I should've included that I disabled the fan check at startup using Braiins. I figured out the problem. The heatsinks are actually getting voltage in each domain and using the bare aluminum plate with thermal paste will bridge multiple domains, resulting in a short. There has to be a non electrically conductive interface between the heatsink and the cooling plate on the backside.

Hi all, I'm trying to water cool a few S9s and I'm having some trouble.

I have a few large aluminum waterblocks that are the size of the hash boards and I'm currently laying the aluminum block on the top of the heatsinks and using thermal paste as the interface material. The problem I'm having is that when I give power to the board it doesn't start up. There's a clicking noise that sounds like a relay or a small arc striking coming from the connector side of the board. If I space the blocks away from direct contact with the heatsinks using thermal pads, the board will work, but thermal pads do not transfer heat as effectively as the paste.

I taped off the capacitors and the coil, but that didn't fix the issue. My next thought would be that one of the heatsinks is carrying current and it's being grounded by the plates. Would you guys have any insight as to if this is possible and which one I should check?

Thanks