No doubt about higher price vs an unprotected breakout board but -- when dealing with any supply capable of putting out 3-4kw or more I'd definitely pay the additional cost for peace of mind. To me it would be a nice selling point and considering there are pics a bit back in the thread to show the consequences of not having current limits methinks it should be an easy sell.

Don't suppose there's a way to monitor a few loads and externally trip a PSU's internal current limiter is there? IF there is a limit sense input that could shut down the PSU's internal DC on/off FET's that would certainly help with cost but then also becomes an all or none on situation.

Hmm, a thought...
Problem: If using a (really) big psu or a bank of 1+n load share ones there is a need to limit power feeding each load.
Fuses not good choice due to the voltage drop they introduce.
DC breakers in the >100A range give very low vdrop but are very expensive.

So... how about incorporating electronic fusing into these high current breakout boards like the ones for 4kw IBM supplies. Say 2-3 banks of mosfets driven by adjustable current monitors (1 bank per-miner attached)? Just dial in the desired current trip point and problem solved. Near zero vdrop and response times from almost instantaneous to whatever is desired.

Oh Sidehack and friends, up for a new project?

Hmm, sorta looking like 16nm production at TSMC is at full speed again no?  
Now the huge question is what the Typhon due to hit Taiwan in a couple days will do...

My b5 is showing as arriving Thurs but methinks will be the last one I get for a bit.
Then again, I said that, um, a couple weeks ago with the 2nd b3 I got  

The self extinguishing ratings only apply  after the ignition source/condition is removed. In this case after the mains breaker feeding the PSU tripped shutting off power to the (massive) short. Odds are the PCIe power leads were the only thing setting a limit to the power being fed into the short circuit. This miner was tied to a 4kw psu no? If safety is a concern, um, putting a couple 1200-1300w loads on a single high energy source demands fusing EACH of loads to just over whatever current they take, for an s7 that equates to 110-115A to prevent exactly this sort of thing from happening.

Yes because of how they work fuses introduce a voltage drop, if that is too high then using DC circuit breakers is the only option.

Now as what started the meltdown by apparently shorting out the incoming 12V power planes...  Would certainly be nice to know. This also points to one of the few advantages to feeding each miner from a PSU more closely matched to its power needs. Certainly could still have a catastrophic failure similar to this but at least the maximum power that can feed the failure point is far less and more in line with reasonable worst case design considerations.

I know for a fact that the IBM 2kw psu's will comfortably run 3x s5's which is around 1,800w total. From before I updated to s7's https://i.imgur.com/XRlk5Tq.jpg
don't even need fans for them in this config

You might want to look into this http://bitfury.com/content/4-press/6.20.16-trust-accelerator-release.pdf and http://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2016/06/20/new-initiative-aims-to-eliminate-corruption-with-blockchain-technology/#5cd5964b1962 and lastly as a general link to all you talk about, http://bitfury.com/white-papers-research which are along the lines of what you are proposing.

Excellent reading but still way OT though.

Exactly.
We get that blockchain technology has a myriad of uses, contract verification being just one of them.  Hell going way out, the major lighting makers are working with Public electric utilities to incorporate local blockchains to identify and verify 'smart' LED streetlight installations eg what is it, where is it (from built in GPS), when installed, etc. So far installation ID time has dropped from ~15min scanning the unit, filling in contractor information as needed. to less than 2 most of which is the lights finding/setting up a local network link.

Point is -- this is a HARDWARE section. Wrong crowd to pitch to.

I'm willing to bet that in the fine print the 'within 24hrs' is after it clears their orders system and shows up in your account orders as 'paid'.

My b3 took a full 28hrs before I got the Paid email from them. Based on the Paid email date/time technically it took another 26-30hrs before I got the Shipped email but they got it close enough for me.

Now as to the Scenic route that UPS decided to send it on which added another day. Plus the import fees kerfuffle...

I tried using OPE (over Powerline Ethernet) to run a link from my house to garage using TPlink's latest modules. Worked great until the garage got to ~95F. Then they dropped the connection to each other. Odd thing is the lights on them are merrily blinking away like there is traffic but the miner beeping says otherwise.... Have to unplug it for a minute then plug back in,modules find each other and all is well until temp gets too high again.

Even the one in the house runs rather warm so add a hot environment and the dice are tossed.

Hmmm... So when did AntPool start looking at Eth and LTC??? https://www.antpool.com/home.htm

Your proposal is far outside my interests so I'm out.

