Avalon Clone Assembly Service Europe

[strombom]

They work with standard M5 screw and nut:



Thanks for the M8 idea, I will look into this before having the cases manufactured!

[AvenG]

What are the connectors that hold a case like this together called? :O

They're called fasteners.  


@strombom:
You may find useful this nut:



I will recommend you asking directly to these Asian manufacturers:

Code:

http://www.pipe-fitting-flanges.net/fasteners.html
http://www.roundbarfastners.com/fasteners.html
http://www.hareshsteel.com/fasteners.html

Also I remember reading many people complaining about the selected screws. Maybe you could improve the design using something like these:



http://www.jiachengcn.com/english/ProductView.asp?ID=255&SortID=22

[silverserpent]

Good point!

Looks like the efficiency peaks at 50% - 80% of the maximum power...
http://www.anandtech.com/show/2624/3

If I got this right it would mean that the optimal PSU would have a marked rating approximately within this range:

3 module unit: 650W - 950W
4 module unit: 750W - 1250W

Given the not so big price difference, you're probably good with an 850W PSU.

Haven't had such great experience with Super-Flower, but Fortron is always decent. I would go for a Platinum certified PSU, again not much more expensive. Multi rails or single rails doesn't make much difference if you do the cabling yourself. Single rail if the end-user does it

PCPower has a nice 860W, almost industrial grade unit. only Silver though I think. (I'm using Enermax Platimax, so far so good for GPUs).

thanks for all the feedback. will move on this once chips ship.

[silverserpent]

silverserpent:
Yes I will test everything I ship.

I have not sourced PSU:s yet so I have no reply to that yet. There are a few suggestions on the wiki, might be worth taking a look:
https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Avalon#Power
If you follow the recommendation I assume you will be safe: "For 4 module units: 750W, 60A 12V, at least. recommend for a 20% margin."

The PCB:s are in production and are to be assembled within two weeks from now, I should have them not more than a week after that. The heat sinks are being manufactured as we speak and will be finished in the next few days. The cases will be ordered in the beginning of next week.

I plan to have everything ready before the end of june so that I can assemble the chips the day they arrive. I don't believe the chips will have started to arrive during june, but who knows, I am doing everything to have all components in my hands asap.

I don't know about shipping costs to USA, selecting a shipping method would depend on the daily return of the unit at the time of shipping. I do not have an account with any shipping companies and I will not be shipping many units so I can probably not get the best prices. If you have an account, maybe through your workplace I would recommend using that...

TheSwede75: Unfortunately I don't have many chips, I'm holding tight the few I have

Tack!

hi strombom,
thanks 4 the FB. making progress I see, cool. few more Qs pls...
Are you direct w/ Avalon/Bitsyncom or group buy? only to be clearer on shipping time estimates. Which shippers are readily available to you, that ship to USA; UPS, FedEx, DHL. Still have 5 modules available?

[Bogart]

I'm interested in a hashing module.  I have chips coming in Zefir's GB.  Can I reserve one?

Thanks.

[strombom]

silverserpent: I have no contact with Avalon/BitSyncom. UPS, FedEx, DHL, TNT etc are all available in my area. Yes we have more than 5 modules, we have not ordered the cases yet so we can make fewer of the full Avalons and more modules without wasting too much components.


I finally have a photo of the first heat sink, now we are telling the factory to complete the full batch of 60.

[zefir]

Cross-post in all threads of projects that are registered for Avalon sample chips from my order.

Delivery of sample chips seems to have started.

If you have chips ordered with me that you want to support this project with, do it now.

If you are the owner of this project, please provide me your shipping address.


Find the details here.

[strombom]

2013-06-15: The boards have been manufactured and the components have been delivered to the factory, the board assembly will be done this week.




Edit: One pad for C1 is covered with solder mask, the factory will scratch off some solder mask, not worth to do a re-run.

It's very assuring to hear that other people have succeeded! https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=234173.0

[strombom]

2013-06-19 Good progress today, we have tested the control unit. First test: Flash LED - OK!

The photos are not the best quality, I will post better later. The boards are on their way to Sweden, next week I will test the hash unit with an Avalon chip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mJW1ToLiAw



A few notes:
* We don't use PCI-E connectors, but 6 pin PCI-E connectors will fit anyway.
* The hash unit connectors had to be specially manufactured for us, the factory has promised they are done this saturday.
* Capacitor C1 has solder mask, the factory will scrape this off.

Not perfect but no showstoppers yet!

[strombom]

2013-06-21 Our connectors have finally been manufactured! Those were difficult to get...

[strombom]

2013-06-21: The hash units have been tested under load, now I'm waiting for tuesday when I can test with a real chip
 

[dan99]

2013-06-21: The hash units have been tested under load, now I'm waiting for tuesday when I can test with a real chip
 

Any news on your Testing with the Avalon asic chip?

[strombom]

dan99: The shipment is to arrive on tuesday, then I will update asap.

[dan99]

dan99: The shipment is to arrive on tuesday, then I will update asap.

OK Cool and Thanks

[strombom]

Since the information about overclocking the Avalons seems to be out already and it's only a question about time when someone distributes a modified bit-file, I will post mine:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/16881231/avalon_clone/firmware/openwrt-ar71xx-generic-tl-wr703n-v1-squashfs-factory_20130519b.bin

I have been running it for a month on a batch 1 unit. Happy mining

Edit: I should add that the fan PWM is locked to 100% in this firmware.

[server]

Since the information about overclocking the Avalons seems to be out already and it's only a question about time when someone distributes a modified bit-file, I will post mine:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/16881231/avalon_clone/firmware/openwrt-ar71xx-generic-tl-wr703n-v1-squashfs-factory_20130519b.bin

I have been running it for a month on a batch 1 unit. Happy mining

Thanks for sharing this

[GandalfG]

2013-06-21 Our connectors have finally been manufactured! Those were difficult to get...

• Can I reflow hash board after add Avalon chip with this connectors soldered ? Do you know max temp ?
  
• Have you stencil for hash units ?

[strombom]

GandalfG: Let me come back to you with info on max temperature. I can provide stencils no problem.

[GandalfG]

May I ask for sample chip for You  from SebastianJu ? https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=187660.msg2531978#msg2531978
I have ordered more than 200 pieces from him.

[strombom]

GandalfG: Yes. I can add it to your test board.