Any suggestions or experiences on using a voltage stabilizer/regulator

[msdjaw]

Hello. I am planning to start my own farms using ASICS. I am looking for any suggestions on using voltage stabilizers/regulators since I’ve heard that one of the main reasons in degrading ASICS is voltage transient. Any suggestions on it? Is it really worth it?

[fanatic26_]

The suggestion is dont waste the money because it will do nothing for you.

The PSU IS the voltage regulator for the miner. That is why they have a variable input range but always output a stable voltage. Whether you feed a PSU 210v or 240v, the DC output will still be the same.

You should double and triple check what you hear, especially on the internet, because whoever told you that is pretty clueless.

What kills ASICs is poor environmental management 99 times out of 100

[philipma1957]

The suggestion is dont waste the money because it will do nothing for you.

The PSU IS the voltage regulator for the miner. That is why they have a variable input range but always output a stable voltage. Whether you feed a PSU 210v or 240v, the DC output will still be the same.

You should double and triple check what you hear, especially on the internet, because whoever told you that is pretty clueless.

What kills ASICs is poor environmental management 99 times out of 100

dust and humidity are more damaging then voltage issues.

I meant to ask  are you running a lot of s15's or mostly m10's

We had the one report of some dead s15 psu's running in the 240-245 volt range

2 maybe 3 on this site.
I am mostly m10's myself no psu issues.

I know you run lots of gear I wondered if you have tested enough s15's to form an opinion on them.

[fanatic26_]

I know you run lots of gear I wondered if you have tested enough s15's to form an opinion on them.

Not to jack this thread but I have not yet run more than a test batch of either. We are waiting on our 40 mw expansion to be up and running before we purchase any large orders. So far the S/T15 series from bitmain as well as the M10S have been ROCK solid and even slightly out performing their numbers. The Innosilicon units I am much less enthused about as they consistanly run 1-2TH under spec at full power draw.

[abeandund]

The suggestion is dont waste the money because it will do nothing for you.

The PSU IS the voltage regulator for the miner. That is why they have a variable input range but always output a stable voltage. Whether you feed a PSU 210v or 240v, the DC output will still be the same.

You should double and triple check what you hear, especially on the internet, because whoever told you that is pretty clueless.

What kills ASICs is poor environmental management 99 times out of 100

I think the OP's question is valid.  The topic interested me after hearing possible problems with the S15 power supplies requiring stable 220 voltage.  I keep checking for that vary reason after Phil started looking into:

@ yankees.

I purchased this item  in theory it will put out 220v +/-  5%  so 209-231

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071V5NXZV/

My input is 243.1 and my output is 220.7 on my hand held meter

the meter on the unit read 243 in and 220 out.

If the new units need to run @ 220  I would need more info before purchasing a 7nm Antminer with my input of 248-252v

[philipma1957]

@ op  I have 1 stabilizer   was not cheap it was rated to run 2 s15's

it does keep volts at 220  with 228 to 246 in it is really close to 220 out.

it was poorly wired and will never run 2 s15's

it runs 1 s15 fine but cost was about 180 Usd maybe 162 with a coupon

a link

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Norstar-5000-Watt-Step-UP-and-Down-Voltatge-Regulator-Transformer-Converter/332955089461?

since the unit works for 1 s15 well I found this one price was 121 with an offer
it claims to do 4000 watts which would be 2 s15's
it has not arrived.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Norstar-4000-Watt-Step-Up-and-Down-Voltage-Transformer-with-Voltage-Regulator/332607784072?

if it is better built and does 2 s15's correctly it would only be about 61 or 62 an s15

that would be ballpark okay if you have power doing 243 to 252 a lot.

unit comes tomorrow.

Now only 2 or 3 psu's on s15's have been reported to die on this website.
assuming they are true reports the input volts were 243-246 for sure maybe higher.

this is a very small data sample.

I am far more certain that the power protection unit with the lcd screen won't do 2 s15's
since 14 gauge wire is not good enough to do over 3000 watts

I am less then certain that s15 psu's blowup and die in the 243-245 volt range.

I will post info on the new protection unit here tomorrow .

but dust humidity and of course room temps are more critical then power exactly 220 volts

in a world of perfection.

the mine would be solar and wind powered at 1 cent a kwatt
dust filter
fan cooled to 25c or 77f
humidity at 35%

stable power to psu at 220 volts
psu supplying a constant correct dc value
psu under a 50-60% load
ac under a constant 75% load
all wires one gauge better than needed.

all of the above at cheap cost.

but world is not perfect.
so all of the above needs to be selected to get best results at best price.

paying 60 dollars to protect one s15 psu is at best an okay choice

I rather pay 60 dollars to keep 5 s15's at a good temperature range
or pay 60 dollars to manage the dust for 10 s15's
or pay 60 dollars to manage the humidity for 3 s15's

[msdjaw]

dust and humidity are more damaging then voltage issues.

