Ducting

[Raymond_B]

I see lots of folks here asking about adding ducting to their miners. And while you should really house your miners in a dedicated space with adequate airflow, sometimes we have to make do. So I thought I'd pass on a few things I learned.

1st be careful of the 3-D printed stuff on eBay, some are OK, but others are overpriced and not very well thought out. Not to mention printed out at very coarse resolutions.

Personally I feel that to provide the least amount of restriction you should use a 6" adapter and 6" ducting. I tried a 4" eBay duct adapter on my S9 and the temps skyrocketed *without* any ducting. Then I tried a 5" and it was better, but I could tell temps were still a few degrees better. Finally I had a buddy make a nice 6" adapter, this had no effect on the miner's temps.

Here's a view of 3 miners with the 3 different sizes in ascending order from left to right.



Here's a couple of closer pics of the 6" adapter my friend made and what I plan to use on all my miners.



Here's a mock up of the 6" ducting (I need to clean everything up ), the other one in the background is 5" ducting. I wanted to make sure the 6" worked out before my friend made one for each miner. Also the two blank holes are for my 2 M3s that'll be here mid-late Feb.



Here's a couple of pics of the backing board with the 6" starter ring holes, it is going in a hole cut for an old window A/C unit. I cut this out on a CNC router.



EDIT:

My friend will be adding the duct adapter to Thingverse, so just search for Antminer. It should be there soon.

Here's my parts list:

6" semi-rigid duct http://amzn.to/2DyBDW5 semi-rigid is kind of a PITA to work with, but I feel it has a smoother tract with less airflow interference.
6" Starter ring https://www.homedepot.com/p/6-in-Starting-Collar-Take-Off-Snap-Together-SCF6/100396966
Duct sealant, used this to seal the starter rings to the plywood http://amzn.to/2DyvbhT

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[castiel0504]

Hey would you mind sharing 3D model of 6" one... I got 3D model of 4", and my temperatures are pretty high at the moment around 85ish more-less. I forget how to work in Solidworks. In last few years i worked in Tekla Structures, but that program cant export STL

[Raymond_B]

Hey would you mind sharing 3D model of 6" one... I got 3D model of 4", and my temperatures are pretty high at the moment around 85ish more-less. I forget how to work in Solidworks. In last few years i worked in Tekla Structures, but that program cant export STL

No problem, let me ask my friend.

[onegiantcock]

I have 25 miners running in my house - I found on the outlet side a 6" flex duct goes nicely over the end of the miner with no reducer.  The duct can be up to 8' w/o causing back pressure.  On the inlet side I use 4" flex and leave a 1" gap away from the miners - to mix in room temp air.  The differential between inlet & outlet temps can form condensation on the hash boards.

[big al]

Can you give a more general idea of what you're doing with this? Is it just for sound or are you drawing outside air?

[Raymond_B]

Can you give a more general idea of what you're doing with this? Is it just for sound or are you drawing outside air?

Me? I am just getting rid of waste heat.

[Shazam!!!]

Very nice! I too am using the 6 inchers, on both sides though. I'm in the middle of building a Small room in my basement,
where I will draw in cool air from outside, and vent the heat into my HVAC system. In the warmer months, I will draw in the
cool basement air, and vent the HOT air out a window. On a 90 degree F day, the basement is about 65 degrees F.

Have you ,or do you, use any type of dust filter?

[Raymond_B]

Very nice! I too am using the 6 inchers, on both sides though. I'm in the middle of building a Small room in my basement,
where I will draw in cool air from outside, and vent the heat into my HVAC system. In the warmer months, I will draw in the
cool basement air, and vent the HOT air out a window. On a 90 degree F day, the basement is about 65 degrees F.

Have you ,or do you, use any type of dust filter?

Thanks!

I am not using any filters, this is all set up in my garage so the air intake is simply inside and fairly clean. From there it is blowing in to a 3-sided carport. Long term I plan on converting a small 20' X 4' (skinny rectangle) storage room for the miners I keep at home. The thin long room looks to be a perfect setup, it's at the back of my lot well away from neighbors so I can run some large CFM exhaust fans to draw airflow over the miners. In that setup I will definitely run filters built in to the wall opposite the exhaust fans.

[caxibrema]

No problem, let me ask my friend.

Looking forward for the 3d file if you can get with your friend.

[Raymond_B]

Looking forward for the 3d file if you can get with your friend.

My friend will be adding the duct adapter to Thingverse, so just search for Antminer. It should be there soon.

