Awesome post Prelude.

Thank you for your time and money spent to this point. Whether S4 users get anything from it or they don't, you have made this particular issue clear enough. You included the appropriate details so everyone can understand and no one can deny or question the facts. That is hard to do in a short summary, but you did it well.

The DPS2000bb worked with the S4 for me, and worked well.  
I used it the 2nd and 3rd time the power supply died in one particular unit.

The current firmware was needed to help with a hashrate issue, but removed the ability to underclock which was working prior to the firmware change.
BITSTAIN changed it because they claimed people were burning up the power supplies by overclocking - according to a previous post. I was not told why they removed it from anyone at BITSTAIN, I just know they did.
Regarding the hash board pulling too much voltage feel free to read back through this thread and you will see it proven, without a doubt. BITSTAIN even admitted it on the phone, but I do not remember if they did in this thread.

If you doubt what anyone who is complaining are saying, feel free to do your own research, but as you see from smit1237's response, the firmware is indeed "broken". I quoted him as you seem to trust his response over us people who are complaining. I am confident you have good reasons to do so, but I only took the time to post my grief because of sincere issues to warn people what they are up against.

BITSTAIN replace hundreds if not more of these power supplies and maybe some people were overclocking them and causing failures. I assure you I did not and all of my S4s were ran at stock until the warranty expired. At which point I again connected a DPS2000bb and did overclock it and it has been running fine overclocked until I recently dropped it back out of the cost of overclocking and I was finished proving to myself the issues which remained are firmware related.

If you research this issue on your own you will find power supplies and fans have failed repeatedly under warranty. It is through the work of miners replacing the fans and power supplies if you purchase an S4 and do not have issues with it.
It also depends on what you consider an issue. Even after the fan and PSU replacement the firmware problem still speaks volumes.

I certainly have nothing to gain by spending my time to post my experience with the S4.  After one particular failure when I told BITSTAIN the PSU failed yet again and it was hashing away on a DPS2000bb they offered to send me a DPS2000bb. I politely declined and thanked them for their time. I then ordered more from sidehack with his break out board. He and Novac run a business with class and genuine customer support.

Keep in mind the original S4s had PCIe connectors on the hashboards and then they were changed to lugs for which you need ring terminals. After the second or third failure I was working on the phone and via e-mail with someone there and they asked how I had the unit running. When I told them I went to Lowes and bought some ring terminals and put them on the end of 12 ga wire and screwed them to the board they acted like they didn't believe me for some reason so I took pictures and e-mailed them. Maybe they are used to dealing with sheeple so much they assume we all are and will not help ourselves, but I am at the mercy of no man and I will learn, experiment, and figure out the how. I shouldn't have to do so when a unit is under warranty as that particular unit was for 4 power supply failures in less than 9 weeks. I tried to tell them the problem, but they already knew which is why they kept replacing the power supplies. They knew they had a bad design and they know today they have an issue with one board pulling too much voltage. The cheap 1400 watt power supply should have never been used, and they admitted it then began shipping a "batch 2" power supply. Their own words are documented in this thread regarding that issue, but then they were told by a forum member about the board pulling too much voltage and I assume they decided that issue would cost them too much and replacing power supplies for the ones who cared enough to pursue a proper warranty claim.

I have pictures and documentation of everything I went through with dates and times. I only want to help people who have been or will be burned. If you do purchase the 20 miners and have issues feel free to PM or e-mail me for help if needed. After all of the experience I have with these units now I can replace the cables going to the hashboards pretty quick, I know the symptoms of I think most if not all power supply and fan related failures.

I am not some guy on the internet who complains for the fun of it. I am actually in the middle of building a new miner rack, but when I saw the posts from others I consider to be good folks under stress regarding the same issues I have been through I spent the time to write a reply. I hope to help people and if there is some coin needed to help have new firmware written I am happy to throw some in the pot.

I want to also voice my own experiences and offer miners who have bought these things and are having issues my help if they want it. I also mentioned the people at BITSTAIN who have been helpful. I have not seen anyone complaining in this thread about a non-existant issue as I personally have experienced these things for myself. It may take a couple of hours, but I read every word when I started having my problems. I wish I'd done that before I made my first purchase, but I learned from that mistake and am much better at making informed decisions regarding a mining product now.