I meant to ask  are you running a lot of s15's or mostly m10's

We had the one report of some dead s15 psu's running in the 240-245 volt range

2 maybe 3 on this site.
I am mostly m10's myself no psu issues.

I know you run lots of gear I wondered if you have tested enough s15's to form an opinion on them.

I am not running many miner but planning to do so soon.

The suggestion is dont waste the money because it will do nothing for you.

The PSU IS the voltage regulator for the miner. That is why they have a variable input range but always output a stable voltage. Whether you feed a PSU 210v or 240v, the DC output will still be the same.

You should double and triple check what you hear, especially on the internet, because whoever told you that is pretty clueless.

What kills ASICs is poor environmental management 99 times out of 100

Any info on the fact that the psu regulates the voltage?

[gt_addict]

Any info on the fact that the psu regulates the voltage?

It's well known that power supplies are tested for voltage ripple etc, especially the high end ones.

[minefarmbuy]

Bitmain has a few reported psu issues but nothing to be overtly concerned about. Philip took precautions but for more specific unit reasons than what you're asking here. I would approach with more narrow scope of model but in general there is no need for a stabilizer for most to all units.   

[Artemis3]

The suggestion is dont waste the money because it will do nothing for you.

The PSU IS the voltage regulator for the miner. That is why they have a variable input range but always output a stable voltage. Whether you feed a PSU 210v or 240v, the DC output will still be the same.

You should double and triple check what you hear, especially on the internet, because whoever told you that is pretty clueless.

What kills ASICs is poor environmental management 99 times out of 100

Unless you live here with the cheapest electricity on the planet but end replacing PSUs every 3 months or so due to sudden fluctuations and blackouts. At the very least use a "protector" with an adjustable temporal delay, if you can regulate that even better so they don't all restart at the same time when the power goes and returns...

Note this is not about killing the asics, but the psu itself, assuming the PSU is doing its job properly...

If he lives in a "nice" country with a perfectly maintained and above 99.999% guaranteed service, then sure, there is no reason to "waste" your money with those.

You are correct that many asic boards die from excess humidity or dry conditions, but this is a separate issue: bad electricity. It exists.

Also to the OP, please don't use a stabilizer for each unit, as a massive amount of those can harm each other creating an unwanted (noisy) chain reaction (unless they have adjustable waiting timers to restore power, so you could adjust each one differently).

[philipma1957]

For me if my solar buildout was to end up with 20 s15s and 10 m10s

I certainly would not get cheap transformers.

I got the two not because I need them but to be helpful to people with a smaller build.

A garage miner with two s15 can not afford for them to go boom.

Both items I purchased were poorly made and would never handle 2 s15s.

So don’t get them.

Larson makes higher end models that can do two units but they are costly.

And remember only one person has confirmed dead gear in the case of psu issue.

Even though he thinks he was sending 245 volts to it. It only proves those psu stopped working for an unknown reason .

Ie he could have ran all 15 he had and only those two would break.

I did run my single s15 inverters night at 243 volts. Then got the first transformer delivered .

I know enough about gear to tell you no one has shown enough testing to prove the s15 will always burn up at 245 volts.
But if you routinely drift to 245 - 251 volts you need to be aware it could be an issue.

[fanatic26_]

Unless you live here with the cheapest electricity on the planet but end replacing PSUs every 3 months or so due to sudden fluctuations and blackouts. At the very least use a "protector" with an adjustable temporal delay, if you can regulate that even better so they don't all restart at the same time when the power goes and returns...

Note this is not about killing the asics, but the psu itself, assuming the PSU is doing its job properly...

If he lives in a "nice" country with a perfectly maintained and above 99.999% guaranteed service, then sure, there is no reason to "waste" your money with those.

I made the assumption anyone with 'bad' power would know better than to run big power hungry devices like these so that didnt really enter my thought process.

The other recommendation would be to buy ihgher end server grade power supplies. If the cheap chinese PSUs are blowing up every 3 months, why not just buy something proper that has protection circuitry built in?

[Artemis3]

I made the assumption anyone with 'bad' power would know better than to run big power hungry devices like these so that didnt really enter my thought process.

The other recommendation would be to buy ihgher end server grade power supplies. If the cheap chinese PSUs are blowing up every 3 months, why not just buy something proper that has protection circuitry built in?

Unfortunately that is going to prove challenging with the latest Bitmain models, where the psu is customized. Which is a big issue if, for example the S15s failure rate at 240v really is higher than usual. Where do you get a replacement PSU not made by bitmain?

[philipma1957]

Unfortunately that is going to prove challenging with the latest Bitmain models, where the psu is customized. Which is a big issue if, for example the S15s failure rate at 240v really is higher than usual. Where do you get a replacement PSU not made by bitmain?

yeah  but we don't really know  if they will have a lot of issues at 241-247 volts.

