I’ve recently received a couple of these (and have more in transit):
After attempting to install the board with the official PoE hat, I’ve discovered that the PoE hat doesn’t actually fit. The Pibow 4 case has the cutouts for the PoE pins on the RPI4, but it doesn’t have the cutouts required for the actual PoE module to sit on top of the board. There are three electrical components on the underside of the PoE hat that hit the clear perspex layer and prevent the Hat making contact with all of the required pins.
Did anyone in QA actually test the PoE hat installation with the Pibow 4 case prior to launching the product? It seems like an embarassing oversight.
I’m pretty disappointed, the website link above states that this case is “Fully HAT Compatible” yet it actually isn’t - especially if it isn’t compatible with the stock RPI parts.
No idea. The same problem exists with the Pibow 3 and 4. I did have contact from someone in support who suggested header extenders - it’s pretty ugly but it may work (requires the main gpio header extended a few mm, and the 2x2, and the standoffs). We will see how it goes when the items arrive to test.
At this stage I am hoping that they update the website to state the incompatibility, but in the longer term it would be great if the extra cutouts required could be incorporated in the design so that the PoE hat will fit properly. For now I have opted to leave the top layer off the stack.
Yeah, doubtless extenders will work… Not sure how good looking it will be… As you say, it would be good it it actually fit though. It’s not like the POE hat is a new & unexpected surprise given that it’s older than the Pi4 by about 12 months.