For Pi day I put together this quick experiment to see how much I could safety drop the temperature of the Pi’s processor but sticking on a Peltier element. It worked well! List of parts I used, a simple schematic, and the python script I wrote after the jump!
Okay, so you’re obviously interested in attempting to repeat this project since the video didn’t suffice, lets get to the actual parts I used!
- UART 7 Segment display from Sparkfun
- Peltier Module 15mm Square
- An LED
- A pushbutton
- 15mm Fan (These are stupid expensive, sorry.)
- Copper Heat Sinks
- Heat Sink Mount
- Bunch of jumpers.
Quick diagram.
Some things to note about the diagram. I live life dangerously. the fan is rated for 3V and the Peltier is rated for 3.8V. I used (4) 1.25V batteries making 5V on the circuit. I know these things can handle this voltage, but prolonged use will probably break them sooner. Be warned and take precautions that I do not take, please.
Another note: Try out the peltier before sticking it to the raspberry pi, so you can determine which side gets hot and cold when you apply voltage to it. Mark each side with a marker so you don’t forget. Then stick the side you want cold, to the Pi processor. It gets hot quick and I do not want to you swap the wires by accident and overheat your Pi!
For the python script you need pySerial installed. You may also need to change the directory of vcgencmd.
Here is the python script I wrote to get the temperature on the display. DOWNLOAD
I may make an actually controller board for the GPIO. What do you think? Could be a cool thing to experiment with.
