Caution! Pandaminers catching fire!

[moftkhor]

For all the miners using Pandaminer or are thinking about buying Pandaminers:

This is something you should know!


Not so long ago I've bought myself 10 Pandaminers and began mining ETH. I have ordered these together with the PSU's that were included.
About a month ago I was working on my computer when suddenly I noticed a burning smell coming from my mining racks. And went to look what was going on... One of my Pandaminers started melting at the PSU sockets.

Then today, my fire-alarm went off and when I hurried my ass to see what was going on, another Pandaminer was starting to do the very same thing!

This is what was waiting for me THE FIRST TIME:



















And this is what happened with ANOTHER Pandaminer today:





So for all the miners using Pandaminer:

BE VERY CAUTIOUS!

Check your PSU wirings daily and certainly at night before going to sleep!
Fire-alarm is a good investment! It can save your house!

Personally I'm not going to work with Pandaminers anymore in the future due to earlier problems with Pandaminers arriving hugely damaged and lot's more manufacturing issues...

Anyone having an idea what would cause this wires to melt. SHOOT!
I'm thinking maybe the PSU's included in the Pandaminers are worthless...

[couture]

Crikey! It's got to be just they are using crap PSUs to keep costs down

[Vitnatin]

Are the PSU also damaged?

[cashen]

Its drawing to much current.

are you dual mining?

[devkowow]

Nothing to do with PSU it self nothing to do with how much current system draws. You can produce flame with AA battery as well.

Looks like just faulty soldering or faulty connectors. Loss of proper connection causes open circuit > resistance closing to infinity thus current without other path will try to flow trough and heat up at point where resistance is high causing connections to catch fire. Might as well be just your own fault if you did not connect wires properly but I would go with cheap connectors used that doesn't fit together too well.

[Tidsdilatation]

Holy shit. Good thing you're alright!

[moftkhor]

Are the PSU also damaged?

Only the wiring is damaged. PSU's still working but without new wiring, they are useless...

Its drawing to much current.

are you dual mining?

I'm not dualmining... Only ETH mining on the Pandaminers.

[moftkhor]

Nothing to do with PSU it self nothing to do with how much current system draws. You can produce flame with AA battery as well.

Looks like just faulty soldering or faulty connectors. Loss of proper connection causes open circuit > resistance closing to infinity thus current without other path will try to flow trough and heat up at point where resistance is high causing connections to catch fire. Might as well be just your own fault if you did not connect wires properly but I would go with cheap connectors used that doesn't fit together too well.

It could be the connectors being used. I don't see any indications on the motherboard nor the PSU of any overcurrent... Connectors are all connected properly, I do pay good attention when I connect my wires.

[devkowow]

Then its just cheap connectors. Try to take them to some PC repair and ask them to re-solder you new connectors.

[moftkhor]

Then its just cheap connectors. Try to take them to some PC repair and ask them to re-solder you new connectors.

Already ahead of that... Gonna do it myself as soon as I find a web shop selling these types of connectors 

[AFox]

Reminds me of KNC Neptune.
They caught fire also : https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/knc-neptunes-burning-whats-smell-ooops-melted/

[Sequoia93]

I feel like all of those ports should be 8-pin, no?

If each of those ports are suppose to power a single card I'd expect to see melting connections...

edit: it looks like you have the B1s? Does that mean each of those power connections is suppose to power a 480? If so, then Pandaminer just built a time bomb 

[moftkhor]

I feel like all of those ports should be 8-pin, no?

If each of those ports are suppose to power a single card I'd expect to see melting connections...

edit: it looks like you have the B1s? Does that mean each of those power connections is suppose to power a 480? If so, then Pandaminer just built a time bomb  

Yes, they are B1's with the 480 gpu's...

edit: What's weird is that several connections start melting at the same time...

[Sequoia93]

Trying to pull over 100w through a 6-pin is going to melt it eventually, I would not be surprised if many of them started to reach their limits around the same time. But the B1s have been out for awhile, so I'd expect to see a lot more complaints about this. I do recall seeing this happen to at least one other person maybe a month or more ago, not sure if it was a b1 or b3 though...

[PanneKopp]

This


is really looking bad !

I´m sorry 4 you.

 

P.S. this is not the fault of the PSU ^^

For all the miners using Pandaminer or are thinking about buying Pandaminers:

This is something you should know!


Not so long ago I've bought myself 10 Pandaminers and began mining ETH. I have ordered these together with the PSU's that were included.
About a month ago I was working on my computer when suddenly I noticed a burning smell coming from my mining racks. And went to look what was going on... One of my Pandaminers started melting at the PSU sockets.

Then today, my fire-alarm went off and when I hurried my ass to see what was going on, another Pandaminer was starting to do the very same thing!

