Hardware Guides
      Back to home
      1. Knowledge base
      2. Content & Hardware
      3. Hardware Guides

      Replacing your Raspberry Pi

      Want to swap out the Raspberry Pi in your pi-top [4]? Here's the guide.

      Before performing any steps, read through the entirety of the instructions and watch the video above.

      Disassembly


      1. Turn over the pi-top [4] and remove the SD Card cover and the SD Card.
      2. Remove x2 black screws from the underside.
      3. Remove the upper-casing that covers the Raspberry Pi. Pull the plastic up and away from the base.
      4. Disconnect the flat cable the connects to the Mezzanine PCB. Be careful, you'll only need a little force.
      5. Peel the warranty void sticker that is hidden underneath the flat cable, you'll see a silver screw below the sticker.
      6. Remove the x1 silver screw and x2 black screws that are holding the metal case to the green plastic base.
      7. Slide out the Raspberry Pi Assembly from the pi-top.
      8. Remove the x3 black screws that secure the Mezzanine PCB to the metal frame.
      9. Unplug the USB plug.
      10. Remove the warranty void sticker covering the fan connector.
      11. Turn over the Raspberry Pi and remove the warranty void sticker covering a screw hole.
      12. Remove the x4 black screws securing the metal chassis together.
      13. Unplug the fan connector from the Mezzanine PCB.
      14. Lift up the Mezzanine PCB away from the metal chassis. Carefully do this step as there are still cables connected to the underside of the Mezzanine PCB, so don't pull with too much force.
      15. Using tweezers or a pin, disconnect the Ribbon Cables from the Mezzanine by tilting the lack bar up.
      16. Pry apart the lower metal case from the Raspberry Pi.
      17. Using tweezers release the black bar holding the Display RIbbon Cable into the Raspberry Pi.
      18. Remove the upper metal case from the Raspberry Pi
      19. Disconnect the Camera Ribbon Cable by pulling the black bar upwards to release the cable.

      Assembly

      1. Insert the white Camera Ribbon cable. Take note of the text that says "RPi Side". The exposed copper of the ribbon cable should be facing away from the black bar of the connector. Press the black bar down to lock the cable in place.
      2. Attach the upper metal case onto the Raspberry Pi. Careful to feed the Display interface cable into the Display Ribbon Connector. Push the black bar of the connector downwards to lock the ribbon cable in place.
      3. Attach the lower metal case onto the base of the Raspberry Pi. Use the SD card cutout in the metal to understand the orientation.
      4. Screw x4 black screws into the bottom of the metal to secure the metal case to the Raspberry Pi.
      5. Connect the Camera and Display Ribbon Cables to their respective connectors on the Mezzanine PCB. Tilt the black bar of the connectors towards the cables to lock the cables in place.
      6. Place the Mezzanine PCB onto the GPIOs of the  Raspberry Pi.
      7. Connect the wafer cable of the fan to the wafer connector (Reference Designator: J1) on the Mezzanine.
      8. Slide the USB Plug into the Rasberry Pi USB Port. If facing the ports, this will be the bottom left USB port. The copper pads on the plug should be facing upwards.
      9. Slide the assembly back into the pi-top [4] base. All of the ports on the Raspberry Pi will connect back into the male plugs on the pi-top.
      10. Screw x3 black screws into the Mezzanine PCB to secure it back to the metal case.
      11. Screw x1 silver screw and x2 black screws to secure the metal assembly into the pi-top [4].
      12. Connect the ribbon cable from the pi-top [4] onto the Mezzanine. You should feel a click.
      13. Place the Raspberry Side plastic cover onto the device and secure it with x2 black screws from the bottom.
      14. Insert the SD Card into the base of the device and insert the SD Card Cover to protect the card from removal.