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Title: GPU MINING RIG taking fire Post by: ethminr on February 03, 2017, 07:43:28 PM Hello everyone,
Have someone ever heard of Mining rig taking fire? I am scared to leave my mining rig running at home while I am not there because of that It could catch fire and burn my home. What do you think? Thanks, Title: Re: GPU MINING RIG taking fire Post by: AmDD on February 03, 2017, 07:47:31 PM Hello everyone, Have someone ever heard of Mining rig taking fire? I am scared to leave my mining rig running at home while I am not there because of that It could catch fire and burn my home. What do you think? Thanks, It can happen. I had a few GPUs flame up on me awhile back. luckily it just destroyed the card and nothing else. Title: Re: GPU MINING RIG taking fire Post by: bathrobehero on February 03, 2017, 07:51:05 PM I only had burnt cables so far (because of my fault, too many cards on 1 molex cable) and I limit my cards to 72°C max and occasionally check them with an temp gun to see what's warm.
But even then it could happen in case of a failure. Title: Re: GPU MINING RIG taking fire Post by: RentGPU on February 03, 2017, 07:51:30 PM Hello everyone, My nVidia card did this it caught fire but i was at home thank god :). It was an old GT xfx heard first some sparks and then boom fire and smoke . try to keep eyes on them from time to time also set the max gpu temp in the miner.Have someone ever heard of Mining rig taking fire? I am scared to leave my mining rig running at home while I am not there because of that It could catch fire and burn my home. What do you think? Thanks, Title: Re: GPU MINING RIG taking fire Post by: philipma1957 on February 03, 2017, 07:52:30 PM It can burn as can your tv set or any thing plugged into a receptacle and drawing power.
Some commonsense rules are use good psu and don't overclock it like a mofo. But yeah it can burn your house down. I use simpleminer as I can check my gear all over the world. I can adjust temps, set fan speeds, set clocks, boot. I do have 2 cards that run too low but I don't mind as it helps to keep temps stable. https://i.imgur.com/kmHJC73.png Title: Re: GPU MINING RIG taking fire Post by: mrbsk on February 03, 2017, 07:52:52 PM i had once my motherboard burned due to short circuit in pci-e slot caused by small peace of usb raiser's pin left there i assume. My motherboard was lying at foam which came in box so it started to melt and i think it might be fired up if i hadn't power off the system.
Title: Re: GPU MINING RIG taking fire Post by: adaseb on February 03, 2017, 07:56:37 PM Normally when a GPU fries the PSU short circuit cut out the power and it turns off.
Worse is when your PCIe slot +12V are melting due to overloading the small gauge wires. Either shut off when not home or put it on a metal rack away from anything that can catch fire... or put inside a balcony or shed. Title: Re: GPU MINING RIG taking fire Post by: ParaplegicRacehorse on February 04, 2017, 01:03:54 AM You could always rig a combination heat/smoke detector to trip the power breaker and trigger a CO2 extinguisher at the same time.
Title: Re: GPU MINING RIG taking fire Post by: imtav on February 04, 2017, 03:25:04 AM Any electric appliance can catch fire. If you're worried: buy an extinguisher that's rated for electric fires, plug into a surge protector, and regularly check GPU temps. Some miners have temp monitors and shut off mining if GPU temp gets too high.
If you're using PCI-E risers, don't use the cheap ones that are held together by electrical tape. They look like they're asking for trouble. There are much higher quality risers that use USB cable instead. I bought these https://www.amazon.ca/6-Pack-PCI-E-Powered-Adapter-Extension/dp/B01GU94QSQ/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1485376705&sr=8-6&keywords=mintcell Title: Re: GPU MINING RIG taking fire Post by: arielbit on February 04, 2017, 04:47:29 AM over clocked mining since 2013..
the burns i experienced: - sata molex adaptor for pcie riser, burned due to low quality of adaptor - socket of modular cable of PSU, burned due to 2-3 pcie risers connected...now i try to use 1 cable per riser as possible, although 2 riser per cable is still quite safe. - a wall outlet socket burned due to over loading. my electrical lines are standard and with room for extra amps... i know better now...last January i go out for a week, left home with the mining rigs running..i got home all are fine, except for a rig with HDD failure :D Title: Re: GPU MINING RIG taking fire Post by: PovertyByte on February 04, 2017, 05:00:41 AM Hello everyone, My nVidia card did this it caught fire but i was at home thank god :). It was an old GT xfx heard first some sparks and then boom fire and smoke . try to keep eyes on them from time to time also set the max gpu temp in the miner.Have someone ever heard of Mining rig taking fire? I am scared to leave my mining rig running at home while I am not there because of that It could catch fire and burn my home. What do you think? Thanks, Do all miners have this feature? I would assume the temp limit in the OC software would throttle down the GPU in case of fan failure while away Title: Re: GPU MINING RIG taking fire Post by: Emoclaw on February 04, 2017, 09:50:42 AM You should check the quality & condition of all cables.