[onegiantcock]

I also dump heat - (even in the winter in Wisconsin). If you only try to only provide cool air to the miner from outside  -  the room heat will eventually overwhelm the miners.  filters are a bad idea imo they get clogged and you have a problem - you're better off having a air compressor and (carefully) blowing out the dust once a week.   It's also a good idea to put some leaf/rodent proofing on the intakes - one errant leaf and mess up miner by blocking the intake - Also a 1" gap at the inlet side of the miner - instead of a direct connection allows for blockage inspection and adequate intake temp/cfm.  In the case of a rainy humid day the gap helps to equalize humidity and reduce condensation - a hash board killer.

[A.Delaney]

My friend will be adding the duct adapter to Thingverse, so just search for Antminer. It should be there soon.

I might have to look into getting a few of those.

Do you know of a good sound absorbing insulation board? My miners are on a 3' x 72" tall shelving unit that you can get a Menards.  What I am thinking about using is 1-1/2" foam board. I would put a piece on each side and one on the front of the shelf. The front piece would have a hole in front of each miner that the ducting can come through. Now the back is close to the concrete wall in my basement. I thought if I space the shelve about 6" from the wall and put a piece of that same foam board on the concrete behind it that I would still get some good intake air flow and the board would help knock down the sound. This is all in a room in my basement. I wanted to leave the back open also for ease of access.

[Raymond_B]

I might have to look into getting a few of those.

Do you know of a good sound absorbing insulation board? My miners are on a 3' x 72" tall shelving unit that you can get a Menards.  What I am thinking about using is 1-1/2" foam board. I would put a piece on each side and one on the front of the shelf. The front piece would have a hole in front of each miner that the ducting can come through. Now the back is close to the concrete wall in my basement. I thought if I space the shelve about 6" from the wall and put a piece of that same foam board on the concrete behind it that I would still get some good intake air flow and the board would help knock down the sound. This is all in a room in my basement. I wanted to leave the back open also for ease of access.

I have not tried to quiet mine down. I would think if you have the space just build a small room and compartmentalize the hot and cold side within that. Then just work out the appropriate intake and exhaust ducting.

[A.Delaney]

Ok I was thinking the 6” ducting would knock down the sound some. Maybe insulating the room would be a better idea.

[Raymond_B]

Ok I was thinking the 6” ducting would knock down the sound some. Maybe insulating the room would be a better idea.

I'll break out the decibel meter tonight, but I am pretty sure it had no impact.

[A.Delaney]

I'll break out the decibel meter tonight, but I am pretty sure it had no impact.

Ok you may have just saved me a bunch of work for nothing lol. I thought I read something on here where they took an 8’ long piece of ducting. Looped it so it exited in the same direction the miner was pointing to help knock down the sound.

[Shazam!!!]

Foam board, or any foam for that matter does not "deaden" sound. It only controls echos of higher frequency sounds
(like drum cymbals or above the 12th guitar solos). Materials like mass loaded vinyl or Rock wool based insulation
"deaden" sounds. A much cheaper option is double layered drywall/rockwall. Or venting out into a box that has
a "maze" inside it. The box needs to be big enough to allow a good flow through it ofcourse.

[Raymond_B]

Forgot to update, I went back in and performed sound measurements. No change on the interior noise, outside at the duct exits is another story. Heat's not the only thing making it out! Now granted my run from the miner exhaust to the duct panel is very short less than 3ft. but the sound outside is approximately the same as inside. I never measure before, but I know it was not anywhere near as loud.

Interior measurements:

20' Interior Garage door closed ~ 45DB
20' @ interior door threshold ~ 65DB
10' ~70
At the miner 78-79DB

Outside at the exhaust exit ~75DB, I need to verify this again. Last night seemed to be a cacophony of airplanes, Harleys, and dogs barking

[A.Delaney]

Thanks for the update. I bought some 8” insulated ducting at Home Depot last night. I’m going to do some longer runs. 8 foot or so to get the heat out of the room I have them in. I’m hoping the 8” size will allow enough flow at the longer length to keep everything cool.

[Raymond_B]

Thanks for the update. I bought some 8” insulated ducting at Home Depot last night. I’m going to do some longer runs. 8 foot or so to get the heat out of the room I have them in. I’m hoping the 8” size will allow enough flow at the longer length to keep everything cool.

An interesting test would be to do a straight run and then one with a loop to see if that could cut down on noise, but not affect cooling.