If you purchase any S4 units with stock equipment just do yourself a favor and get spare fans and power supplies. Don't buy extra stock parts, get your own better parts for less money. It will save you money and heartache down the road.
I think there are some people who did not have any issues or complaints with the S4. Unfortunately those people either do not care about the hashing issue with the last version of firmware, or the inability to down clock the units correctly with this version.

One final thought is I do not think anyone would have spent the time and money to have custom firmware made to correct a non existent issue. It is a matter of if that issue is important to you, but to me, under-clocking these units is a must. Especially in the coming months.
 
Good luck with your purchase Digitalmocking. I sincerely hope you do not have the issues most of us have been through.
I seriously hope it all works out for you and you do not have any issues.

I thought that was it, but I staked for so long I thought even a small amount would keep staking small amounts.
I did pickup more. I guess that proves you can't mine for a couple of weeks with an old S3 and then expect to keep staking your way to millions, you must maintain a certain balance to keep staking, or a certain weight - as you said.

I've never sold any of the three coins, only mined and staked. I think they are cool toys to learn and have fun with. I hope this last couple of deposits helps something happen. I think even a small amount should stake after a while, but that shows I need to learn more about the code so I can know what to truly expect rather than assuming.

Thanks for the reply.

I am having a problem with my staking and maybe it is because I do not have the millions and billions of coins it seems most have, but my MMX stakes properly everyday.
I am familiar with the new 2.0.2 client, mine shows: 10k version v2.0.2.0-unk-beta
My last stake was on 03-18-15.
On 03-21-15 I sent everything to a single address in the same wallet and that was the last transaction shown.
My staking weight is 2372338 and it says my expected time to earn my next reward is 39 days.

Same problem with snowballs but it shows my next stake is 187 days.

Like I said though the mmx wallet on that same PC as the other two is staking away fine, several times per day.

Any suggestions?

Sidehack I am sure you have plenty of people ready to throw their money at you, but please add me to any list you may make in the future as interested in buying at least two of everything you release. If you end up with anything not already promised for field testing I will gladly pay for those as well.

I feel that way because of your attitude to the community, the support you have shown me, and my own love of the tinkering.
So seriously please keep me in mind. I know some of my questions are n00bish but it is because I like to ask about everything and anything to see what experienced folks think.

I am also not that far away from you guys. I have techs driving between Moberly, MO and Tulsa to NE Oklahoma in the Bartlesville area all the time. I used to make those trips and love driving the windy, hill roads through MO. 

Good Luck and don't let the smoke out!

I first saw people doing the mineral oil thing in the early 90s.
I built a peltier water cooled system and fell in love with the idea of submersion cooling, but did not pursue it due to R&D cost, but now it seems for a large scale mining operation with the right backing this could be viable. Not the mineral oil per say but the 3M products.

Is anyone successfully  running a mining rig setup long term this way?
If so, what is the cost versus air?
Does the density provide the savings?

I could see this as being most useful for higher ambient mining. Say some home miner must shut down int he summer due to heat, and are limited anyway due to noise. Take a fish tank and mine year round?

Just curious...

This has been a problem for a long time.
Maybe the posts were removed, I am not wasting more time on BITMAIN searching the thread, but others including myself raised these same points. Sorry I missed your post regarding pitching in for a decent firmware. I would have pitched in.
BITSTAIN are a poor example of what a manufacturer should be and it sincerely makes me nauseous they are considered a manufacturer. They are an integrator. A shoddy one at that. SPtech have class and have proven it.

I do not own an S5, and I never plan to purchase another BITSTAIN product.
If by some chance they end up being the only company selling miners or they come out with some revolutionary product I recommend doubling the price they charge to compensate yourself for the headaches, lost mining time, and loss of functioning brain cells you endure to deal with them.
GAWD I cannot wait until SPT release next gen so I can finally be rid of every black box I own.

