Qwiic pHAT Extension for Raspberry Pi 400 Hookup Guide

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Contributors: bboyho, Elias The Sparkiest
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Hardware Assembly

Included with the Qwiic pHAT extension board is a set of large silicone bumpers. These are meant to hold the board up when it is attached to a Raspberry Pi 400 and placed on a table. You only need 2 out of the 4 silicone bumpers so you can use the left over bumpers for other projects.

Large Silicone Bumpers

To attach the two silicone bumpers, peel one bumper and attach it to the bottom of the board between the mounting holes of the Pi Zero's footprint. Repeat for the second bumper. Your setup should look similar to the image below.

Large Silicone Bumpers Attached to the Bottom of the Qwiic pHAT Extension Board

At this point, we'll assume that you have flashed an image and inserted the microSD card into the Raspberry Pi 400. With the straight header pins facing up, slide the Qwiic pHAT extension into the Raspberry Pi 400's GPIO port. The right angle connector is keyed so there's only one way to insert the board into the GPIO port.

Qwiic pHAT Extension being Inserted into a Raspberry Pi 400

When removing the pHAT extension, simply wiggle the board slowly up and down as the board is being pulled away from the Raspberry Pi 400.

Qwiic-Enabled Devices

If you have a Qwiic-enabled device, simply insert a Qwiic cable of your choice between the Qwiic board and the Qwiic pHAT extension. While you can connect to either Qwiic connector, the right side of the Qwiic pHAT extension will provide more space since most of the Pi's peripherals will be inserted to the left of the board.

Qwiic-Enabled Device Connected to the Qwiic pHAT Extension

Breadboard Prototyping

Connecting to the Raspberry Pi 400's GPIO is easy with the pin functions printed on the board for reference. We recommend using M/F jumper wires to connect when prototyping your circuit on a breadboard.

Prototyping on a Breadboard using the Qwiic pHAT Extension

Stacking pHATs

Boards designed with the Raspberry Pi or Pi Zero footprint can be stacked on top of the Qwiic pHAT Extension allowing it to be viewed right-side up. Below is an image of the Top pHAT connected to the Raspberry Pi 400.

Top pHAT Stacked on the

Depending on the design of the pHAT, you may require additional height if there are any wires being attached to the bottom of the pHAT. If this is the case, you can add additional height using an extended GPIO headers.

Extended GPIO Female Header - 2x20 Pin (16mm/7.30mm)

Extended GPIO Female Header - 2x20 Pin (16mm/7.30mm)

PRT-16763
$2.25
Extended GPIO Female Header - 2x20 Pin (13.5mm/9.80mm)

Extended GPIO Female Header - 2x20 Pin (13.5mm/9.80mm)

PRT-16764
$2.25

Mounting with Standoffs

You can attach standoffs to two of the Qwiic mounting holes to secure an Qwiic-enabled device.

Qwiic 9DoF secured to the Qwiic pHAT Extension

Got a wobbly pHAT on the Qwiic pHAT extension? You can attach standoffs to two of the mounting holes across from the vertical header pins on the Qwiic pHAT extension. Of course, you can always use all four mounting holes depending on your personal preference. Below is a Top pHAT using the Raspberry Pi's footprint but you can also mount a board that uses a Raspberry Pi Zero's footprint as well.

pHAT secured to the Qwiic pHAT Extension

Raspberry Pi 400 Peripherals

If you have not already, connect your peripherals (e.g. display cable, mouse, power, etc) to the Raspberry Pi 400! Your setup will look similar to the image below.

Peripherals Connected to the Raspberry Pi 400