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🎉  Happy 13th Birthday Raspberry Pi!   🎂   1,000+ deals in store!   🥳

GPIO Hammer Header (Solderless)

by Pimoroni

Absolutely no soldering required! All that's needed is a few gentle taps with a hammer and bazinga! Your header is securely attached to your Pi Zero or pHAT.

If your soldering isn't quite up to scratch, or you just don't own a soldering iron yet, then these nifty hammer headers might be just the job. They come in male and female flavours, and use crafty little retaining nubbins to grip tightly into the holes on the PCB.

The installation jig kit contains two acrylic base pieces, onto which your Pi Zero or pHAT sits, two steel bolts, two nuts (use these on top of the PCB to hold it tightly to the base of the jig), an acrylic top piece onto which you hammer, and both a male and female header. Make sure you carefully read our guide for fitting hammer headers, and use a sturdy, stable, well-supported surface while hammering.

We strongly recommend using our installation jig! If you want to try without it then godspeed to you but it is a delicate and tricky process! The female headers are simpler to insert than the male headers as you can hammer straight onto the plastic of the header, but the male ones are particularly tricky without the jig.

Please note: we can't be held responsible for any damage that you may cause to your Pi Zero, pHAT, fingers, or headers while fitting them. If you follow our guide carefully then you should be fine. If this worries you, then get yourself a soldering iron instead!

Watch our demo of how to fit the hammer headers on Bilge Tank

320 customer reviews

6 months ago
Price is a bit steep for a few bits of plastic, but its also not crazy expensive. Managed to do 2 of the male headers. To use it work along the top bracket and hit it medium hard repeatedly, dont just wallop it with a single hit and expect it to be in. Not sure how long this thing will last though ?
by Marcus about GPIO Hammer Header (Solderless) via REVIEWS.io
7 months ago
Gentle taps with the hammer are not sufficient. Read the instructions carefully several times before banging anything. Gradually increasing the strength of taps to the point at which the pins bent prior to being in the correct position. Managed perhaps 2/3 of the way there on all of the pins prior to the bending. Will go and find someone that is able to solder a head on.....
by Keith about GPIO Hammer Header (Solderless) via REVIEWS.io
7 months ago
Great Product! Works very well. The only thing that you have to be cautious of is that all the pins are hammered in evenly. Installation was a breeze, and the installation jig helped a lot.
by Anonymous about GPIO Hammer Header (Solderless) via REVIEWS.io
a year ago
Great for when you don't want to solder. Can be a little hard to install with the jig, as it feels very unusual to hammer something so delicate.
by Peter about GPIO Hammer Header (Solderless) via REVIEWS.io
a year ago
Great for when you don't want to solder. Can be a little hard to install with the jig, as it feels very unusual to hammer something so delicate, but it works well.
by Peter about GPIO Hammer Header (Solderless) via REVIEWS.io
a year ago
You really require the addition of the small rig to help install this (which doesn't come included). I tried to install it without and ended up destroying my pi zero. So please take care!
by Jamie about GPIO Hammer Header (Solderless) via REVIEWS.io
a year ago
Good quality, does exactly what it's advertised to do. I only bought the header, not the kit, but you can still use a hammer to gently prise this in place.
by ian about GPIO Hammer Header (Solderless) via REVIEWS.io
a year ago
I have rated this Jig a two as it broke after one use and for what you pay for it it needs to be a bit more robust the perspex behind where the gpio sits snapped off on both sides as it is too thin if the perspex was maybe a bit thicker and had slightly more width behind the gpio it would have not broke i would then have considered leaving five stars as i would have been able to use it again on other boards but, as this is now broken it's no longer an option. I have seen others on the market which are made from aluminium a bit more expensive but would last longer.
by Thomas about GPIO Hammer Header (Solderless) via REVIEWS.io
a year ago
Had my doubts after reading other peoples experiences with this header but this is perfect for people who have bad eyesight and can no longer do fine soldering this is the way ahead.
by Thomas about GPIO Hammer Header (Solderless) via REVIEWS.io
a year ago
The header's won't fit into my Pi0W2 without me being forceful, and even then, it won't go in. I had to use regular headers instead.
by Anonymous about GPIO Hammer Header (Solderless) via REVIEWS.io
a year ago
Simple to use. Was worried about wacking my Pi Zero, but the jig is very sturdy and the Pi well protected. Firm, accurate taps will do the trick.
by Tim about GPIO Hammer Header (Solderless) via REVIEWS.io
a year ago
There is NO way to install this properly without the installation jig. My advice, buy the jig if you don't already have it! if you got the full installation kit, its straightforward to install. Its a great product, but in general, I recoomend: don't be afraid of soldering, check out youtube how its done, get your hardware and then buy the color-coded GPIO headers instead. This is what I ended up with eventually
by Anonymous about GPIO Hammer Header (Solderless) via REVIEWS.io
a year ago
Seems like it should work but after following the guide video and trying multiple times I have not been able to install the header using this jig and a hammer, the pins never sink in further than a small amount, and I worry that using much more force might damage the pi. I have seen other reviews suggest using clamps to help push the header more firmly into place to aid the jig but don't have any at the moment.
by Joe about GPIO Hammer Header (Solderless) via REVIEWS.io
a year ago
This product was exactly what I needed. My soldering skills need work! Just as when working with or around other electronics, take care to be precise, follow the instructions and you won’t be disappointed with this jig. Great product!
by Tim about GPIO Hammer Header (Solderless) via REVIEWS.io
a year ago
Not the best. I felt as though I was in danger of damaging the pi zero it was attaching to. In the end I soldered an ordinary header onto the pi.
by Keith about GPIO Hammer Header (Solderless) via REVIEWS.io
a year ago
Pretty scary when you're tapping away and you can see all the pins correctly aligned but the Pi Zero board is bending big style. A couple more careful taps and it went in so it's a win from me. Might try soldering next time though.
by Howard about GPIO Hammer Header (Solderless) via REVIEWS.io

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