I do want to say I have worked with some of their guys who answer the tech line, Z for one, who are knowledgeable and friendly. They respond to e-mails and calls and get back with you on parts. Those guys are hindered in what they can do to help by their superiors. Yoshi is a joke, and a sincere liar. He may do something for someone from time to time, but consistently a crap person to do business with.

The decisions this company have made to screw over the miners is unreal.
I know people will buy where they see product, but one day I think Karma will bite them hard enough for all of us, and bite them right where it hurts the most. Closing their doors would be too nice for them. They manipulate the price, put out bad firmware, lie, lie, and lie again.

I think the block halving will have an impact on both price, and the number of miners who turn off, both at different times.
Leading up to it, maybe as Phillip states 7 - 8 months the price will increase somewhat, and I believe the price will raise significantly towards the end of this year. Media attention and next gen products with big money on advertising will see people who have still never heard of mining jumping in, but the real price increase will come from people buying the coin to hold for the future. Not counting liquidity from the major industrial miners looking to cash in.

Unfortunately many more home miners trying to make a go, along with small to medium places who have rented buildings will fold. They will stay hobby miners, but won't be able to compete with the industrial scales coming. While the hobby aspect of people like me who have a few miners and enjoy the community will flourish, for us, break even or lose we still do it for the fun, the challenge. 

I have no doubts the big industrial guys will either merge or lose their ass. The companies with deep pockets will ride anything that comes in preparation for the real adoption phase which is oh so close. The next halving will make and lose millions for some. It is whoever is positioned with the right hardware, the right reputation, the right contacts, and  who show the average Joe he can buy a money making box.

Just my 2 satoshis, but I believe the halving will coincide over a 12 month period with a great boom to the Bitcoin community, both amazing and not so amazing. The cloudmining is a fad, hardware will be what people want, I just hope it isn't hardware ran for a few months or more before it is released. Ala Bitmain.

I sincerely hope SP are positioning in the vein of putting out something home or small business miners can at least afford to buy and run as I do not trust centralization and fully believe the original true decentralized concept is what made this all happen. If the arena was somehow made level again for every mom and pop buying a small device in every home in the world versus a "Big Three" which is where we almost are, and certainly will be, well, we would all be better off. Unfortunately there is nothing else ont he horizon but the big three...

Oh man, April Fools started early for some of us  

Thanks Kano!

I am loving the additions.

IT is so nice to see those short blocks popping after the long ones. I think that 80 hour one is the longest I have seen here and then seeing the Pool hash drop like a rock followed up by block popping galore, man, makes me happy I listen to the people saying just to kick back and wait.

By the way, any plans for another contest? I like to follow those and see the outcomes on this pool.

I want to drop a note here commenting on these boards, the PSUs, the noise, along with my experiences with Finsky and Jabber.

The boards:
I received some of the first Finsky had I believe, Finsky can comment if he wishes on my versions relative to the vintage. I followed the instructions Jabber posted as a reference, but it is very simple and straight forward to hook up.
You do not need to be experienced with server power units, an electrical engineer, or even really electrically knowledgeable to put this together. You slide it on the end and use the small plastic 'pegs' to secure it. Once it is in place it is very solid. Common sense is truly all that is needed, but following simple instructions is advised if this is your first time.
I always tell everyone to be safe! Never take shortcuts, and never do things with the main power turned on, turn it off, but this is more about quality. It is there, and from talking with another home miner who purchased several more of these the next shipment was even better quality. So from a standpoint of getting what you pay for, this product stands up, and I should have already purchased more. I will be buying more and only hope they are still available

