I am having the same issue, but TBF is reducing my hashrate from 2600 MH/s (Scrypt) to 675 MH/s. This seems utterly ridiculous to me.

I'm so frustrated with this pool that I'm probably going to set up my own private pool. I don't trust the stats, the block time is really bad in some cases (over 1 hour to find a block pretty regularly).

I don't know what's going on with this pool but I suspect that something is severely broken.

I have 4 miners working with LitecoinPool (I'm @gooeydesigner) and love the service. I'm building a supporting product (ASIC container box) for small, decentralized miners who are trying to cope with heat, noise, risk of fire, and all of the other pains I'm sure some of us share!

I am nearing the end of the design phase and am beginning physical prototyping tomorrow. I'm working with some of my friends in manufacturing to create moulds so that I can scale up operations. I know this sort of thing has been attempted on DIY blogs and I've seen plenty of modified coolers on YouTube trying to do the same thing. I'm hoping to create something more professional and design-y (to please the wife/family!) and more cost effective for the small scale miner. I want to reduce the pain and clutter a home miner faces and to support decentralization of mining, something I am very passionate about.

I have a few questions:

:-: Does anyone have any recommendations or ideas about where to market/sell this product? I've looked at Kickstarter but it seems pretty weak on products related to cryptocurrency, and I've looked at OpenBazaar but don't think they have many users. I'm not sure if I am terrible at market research (likely) or if the market is so young that there aren't any good options (less likely).

:-: Does anyone know of any pools/pool owners (would love to work alongside LitecoinPool since I am already a dedicated user) who might be willing to help me reach potential users for feedback? I think this is sort of a big ask since most pools seem pretty avoidant of contacting users, but figured it couldn't hurt to seek opinions.

:-: Last, is there a better place to pose this question? Bitcointalk is a bit overwhelming if you're not sure what you're looking for--any guidance is appreciated!

Feel free to send me a DM if you'd like, or if there's a preferred means of communication (Freenode?) I am happy to move the conversation there.

Thanks!