This is what was waiting for me THE FIRST TIME:



















And this is what happened with ANOTHER Pandaminer today:





So for all the miners using Pandaminer:

BE VERY CAUTIOUS!

Check your PSU wirings daily and certainly at night before going to sleep!
Fire-alarm is a good investment! It can save your house!

Personally I'm not going to work with Pandaminers anymore in the future due to earlier problems with Pandaminers arriving hugely damaged and lot's more manufacturing issues...

Anyone having an idea what would cause this wires to melt. SHOOT!
I'm thinking maybe the PSU's included in the Pandaminers are worthless...

[slickster100]

I might pickup a device which could warn me when the 6 pin connectors get over a given set point temperature.  Maybe an item like this https://www.amazon.com/Crosse-Alerts-926-25101-GP-Wireless-Monitor/dp/B0081UR76G/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1496427346&sr=8-9&keywords=lacrosse+wireless+thermometer  You could attach the probe to the connector and this device lets you get warnings on your phone when it exceeds the temperature you set.  I use this to monitor the miner room temperature in a detached garage and the outside air temperature.  This helps me to quickly to see the delta of inflow air temp. to exhaust, in order to make sure I have enough air exchanges in the room for maximum cooling and also to alert me if my large ceiling fan dies.  Its a paid service after 3 months I think.  I am sure there are other solutions to protect your investment short of reducing the hash and overall power usage.

[onefinecoin]

Damn this is dangerous. I last week I too was lucky to be around when one of my old 280x sparked and almost caught fire from the connector, i switched off the main power quickly...whats surprising is that the connector is all good, but a capacitor on the card got burned!

what scares me is, what if i was not around... !!

[jstefanop]

Nothing to do with PSU it self nothing to do with how much current system draws. You can produce flame with AA battery as well.

Looks like just faulty soldering or faulty connectors. Loss of proper connection causes open circuit > resistance closing to infinity thus current without other path will try to flow trough and heat up at point where resistance is high causing connections to catch fire. Might as well be just your own fault if you did not connect wires properly but I would go with cheap connectors used that doesn't fit together too well.

They are using seven 6 pin connectors to power 8 GPUs + aux power. This is bound to end in this type of failure eventually. Technically there should be 16 6 pin connectors to play it safe. They used the bare minimum.  (don't forget a normal 400/500 GPU is pulling half its power from the PCIE slot/riser and another half from the 6 pin).

[VoskCoin]

how do you have your pandas setup? What was their avg temp etc? sorry this happened to you

Have you contacted pandaminer support? any input from them and are they replacing your unit?

[adaseb]

Its not the connectors. Where it melted was the GND not the +12V lines. They got some bad grounding problem or the PSU is just faulty in someway.

This is just bad engineering...

[Eyedol-X]

Its not the connectors. Where it melted was the GND not the +12V lines. They got some bad grounding problem or the PSU is just faulty in someway.

This is just bad engineering...

Yeah I'd like to know more about the PSU's being used here, it could just as easily be the PSU and not the Panda's themselves.

[PanneKopp]

Yeah I'd like to know more about the PSU's being used here, it could just as easily be the PSU and not the Panda's themselves.

... any statement from pandaminer

[Sequoia93]

Can someone confirm that those 7 6-pin connectors are the only power inputs?

7 x 75w = only 525 watts?

They must be using a thicker wire to increase the capacity of the 6 pin connectors. But the 8-pin connectors have the additional ground for a good reason...

[adaseb]

Can someone confirm that those 7 6-pin connectors are the only power inputs?

7 x 75w = only 525 watts?

They must be using a thicker wire to increase the capacity of the 6 pin connectors. But the 8-pin connectors have the additional ground for a good reason...

The 6-pin and 8-pin both only have 3x +12V lines. Since a 8-pin PCIe is rated for 150Watts so should the 6-pin PCIe also.

So its more like 7 x 150w = 1050 Watts

But it needs to have proper grounding from the PCIe slot somehow.

Not surprised this happened. They basically rushed to production to meet demand. This was bound to happen.

[philipma1957]

Nothing to do with PSU it self nothing to do with how much current system draws. You can produce flame with AA battery as well.

Looks like just faulty soldering or faulty connectors. Loss of proper connection causes open circuit > resistance closing to infinity thus current without other path will try to flow trough and heat up at point where resistance is high causing connections to catch fire. Might as well be just your own fault if you did not connect wires properly but I would go with cheap connectors used that doesn't fit together too well.

