Official Avalon Technical Support Thread

[el_rlee]

I have a batch 2 order.
And I need the watercooling for noise reasons myself.

[mrb]

I have a batch 2 order.
And I need the watercooling for noise reasons myself.

Watercooling generally still requires a fan (on the radiator to cool the water), therefore still creates noise.

[PuertoLibre]

My Avalon Enermax PSUs are dying one after another. 3 PSUs dead in 3 days, and I can't pinpoint the reason.

Any ideas why it may happen? Is it a common for Enermax PSU to die like this? None of the Corsair PSUs died at the same time.

Anyone had their Avalon PSU dead and was able to identify the reason?

If Enermax is indeed problematic, what is the recommended replacement?

I appreciate any help or advice you may have regarding this...

Do you have a USV connected to the PSUs? This may be the reason!!!!

Most USV have simulated sinus waves and PSUs with active PFC dont like those sinus waves. !!!!

I think you meant Sine waves.

And uh, your regular electricity uses Sine Waves.

------------------------------

Sinus waves was made funnier by the fact you have an Avatar of a Medical Doctor.

[el_rlee]

I have a batch 2 order.
And I need the watercooling for noise reasons myself.

Watercooling generally still requires a fan (on the radiator to cool the water), therefore still creates noise.

But I could place this one outside on the balcony by means of a hose.
Also one thought has been to buy a chiller and place the whole setup outside.

[johnyj]

I'm considering to take all the modules out and use an external blow fan to evenly cool all of them when summer arrives

Adding exhaust fan will improve the situation a bit, but that still don't change the fact that the sub modules are not cooled evenly, those close to the exhaust get worst cooling, because the hot air is blowed from the other 7 submodules

[ewibit]

wishlist:
...enable/disable pools in Browser (Luci)
...time dependent clock speed (e.g. night 300, day 282)
...switching on/off LED's in Luci
...fan speed tunable and clock speed to be addicted to
 

[costapete]

QUESTION:   APC BN1350G Battery Backup/Surge Protector   ok to use with AVALON?


purchased here:
http://www.samsclub.com/sams/1350-battery-backup/prod8410081.ip



Specifications

Back-UPS NS 1350G Specifications

    Model Number - BN1350G
    Output Capacity - 1350VA / 810 Watts
    Output Voltage / Frequency (On utility) - 120V / 50/60Hz +/- 3%
    Output Voltage / Frequency (On battery) - 115V +/-8%, 50 or 60 Hz +/- 1hz
    Output Connections - 10 total NEMA 5-15R outlets: 5 battery backup & surge, including 1 “master” outlet 5 surge protection only, including 3 “controlled” outlets
    Automatic Voltage Regulation (AVR) - 94-107v +11.5%
    Waveform Type - Stepped Approximation to Sine Wave
    Input Voltage / Frequency - 120V / 50/60 Hz +/- 3%
    Maximum Input (Amps) - 12A (15A circuit breaker)
    Input Connection - 5 ft cord with right angle plug (NEMA 5-15P right angle)

Surge Protection

    AC Power Surge Protection
    All outlets
    Data Line Surge Protection
    Analog phone line, RJ-11 (single line, 2-wire) or RJ-45 (ethernet). Coaxial protection. For phone, fax, modem, DSL, ethernet or cable applications.

Battery

    Battery Type - Maintenance-free, sealed lead-acid battery, leakproof

Power Management

    Power-saving Outlets - 1 Master battery back-up outlet, controlling 3 power-saving surge protected outlets.
    Controlled outlets are automatically turned off when the master outlet senses that the connected device is shutdown or in power-saving mode.
    AVR bypass - Automatically bypasses AVR transformer when utility power is good, reducing energy losses and saving power.

Management

    LCD - Multifunction LCD provides instant status updates and event alerts
    Alarms - Visual and audible alarms
    Auto-Shutdown Software
    PowerChute Personal Edition (with USB communications)

[costapete]

Waveform Type - Stepped Approximation to Sine Wave


is this OK for AVALON?

[server]

is this OK for AVALON?

I think no one can tell this for sure. Avalon is a first generation of a new device, we have to find out.

I'm using an APC Smart UPS 2200 with my own Antec HCP1000 psu.

[spiccioli]

One unit stuck again, latest firmware, so the issue is not solved, it happens rarely, but it still happens.

Having  a way to reset the control board without phisically switching off/on the unit would be a plus.

spiccioli

[allinvain]

Waveform Type - Stepped Approximation to Sine Wave


is this OK for AVALON?