Bigger PSUs usually have thicker gauge wires. As for the components themselves, a modern rig (say 6 RX 480s) won't catch fire, but do try to operate them within their limits as a safe measure. Title: Re: GPU MINING RIG taking fire Post by: RentGPU on February 04, 2017, 11:14:08 AM Hello everyone, My nVidia card did this it caught fire but i was at home thank god :). It was an old GT xfx heard first some sparks and then boom fire and smoke . try to keep eyes on them from time to time also set the max gpu temp in the miner.Have someone ever heard of Mining rig taking fire? I am scared to leave my mining rig running at home while I am not there because of that It could catch fire and burn my home. What do you think? Thanks, Do all miners have this feature? I would assume the temp limit in the OC software would throttle down the GPU in case of fan failure while away Title: Re: GPU MINING RIG taking fire Post by: charles2k on February 04, 2017, 11:55:44 AM Yes - PCIE-USB risers (bottom side) and many times PCIE connectors on PSUs side (and it were high class PSUs)
Title: Re: GPU MINING RIG taking fire Post by: westom on February 04, 2017, 11:16:50 PM Do all miners have this feature? A properly designed PSU has foldback current limiting. If properly sized, then a short circuit causes excessive current. So the PSU cuts back power without flames. However, many computer assemblers grossly oversize their PSU using a myth that more power makes a better PSU. So that PSU turns a short circuit into flames; does not perform foldback current limiting. Is your computer so hot as to also toast bread? If not, then a 700 or 1000 watt PSU is excessive and unnecessary. If a short circuit occurs, this grossly oversized PSU turns that short circuit hot as a bread toaster's toating wire. ATX specs are quite clear. All outputs from a PSU can be shorted together. EVen that does not damage a PSU. ATX specs even say how thick that shorting wire must be - so that every computer assembler will do it to verify a good PSU. But if wires inside a computer are not big enough for an oversized PSU, then fire can result. Molex connectors: each contact is speced to support up to 6 amps. An assembler must add specification numbers to confirm that connector will not be overloaded. A molex connector can be overloaded and still not cause melting. Melting occurs when the connector is so grossly overloaded that the assembler should have know better just from basic knowledge. Never ignore numbers. Title: Re: GPU MINING RIG taking fire Post by: felixbrucker on February 05, 2017, 02:05:20 AM i had one card create a spark, the psu cut the power immediately
i was almost asleep at that time and sleepy as i was i thought "wut?" and turned it back on, at this point the gpu really burned and created smoke and the psu would not power down automatically in my case nothing could have prevented that from happening besides me cleaning the card, it was dust shorting something inside the card :D Title: Re: GPU MINING RIG taking fire Post by: RentGPU on February 05, 2017, 01:02:44 PM i had one card create a spark, the psu cut the power immediately You remind me of some cards i had that i didn't clean for decades :) until the dust became a part of it and those cards had the longest life i have ever seen for gpus 6 years at minimum...i think it's not the dust or anyother fault, electrical components in the gpus can go dead in silence or it can also go dead after it burns some fire and smoke.....shit happens , by the way dust can't make a short circuit because of it's high resistance.i was almost asleep at that time and sleepy as i was i thought "wut?" and turned it back on, at this point the gpu really burned and created smoke and the psu would not power down automatically in my case nothing could have prevented that from happening besides me cleaning the card, it was dust shorting something inside the card :D Title: Re: GPU MINING RIG taking fire Post by: felixbrucker on February 05, 2017, 01:12:32 PM i had one card create a spark, the psu cut the power immediately You remind me of some cards i had that i didn't clean for decades :) until the dust became a part of it and those cards had the longest life i have ever seen for gpus 6 years at minimum...i think it's not the dust or anyother fault, electrical components in the gpus can go dead in silence or it can also go dead after it burns some fire and smoke.....shit happens , by the way dust can't make a short circuit because of it's high resistance.i was almost asleep at that time and sleepy as i was i thought "wut?" and turned it back on, at this point the gpu really burned and created smoke and the psu would not power down automatically in my case nothing could have prevented that from happening besides me cleaning the card, it was dust shorting something inside the card :D im pretty sure it had to do with dust buildup, the card in question was a 7970 with an arctic cooling cooler with this special backplate. betweet backplate and actual back of the card there is a very small gap, and dust was all over it on the edges (where the fire and smoke came out), might have been something else as well, but well, first and only card to die on me for now :D Title: Re: GPU MINING RIG taking fire Post by: westom on February 05, 2017, 01:43:08 PM im pretty sure it had to do with dust buildup, ... Dust is never conductive to those low DC voltages. Dust would never create that spark. However a stray metal fragment might.Normal is for electronics to be heavily caked in dust without failure or arcing. More likely something internally failed inside a semiconductor creating a physic defect. Most all electronic failures have no indication. But some rare ones (such as this one) do. So a short circuit caused the PSU to enter current foldback limiting - and shutdown. Later, the same failure was now a tiny short circuit that burned open during a new power up only creating smoke. Not flame as originally suggested. Just arcing and smoke. A major difference. Title: Re: GPU MINING RIG taking fire Post by: felixbrucker on February 05, 2017, 02:29:32 PM im pretty sure it had to do with dust buildup, ... Dust is never conductive to those low DC voltages. Dust would never create that spark. However a stray metal fragment might.Normal is for electronics to be heavily caked in dust without failure or arcing. More likely something internally failed inside a semiconductor creating a physic defect. Most all electronic failures have no indication. But some rare ones (such as this one) do. So a short circuit caused the PSU to enter current foldback limiting - and shutdown. Later, the same failure was now a tiny short circuit that burned open during a new power up only creating smoke. Not flame as originally suggested. Just arcing and smoke. A major difference. thanks for the explanation! there was smoke and iirc there also was a small flame at first immediately after power on but well, i buried the card long ago, may it rest in piece Title: Re: GPU MINING RIG taking fire Post by: westom on February 05, 2017, 03:06:55 PM there was smoke and iirc there also was a small flame at first immediately after power on Electronic parts are designed to burn but not support flame. Exceptions exist. But a flame initially supported by arcing quickly extinguished once arcing did not support (maintain) that flame.To better understand this, take a propane torch to the dead body to learn what will and will not support fire. But I guess you also need a shovel to dig it up that dead body. Title: Re: GPU MINING RIG taking fire Post by: Raja_MBZ on February 05, 2017, 03:37:55 PM Well anything electrically powered can catch up the fire. Sometimes, you do have to risk some stuff.