They are using seven 6 pin connectors to power 8 GPUs + aux power. This is bound to end in this type of failure eventually. Technically there should be 16 6 pin connectors to play it safe. They used the bare minimum.  (don't forget a normal 400/500 GPU is pulling half its power from the PCIE slot/riser and another half from the 6 pin).

no they are using 5 and splitting  2  into 4

so
1 single 18 gauge
 1single  18 gauge
 1 single 18 gauge

then a single 18 gauge that splits into 2 single 18gauge
then a single 18 gauge that splits into 2 single 18gauge

and every photo of every burnt  setup shows the melt starts by the split cables.

I mention that this psu should not be used long term more then one time in my review and that I went to a rosewill tokamak 1500 watt with no issues

[PanneKopp]

Hi @philipma1957 ,

Nothing to do with PSU it self nothing to do with how much current system draws. You can produce flame with AA battery as well.

Looks like just faulty soldering or faulty connectors. Loss of proper connection causes open circuit > resistance closing to infinity thus current without other path will try to flow trough and heat up at point where resistance is high causing connections to catch fire. Might as well be just your own fault if you did not connect wires properly but I would go with cheap connectors used that doesn't fit together too well.

They are using seven 6 pin connectors to power 8 GPUs + aux power. This is bound to end in this type of failure eventually. Technically there should be 16 6 pin connectors to play it safe. They used the bare minimum.  (don't forget a normal 400/500 GPU is pulling half its power from the PCIE slot/riser and another half from the 6 pin).

no they are using 5 and splitting  2  into 4

so
1 single 18 gauge
 1single  18 gauge
 1 single 18 gauge

then a single 18 gauge that splits into 2 single 18gauge
then a single 18 gauge that splits into 2 single 18gauge

and every photo of every burnt  setup shows the melt starts by the split cables.

I mention that this psu should not be used long term more then one time in my review and that I went to a rosewill tokamak 1500 watt with no issues

so what is your guess ?

Did the PSU (with new cabels) or the "Panda" (with new connectors) survive ?

... I´m still missing a statement from the manufactorer ^^ .



P.S. I do not see anything implying "where it starts" ...

[-droid-]

Yeah everyone knows that split cables are a bad idea.. in surprised panda allows his

[philipma1957]

Hi @philipma1957 ,

Nothing to do with PSU it self nothing to do with how much current system draws. You can produce flame with AA battery as well.

Looks like just faulty soldering or faulty connectors. Loss of proper connection causes open circuit > resistance closing to infinity thus current without other path will try to flow trough and heat up at point where resistance is high causing connections to catch fire. Might as well be just your own fault if you did not connect wires properly but I would go with cheap connectors used that doesn't fit together too well.

They are using seven 6 pin connectors to power 8 GPUs + aux power. This is bound to end in this type of failure eventually. Technically there should be 16 6 pin connectors to play it safe. They used the bare minimum.  (don't forget a normal 400/500 GPU is pulling half its power from the PCIE slot/riser and another half from the 6 pin).

no they are using 5 and splitting  2  into 4

so
1 single 18 gauge
 1single  18 gauge
 1 single 18 gauge

then a single 18 gauge that splits into 2 single 18gauge
then a single 18 gauge that splits into 2 single 18gauge

and every photo of every burnt  setup shows the melt starts by the split cables.

I mention that this psu should not be used long term more then one time in my review and that I went to a rosewill tokamak 1500 watt with no issues

so what is your guess ?

Did the PSU (with new cabels) or the "Panda" (with new connectors) survive ?
... I´m still missing a statement from the manufactorer ^^ .



P.S. I do not see anything implying "where it starts" ...

then you don't see the same photos I see give me a minute .




look at the melt pattern on this one





and my guess of what it means

[adaseb]

I had this happen also with a regular Platinum PSU which had split cables, and it was connected to a small GPU and started to turn brown.

They are never a good idea for high wattage applications because they might not be crimped properly.

[philipma1957]

I had this happen also with a regular Platinum PSU which had split cables, and it was connected to a small GPU and started to turn brown.

They are never a good idea for high wattage applications because they might not be crimped properly.

yep I posted an explanation in a screen shot edit.


the  melting start in the split cable du to overheating just too much power on  18 gauge cables.

once one plug fails  the other 6 suck harder and they fail one by one.

[adaseb]

I had this happen also with a regular Platinum PSU which had split cables, and it was connected to a small GPU and started to turn brown.

They are never a good idea for high wattage applications because they might not be crimped properly.

yep I posted an explanation in a screen shot edit.


the  melting start in the split cable du to overheating just too much power on  18 gauge cables.

once one plug fails  the other 6 suck harder and they fail one by one.

Yes but why melt at the GND wires and not +12V. I think they didn't properly ground the GPUs from the PEG slot connector.

With an 8 pin PCIe GPU, it has 5 GND's from the PCIe power connector and has like around 8-9 different grounding pins with the PEG slot.