It all depends on the power supply. If the power supply has APFC (Active Power Factor Correction) it is highly recommended to use a UPS that outputs pure sine wave AC.

I believe that PFC power supplies should use true sine wave UPSs. The reason for this is that PFC power supplies require a much faster changeover time when the battery kicks in, and that due to the design of stepped sine wave UPSs, they were not always fast enough to satisfy the power supply. This could lead to the PSU shutting down when the battery tried to kick in. A stepped sine wave UPS wouldn't "damage" the PSU, but that it simply might not work, and that if it DID work, it might not "always" work. It all depends on the specific power supply. The UPS shutting down has happened to me when using a non sine wave UPS with a APFC power supply.

Most PSUs that you'd want to buy these days will have APFC.

The problem that I see here (and this has been discussed in another thread I believe) is that it takes a LOT of juice to keep an Avalon running so you're going to need a beefy UPS and even so most reasonably priced UPSs (1440VA) that you can attach to a 15 amp circuit are only going to be capable of keeping it alive for maybe a few minutes at full load (even less if you run it clocked at 300).

IMHO it's worth while to have a least one on a UPS so that if there is a brief blackout at least one unit is mining and you're not losing _as much_ money (in lost revenue).

Now as for what UPS to choose. Personally I recommend the APC SmartUPS series. I've been using them for a long time and they are very reliable units. The SmartUPS series output pure sine wave by the way.

[johnyj]

One unit stuck again, latest firmware, so the issue is not solved, it happens rarely, but it still happens.

Having  a way to reset the control board without phisically switching off/on the unit would be a plus.

spiccioli

My unit stuck for the first time today, after upgraded to the latest firmware for just 5 days, although now there is no cgminer restart, the unit totally stopped working. I'm thinking of roll back to the 0225 firmware and try again, but maybe this has something to do with temperature, now outside temp rised above 23c degree

[SolarSilver]

My unit stuck for the first time today, after upgraded to the latest firmware for just 5 days, although now there is no cgminer restart, the unit totally stopped working.

When this happens, have a look at the cgminer status tab, what normally looks like:



does it turn into:



?

In that case, the FPGA controller is to blame (me thinka)

The software shuts down mining to prevent damage as it can't read out any of the values

Only a hard reset (power down, wait 10 seconds, power up) will reset it

If anybody knows a solution, please share :-)

[johnyj]

My unit stuck for the first time today, after upgraded to the latest firmware for just 5 days, although now there is no cgminer restart, the unit totally stopped working.

When this happens, have a look at the cgminer status tab, what normally looks like:



does it turn into:



?

In that case, the FPGA controller is to blame (me thinka)

The software shuts down mining to prevent damage as it can't read out any of the values

Only a hard reset (power down, wait 10 seconds, power up) will reset it

If anybody knows a solution, please share :-)

It's the second case, no data from cgminer status, seems the FPGA is the problem here

And the terrible thing is, all the mining modules were still hashing and generating a lot of heat but the fans did not spin enough fast since there was no read out from the temp sensor, so they became extremly hot when I open the case

I really want some function to set the fan speed to a fixed value so that in a worst case scenario the modules will not be burnt

[spiccioli]

Hi,

twice today, same unit.

It seems to be pool dependant.

It is rock-solid on btcguild, but locked up twice in two days of hashing on hhtt and I cannot hash more than a few minutes on p2pool.

Maybe the very little available memory and something related to the way pools send stratum work to cgminer.

Go figure.

spiccioli

[rudrigorc2]

Hi,

twice today, same unit.

It seems to be pool dependant.

It is rock-solid on btcguild, but locked up twice in two days of hashing on hhtt and I cannot hash more than a few minutes on p2pool.

Maybe the very little available memory and something related to the way pools send stratum work to cgminer.

Go figure.

spiccioli

Did you try plugged direct to your PC?

[spiccioli]

Did you try plugged direct to your PC?

No, where they are I cannot plug them easily into a PC.

spiccioli

[spiccioli]

A new firmware is due, as it seems:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=49417.msg2096615#msg2096615


spiccioli

[candoo]

I really want some function to set the fan speed to a fixed value so that in a worst case scenario the modules will not be burnt

Well you can power the fans manual with +12Volt. They will run at 100% then. I did this with mine and it works fine:) But its very noisy.

I offer avalon hosting too, ~ 500€ monthly with power costs and cooling costs. Will upgrade your Avalon with 3x 5500 RPM Fans at 100%

Send PM, I dont watch this Thread

[allinvain]

Does anyone know the precise model number of the fans the Avalon units have in them stock or a possibly good replacement for them?