Assemble RPI4 5H Board Stack

by Craig Brown September 11, 2019

These instructions show how to assemble a stack of RPI4 boards for your PicoCluster. These photos show how to assemble a 5 board stack. The 3 board stack is same, but only 3 boards are required instead of 5.

Please contact support@picocluster.com if you encounter any difficulties.

Step 1 – Prepare the Boards

Open the packages and apply the heat sinks as shown. Each heat sink has a peel-off backing allowing it to stick to the chips.

There are 2 different heat sinks. The standard heat sinks come with the Starter Kit and go on individual chips. The Advanced Kits and Assembled Cubes come with the larger black heat sinks.

Step 2 – Assemble the Board Stack

Start with the 1/2" F/F standoffs on the bottom and the 1" M/F standoffs on the top as shown. Once screwed together, then tighten slightly. The standoffs only need to be snug, not wrenched tight together.

Continue to add boards to the stack using the 1" M/F standoffs as shown.

Step 3 – Mount the PDU

Attach the PDU to the top of the stack using the 3/8" screws as shown.

Step 4 – Connect the Power Cables

Connect each power cable to each PI as shown. The RPI4 uses USB-A to USB-C cables.There is one USB-A to 5.5mm DC Power cable to power the switch.

Plug each power cable into the PDU on top as shown. The cables can be tied to the standoff with a cable tie as shown.

Next Steps – Assemble Your Cube

Move on the the assembly instructions for your particular cluster cube. The Pico 10H requires 2 board stacks and the Pico 20H requires 4 board stacks.