So looks like there were more +12V wires than GND wires.

[moftkhor]

Nothing to do with PSU it self nothing to do with how much current system draws. You can produce flame with AA battery as well.

Looks like just faulty soldering or faulty connectors. Loss of proper connection causes open circuit > resistance closing to infinity thus current without other path will try to flow trough and heat up at point where resistance is high causing connections to catch fire. Might as well be just your own fault if you did not connect wires properly but I would go with cheap connectors used that doesn't fit together too well.

They are using seven 6 pin connectors to power 8 GPUs + aux power. This is bound to end in this type of failure eventually. Technically there should be 16 6 pin connectors to play it safe. They used the bare minimum.  (don't forget a normal 400/500 GPU is pulling half its power from the PCIE slot/riser and another half from the 6 pin).

no they are using 5 and splitting  2  into 4

so
1 single 18 gauge
 1single  18 gauge
 1 single 18 gauge

then a single 18 gauge that splits into 2 single 18gauge
then a single 18 gauge that splits into 2 single 18gauge

and every photo of every burnt setup shows the melt starts by the split cables.

I mention that this psu should not be used long term more than one time in my review and that I went to a rosewill tokamak 1500 watt with no issues

Just before I've read your reply, I've noticed on my other Pandaminers the splitted cables were significantly hotter than the single cables running to the connectors.
I do believe this is the problem. I think I'll be better off replacing all PSU's by 7 single cable PSU's?

[charles2k]

Replace Molex 6pin connectors on mainboard with Molex Mini-Fit Jr. Seriess 5569 part. No 39-30-1060
Their Current - Maximum per Contact is 13A - so 3x13=39A
I used it for KNC Neptune (more than 400W per one 6pin PCIE)
But for higher A is better 16AWG cables.

http://www.farnell.com/datasheets/2286643.pdf?_ga=2.171704037.457168996.1496440853-17182377.1496440853

[moftkhor]

Replace Molex 6pin connectors on mainboard with Molex Mini-Fit Jr. Seriess 5569 part. No 39-30-1060
Their Current - Maximum per Contact is 13A - so 3x13=39A
I used it for KNC Neptune (more than 400W per one 6pin PCIE)
But for higher A is better 16AWG cables.

http://www.farnell.com/datasheets/2286643.pdf?_ga=2.171704037.457168996.1496440853-17182377.1496440853

I was also thinking of changing all the connectors, but now I'm having doubts if this would solve the problem. I still think the melting starts at the split cables?

[kodokbuduk]

is that PSU from panda?

[philipma1957]

is that PSU from panda?

Yes it is the stock oem Psu.

And it is not good. At the split cables.

It is simple the jacks pull about 175 watts

And this means those split cables are doing close to 300-350 watts.

They rate for 225 max.

So they melt at one of the split jacks and then the rest melt.


Translation. The oem Psu can not do the trick.


Now back to other issue 7 jacks for 8 Psu,s and the mobo .

It is fine if seven cables at 16 gauge go in.

And you do not run the gear really fast.

I used smOS and downclocked just a bit. I ran Zec as it used less power.

When I sold the panda I said to the buyer don't use the stock Psu and don't dual mine.

It is doing well for him not sure what he runs it with

[jstefanop]

Its not the connectors. Where it melted was the GND not the +12V lines. They got some bad grounding problem or the PSU is just faulty in someway.

This is just bad engineering...

Yes the ground lines are the most likely ones to fail when you don't have enough connectors for the current draw your pulling. This is why the higher power draw 8 pin GPU connector has two extra ground lines.

[moftkhor]

Anyone got an idea where I could buy this Pandaminers motherboard now that I'm down 2 miners due to motherboard issues...?

[philipma1957]

Anyone got an idea where I could buy this Pandaminers motherboard now that I'm down 2 miners due to motherboard issues...?

email them.

btw this is why I stopped having anything to do with them.

my logic was  everyone    was telling them to go f their selves.  I liked the design and convinced them to send a batch 1 to me to show.  which I did

they sold out fast once people saw the gear.

My review clearly said the stock psu was not good..

They gave me a big 30 dollar discount on that machine after they sold 500 of them.

that was mildly annoying but they then sold out the second batch without selling me a single one.

Basically this was a good demo to me that they are not worthwhile and I had no interest in doing any business with them as I could see they are typical shit business people with zero concept of customer service.