The PSU and noise:
It seems I am a minority regarding the noise because I enjoy the noise from all of my miners and PSUs, now the small fans on this 2880 are louder than my SP20s combined. No question about it, and no one has tried to hide it. I was told up front these babies are loud, and they are. I haven't ran any DB tests, but again, I have one unit powering 3 SP20s and the whole setup stays cool even when my ambients were rising. Today I am moving two of the 2880s to my bedroom which is where I like to keep the things I tinker with the most so I may keep a close eye on them. These have been running in my kitchen where I temporarily borrowed the 240 from the oven and stove (two separate lines on a 50 AMP breaker). I currently have two S4s, two SP20s, and a good bit of S3's I sleep with and know full well the 2880s will be the loudest. Without modifications they will be the loudest in your farm.
They are also the best power supplies I have worked with by far. The first one has run non-stop for about 6 weeks. I have driven it to 3150 watts clocking my SP20s as high as they could go. I think the 2880 would have gone higher, but I dropped the SP20s back from a pure power usage standpoint. If you want a total package power supply, use this setup. Top rated gear imo and I have a variety of server and standard ATX PSUs under my belt. Not only from mining but years in the Industrial PC and CNC controller industry.
This PSU with this breakout board is a beast in every aspect. The only thing I haven't bugged these guys with yet is running them in a redundant setup as I truly want a 55% load redundant setup with usage monitoring. I haven't bugged them because I haven't gotten to that point.
If you are disappointed for any reason it will not be the board in my experience.

The guys:
Fisnky and I chatted quite a bit during the purchase and after. He will do anything he can to make sure you are not only pleased, but he keeps you abreast of anything which may come up. He shot me a note to have me check specific items, he questioned my input power, and plainly wanted to make sure everything went smooth no matter what. Finsky obviously understands what customer service is, which is missing from many in our community. He did not want a problem to arise for any reason, be it my fault for incoming power, placement, noise, etc, or anything from the supply end. He is up front, and offered escrow of my choosing, and other ways for my security. In the end I simply sent him the coin because I felt there would not be an issue. IT wasn't over the top, fake, kind of salesmanship ala used car guy, it was genuine he wanted to put that product in my hands and help me make it function without delay.

Jabber is a busy guy, and I know he is involved in designing many projects. I did my legwork and read back, talked to a few folks, and I never found anyone who was not pleased with their deals. If you simply want to purchase the board talk to Finsky, there isn't a reason to bug Jabber if you are in North America. As you can see from their posts regarding the alternate fan placement they will continue to build on current projects. While some of us may want more from the current design, more of us wanted the board to run the 2880 in our hands as fast as possible. I have no doubt Jabber will entertain future revisions with different functionality but keep in mind he also has minimum quantities, and putting the initial designs, production runs, etc is not cheap. Neither of these guys should be losing money to make one-off designs, if you want something there is nothing wrong with asking, but be somewhat knowledgeable and understanding regarding your request and the response. I have respect for both of these gentlemen and as I mentioned, I have plans in place to purchase more products in the near future.

I apologize for the wall of text but I wanted to convey my positive experiences.
If you have a need to power a few miners, a couple of S4s, a few SP20s, or a lot of S3s or S5s, this is the unit and board for you. I have a friend who received cables as well (these were not ready when I placed my order) and he has the same comments and experiences I have relayed here. I call it the Total Package 2880 because it has become my go to power supply. Do not get me wrong, I have several other server power supplys of the 2000bb variety running happily, but when it comes to density, power usage, and counting pennies this unit makes the most sense today and for what I see next gen. SPtech have already told everyone their next gen miners will be big boys and made for industrial miners. No word on if they will include power units, and we know BITMAIN cannot provide a proper power supply.

I know what I have with my 2880s and these boards and I am very pleased. Going into the unknown next gen I have no doubts my 2880s will be able to handle whatever is thrown my way and that cannot be said for the average ATX powering the current gen. If you are going to purchase a power supply, you do not get what you pay for with retail ATX units, the pricing structure is ridiculous imo. I consider paying for one of these packages is currently the best way to go for a multi-miner setup today, and probably a single miner soon. Do your homework on pricing. People say the ATX variety are easier to sell later, but IF I decided to sell a miner with a power supply I would not include my 2880 and breakout board. It would be something smaller for that particular miner, and if it is a larger quantity sale then the customer should be advised that the 2880 is the way to go for that type of setup. Otherwise I am not doing that person justice in my opinion. You would have a hard time getting these out of my hands anyway. It would be much cheaper for you to order from Finsky haha because I love these units.

