Pi zero wh with 4.2.4 board?


 

Matt Fine

TVWBB Member
I want to ditch the edimax interfaces and was considering switching my 4.2 HM to use a pi zero w. I can get a wh version with the headers in place cheaper and faster than the plain version where I will have to solder on the first 26 pins.

My question is how bad is the physical interference with the extra header pins? Can I just snip off the extra pins or will I need to unsolder the header and remove the black plastic as well?
 
It will interfere with the extra pins.

Your choices are:

1) Clip the extra pins on the Pi Zero W

2) Relocate the BS170 to the other side of the board, making sure you rotate it 180 degrees to get the legs in the correct holes.

3) Live without the piezoelectric alarm on the heatermeter and clip off the BS170 and 1K resistor.

zYTh3nK.jpg
 
I've been running a zero-w on a HMv4.24 for a long time now. I soldered in the header on the pi myself, only installing the first 26 pins so there was no interference with those parts on the HM board. Frankly that seems like the easiest route to me, however, the BS170 can be moved as Steve suggested. Depending on your soldering skill level and desoldering tools one route may be easier than the other. I think for most people soldering in 26 pins on the pi header would be easier than pulling a transistor and installing it on the other side of the board without killing it.
 
I guess if you've got good clippers that are small enough to get in and clip out those pins that would be an easy route to go as well.
 
I've been running a zero-w on a HMv4.24 for a long time now. I soldered in the header on the pi myself, only installing the first 26 pins so there was no interference with those parts on the HM board. Frankly that seems like the easiest route to me, however, the BS170 can be moved as Steve suggested. Depending on your soldering skill level and desoldering tools one route may be easier than the other. I think for most people soldering in 26 pins on the pi header would be easier than pulling a transistor and installing it on the other side of the board without killing it.

The issue is the new version of the Pi Zero W(h) already has the pins soldered in. I will attempt to simply clip them. If that fails, I guess I will need to move the BS170 as that should be easier than desoldering the header.
 
HA! I picked up a couple Pi Zero W's and thought it would be simple to snip the pins and stick in the SD card from the old B Pi. The header pins are no big deal, but I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to shove the 1990's full sized SD card into the MicroSD slot on the 2017 Zero. DOH!

I have at least a half dozen of the little guys somehwere, but they sure love to hide in the smallest crevices in drawers and bags so I am going to give up on the Pi swap for the evening.
 
As much as I like microsd, lots of stuff still takes full SD cards, and like you mentioned, they dont seem to get lost as quickly.

Just recently I brought my dying iPod classic that remains in my car back to life with a iFlash solo board and a 128GB SD card.
 
FYI,

For anyone else who finds this thread in a search, clipping the extra pins was fast and easy and worked perfectly. My only caution is to wear protective eye wear and try to do the clipping in a bag or under cover. The pins can take off with impressive velocity when clipped!
 
Haha I have the same problem when soldering HeaterMeters, I always keep a finger on the pin being cut which absorbs almost all of that explosive force so they don't go flying all over the room and into my face.
 
Haha I have the same problem when soldering HeaterMeters, I always keep a finger on the pin being cut which absorbs almost all of that explosive force so they don't go flying all over the room and into my face.

`Yeah, you never really think about it until you have to spend an hour digging out a deeply embedded pin from the heel of your foot (don't ask).
 
No pin cutting needed for the 4.3 board as it was designed for the newer RasPi units that have 40 pins vs the older 26 pin units.
 
No pin cutting needed for the 4.3 board as it was designed for the newer RasPi units that have 40 pins vs the older 26 pin units.

Perfect, thanks for that info Steve!
Can't wait to start working on the HM assembly and get some sleep when doing over night smoking sessions.
 
Probably a dumb question, but how do I know which pins on the pi WH do I clip? Was having issues with the WiFi on the pi for my HM 4.2, so thinking about replacing the pi. Seems like the zero WH might be the easiest and cheapest option
 
Probably a dumb question, but how do I know which pins on the pi WH do I clip? Was having issues with the WiFi on the pi for my HM 4.2, so thinking about replacing the pi. Seems like the zero WH might be the easiest and cheapest option

Clip these pins

g4p5Ilq.png
 

 

Back
Top