The posts are here if you look and read. I am sorry the psu burned the boards, but you could try to ask for repair service from them  hah good luck.  or you could look at thread here and find the people that did do solder repairs to the jacks.  I am sure the guy that solder his would fix yours.

to all get a good psu to run this and mine zec not eth.  (you will not burn your gear up)

[moftkhor]

Anyone got an idea where I could buy this Pandaminers motherboard now that I'm down 2 miners due to motherboard issues...?

email them.

btw this is why I stopped having anything to do with them.

my logic was  everyone    was telling them to go f their selves.  I liked the design and convinced them to send a batch 1 to me to show.  which I did

they sold out fast once people saw the gear.

My review clearly said the stock psu was not good..

They gave me a big 30 dollar discount on that machine after they sold 500 of them.

that was mildly annoying but they then sold out the second batch without selling me a single one.

Basically this was a good demo to me that they are not worthwhile and I had no interest in doing any business with them as I could so they are typical shit business people with zero concept of customer service.

The posts are here if you look and read. I am sorry the psu burned the boards, but you could try to ask for repair service from them  hah good luck.  or you could look at thread here and find the people that did do solder repairs to the jacks.  I am sure the guy that solder his would fix yours.

to all get a good psu to run this and mine zec not eth.  (you will not burn your gear up)

I once got a new Pandaminer sent to me after receiving a whole damaged one, also as compensation for the lost mining time... Still I've lost a lot of money as ETH was skyrocketing meanwhile!
This was also the last time I was planning to work with Pandaminer again. I'm switching over to making my own rigs with Sapphires.

I'm going to try and see if Pandaminer would send me at least a couple mobo's to fix my miners. They can keep they're crappy PSU's. Just a motherboard will be a mission impossible to get! Hope they work along...

[Eyedol-X]

I once got a new Pandaminer sent to me after receiving a whole damaged one, also as compensation for the lost mining time... Still I've lost a lot of money as ETH was skyrocketing meanwhile!
This was also the last time I was planning to work with Pandaminer again. I'm switching over to making my own rigs with Sapphires.

I'm going to try and see if Pandaminer would send me at least a couple mobo's to fix my miners. They can keep they're crappy PSU's. Just a motherboard will be a mission impossible to get! Hope they work along...

It seems like it would be in Pandaminers best interest to send you a replacement board since I'm sure this post can't be good press for them. It also seems like the best possible solution but opens them up to questions about who's responsible for a potential fire and whether or not they will sell motherboards directly.

[moftkhor]

I once got a new Pandaminer sent to me after receiving a whole damaged one, also as compensation for the lost mining time... Still I've lost a lot of money as ETH was skyrocketing meanwhile!
This was also the last time I was planning to work with Pandaminer again. I'm switching over to making my own rigs with Sapphires.

I'm going to try and see if Pandaminer would send me at least a couple mobo's to fix my miners. They can keep they're crappy PSU's. Just a motherboard will be a mission impossible to get! Hope they work along...

It seems like it would be in Pandaminers best interest to send you a replacement board since I'm sure this post can't be good press for them. It also seems like the best possible solution but opens them up to questions about who's responsible for a potential fire and whether or not they will sell motherboards directly.

I'll not be asking them to sell me the motherboards, but to send it to me as warranty replacement parts... We'll see what it will turn out...

[Liquid71]

F
Anyone having an idea what would cause this wires to melt. SHOOT!
I'm thinking maybe the PSU's included in the Pandaminers are worthless...

Low quality 18 or higher gauge wires will melt I've had it happen to me (not nearly that bad and not on a panda miner) but lower quality PSU will ship thin cables that melt. Try for 16 gauge cables whenever possible for mining. Panda must have went with the cheapest PSU they could find and it used low quality cables. I'm just shocked this hasn't happened to more people. I have one on order with Giga Watt, at least I won't have to deal with it but I probably wouldn't have ordered it if I knew they used such shitty PSU

no they are using 5 and splitting  2  into 4

so
1 single 18 gauge
 1single  18 gauge
 1 single 18 gauge

then a single 18 gauge that splits into 2 single 18gauge
then a single 18 gauge that splits into 2 single 18gauge

and every photo of every burnt  setup shows the melt starts by the split cables.

I mention that this psu should not be used long term more then one time in my review and that I went to a rosewill tokamak 1500 watt with no issues

Phil knows his stuff, if I was hosting mine I'd swap out the PSU to the rosewill he recommends. Hopefully Panda comes through with repair and parts but I wouldn't continue to use that PSU

[VoskCoin]

This is why you have them hosted by Giga Watt, they are professionals and also do on site repairs. https://giga-watt.com/promo/prices

Do their ICO now and lock in 3.3c kwh for 50 years https://cryptonomos.com/?r=1H2MkmZnQak9mIc0NKCaddDsQ

I just glanced over it, if you buy into their ICO now, when would you be able to begin hosting? Do you have hosting with them currently?