Hmm. Still, looking at the next nodes makes sense and now is the time to start playing with ideas that could take advantage of what those noes could offer. Emphasis on 'could'.

That is then followed by when will the 10/7nm nodes be viable for mass production of ANY chip? My crystal ball says, "Not for a minimum of 3 years away".

The single problem with mono heatsinks as usually done (on the back of a board) is one of thermal transfer. If a chips is dissipating more than 10-15w then great care has to be taken regarding thermal vias and contact bumps on the board/heat sink interface to make sure enough heat can flow from the chip through the board/vias to the sinks. Even if done properly a naked chip is still going to run a fair bit hotter than one with a topside heat sink which in turn will directly set what the maximum speed/Vcore can be.

Now maybe if the chips can be mounted on one side of the board and all other components in the other to allow a single large heatsink contacting the tops of the chips-- that could work as it takes the boards thermal resistance right out of the picture.

Normaly, at most an hour or so. But - my last order for a b3 when they were available again took just under 24hrs to show up on the Bitmain site. It too had previously been marked as unpaid/unshipped..

That would be one way to look at it. The complexity and circuit density of the process so far is dictating that the dies will be fairly large/high value. IMO probably because they can fit so much into the dies that the cost to connect simple circuits to the outside world makes them a moot point. ref the threads here a while ago about IBM announcing a 7nm test chip https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1508382.msg15196056#msg15196056 and https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1508382.msg15197990#msg15197990

<facepalm>
14nm ain't gonna happen from Bitmain as that process is available only from Samsung or GloFo foundries. 12 or 10nm chips of any sort will not be available from anyone for several more years, on top of that, so far looks like <12nm is going to be reserved for high complexity chips and not simple boutique ones like mining ASIC's.

Don't have a dog in this fight but, do keep in mind that Innosilicon is first and foremost an ASIC design company. Not just a mining ASIC maker. Their main business goes far beyond coin miners and that is why no mining farms. http://www.innosilicon.com/html/about/about-us/

Yes. All of it.

This is not about building an ecosystem or changing the world, it is simply about building a miner based around the best suggestions/ideas presented here. Nor are the plans for said miner to be mass produced per se which removes the need for most of the Corporate overhead you call for.

I mean, "design , prototype, test and deploy cycles under quality control and management supervision"? The final design is not up to a vote, it is up to the head of the project, Sidehack. Period.

Folks behind this thread have seen previous hardware projects fail and fall apart precisely because of the design-by-committee approach and worse yet -- direct investor input/pressure from folks with little to no skills on the technical matters they are pushing their wants/idea for -- that you are advocating. For one example, WASP is a great Poster Child for that. It's end result was endless discussions over minutia, continual scope-creep and tons of wasted time and monies all of which finally drowned the project in bureaucracy and killed it.

I for one am all for the Lone Ranger (cowboy) approach. Then again, like Sidehack I am one as well (though my biz is industrial lasers).

Now, does Genius need backers to fund building/testing/implementing their ideas? Sure. I for one am grateful to have hooked up with one back in the 70's when I was at Photon Sources, he was their head of aftermarket sales. We soon left together to form our own company and have not once looked back ever since. He was also wise enough to let me do what I do so well with zero interference while he concentrated on sales of what I come up with and build, running the business, and finding capital to fund the R&D toys, er, equipment I need.

Well put. The only flaw I see is:
    "This could be managed using GPIO to activate/deactivate relays that feed power to the hashing boards."

Relays that can handle the currents involved are not cheap. However, use the same idea but talk to the MC to trip the voltage regulators run/stop pin just like a PC's PWR_OK line from ATX and other psu's so the Vcore regulator(s) simple shut down until all is well again..

Since early 2014 I gotten around 80 miners in total from Bitmain, this make only the 4th time I had to pay.

So, methinks something in the Customs rules deciding business (fees) or personal might have changed. Or, their monitoring/tracking software is now looking at how many/total value of goods you get in a month or so.

The IRS does the same regarding the banks having to report deposits over $10k. They now track it on a per-month basis and if a business it making a lot of deposits just under 10k the Feds get -- interested shall we say, and start talking to each other. In Michigan alone there have been several arrests and property/money seizures of folks running rural small business like a hardware store. Later thrown out of court but - good luck getting property/money back. t is often held for ages as 'possible money laundering evidence'.