Preventing rust on the Antminer S9

[tim-bc]

Although initially only the fan grates seem to rust, eventually the controller board rusts dead as well. What are some effective ways to slow or stop the S9 from rusting?

https://i.stack.imgur.com/Rrzge.jpg

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[HagssFIN]

You have too much moisture in your environment..

[SGMPhil]

Put a dehumidifier in the environment - keep the humidity down.

[tim-bc]

I think there might be too much airflow to use traditional dehumidifiers. Even a large-scale dehumidifer like the dd1200 processes less than 1000 CFM. Compare that to a single antminer s9, which moves at least 100 CFM.

Would a ratio of, say, 1000 CFM dehumidified air + 9000 CFM ambient air be enough to have a noticeable difference on 100 miners? Or is there some easy solution to this problem that I am missing?

[Steamtyme]

I don't know what your set up is. If you feel a dehumidifier can't keep up have you thought about placing a dessicant inline with your air intake?

I've never had to set anything up like this myself but it's what is used in boilers to prevent moisture.

What ever it is that you use if you have a hot side to your setup you can use the exhaust air to regenerate your dessicant.

http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/concrobium-moisture-grabbers-3-pk-1530256p.1530256.html?gclid=Cj0KCQjw4_zVBRDVARIsAFNI9eBrPqWHmt4BOKFkai-Gmu5aAeBCSBvS7bndYsS-GzkufMygIgKW9uIaAujhEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds&dclid=COuO8rKUmNoCFcVGXgod3T4EHw#store=286

[tim-bc]

I don't know what your set up is. If you feel a dehumidifier can't keep up have you thought about placing a dessicant inline with your air intake?

I really appreciate this suggestion, but I don't understand where exactly you're thinking the dessicant would be within the intake process? The cooling process is passive, with ambient air entering a colder side, where it is run through the miners and exhausted again. The airflow is much too great to not have the dessicant inline somewhere, but it doesn't seem practical to have it right in front of the miners' intake fans. Perhaps lining the walls with dessicant breathers/filters is the best solution.

[Raymond_B]

I don't know what your set up is. If you feel a dehumidifier can't keep up have you thought about placing a dessicant inline with your air intake?

I really appreciate this suggestion, but I don't understand where exactly you're thinking the dessicant would be within the intake process? The cooling process is passive, with ambient air entering a colder side, where it is run through the miners and exhausted again. The airflow is much too great to not have the dessicant inline somewhere, but it doesn't seem practical to have it right in front of the miners' intake fans. Perhaps lining the walls with dessicant breathers/filters is the best solution.

Well, it's hard to give a solid answer without much info. What are the details of your setup?

[Steamtyme]

I really appreciate this suggestion, but I don't understand where exactly you're thinking the dessicant would be within the intake process? The cooling process is passive, with ambient air entering a colder side, where it is run through the miners and exhausted again. The airflow is much too great to not have the dessicant inline somewhere, but it doesn't seem practical to have it right in front of the miners' intake fans. Perhaps lining the walls with dessicant breathers/filters is the best solution.

Yeah, you definitely don't want them near the intake for the miner itself.

What I'm suggesting is where the intake air for your mining room is should have the desiccant located there. This way as the air enters the room the moisture is removed. You could have a wire rack at the air intake with these packets hanging off it. Again I don't know what you have for a set up but this would cut down on the moisture in your air enough that it should no longer be a problem for your miners.

good luck

[tim-bc]

Well, it's hard to give a solid answer without much info. What are the details of your setup?

... Again I don't know what you have for a set up but this would cut down on the moisture in your air enough that it should no longer be a problem for your miners.

Thanks for the suggestions so far, I should have clarified a bit more at the beginning. Local ambient air enters through approx area 300 m^2 and is exhausted at a rate of ~1k m^3/s.

You could have a wire rack at the air intake with these packets hanging off it.

Probably the easiest solution, how often to change the desiccant though?

[Steamtyme]

It's hard to gauge how often you will need to change it out. It might be worth having a dehumidifier, or at least a sensor monitoring the humidity in the room to give you an indication of when the desiccant has stopped doing it's job.

It will also help with the moisture that isn't being absorbed. Then like I said you should be able to place the desiccant on the hot side in the path of the airflow and the warm air should remove the moisture and exhaust with the hot air. This is the process of regenerating your desiccant. You would pretty much just repeat this process as often as is required.

Like I said I've never personally set this up but I think it would benefit you and your machines, hopefully it works out well for you.


If you don't mind me asking are you near the coast in BC is that where the problem is coming from ?