[Liquid71]

This is why you have them hosted by Giga Watt, they are professionals and also do on site repairs. https://giga-watt.com/promo/prices

Do their ICO now and lock in 3.3c kwh for 50 years https://cryptonomos.com/?r=1H2MkmZnQak9mIc0NKCaddDsQ

I just glanced over it, if you buy into their ICO now, when would you be able to begin hosting? Do you have hosting with them currently?

Yes I have hosting, I'm not 100% sure as in asked them but reading the whitepaper it sounds pretty clear that you can apply your tokens towards your hosted miners to lower the current plan you are on. It says if you don't have enough tokens to cover the power of your hosted miner then the amount above the tokens is charged at the regular rate, which is 9.75c kwh for the 1-9 miner package. I didn't ask because if for some reason I can't apply the tokens to my current hosting plan I'll rent the tokens out which will make up the difference between what I'm payign now and the discounted rate the ICO locks in. I trust the company though and never had any issues. The tokens are released Aug 7 and I have some batch 2 which is Aug 15 and you can use the tokens as soon as they are released for mining and renting.
If you go on coindesk and search Dave Carlson you'll see articles about the CEO and the company going back many years, pretty good stuff worth reading if you are considering the ICO or even just curious about professional mining company.

[Oklawolf]

no they are using 5 and splitting  2  into 4

so
1 single 18 gauge
 1single  18 gauge
 1 single 18 gauge

then a single 18 gauge that splits into 2 single 18gauge
then a single 18 gauge that splits into 2 single 18gauge

and every photo of every burnt  setup shows the melt starts by the split cables.

I mention that this psu should not be used long term more then one time in my review and that I went to a rosewill tokamak 1500 watt with no issues

Yeah, that's completely irresponsible engineering right there. Too few conductors with too few connections to the hardware. And with wiring like that, I seriously question their "1600W" unit is capable of anywhere near that mark over the long haul. If it is, it's a fire hazard because the cabling simply can't support it.

Stuff like this sickens me. This crap is going to burn someone's house down.

FYI, those Tokamak units throw a ton of EMI back into the power lines. I just pulled one out of my farm because I couldn't review power supplies with it running at the same time. Too much extra noise in the oscilloscope. They kill AM radio for a block, too. I have another 1200W Enhance Titanium doing the same thing which will also come out of the farm soon. Other than that, they are good units. I'd have just kept using it if I wasn't a power supply reviewer, but I hate shutting the rigs down just for load testing so I'm migrating to units that don't do that.

[VoskCoin]

no they are using 5 and splitting  2  into 4

so
1 single 18 gauge
 1single  18 gauge
 1 single 18 gauge

then a single 18 gauge that splits into 2 single 18gauge
then a single 18 gauge that splits into 2 single 18gauge

and every photo of every burnt  setup shows the melt starts by the split cables.

I mention that this psu should not be used long term more then one time in my review and that I went to a rosewill tokamak 1500 watt with no issues

Yeah, that's completely irresponsible engineering right there. Too few conductors with too few connections to the hardware. And with wiring like that, I seriously question their "1600W" unit is capable of anywhere near that mark over the long haul. If it is, it's a fire hazard because the cabling simply can't support it.

Stuff like this sickens me. This crap is going to burn someone's house down.

FYI, those Tokamak units throw a ton of EMI back into the power lines. I just pulled one out of my farm because I couldn't review power supplies with it running at the same time. Too much extra noise in the oscilloscope. They kill AM radio for a block, too. I have another 1200W Enhance Titanium doing the same thing which will also come out of the farm soon. Other than that, they are good units. I'd have just kept using it if I wasn't a power supply reviewer, but I hate shutting the rigs down just for load testing so I'm migrating to units that don't do that.

do you have links to your reviews? That's very cool.

[Oklawolf]

do you have links to your reviews? That's very cool.

Anything by OklahomaWolf: www.jonnyGURU.com

I don't have the gear to test EMI, but the scope will give me 20-30mV of background noise at the load tester without the unit being tested even being fired up whenever those big Enhance OEM units are online.

The big ones I use that don't throw out EMI: all EVGA/Super Flower 1600W units, Corsair AX1500i, Coolermaster MIJ 1200W, Seasonic X-1050. Also running an Andyson N700 and Seasonic Prime Titanium 750W in the same room as the load testing gear - those don't do EMI either.

[chiwalfrm]

So far all the problem reports are from the B1 model which uses RX480 cards, also they may have changed PSU suppliers since 6 months ago.  Has anyone have any insight into the recent production to say things have changed for the better?

[philipma1957]

no they are using 5 and splitting  2  into 4

so
1 single 18 gauge
 1single  18 gauge
 1 single 18 gauge

then a single 18 gauge that splits into 2 single 18gauge
then a single 18 gauge that splits into 2 single 18gauge

and every photo of every burnt  setup shows the melt starts by the split cables.