If you ask me, I'd never worry about the fire and let the system be powered. All the new GPU's are very much safe in this regard, in the worst case, your GPU's might burn, your cables might burn, your motherboard might burn, but your home, nah, I don't think its possible. There may be a single case in a million rigs like this, but I don't think that anyone should worry about this, specially if you have latest hardware. Title: Re: GPU MINING RIG taking fire Post by: felixbrucker on February 05, 2017, 03:51:42 PM Well anything electrically powered can catch up the fire. Sometimes, you do have to risk some stuff. If you ask me, I'd never worry about the fire and let the system be powered. All the new GPU's are very much safe in this regard, in the worst case, your GPU's might burn, your cables might burn, your motherboard might burn, but your home, nah, I don't think its possible. There may be a single case in a million rigs like this, but I don't think that anyone should worry about this, specially if you have latest hardware. actually its quite possible if even a small phone can burn down a house probably safer to not use wooden frames and have nothing stacked on top Title: Re: GPU MINING RIG taking fire Post by: ccccccc7 on February 05, 2017, 04:36:46 PM there was smoke and iirc there also was a small flame at first immediately after power on Electronic parts are designed to burn but not support flame. Exceptions exist. But a flame initially supported by arcing quickly extinguished once arcing did not support (maintain) that flame.To better understand this, take a propane torch to the dead body to learn what will and will not support fire. But I guess you also need a shovel to dig it up that dead body. That is what I thought. Components can burn and melt, maybe even smoke but not burst into flames then maintain a fire. Has anyone on here actually had a system burst into flames then keep burning for long enough to cause damage to property etc? Title: Re: GPU MINING RIG taking fire Post by: RentGPU on February 05, 2017, 04:54:36 PM there was smoke and iirc there also was a small flame at first immediately after power on Electronic parts are designed to burn but not support flame. Exceptions exist. But a flame initially supported by arcing quickly extinguished once arcing did not support (maintain) that flame.To better understand this, take a propane torch to the dead body to learn what will and will not support fire. But I guess you also need a shovel to dig it up that dead body. Title: Re: GPU MINING RIG taking fire Post by: ParaplegicRacehorse on February 05, 2017, 05:05:03 PM Components can burn and melt, maybe even smoke but not burst into flames then maintain a fire. IRL, I am a firefighter and electrician. The most common places for electrical fires to happen are outlets, junction boxes and breaker panels. Almost all electrical fires are caused by overcurrent and loose connections. Check your power all the way back to the main breaker. Check every connection, but also inspect the length of the wires for any damage to the insulation. The rig components may not be able to maintain a fire, true (maybe - ask Underwriters Laboratory), unless the broken connections remain close enough together to continue arcing and power is still supplied. Anything nearby, receiving enough heat, can burn and sustain a fire, though. Code: - DO remove anything easily flamable from the area around your rigs. After that, if you are really concerned with your rigs burning down your building, install a combination heat+smoke detector to trigger an extinguisher and electrical switch. Title: Re: GPU MINING RIG taking fire Post by: ccccccc7 on February 05, 2017, 05:54:32 PM The rig components may not be able to maintain a fire, true (maybe - ask Underwriters Laboratory), unless the broken connections remain close enough together to continue arcing and power is still supplied. Anything nearby, receiving enough heat, can burn and sustain a fire, though. Code: - DO remove anything easily flamable from the area around your rigs. Naturally things around could catch fire, I had assumed that would be common sense :P I like your code and I think anyone who doesn't or hasn't checked their wiring should. Title: Re: GPU MINING RIG taking fire Post by: zend7 on February 05, 2017, 08:00:53 PM You guys are scaring me with so many times that gpu-s taking fire cause I live my GTX mining while I go to work. I am using only one GTX 750 ti for the moment and I know that's quite some really quiet card and max power draw from the test I did is 45 watt no matter the card says max 65 watt.
