Raspberry PI4b 2.5" SSD Case

A case to hold both a Raspberry Pi4b and a 2.5" SATA SSD (or normal HDD for that matter).

The pi is mounted on top of the SSD using the ssd tray part, and they are in turn held into the case by the SSD. A fan is mounted in the top of the case lid to blow down onto the Pi, and the case lid just snaps into place.

You will need the following hardware:

4x M3 x 6mm cap head screws (for mounting the SSD into the case through the 4 holes in the bottom)

4x M2.5 x 6mm screws to mount the Pi4 to the tray - I used flat head / pan screws

4x M3 x 4mm screws to mount the tray to the SSD.

Optional - 2 M4 x 18mm screws, 2 washers and 2 M4 nuts to hold the fan in - I ended up using the rubber mounting things that comes with the Noctua fan I used, but these should do if you don't have these.

Print one of each part. The tray will need printing with the 4 circular standoffs toward the build plate, so you will need support material.

Assembly is easy - mount the tray to the SSD. The rectangular cut-out faces away from the SATA interface on the drive. Mount the pi to the tray - the USB ports of the pi face in the same direction as the drive interface. Drop the assembly into the case and fasten in from underneath. Add the fan, plug in to the appropriate pins on the GPIO Header and snap the case on.

Because there's no internal USB connection, or SATA interface or anything like that on the PI, you will need a SATA to USB cable, and it does unfortunately end up on the outside… But it's a small price to pay for the speed & capacity bump over the SD card. I use this adaptor:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00XLAZODE

I've also included a cradle for the case to allow it to be attached to a 1.5" telescope tripod leg, as this was primarily designed to run my astrophotography rig.