I mention that this psu should not be used long term more then one time in my review and that I went to a rosewill tokamak 1500 watt with no issues

Yeah, that's completely irresponsible engineering right there. Too few conductors with too few connections to the hardware. And with wiring like that, I seriously question their "1600W" unit is capable of anywhere near that mark over the long haul. If it is, it's a fire hazard because the cabling simply can't support it.

Stuff like this sickens me. This crap is going to burn someone's house down.

FYI, those Tokamak units throw a ton of EMI back into the power lines. I just pulled one out of my farm because I couldn't review power supplies with it running at the same time. Too much extra noise in the oscilloscope. They kill AM radio for a block, too. I have another 1200W Enhance Titanium doing the same thing which will also come out of the farm soon. Other than that, they are good units. I'd have just kept using it if I wasn't a power supply reviewer, but I hate shutting the rigs down just for load testing so I'm migrating to units that don't do that.

Oh now I know why my garage door opener does not quite work as well as it did.

I will build a faraday cage for it,  thanks for that info.

[darthmaul]

Thats dangerous and guess what I don't trust mining even more now. Lol. What if my house catches fire due to those little panda's. Dam that would be bad idea and bad investment ever.

Is your house too hot? Or the mining area looks congested something like that? It may be happening that overheating and bad electrical wrong is causing all these stuff. PSU's can be low quality so you might wanna double check them.

[Maxumark]

A few days ago after I first read this post I went into the DC and felt all of the Panda miner power connections. Most of them felt DC room temperature and only one of them was even mildly warm to the touch. While checking them again today we found one with very hot connections and on closer inspection the black wires were turning gray at the PCIe connector at the Panda miner, and several of the PCIe connector black wires were starting to melt for a few inches with some copper wire showing. We cut the power right away and let it cool just a minute and then disconnected the PCIe connectors before they fully cooled and plastic welded together. I few PCIe pins left the plastic in the connector, but I believe that it can be cleaned out and the miner will still function. I think we caught it in time to prevent major board damage.

The interesting thing is that the 2 most burn connectors were single connector cables, not double connectors.
The connectors with wires that were melting were closest to the back or intake side of the miner.   

I thought I would pass this on for others to keep a eye on there miners, and have them check even if they are hosted at a DC.

If the PSU is the issue I would strongly recommend replacing it with a Platinum or Titanium PSU.
   

[chiwalfrm]

moftkhor, can you post a picture of the PSU label?  Is it made by Great Wall, their current PSU supplier?  Great Wall is a big supplier of power supplies.

[PanneKopp]

Yeah I'd like to know more about the PSU's being used here, it could just as easily be the PSU and not the Panda's themselves.

... any statement from pandaminer ?

looks like an over-current (short-circuit) in pandaminer for me - no need to shill

[sp_]

Here is why I don't buy the pandaminer.

- 1 month warranty
- Laptop gpu's
- Closed case
- China quality

[daadog]

Did this happen on the B1?

Do you think it also happens on the B3? Just buy new wires and connectors and swap them out and you should be fine.

[moftkhor]

Thats dangerous and guess what I don't trust mining even more now. Lol. What if my house catches fire due to those little panda's. Dam that would be bad idea and bad investment ever.

Is your house too hot? Or the mining area looks congested something like that? It may be happening that overheating and bad electrical wrong is causing all these stuff. PSU's can be low quality so you might wanna double check them.

Well, the mining area where these miners are located is very ventilated. And for the electricity, I'm an industrial electrician, so I've used the right safety requirements. I've seen enough electricals go wrong back when I worked as a technician in a factory, so I've learned my lessons well years ago  This is obviously Pandaminer going cheap on the PSU's. Today my brother discovered 2 more PSU's starting to melt. So this time we were in time before it screwed up my miners... I'm ordering a bunch of new PSU's as we speak. So this problem should be solved in a few days for me though.

[moftkhor]

Did this happen on the B1?

Do you think it also happens on the B3? Just buy new wires and connectors and swap them out and you should be fine.

This was indeed on a B1.
I don't know how it goes on a B3 model. Mine hasn't arrived yet (still after months of waiting). But I think if you would use the same PSU, it will give the same problem as these PSU's are just crappy!

[philipma1957]

Did this happen on the B1?

Do you think it also happens on the B3? Just buy new wires and connectors and swap them out and you should be fine.