I want to upgrade during this month , or next month as a max to 2 GTX 1070 for mining Zcash or Lbry. I am happy with the result I am having from GTX 750 so I think 2 GTX 1070 should give me about 100-140 USD per month in Bitcoin which I would love to achieve. I guess there's no risk for only 2 GPU-s or is there risk even for this very new card GTX 1070? Title: Re: GPU MINING RIG taking fire Post by: RentGPU on February 05, 2017, 08:40:01 PM You guys are scaring me with so many times that gpu-s taking fire cause I live my GTX mining while I go to work. I am using only one GTX 750 ti for the moment and I know that's quite some really quiet card and max power draw from the test I did is 45 watt no matter the card says max 65 watt. I think this post is good for some ppl how treat thier mining rigs as "set and forget" its not like deposit some money in bank for interest .. If you go to work and also give it some time for inspecting your rig and keep an eye on it from time to time i think it's ok you have nothing to worry about.I want to upgrade during this month , or next month as a max to 2 GTX 1070 for mining Zcash or Lbry. I am happy with the result I am having from GTX 750 so I think 2 GTX 1070 should give me about 100-140 USD per month in Bitcoin which I would love to achieve. I guess there's no risk for only 2 GPU-s or is there risk even for this very new card GTX 1070? Title: Re: GPU MINING RIG taking fire Post by: AmDD on February 06, 2017, 01:20:16 AM there was smoke and iirc there also was a small flame at first immediately after power on Electronic parts are designed to burn but not support flame. Exceptions exist. But a flame initially supported by arcing quickly extinguished once arcing did not support (maintain) that flame.To better understand this, take a propane torch to the dead body to learn what will and will not support fire. But I guess you also need a shovel to dig it up that dead body. That is what I thought. Components can burn and melt, maybe even smoke but not burst into flames then maintain a fire. Has anyone on here actually had a system burst into flames then keep burning for long enough to cause damage to property etc? Not GPUs but ASICs... https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5376bca8e4b09a4c09243edc/t/5468e138e4b0768e168beae8/1416159545234/ Title: Re: GPU MINING RIG taking fire Post by: westom on February 06, 2017, 07:08:04 AM Has anyone on here actually had a system burst into flames then keep burning for long enough to cause damage to property etc? Some components can maintain a flame.For example, some resistors have ignited and flamed. (I have made them flame like a candle.) Those resistors are routinely used in location where no such current will create flame even with other failures. Other resistors are flame retardant types - do not flame. Often used both as resistors and as a safety fuse. Most components are constructed of materials that might burn; but not flame. But again, anyone with a 'dead body' and a propane torch can learn this by doing. Another item with a history of creating fires are plug-in protectors. APC recently admitted some 15 million protectors must be removed immediately due to fire. Flame is a problem when a protector is grossly undersized. Title: Re: GPU MINING RIG taking fire Post by: plast555 on February 06, 2017, 01:45:37 PM I don't think so...one guy here says if TV can RIG can also, well that's not actually truth, because some parts in TV are using very high voltage until PC are using max 12V, if happened something on GPU it will stop working, if not, Procesor will stop working, if not HDD will stop working if not Power Supply will shut down 100% so all in all, unpossible or let say very very low possibility like 0.01% chances maybe even less.
I never heard in my life that PC burned in fire !! Title: Re: GPU MINING RIG taking fire Post by: RentGPU on February 06, 2017, 07:36:05 PM I don't think so...one guy here says if TV can RIG can also, well that's not actually truth, because some parts in TV are using very high voltage until PC are using max 12V, if happened something on GPU it will stop working, if not, Procesor will stop working, if not HDD will stop working if not Power Supply will shut down 100% so all in all, unpossible or let say very very low possibility like 0.01% chances maybe even less. It happend i saw it with xfx nVidia gpu one of it's voltage regulators caught fire in front of my eyes ..by the way psu didn't shutdown....all that can be said any thing could happen with electronics nothing to predict..I never heard in my life that PC burned in fire !! Title: Re: GPU MINING RIG taking fire Post by: mrbsk on February 16, 2017, 09:41:16 PM i had once my motherboard burned due to short circuit in pci-e slot caused by small peace of usb raiser's pin left there i assume. My motherboard was lying at foam which came in box so it started to melt and i think it might be fired up if i hadn't power off the system. You guys are scaring me with so many times that gpu-s taking fire cause I live my GTX mining while I go to work. I am using only one GTX 750 ti for the moment and I know that's quite some really quiet card and max power draw from the test I did is 45 watt no matter the card says max 65 watt. I want to upgrade during this month , or next month as a max to 2 GTX 1070 for mining Zcash or Lbry. I am happy with the result I am having from GTX 750 so I think 2 GTX 1070 should give me about 100-140 USD per month in Bitcoin which I would love to achieve. I guess there's no risk for only 2 GPU-s or is there risk even for this very new card GTX 1070? Just had to remove burnt rx470 few minutes ago=)) There were short circuit with sparks and smoke. PSU reacted well and had switched off. Title: Re: GPU MINING RIG taking fire Post by: RentGPU on February 17, 2017, 06:32:39 AM i had once my motherboard burned due to short circuit in pci-e slot caused by small peace of usb raiser's pin left there i assume. My motherboard was lying at foam which came in box so it started to melt and i think it might be fired up if i hadn't power off the system. You guys are scaring me with so many times that gpu-s taking fire cause I live my GTX mining while I go to work. I am using only one GTX 750 ti for the moment and I know that's quite some really quiet card and max power draw from the test I did is 45 watt no matter the card says max 65 watt. I want to upgrade during this month , or next month as a max to 2 GTX 1070 for mining Zcash or Lbry. I am happy with the result I am having from GTX 750 so I think 2 GTX 1070 should give me about 100-140 USD per month in Bitcoin which I would love to achieve. I guess there's no risk for only 2 GPU-s or is there risk even for this very new card GTX 1070? Just had to remove burnt rx470 few minutes ago=)) There were short circuit with sparks and smoke. PSU reacted well and had switched off. What psu are you using? What's the card operating temp was? Is there any dust on the card that could have caused this? If you can give us some details for us to learn ..... It can save some ppl.thx And sorry for the card i hope you can fix it.. Title: Re: GPU MINING RIG taking fire Post by: phobosq on February 17, 2017, 02:11:09 PM I had a power cable feeding monitor melt out of nowhere. We were sitting with a friend assembling new rigs and testing, and suddenly I smelled something's burning. We're checking rigs - all good, but something seems to be happening around my place. I looked on the floor and I saw it, 20 cm from my feet - the rubber on the power cable was half melted in one point and it started smoking. Good that we were there, I'm even scared to think what if it was connected to a rig instead of a monitor and caught fire while we were away.