[tim-bc]

Now I understand what you mean about regenerating the desiccant. Together with a humidity sensor, hopefully the rust problem can be addressed. Thanks!

And yes, these machines are only 5-10 km from shore.

[HagssFIN]

And yes, these machines are only 5-10 km from shore.

Saltwater has a strong effect in corroding metals.

[tim-bc]

And yes, these machines are only 5-10 km from shore.

Saltwater has a strong effect in corroding metals.

Unfortunately so. At this rate, it is just a matter of time before more controller boards rust dead. Do you think bitmain would still cover repairs under warranty if there are obvious signs of rusting?

[HagssFIN]

And yes, these machines are only 5-10 km from shore.

Saltwater has a strong effect in corroding metals.

Unfortunately so. At this rate, it is just a matter of time before more controller boards rust dead. Do you think bitmain would still cover repairs under warranty if there are obvious signs of rusting?

I think they might noticy if those signs are obvious.

You really need to try to fix that environment or move your miners to another location.  

[Steamtyme]

Unfortunately so. At this rate, it is just a matter of time before more controller boards rust dead. Do you think bitmain would still cover repairs under warranty if there are obvious signs of rusting?

I'm gonna say they'll take a hard pass. The likely response would be something along the lines of moisture/environment as opposed to their hardware.

There are places that I think do out of warranty repair but it's at your own expense.

https://shop.bitmain.com/workOrderGuide.htm

#4 on the list is the out of warranty repair in the US. I've never used them so I can't speak to the service.

[leowonderful]

For out of warranty repair Bitmainwarranty is going to be your best bet, they're reputable and I've ordered parts and currently have an S7 hosted with them that has been up continually for about 5 months with no issues. Their new MyRig.com site isn't the greatest and they've stated that they are migrating from Bitmainwarranty.com for months now, but things are still broken there. Besides that, they're a good choice for repair.

Lightfoot (a user on this forum) was doing repairs for multiple miners including the S9 a short time ago. I've been off on break recently so I don't know if he's still doing board repairs for the S9, but there's a good chance he still does.

[Sandal_Hat]

Although initially only the fan grates seem to rust, eventually the controller board rusts dead as well. What are some effective ways to slow or stop the S9 from rusting?

https://i.stack.imgur.com/Rrzge.jpg

How long before the controller board rusts dead? It happened to u before?
Dehumidifier does not make sense when airflow is so strong. I think just have to change the fans. The hashboard does not rust right?
Those deciccents are far weaker than dehumidifiers and u have to get rid of the moisture they absorb by heating them later on. The moisture is released in the air when u heat them.

[tim-bc]

How long before the controller board rusts dead? It happened to u before?
Dehumidifier does not make sense when airflow is so strong. I think just have to change the fans. The hashboard does not rust right?
Those deciccents are far weaker than dehumidifiers and u have to get rid of the moisture they absorb by heating them later on. The moisture is released in the air when u heat them.

The rust is mostly noticeable on the fan grates, but yes, the miner in the picture has a controller board that seems to have failed from rust. And you brought up a good point. It seems that silica gel already starts releasing moisture below 20C. If the ambient air is already above that temp, it might be useless to try using it as a desiccant.

[QuintLeo]

You need to put some dehumidification in your intake airstream - for reference, a standard "mechanical" air conditioner is ALSO a dehumidifier, and many if not most current "window" units have "dehumidify" specific settings as part of their controls.

You do NOT have to run your entire inlet airstream THROUGH a dehumidifier for it to be effective - just have it AT the intake area to soak up enough of the humidity to reduce it enough to keep stuff from rusting.

[Steamtyme]

Those deciccents are far weaker than dehumidifiers and u have to get rid of the moisture they absorb by heating them later on. The moisture is released in the air when u heat them.

Yes they are not as effective as a dehumidifier, but OP did not feel a dehumidifier was the best for their setup.

The idea of the moisture being released into the air is the point I brough tup about "regenerating" the desiccant. When it becomes saturated you would move it to the "hot" side of the farm. Using the discharge air to remove moisture along with the heat. So the practicwe would be to have 2 or 3 sets of desiccant that can be swapped out as needed. This provides for a continuous cycle with no extra power consumption.

It's just an idea, I haven't needed it because I do not deal with that level of humidity.

You do NOT have to run your entire inlet airstream THROUGH a dehumidifier for it to be effective - just have it AT the intake area to soak up enough of the humidity to reduce it enough to keep stuff from rusting.

This is an excellent point.