This was indeed on a B1.
I don't know how it goes on a B3 model. Mine hasn't arrived yet (still after months of waiting). But I think if you would use the same PSU, it will give the same problem as these PSU's are just crappy!

they use 5 sets of cables and split them into 7.

so it is 5 sets  of 18 gauge cables

 an 18 gauge  pcie cable  max is 150 watts.

so 750 watts at the cables would be safe in theory   since these are around 83%  efficient

750/.83 = 903 watts at a k-watt meter/pdu meter  in theory is the  safe max

well my b1 pulled 1015 watts on zec at the pdu meter = not safe
and my b1 pulled  1100 watts on eth at the pdu meter = worse then zec

So  they are selling a psu  that is not safe to run all the gpus inside of it.

[alani123]

This really has to be bad design on the part of the manufacturer. Never have I seen something so trivial overlooked to miners a company produces. This could hold them liable over huge damages, but they're a Chinese company anyway...

[nerdralph]

Do a post-mortem on the cables to see if they are really 18AWG.
http://nerdralph.blogspot.ca/2016/06/when-does-18-26-when-buying-cheap-cables.html

I got my start in mining BTC with S7s, and used server PSUs with genuine 16AWG cables.  For my GPUs I use 18AWG splitter cables connected to the 16AWG cables from the server PSUs.  Even thought the splitter cables are using true 18AWG wire, I have to be careful how much power I push through them because the connectors will heat up more than the cables.

[Bitcollector]

no they are using 5 and splitting  2  into 4

so
1 single 18 gauge
 1single  18 gauge
 1 single 18 gauge

then a single 18 gauge that splits into 2 single 18gauge
then a single 18 gauge that splits into 2 single 18gauge

and every photo of every burnt  setup shows the melt starts by the split cables.

I mention that this psu should not be used long term more then one time in my review and that I went to a rosewill tokamak 1500 watt with no issues

Yeah, that's completely irresponsible engineering right there. Too few conductors with too few connections to the hardware. And with wiring like that, I seriously question their "1600W" unit is capable of anywhere near that mark over the long haul. If it is, it's a fire hazard because the cabling simply can't support it.

Stuff like this sickens me. This crap is going to burn someone's house down.

FYI, those Tokamak units throw a ton of EMI back into the power lines. I just pulled one out of my farm because I couldn't review power supplies with it running at the same time. Too much extra noise in the oscilloscope. They kill AM radio for a block, too. I have another 1200W Enhance Titanium doing the same thing which will also come out of the farm soon. Other than that, they are good units. I'd have just kept using it if I wasn't a power supply reviewer, but I hate shutting the rigs down just for load testing so I'm migrating to units that don't do that.

Well, it seems that EMI seems to be the main possibility. After reading many of the posts, their are several complaints that point to EMI. One guy complained that he blew a capacitor, and the pictures show burning on the ground wires, not on the +12V wires and now we have somebody complaining that he's getting a lot of 'noise' from couple of his units. And if you go into the theory far enough, some experts claim that these frequencies are destructive in many ways and in many cases.

How to fix it or help it might be difficult. Some ways that might help would be to make the wires twisted pairs, which is hard to do unless you can make some fancy braiding by turning the plug back through the wire on itself a couple of times. Another method that should help is to wrap the cables with copper or aluminum foil for shielding. Steel foil will not be as good as aluminum or copper, with frequencies this high.

This frequency leak is what likely destroyed the capacitor too. The problem is magnified when you have 2 frequencies that in harmony with each other and the make it a multiplier. Another reason I think this might be the problem is because this box has the ability to do many different hashing speeds. If their is a frequency leak from two circuits and are in some kind of harmony, this will create another frequency. One or more of these frequencies seems to be destructive.

I'm guessing you don't have any bugs hanging around and no dogs. The frequency might drive them nuts. haha.

P.S. Did panda warrant the burned boards?

[Bitcollector]

This really has to be bad design on the part of the manufacturer. Never have I seen something so trivial overlooked to miners a company produces. This could hold them liable over huge damages, but they're a Chinese company anyway...

I'm guessing you haven't heard of KNC, who is now bankrupt, but made alot of BTC miners in 2013

[viramarket]

Good day friends!Got my first pendaliner B3+.If I came across earlier on your theme probably would not have ordered this miner.Actually put it on the balcony of the apartment,noise is certainly creepy.There is one problem : periodically popping up a program and there's a label on the screen.The block is also not clear what capacity.Have any questions or opinions?

[viramarket]

these are the data shows.The temperature is normal?

[philipma1957]

these are the data shows.The temperature is normal?

hard to read but

gpu 0 50c
gpu 1 54c
gpu 2 48c
gpu 3 55c
gpu 4 48c
gpu 5 50c
gpu 6 50c
gpu 7 49c


are good watch them to see if they go past 60c after a day .

[viramarket]

and how can you solve a problem that resets 2-3 times a day?