GridSeed 5-chip USB miner voltage mod

[poopypants]

For some reason my units are dropping like flies.  In the past 24hr three units have burned the USB ferrite bead.  I can't seem to make any connections for why this is happening, one unit has VOLT mod 1; two bridges, has been running for a month.  The other two have "R-52 or R139" mod with 47k and 50k resistor, also been running stable for a month.  None of the units shared the same USB hub so I crossed that off the list of possible failures,  two shared the same power supply but the ferrite bead that burned is for the USB hense 5volts so not sure if that would have mattered.  I am lost finding any correlations between the units that failed, possibly just a coincidence or a weak part, but its suspicious that 3 have failed in the past 24.  We shall see, now have to order new parts and wait to get them back online.  

[nst6563]

Thanks, nst6563. Looks so scary, and I haven't had any real experience with soldering, did a few huge cpacitors, 8-pin atx molex on a motherboard, went well. I tried jtagging a  e4200 bricked router, that didn't go to well.

Maybe I should not try this. :/

Well...I would definitely say DON'T try it on your gridseed until you've had plenty of practice with another circuit board with tiny components first.  To put it in perspective....the 0402 resistor on the gridseeds is about the size of the leg of an ant....or a large piece of sand.  

A hot air station makes things easier because then you can just use tweezers to pull the part off and replace it, but most hot air stations cost more than the gridseeds do now.

[wolfey2014]

For some reason my units are dropping like flies.  In the past 24hr three units have burned the USB ferrite bead.  I can't seem to make any connections for why this is happening, one unit has VOLT mod 1; two bridges, has been running for a month.  The other two have "R-52 or R139" mod with 47k and 50k resistor, also been running stable for a month.  None of the units shared the same USB hub so I crossed that off the list of possible failures,  two shared the same power supply but the ferrite bead that burned is for the USB hense 5volts so not sure if that would have mattered.  I am lost finding any correlations between the units that failed, possibly just a coincidence or a weak part, but its suspicious that 3 have failed in the past 24.  We shall see, now have to order new parts and wait to get them back online.  

Could just be fate

Are you using one of those crappy LED power supplies? Could be the cause and a sign that it's about to crap out and ruin all your miners.

I'm using high grade clean switch mode power supplies. Never use cheap crap power bricks or LED power supplies. LED's don't care about high ripple. Seeds do!

Remember, warm seeds are better than cooked seeds 

Good luck!

[pekv2]

Thanks, nst6563. Looks so scary, and I haven't had any real experience with soldering, did a few huge cpacitors, 8-pin atx molex on a motherboard, went well. I tried jtagging a  e4200 bricked router, that didn't go to well.

Maybe I should not try this. :/

Well...I would definitely say DON'T try it on your gridseed until you've had plenty of practice with another circuit board with tiny components first.  To put it in perspective....the 0402 resistor on the gridseeds is about the size of the leg of an ant....or a large piece of sand.  

A hot air station makes things easier because then you can just use tweezers to pull the part off and replace it, but most hot air stations cost more than the gridseeds do now.

k, well that stinks. Maybe my next gridseed will be a bought overvoltaged one.

unless someone would like to do it for 20 bucks, mailed to them for me? Unless thats undercut pay.

[gbyg]

For some reason my units are dropping like flies.  In the past 24hr three units have burned the USB ferrite bead.  I can't seem to make any connections for why this is happening, one unit has VOLT mod 1; two bridges, has been running for a month.  The other two have "R-52 or R139" mod with 47k and 50k resistor, also been running stable for a month.  None of the units shared the same USB hub so I crossed that off the list of possible failures,  two shared the same power supply but the ferrite bead that burned is for the USB hense 5volts so not sure if that would have mattered.  I am lost finding any correlations between the units that failed, possibly just a coincidence or a weak part, but its suspicious that 3 have failed in the past 24.  We shall see, now have to order new parts and wait to get them back online.  

When u said USB ferrite bead, which one you meant? I might be able to help you to get them back working.

[happydaze]

For some reason my units are dropping like flies.  In the past 24hr three units have burned the USB ferrite bead.  I can't seem to make any connections for why this is happening, one unit has VOLT mod 1; two bridges, has been running for a month.  The other two have "R-52 or R139" mod with 47k and 50k resistor, also been running stable for a month.  None of the units shared the same USB hub so I crossed that off the list of possible failures,  two shared the same power supply but the ferrite bead that burned is for the USB hense 5volts so not sure if that would have mattered.  I am lost finding any correlations between the units that failed, possibly just a coincidence or a weak part, but its suspicious that 3 have failed in the past 24.  We shall see, now have to order new parts and wait to get them back online.  

