Do I have to cool my Raspberry Pi 2?

Hallo, the question is above. Also I would like to know whether it could go up in flames.

Thanks for your help.

I don’t think that you’ll need to unless you overclock it or put it somewhere where that’s warmer than normal room temperature. There’s a good article with some infrared pictures over here:

The RPi3B runs pretty hot and may need radiators or a fan in some situations, especially java intensive operations. Some of the radiators for sale (like the copper ones on Amazon) have a thick, black, tarry, double-sided adhesive that is a very good thermal insulator. Remove (preferably before installing) with “Goof Off” or similar solvent and use Arctic Alumina epoxy in a very thin coating. You’ll never need to remove it so permanence is not an issue.

The RPi2 is not nearly so hot as the 3. The console command “vcgencmd measure_temp” is your best bet for checking CPU temp. The RPi auto-throttles the CPU speed at around 85C but my 3B never gets above 62C with the copper/Arctic Alumina combination (overheated often without and black goo only reduced my temp by 2C). No flames if you don’t light it up with a high voltage:slight_smile:

Don’t think you have to worry about a fire, but I have been having what appears to be overheating issues for awhile with both the PI2 and PI3.
It would run for about 15 minutes and then just restart in an endless loop.
This happened with all OS versions.
When I first tried it ( Pi2 ), I thought it was the small 1A power supply so got a more industrial 5A power supply.
Still continued.
Got the heat sinks ( addicore) which held well and did seem to get hot to the touch.
Still continued.
Checked the card with an infrared thermometer. A lot of heat around the SDcard with the top side ( raspberry symbol) showing the hottest temperature around 105F.
Put a little pc fan next to it.
Seems to have done the trick so far.
I was really hoping to use it in an industrial setting, but temperature and reliability seem questionable.
Hope someone at PI can fix???