Title: Re: GPU MINING RIG taking fire Post by: BenCodie on February 17, 2017, 05:27:11 PM Remain in limits everything will be fine :)
Title: Re: GPU MINING RIG taking fire Post by: coinzoid on February 17, 2017, 11:40:55 PM Quote Just had to remove burnt rx470 few minutes ago=)) There were short circuit with sparks and smoke. PSU reacted well and had switched off. Which brand was your PSU? Title: Re: GPU MINING RIG taking fire Post by: Etherion on February 18, 2017, 05:59:56 PM You could always rig a combination heat/smoke detector to trip the power breaker and trigger a CO2 extinguisher at the same time. This is a very good suggestion. I think I am going to look for something like this. or make it my self. Just in case things starts to burn. Title: Re: GPU MINING RIG taking fire Post by: RentGPU on February 18, 2017, 07:33:37 PM You could always rig a combination heat/smoke detector to trip the power breaker and trigger a CO2 extinguisher at the same time. This is a very good suggestion. I think I am going to look for something like this. or make it my self. Just in case things starts to burn. Title: Re: GPU MINING RIG taking fire Post by: Maxumark on February 23, 2017, 07:21:46 PM Not to scare you guys, but I have now switched to gold and platinum rated ATX PSUs, and Platinum rated Server PSUs for ASIC's and GPU rigs.
I also run them at load of 60% of the rated capacity. This keeps things cool and quiet. Here is a picture from before I knew what I know now and was trying to save some money. https://i.imgur.com/W09EGYp.jpg https://i.imgur.com/MxCV1hu.jpg Wood is also not good. :o Title: Re: GPU MINING RIG taking fire Post by: coinzoid on February 23, 2017, 09:59:16 PM How about using PVC to mount mobo and racks from Amazon to host whole system?
Title: Re: GPU MINING RIG taking fire Post by: westom on February 23, 2017, 10:12:55 PM I also run them at load of 60% of the rated capacity. This keeps things cool and quiet. Many posts ago in this thread, discussed were functions that help prevent such damage such as current foldback limiting. But when a PSU is grossly oversized, that protection function is compromised. The PSU will simply pump out excessive current without triggering protection. Power supply designs are why, for example, some supplies are under greatest stress when at 50% capacity. Under least stress when at 0% or 100% capacity. To say more requires numeric specification unique to that PSU. Without numbers, then the 60% capacity to keep it cool is only wild speculation justified by feelings - not facts. Same applies to fans. Too many fans create reliability problems. Fans must be selected based upon power consumption, acceptable hardware temperatures, and CFM. Those numbers designed for what must be a good room temperature for any computer - ie 100 degrees F. Since most who assemble computers do not know how electricity works, then computer assemblers are told to buy a PSU double what is required. Then help lines are not clogged teaching how electricity works. Only way to know a power consumption number is measuring with tools that any layman or pre teen can use. On-line calculators are mostly useless. Title: Re: GPU MINING RIG taking fire Post by: yslyung on February 23, 2017, 10:21:47 PM thx for sharing your experience guys !