Thanks Finsky and Jabber, I appreciate your product, and the service. It is refreshing in a world of daily scams and theft to meet some of the few people who are legitimate business minded people with core customer service skills that only come from sincerity and roots in true customer service..

How many hours on the switch?
Has it been used in a 'real-world' mining or business environment utilizing 20+ ports?
What was your personal experience with gigabit transfer rates?

If you have too many offers to take S5s off people's hands let me know and I can help move those for ya  

Seriously though, I do not think you are anywhere close to what people want for S5 or any current gen miner.
They are way overpriced at the moment. Mainly due to SPtech not having any SP20 stock and BITMAIN taking advantage of the 'home-miner', so the guys who did buy in bulk or currently buying in bulk are still paying $330 + freight at the least. That is the best deal I have heard from a 'larger miner' meaning he ordered over 500, but not the 1600. He told me he isn't spending any more on current gen because even with his 'cheap' hydro power and hosting that investing more than that at this time will disrupt his cash flow enough to where he 'might' be in a bind for an early order on next gen.

That makes sense to me and I am a n00b miner with a small home lot mix of SP20s, S3s, and S4s.

By the way, maybe you are an experienced guy, but to me, buying used SP20s is the way to go if you can find them. The S5s do not receive the same level of attention, especially if you have an issue. The SPTech people are top shelf and they work hard while actually addressing concerns of all sorts.

+1
I do not need the water cooling, but would love to buy more miners from most anyone SPtech recommends. I refuse to give BITMAIN another dollar, even if it means I can't mine anymore.

The 'nicehash bot' will let you top up, enter new orders, and basically keep going at whatever the rate is.
Check it out if you are serious about rentals.
I have been experimenting with westhash using the bot a little this week but in the past I have just added an order at 5TH (the lowest) at a mid-range value of say .0101 and it was on more than off. It seemed to me the weekends and during US 12: PM EST through 7 or 8:PM were the busiest and where you would be battling if you wanted to keep a miner up. 106 price range was pretty darn stable lately, but these prices are not making money, they were fun, learning tool, and I consider it just another part of the hobby and do not expect to make a mint at it, at least not right now anyway.

I am very interested in this.
I am a small BTC miner and may be able to point some gear towards this concept.
I will watch this thread, and please let me know how I may become more involved.

I could not believe Josh Garza has not blown the others away.
He will get there once your poll has more visitors and we start adding numbers.
I think GAW easily stole more than anyone else.
Bit I say *think*, and I was there and gave some money myself.
The thing about Josh is the pathological lies AND convincing so many people much smarter than me to go along.
Hell, he had some *smart* experienced crypto people on the hook, but the most was surely crypto noobs like me.

I will say that GAW brought my attention to BTC, so there is that.

This is just one of the reasons I tell people to mine with Kano and CK.

Thanks Kano for running THE pool, and thanks to both you and CK for all you have done with the community, specifically the software contributions, but overall so many things I can't list them all

Same here. The pool starts everything at 1-and-a-bit-k (1024?) and adjusts from there. I do set my S3s at 256 and let it adjust them up, which the pool does automatically.
By the way, if you are like me and love touching everything, there are tons more fun things to mess with than difficulty. It is over rated for us new miners This pool handles it perfectly imo and even my 256 is a waste causing more traffic than what is needed. At least in my experience the only time to really change difficulty is with a miner which has a bug, IE what you read about the older S4 firmware. I am running the January S4 firmware on my S4's. I think Bitmain did some voltage tweaking to it like they did with the S3 Jan firmware, but I do not have proof of it with the S4.

Best pool ever!

Oddness, but I have been playing on my end, but only single miners and they all dropped hash. I see where the pool restart is shown though, so obviously was my end. Maybe I made the cable company mad again.
For some reason they get frustrated with me easily. Something about going over my data limit every month. I think the limits are stupid for this company. They make a fortune and then complain about a few gigs over their limit.
I told them straight up I would get another ISP and they said no it is OK as long as you aren't serving up an FTP server or sitting on irc serving up or running a business reselling any of their products, but, every time I speak with support they whine about my usage.

They have no clue what I am doing heh.

TY for the payout!