Harmonics in electrical system from mining off genset?

[VentMine]

Hey guys,

Curious I was talking to a genset vendor today and he mentioned running "server-like" equipment (Antminers) off of a genset may potentially have issues with harmonics and require harmonic conditioning to protect the alternator.

Should I be concerned about this?

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[HagssFIN]

There are always harmonics present when using switched-mode power supplies.

If the harmonics start to be an issue, you can reduce the impact by adding a harmonics filter system in to your electrical system.

[NotFuzzyWarm]

Yes harmonics issues are possible if using cheap PSU's. However, most today have PFC - Power Factor Control - that mitigate the problem. Most will advertise if they have PFC and give a Power Factor rating.  A perfect resistive load gives a PF of 1.0 and most PSU's will be around 0.85 to 0.9 or better.

[VentMine]

Yes harmonics issues are possible if using cheap PSU's. However, most today have PFC - Power Factor Control - that mitigate the problem. Most will advertise if they have PFC and give a Power Factor rating.  A perfect resistive load gives a PF of 1.0 and most PSU's will be around 0.85 to 0.9

Ahh k. Thanks gents. So I take it the Bitmain supplied PSU's have this as I recall their powerfactor is 0.95

[HagssFIN]

Yes harmonics issues are possible if using cheap PSU's. However, most today have PFC - Power Factor Control - that mitigate the problem. Most will advertise if they have PFC and give a Power Factor rating.  A perfect resistive load gives a PF of 1.0 and most PSU's will be around 0.85 to 0.9

^ This.

More usual case to end up in problems with harmonics is that if you have a lot of load consisting frequency converter controlled electrical motors for example.

So if you use good PSUs with PFC inside, harmonics shouldn't be an issue.

[HoleShot]

I usually measure .97 PF on APW++ PSUs from Bitmain.

You can avoid almost all harmonics issues by avoiding non-resistive loads that use the neutral.

So, run all your power supplies, pumps and fans on 240V, but the coffee pot is fine on 120V.

[VentMine]

I usually measure .97 PF on APW++ PSUs from Bitmain.

You can avoid almost all harmonics issues by avoiding non-resistive loads that use the neutral.

So, run all your power supplies, pumps and fans on 240V, but the coffee pot is fine on 120V.

The gen outputs 3-phase, so I have it configured to 230V L-L, 133 L-N. The 240/120 is single phase I believe?

Thanks for the responses guys, I didn't think I needed to worry about filtering but a recent conversation with a genset supplier spooked me.

[HoleShot]

Yes, the 230V/133V is your 3-phase output.

You should connect your miners like this.

A,B legs to miner 1
B,C legs to miner 2
C,A legs to miner 3

Then continue to rotate like this until maximum power is reached. I would not use the neutral. I would not use the single phase output.