good read & very good to know as i always tell miners to get a good brand of PSU, cables, do not share too much load on a single power point/outlet, best is to upgrade your current electrical wiring, a new DB for your farm, use good quality/brand of RCCB/ELCB/MCB, power points, especially cables ! Never ever overload ! improve cooling & exhaust no messy cables (at best effort) depending on individuals :P ALWAYS set a minimum of 20% or more allowance to the MAX load of PSU & all cables. yes extinguisher is an excellent idea, constant monitoring, add on some fail safe such as miner stops mining when GPU exceeds certain temps. remove easily combustible materials away from rig, room, farm or DC. sounds serious but when a fire especially electrical fire, it can very dangerous not only to yourself, family, friends but your neighbors or the entire building. some people i know was running their farm like a hero, it caused his entire apt floor including the top & bottom floors to have blackout. main cables all the way to the electrical room were all burned in the middle of the night. well, better be safe than sorry. happy mining to all :) not mine, just google & you will be able to see some rigs, asic miners or farms on fire, 1 of the popular ones is the farm in thailand. the pic below is posted somewhere here in bct, yeah it almost burned down his/her house if i'm not mistaken. https://i.imgur.com/PQpQZ03.png?1 Title: Re: GPU MINING RIG taking fire Post by: RentGPU on February 23, 2017, 10:38:09 PM thx for sharing your experience guys ! good read & very good to know as i always tell miners to get a good brand of PSU, cables, do not share too much load on a single power point/outlet, best is to upgrade your current electrical wiring, a new DB for your farm, use good quality/brand of RCCB/ELCB/MCB, power points, especially cables ! Never ever overload ! improve cooling & exhaust no messy cables (at best effort) depending on individuals :P ALWAYS set a minimum of 20% or more allowance to the MAX load of PSU & all cables. yes extinguisher is an excellent idea, constant monitoring, add on some fail safe such as miner stops mining when GPU exceeds certain temps. remove easily combustible materials away from rig, room, farm or DC. sounds serious but when a fire especially electrical fire, it can very dangerous not only to yourself, family, friends but your neighbors or the entire building. some people i know was running their farm like a hero, it caused his entire apt floor including the top & bottom floors to have blackout. main cables all the way to the electrical room were all burned in the middle of the night. well, better be safe than sorry. happy mining to all :) not mine, just google & you will be able to see some rigs, asic miners or farms on fire, 1 of the popular ones is the farm in thailand. the pic below is posted somewhere here in bct, yeah it almost burned down his/her house if i'm not mistaken. https://i.imgur.com/PQpQZ03.png?1 Shit,, :) thats why i monitor my rigs 24/7 I think this thread is important and needs to be pined , ppl should know that mining is not a "set and forget" job Title: Re: GPU MINING RIG taking fire Post by: arielbit on February 24, 2017, 01:17:58 AM Not to scare you guys, but I have now switched to gold and platinum rated ATX PSUs, and Platinum rated Server PSUs for ASIC's and GPU rigs. I also run them at load of 60% of the rated capacity. This keeps things cool and quiet. Here is a picture from before I knew what I know now and was trying to save some money. Wood is also not good. :o i don't know how those PSU's get their proper exhaust in your setup, a PSU even they are platinum or even titanium are still designed to release their heat to their surrounding... anyway running them at ~60% can mitigate the lack of heat exhaust in your setup. i'm speculating that the PSU that get burned may not have thermal protection (will shut off if it exceeds a certain temp)...since it doesn't have a proper exhaust, it just continued to run even the materials started to burn causing fire. Title: Re: GPU MINING RIG taking fire Post by: Maxumark on February 24, 2017, 01:27:21 AM I also run them at load of 60% of the rated capacity. This keeps things cool and quiet. Many posts ago in this thread, discussed were functions that help prevent such damage such as current foldback limiting. But when a PSU is grossly oversized, that protection function is compromised. The PSU will simply pump out excessive current without triggering protection. Power supply designs are why, for example, some supplies are under greatest stress when at 50% capacity. Under least stress when at 0% or 100% capacity. To say more requires numeric specification unique to that PSU. Without numbers, then the 60% capacity to keep it cool is only wild speculation justified by feelings - not facts. Same applies to fans. Too many fans create reliability problems. Fans must be selected based upon power consumption, acceptable hardware temperatures, and CFM. Those numbers designed for what must be a good room temperature for any computer - ie 100 degrees F. Since most who assemble computers do not know how electricity works, then computer assemblers are told to buy a PSU double what is required. Then help lines are not clogged teaching how electricity works. Only way to know a power consumption number is measuring with tools that any layman or pre teen can use. On-line calculators are mostly useless. @ Westom. Most ATX PSUs are designed with the specification of a typical load of about 50%. The 50% to 60% area is where you have the greatest efficiency and least stress. Also ATX PSUs are usually not designed for 24 HRS a day duty cycles. Server PSUs are also designed with peak efficiency in the 50% to 60%, but can run higher with less decay in efficiency compared to a ATX psu, and are designed for a continuous duty cycle. I do agree that at a 20% load or less you are placing more stress on a PSU and you have much lower efficiency. I would like to point out that everything I am stating here is not "wild speculation justified be feelings - not facts" It is actually based on facts. I have done extensive research and my statements about computer power supplies are based on the 80% certification and evaluation reports from Plug Load Solutions. I measure and monitor the actual power consumption of test set ups, and then build multiples of the same set up over and over. I further have the ability to measure input feeds and per outlet power consumption. This way I can run my equipment at the sweet spot (most efficient and lowest stress). Since I treat mining as a business and power is my biggest expense, I monitor it closely. I also want to reduce the possibility of damage to equipment and down time, so maybe I do a little more research that the average person. You can look up the specs on your own PSUs here: https://www.plugloadsolutions.com/80PlusPowerSupplies.aspx Title: Re: GPU MINING RIG taking fire Post by: arielbit on February 24, 2017, 01:30:14 AM not mine, just google & you will be able to see some rigs, asic miners or farms on fire, 1 of the popular ones is the farm in thailand. the pic below is posted somewhere here in bct, yeah it almost burned down his/her house if i'm not mistaken. https://i.imgur.com/PQpQZ03.png?1 notice the pics posted by Maxumark? they are the same, the PSUs are buried in