I was hoping someone could give me some insight on the compatibility of the DC & Stepper Motor HAT alongside the raspberry pi5 with an active cooling fan installed already.
The active cooling system sits atop the raspberry pi and extends a little bit above the pi’s GPIO pins. I am worried that the stackable headers are not long enough to reach above the active cooling system while the HAT is connected to the raspberry pi. I have looked online and could not find a tutorial where a raspberry pi with active cooling fan is installed when connecting the DC & Stepper Motor HAT.
Could someone please confirm whether the stackable headers will be tall enough to sit the HAT atop the pi while remaining electrically connected via GPIO pins?
Great question, you’re right to check the clearance with the Raspberry Pi 5’s active cooling system in play.
The good news is, this extra-long stacking header from Core Electronics works perfectly for this purpose. It provides around 23.5 mm of height, which is more than enough to clear the fan and heatsink, while still maintaining solid contact with the Pi’s 40-pin GPIO.
The official Raspberry Pi 5 Active Cooler sits on top of the SoC and partially over the GPIO area, though it does not obstruct the pins themselves. However, its heatsink fins and fan assembly protrude upwards, which can physically interfere with HATs that sit directly on the GPIO header without extra clearance.
Gotcha thanks! And just to verify, that means that the black casing extends past the fan and heatsink fans right? Additionally, does the stackable header require any soldering to be done in order to connect the pins to the board?
