uses 1 GPIO line and about a centimetre of space above the board. You may need a GPIO extender to lift hats above it. You need to install the software that drives it. Installation is simple - the shim fits over the left hand pins and holds the fan on extended arms. The only problem I had was the fan plug. It’s too small to put in with my fingers, .you need a pair of pliers.”
“Much better than other fans I have had for my other devices - this one is smarter and with simple to follow instructions (included) comes on when required and switches itself off when the Pi is cool enough. Excellent product and price!”
“small & fits pimoroni housing - cut the screws to fit on top of metal heatsink (but soldering or taping might be required to keep it from slipping off the pins.”