the wall that inhibits proper exhaust of heat. Title: Re: GPU MINING RIG taking fire Post by: Maxumark on February 24, 2017, 01:35:16 AM Not to scare you guys, but I have now switched to gold and platinum rated ATX PSUs, and Platinum rated Server PSUs for ASIC's and GPU rigs. I also run them at load of 60% of the rated capacity. This keeps things cool and quiet. Here is a picture from before I knew what I know now and was trying to save some money. Wood is also not good. :o i don't know how those PSU's get their proper exhaust in your setup, a PSU even they are platinum or even titanium are still designed to release their heat to their surrounding... anyway running them at ~60% can mitigate the lack of heat exhaust in your setup. i'm speculating that the PSU that get burned may not have thermal protection (will shut off if it exceeds a certain temp)...since it doesn't have a proper exhaust, it just continued to run even the materials started to burn causing fire. In that set up the wood wall was a plane between the input and exhaust sides so the air was forced thru the components and the hot air was exhausted with a 6500 CFM fan. However I don"t roll like that anymore, I have learned a lot since then. Here is my updated setup: [Imgur](https://i.imgur.com/IoVhSWX.jpg) Title: Re: GPU MINING RIG taking fire Post by: lightfoot on March 04, 2017, 06:04:41 AM I love that picture Maxumark. I've also had a titan shoot fire out the vents when I plugged it in for testing (the capacitors on one of the DC-DC's shorted, which ignited all the filth and dust and crap in the miner which the fan happily blew though the box). I take all miners apart now and clean and test before powering. Did wake me up though.
Remember that heat in connectors increases resistance. Which results in more heat which results in the normal solution, melted connectors. Get a thermal IR temp thingie and check temps on your miners. Title: Re: GPU MINING RIG taking fire Post by: Mastker on March 04, 2017, 11:42:16 AM im pretty sure it had to do with dust buildup, ... Dust is never conductive to those low DC voltages. Dust would never create that spark. However a stray metal fragment might.Normal is for electronics to be heavily caked in dust without failure or arcing. More likely something internally failed inside a semiconductor creating a physic defect. Most all electronic failures have no indication. But some rare ones (such as this one) do. So a short circuit caused the PSU to enter current foldback limiting - and shutdown. Later, the same failure was now a tiny short circuit that burned open during a new power up only creating smoke. Not flame as originally suggested. Just arcing and smoke. A major difference. That is right. For the DC voltage of 12V or 1.5V, the dust does not make difference. Title: Re: GPU MINING RIG taking fire Post by: westom on March 04, 2017, 04:51:25 PM Remember that heat in connectors increases resistance. Which results in more heat which results in the normal solution, melted connectors. A properly engineered system does numbers so that fire cannot happen.If a power supply is oversized (ie runs at 50% capacity), then safety features to avert fire are set too high. This (and for better life expectancy) is why a power supply in engineer designed system is so much smaller. Connectors have current numbers. For example, those Molex connectors (that typically connect a PSU to the motherboard) can only carry 6 amps maximum. Nylon connectors got longer as motherboards started consuming above 200 watts. Many more Molex pins carry same voltages so that a power supply outputting maximum current would not come anywhere near to fire temperatures. Same with capacitors. A failing capacitor must trigger current foldback limiting or trip a fuse long before creating a fire. But again, when the PSU is grossly oversized (as is typical with computer assembler designed systems), then foldback current limiting cannot protect from a potential fire. Locate a source of that fire to first identify the human mistake that made fire possible. Then install necessary corrections (ie a smaller PSU, inline fuses, etc) to avert future fire. Solutions always require both steps. Even a keyboard typically gets power from a motherboard that often includes a fuse or something similar such as an automatically resetting fuse. Because things that cause fires only exist when a human makes a mistake. Every part is designed also so that fire cannot happen. In one case, the kid says, "Dad, I cut something. And it make a noise!" That cutting was the keyboard cable. A motherboard fuse (to avert burning) was replaced with an automatically resetting type fuse. Most computer assemblers would not even know that fuse exists let alone know why. Averting fire is always part of every design. Fire occurs because a human made a mistake. Title: Re: GPU MINING RIG taking fire Post by: lightfoot on March 04, 2017, 05:42:36 PM Remember that heat in connectors increases resistance. Which results in more heat which results in the normal solution, melted connectors. A properly engineered system does numbers so that fire cannot happen.Miners were rushed to market, are designed to be run in data centers with constant temp, humidity, and Halon fire supression systems. We run them in barns full of horse crap (yes. yes) or in sealed rooms at over 50c and expect them to run forever. Small wonder they blow up. Quote If a power supply is oversized (ie runs at 50% capacity), then safety features to avert fire are set too high. This (and for better life expectancy) is why a power supply in engineer designed system is so much smaller. Yup. In the day you would find a 15a auto fuse in each miner to protect the board. But that added another 5 cents to the design, which cuts into profits or makes miners go buy other gear so out it went....Quote Connectors have current numbers. For example, those Molex connectors (that typically connect a PSU to the motherboard) can only carry 6 amps maximum. Nylon connectors got longer as motherboards started consuming above 200 watts. Many more Molex pins carry same voltages so that a power supply outputting maximum current would not come anywhere near to fire temperatures. Sure, however most miners pull 200 watts per molex. Or almost 20a. The results are funny. Quote In one case, the kid says, "Dad, I cut something. And it make a noise!" That cutting was the keyboard cable. A motherboard fuse (to avert burning) was replaced with an automatically resetting type fuse. Most computer assemblers would not even know that fuse exists let alone know why. Averting fire is always part of every design. Fire occurs because a human made a mistake. Fires happen because safety is deemed to not be worth it. When your manufacturer is a company that can go out of business at a moment's notice and is protected by the Chinese/whatever government they can cut a lot of corners. And since mining is a perfect market (there is no advantage to a miner that is safer over one that is less safe in terms of hashes) and our odd desire to wring every hash out of a chunk of metal and the usual happens.... Title: Re: GPU MINING RIG taking fire Post by: stoniestfool on March 04, 2017, 06:59:15 PM I tried to teach my nephew how to setup rigs. He is 23 but paid his sister to do his ecot ( home school) work. I doubt his IQ is above 80 after this experience.