I can tell you this that these two transformers are too costly and will only do 1 s15 not 2.

this one has a lifted ground = not too safe
this has 14 maybe 15 gauge wire input which can not handle 2 s`15's

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Norstar-5000-Watt-Step-UP-and-Down-Voltatge-Regulator-Transformer-Converter/332955089461?

this one wastes about 2.5 maybe 3%  to do the 220 volt leveling
it is 14ga or 15ga
the two 220volt outputs are chained wired internally  with 14 gauge wire should be 12.

and an internal wire had its insulation nicked and could short.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Norstar-4000-Watt-Step-Up-and-Down-Voltage-Transformer-with-Voltage-Regulator/332607784072?

so while they are not super costly  they are not good enough to use.

larsonelectronics has better gear but it is not cheap

https://www.larsonelectronics.com/

https://www.larsonelectronics.com/p-153799-1-phase-buckboost-step-down-transformer-240v-primary-229v-secondary-at-4367-amps-5060hz.aspx

this should do 3 s15's  it most likely could do 4 but I would only want to do 3

it will cost 1-3% power loss  and at 197 plus shipping it is not that cheap.

it is just  a straight step down  which means  11 volts less  out then in.

so  if you have power that goes from 237 to 251 like I do it would be a decent choice for 3 units.

If you are going to run 5  units   you need a bigger boat so to speak.

this one could do 8 s15's

https://www.larsonelectronics.com/p-147785-.aspx  cost 673 plus shipping

it would drop power from 242 to 220  

you would need to feed it with a 150 amp panel then make outlets for the output.

But it is all conjecture since we are not fully sure how the bitmain psu's will stand up.

no one else has come forth to claim an issue with the psu's  so it may not be an issue.

I will say this the apw3++ can do 245 -247 with out any problems.  I have had very good luck with them and s9's

[abeandund]

My S9i with apw3++ has been fine with 248-252.  Mostly at 249-250. depending on time of day.

Last fall power company sank a new pole in front of house with new transformer to supply 2 new houses with a total of 5 houses supplied from the one.  Not sure once the new houses are occupied if I'll still be sitting at 250 or if I'll drop back closer to 240.

Until that first PSU problem was brought up with the input voltage, I was understanding that most everything was assumed to operate in that 220-260 unless specifically stated otherwise.  (obviously I'm referring to 200+ circuits not 120 lines)

I'm not the OP but I appreciate the research and testing, so that I'll be be better informed and what I should do or what is not necessary when I upgrade to S15 and beyond.

[NotFuzzyWarm]

When it comes to mining and using a UPS/stabilizer your biggest concern is the transfer time/switching time it takes for the UPS to take over or voltage corrections to be made. For efficiency reasons most UPS/stabilizers use relays and tapped transformers to make the changes and being mechanical devices relays take time to operate - anywhere from 5-10 or more ms. Unfortunately odds are the PSU's feeding your miner may not like that long of a dropout. I know mine didn't.

At home I ended up using dual-conversion UPS's like the Tripplite SU6000RT4UHV—6kVA that are always online changing AC > DC > AC and have zero transfer time.

[minefarmbuy]

Yea I remember your post on that in the other thread with your at home canaan settings. Really nice unit, something we're actually able to beat amazons pricing on but not by much.

[fanatic26_]

Unfortunately that is going to prove challenging with the latest Bitmain models, where the psu is customized. Which is a big issue if, for example the S15s failure rate at 240v really is higher than usual. Where do you get a replacement PSU not made by bitmain?

I have been trying to figure that one out for my company already as the PSUs are 20v instead of 12v making our entire stockpile of PSUs obsolete.

[NotFuzzyWarm]

Yea I remember your post on that in the other thread with your at home canaan settings. Really nice unit, something we're actually able to beat amazons pricing on but not by much.

Ja. it certainly is a workhorse. Its very wide input voltage rane from around 150v or less and over 277v, the ability to set output voltage and freq to 50/60Hz makes it perfect for industrial product testing as well. Mine's set to 230v 60Hz. I got it through Overstock.com 'cause they take BTC last year back when BTC was still over $8k

At something like 185LBS was real fun to get downstairs: used a block and tackle to slide it down the the stairs. One helluva workout I tell ya...

[Artemis3]

Ja. it certainly is a workhorse. Its very wide input voltage rane from around 150v or less and over 277v, the ability to set output voltage and freq to 50/60Hz makes it perfect for industrial product testing as well. Mine's set to 230v 60Hz. I got it through Overstock.com 'cause they take BTC last year back when BTC was still over $8k

At something like 185LBS was real fun to get downstairs: used a block and tackle to slide it down the the stairs. One helluva workout I tell ya...

Next time I suggest you take out the batteries. That's where most of the weight comes from... And because they are individual blocks, its easier to move them separately. Every 3 years or so you must replace them anyway (some people do it every 2 years regardless).