Bitcoin Forum

As summer is approaching so is also the heating becoming an increasing problem.

I have two jupiters.

My roommate is no longer happy with running these machines because of the heat. His idea is to place them outdoors, basically on the balcony inside a custom case made to protect the units from rain with a mesh to protect them from bugs etc. I have this gut feeling that it is just a poor idea, I am concerned with mainly moisture (condensation for example), fine dust( pollen for example). My roommate insists what I am wrong about the condensation and moisture, and I can kinda see his point.

As far as I know condensation will only form if the component has a lower temperature than the air blowing on it (and relative humidity comes into play aswell..) . And to his point it is unlikely that the components will have a lower temperature than the outside air. But I still feel like this is a bad idea.

Should I be worried or should I listen to my friend and put the damn machines outside? Please provide arguments for either side, if I am wrong so be it... (although I would prefer to be right  :) )

The climate is scandinavia. So during the summer it can be anywhere from 8 celsius to 30 celsius.


tldr: Jupiters outside, good or bad idea?

If you can protect them from water I wouldnt be too concerned. I run gear in my garage year round in Canada with similar temperature variations.

also protect them from stealing ...

They are on a balcony but good point :)

I built this thing last year

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=7216.msg2423200#msg2423200

basically same sort of thing, just pulling lots of air in and out. If you go that route make sure to get in-line blowers, I switched to those fairly quickly.

Cool thing, looks pretty neat!

So basically as long as I keep it safe from thieves ya'll reckon that my machinery is safe?

I have 4 S1s in the garage. I use this to shut them off if it happens to get too warm (and turns them back on when the temperature drops), although it doesn't sound like you will have that problem.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=181428692436

It is pollen season now, but they are pretty clean still. I was thinking about one of those big plastic storage boxes where I could truly put them outside, but I haven't spent enough time trying to figure out how to make ventilation water tight and still maintain enough airflow since I do have some windy rain at times. There are NEMA rated enclosures but I'm not interested in spending that kind of money on this little project since it is only really useful in the summer.

Thanks for the suggestion, I just might buy something similar!

i have 3 S2s, 2 Jupiters, 6 ants & 2 avalons - all outside.

since last year - no worries - just a lot dustier than inside.

How do you protect them from the rain?

It's the morning dew which should be a concern or just moisture in the air.  If it's housed inside the cabinet it may be ok but fans sucking in moisture if it rains will kill it.  I have a shed that I thought I would place my miners in but I live where it rains a good part of the time.

Right, this is what I am concerned about aswell. But his point is that all the material inside the box will have a higher temperature than outside and therefore no need to worry about moisture building up. I kinda concur with him about this but I still fear moisture.

porch roof and external walls.

30 - 38C  70-95% Relative Humidity.

monsoons havent killed any of them, nor has boiling water, rice or baking bread right underneath them.

pouring water in them would but excessive steam and condensation do not - remember how hot it is in there..

 

Put the Jupiters near an open window or open door.
Make sure nobody can enter your house, protect the window or door with a metal fence that can't be penetrated.
Point the miners with the direction of the outtake to the door or window and blow the heat directly outside the room.
The intake of your miners are sucking air from the other rooms and there is circulation of air.
Your room will not be hot.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=636027.msg7103613#msg7103613
It is already summer here in China with ambient temperature above 30 degree celsius.
This setup proves to be working.
Now I am replacing all the fans in the miners with much greater airflow than the ones originaly in the miners and it's even work better than before.
More airflow is more noise, I don't live in that house, so it is not a problem.
You are living in the same room as your miners, so you have to decide wheter to put the Jupiters outside or experiment with this idea.

This is an approach I'm considering. This would be quite simple just need some ducts to direct the airflow.

Have any of you used one of the plastic outdoor deck boxes for mining with some 120mm fans attached to the back for air flow? I'm wondering how many intake and exhaust fans would be need for running 6 or so GPU's mining X11/X13.

I've got a covered patio so I am thinking about going this route with the box next to the back wall where little rain reaches.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61hzWhM3CoS._SL1500_.jpg

dust is a big problem for all electronics
they change the values of electronics with dust and heat
so fear of changing values lead into equipment fail
Decent cleaning with presured air is required more often

I have several HW in the balcony since month. They are protected from rain, but gettin dust.
I clean them suddendly, but they runs great.
From oct. ca.2c to today 35c