He nearly burnt the house down 3 times. After the 3rd I just gave up on him. I use usb powered risers. Not powered ribbons. I explained the SATA to Molex adapter are dangerous because SATA devices do not pull the amount of current a gpu riser will. Which is roughly 1/3 the total power the gpu will pull. Apparently, he has a hearing problem because he did connect a SATA to Molex adapter to a usb riser that held a reference rx480. This was his first rig he setup himself. His other 2 I had setup for him. He started the rig and walked away. I was in the other room working on mods. I smelled something burning and yelled " are you fuckers smoking pot again?" He quickly responded no. I rushed into the room with the rigs and manually shut off all power supplies. Checked over the rig but the SATA to Molex was on the bottom of 3 rigs so I did not see it. I then explained we will start it up but this is no time for joking. So I will not be joking if there is trouble. Powering on the 3rd rig everything was fine until we started the miner. Not 30 seconds later I saw flames and yelled shut it off there is a fire. He looked and me and laughed. Pushing him out the way I pulled the plugs from the outlets. After inspecting I again explained again why SATA to Molex can not be used. He disagreed saying they would not send the adapter if it could not be used. Even though I had the adapter which was burnt in my hand. Few days later one of his other rigs shut down. After restating 2 of the rx480's were not working. Upon inspection, he had 2 rx480 on 1 pci-e dual connector from the power supply. The connector was pulling at leat 400 watts from 1 of the psu's pci-e slots. Well that is way too much for just 1 slot and melted the connector in the power supply. I attempted to explain there are 5 pci-e connectors on the 850 watt psu. So pulling half the total power from 1 connector is incorrect. After an argument, I gave up because in his mind you should be able to pull 850 watts from just 1 pc-ei connector if the psu is rated at 850. Which is so wrong I will not even get into it. A few days later 3 of his rx470's would not power or show in windows. I had previously warned him to only connect 2 USB riser Molex to each of the PSU Molex ports. Again, I inspected and saw the 3 connected to just 1 Molex port.Again the psus molexd port was melted. Again an argument ensued. Out of fear of a fire I will no longer help him in any way. So in short if you are a complete fucking idiot as he is YES you can and probably will burn down your house. Hopefully, the insurance company inspects and denies your claim since it was negligence and not accidental. I have simple rules to avoid any chance of fires. Starting at the junction (fuse) box. I always use wiring that is rated to pull double the current I will be pulling. Since I only use more efficient 220 and never 110. So for 2 rigs I pull roughly 2000 watts. This is around 10 amps at 220. I use a 20 amp breaker. This technique is actually debatable because should a fire start it would be less likely to trip the breaker. However, I know what I am doing so I am not scared. lol.i then have a 20 amp or higher server strip with 4 connectors. Each pair of connector on the strip is rated at 15 amps but only pulls 5.never use more than 2 rx470 or 1 rx480 on a single pci-e from the psu. I never power more than 2 of the usb riser molex from 1 of the psu molex. Title: Re: GPU MINING RIG taking fire Post by: stoniestfool on March 04, 2017, 07:05:23 PM Not to scare you guys, but I have now switched to gold and platinum rated ATX PSUs, and Platinum rated Server PSUs for ASIC's and GPU rigs. I also run them at load of 60% of the rated capacity. This keeps things cool and quiet. Here is a picture from before I knew what I know now and was trying to save some money. https://i.imgur.com/MxCV1hu.jpg Wood is also not good. :o Your problem is not the rating of the psu. Your problem is pulling to much power from each 8 pin connector on the psu. You have 4 connectors on the burnt psu. 1 is the motherboard 24 pin and 1 is the cpu. So you have 2 of the 8 pin connectors powerng what I assume is 4 gpu's? I am not sure because it is not clear what you are actually powering. I would sell all your stuff and save your house. Title: Re: GPU MINING RIG taking fire Post by: marvel213 on February 22, 2018, 02:46:29 PM Out of 30 years I've been messing with computers it never catch fire. It smoked, shorted, or spark. that's about it.
THIS only happens when setting up through human error. Once you have everything setup correctly it should not catch fire. |
