Probably dead chip on s17+, how to fix it?

[oisac]

Hi all.

I have an antminer s17+ with some problems. First 1 hashboard did not give any signal anymore or status. a week later the second hashboard went offline.

I lowerd the powersetting (3th party software) and then 1 hashboard turned back on again. So i guess that it might be the PSU because the chipcount from the systemlogs are looking fine.

Im wondering if it is maybe my PSU that is broken.

I dont have a second good working PSU for s17+. I do have 2x s9 PSU and a s17pro PSU. Maybe i can convert these in someway to run the S17+? I can try some things but i dont wanna risk my S17+. i also have a multimeter.

Is there any way how i can check if my PSU is the problem? Or does someone have a suggestion for what could be wrong?

Thanks in advance.

[oisac]

[UPDATE]

i checked the powersupply and it is giving a steady 21v current. I swiched the hashboards and now instead of hashboard 3 not working, hashboard 2 is not working.

When opening the miner. 1 of the heatsinks fell of. If i have to guess one of the chips is dead.

What is the best thing i can do now?

is it possible to repair a dead chip ?

[wndsnb]

Kernel log, screenshots, and photos .... read this: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5103892.0

If the chip didn't burn up then the board is probably repairable but might be hard to find someone to do it. If the chip burnt then it most likely damaged the pcb and then would be nearly impossible to fix.

Check out this thread: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5297994.0

and this thread: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5217949.0

[BitMaxz]

[...]

I'm sure you will need some technical knowledge to fix this issue and you will need some repair tool to replace a dead chip.

Since you mention that the heatsinks fell (Maybe the chip is not dead yet)why not try to buy adhesive or Thermo Glue to reattach the heatsink back to the top of the chip. The miner is automatically turned the hashboard off if it detects some overheating parts it's just protecting the hashboard from burning. So reattach heatsinks might solve your issue.

If not, then you will need to find someone who knows to repair a hashboard or If you still want to repair it with your self you can check the guide from zeusBTC from this link below.
- https://www.zeusbtc.com/NewsDetails.asp?ID=182

[oisac]

Thanks for your reply.

Not every chip has their own temp sensor so i guess the miner will not turn off automatically when a chip overheats. But the heatsink fell of while cleaning, maybe there was not enough surface contact between the heatsink and the chip.

[mikeywith]

I swiched the hashboards and now instead of hashboard 3 not working, hashboard 2 is not working.

When opening the miner. 1 of the heatsinks fell of. If i have to guess one of the chips is dead.

The best explanation I can come up with is that the fallen heatsink was shorting something and stopping the miner from mining, once that was taken care of the other two good hash boards worked fine.

What is the best thing i can do now?

Mine with 2 hash boards.

is it possible to repair a dead chip ?

It's unlikely that the chip is dead, your problem is just the heatsink, all you need to do is "glue it back on", check this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=378FPjkHQJc&t=834s, keep in mind that these guys make it look super easy when it really is not, at least not for me.

[oisac]

Hey thanks for your reply. I dont think the heatsink shorted something. When taking out the hashboards everything was fine. one of the hashboards was layed down on the table. After i picked it up a heatsink fell of on the place where it was resting on. So the heatsink was still connected to the chip but very weakly. So i think maybe it couldnt distribute the heat of the chipp well enough because the conection beteen heatsink and chip was bad.

I did glue it back on but nothing changed. I am mining now with 2 hashboards, its best what i can do.

So why you think it is unlikely that the chip is dead? all i read on internet is bad chips on s17 hashboards.

[mikeywith]

Many people can't differentiate between the chip itself and the heatsink, it must be a language-related issue rather than a technical one, most gears I have seen have bad heatsinks, it's very unlikely that the chip will heat and burn because if the heatsink falls or is loose, the hash board will shut down right away, long before it heats up to the extend that will make it burn.

The problem with troubleshooting heatsinks is that in many cases you can't see the bad once with your naked eye, the heatsink will seem like it's perfectly glued when it's slightly loose and that alone is enough to shut-down the board, which is why companies like Zeusbtc manage to sell fixture devices for a premium.

Anyway, your problem is very common, it has been discussed numerous times in this thread, things from placing a heavyweight on the hash boards all the way to freezing them in the freezer have been tested and talked about, you should have a look.

[oisac]

Thanks, i should have a look on how to troubleshoot if the heatsink is the problem.