That sucks.  Very strange also.  3 different mods, 2 different power supplies.  Same part blown on 3 boards.  Tell us more about the power supplies you have.

[poopypants]

For some reason my units are dropping like flies.  In the past 24hr three units have burned the USB ferrite bead.  I can't seem to make any connections for why this is happening, one unit has VOLT mod 1; two bridges, has been running for a month.  The other two have "R-52 or R139" mod with 47k and 50k resistor, also been running stable for a month.  None of the units shared the same USB hub so I crossed that off the list of possible failures,  two shared the same power supply but the ferrite bead that burned is for the USB hense 5volts so not sure if that would have mattered.  I am lost finding any correlations between the units that failed, possibly just a coincidence or a weak part, but its suspicious that 3 have failed in the past 24.  We shall see, now have to order new parts and wait to get them back online.  

That sucks.  Very strange also.  3 different mods, 2 different power supplies.  Same part blown on 3 boards.  Tell us more about the power supplies you have.

Both power supplies are the 30amp LED power supplies, I have checked with a multimeter the barrel plugs for each unit, and steady 12.4 volts.  The ferrite bead is the one next to the USB plug on the board labeled FB26.  Does anyone know if FB25 is the same as FB26, I would like to try to desolder FB25 from one of them and plug it into FB26 to see if it starts hashing again before I order parts.  Are ferrite beads directional or can they be placed any which way?  Any tips on a way to check to see if they will hash without the bead, IE jump the pads just to check if they will hash?  Thanks in advance for replies, I am frustrated about the death of 3 and am worried it may domino to the rest if it is something else not just a coincidence.

[happydaze]

Same according to the .brd file

FB25

Code:

LISTING: 1 element(s)

       < COMPONENT INSTANCE >

  Reference Designator: FB25
  Package Symbol:       FB0805

  Component Class:      IC
  Device Type:          FERRITE BEAD_FB0805_300OHM@100M
    Value:              300ohm@100MHz,1.5A

  Placement Status:     PLACED
    origin-xy:         (1260.00 -190.00) 
    rotation:           0.000  degrees
    not_mirrored

  Function(s):
    Designator: F175
    Type:       FERRITE BEAD_FB0805_300OHM@100M
    Pin(s):     1, 2

  Properties attached to component instance
    ROOM              = OCD_MICJACK

  Properties attached to component definition
    VALUE             = 300ohm@100MHz,1.5A

  Pin IO Information:
    Pin     Type      SigNoise Model          Net
    ---     ----      --------------          ---
    1       UNSPEC                            VBUS
    2       UNSPEC                            VCC5V

FB26

Code:

LISTING: 1 element(s)

       < COMPONENT INSTANCE >

  Reference Designator: FB26
  Package Symbol:       FB0805

  Component Class:      IC
  Device Type:          FERRITE BEAD_FB0805_300OHM@100M
    Value:              300ohm@100MHz,1.5A

  Placement Status:     PLACED
    origin-xy:         (1475.00 -229.90) 
    rotation:           180.000  degrees
    not_mirrored

  Function(s):
    Designator: F174
    Type:       FERRITE BEAD_FB0805_300OHM@100M
    Pin(s):     1, 2

  Properties attached to component instance
    ROOM              = OCD_MICJACK

  Properties attached to component definition
    VALUE             = 300ohm@100MHz,1.5A

  Pin IO Information:
    Pin     Type      SigNoise Model          Net
    ---     ----      --------------          ---
    1       UNSPEC                            GND_USB
    2       UNSPEC                            GND_MCU

Someone else will know if directional or can be jumped etc.

[gbyg]

For some reason my units are dropping like flies.  In the past 24hr three units have burned the USB ferrite bead.  I can't seem to make any connections for why this is happening, one unit has VOLT mod 1; two bridges, has been running for a month.  The other two

 have "R-52 or R139" mod with 47k and 50k resistor, also been running stable for a month.  None of the units shared the same USB hub so I crossed that off the list of possible failures,  two shared the same power supply but the ferrite bead that burned is for the USB hense 5volts so not sure if that would have mattered.  I am lost finding any correlations between the units that failed, possibly just a coincidence or a weak part, but its suspicious that 3 have failed in the past 24.  We shall see, now have to order new parts and wait to get them back online.  

That sucks.  Very strange also.  3 different mods, 2 different power supplies.  Same part blown on 3 boards.  Tell us more about the power supplies you have.

Both power supplies are the 30amp LED power supplies, I have checked with a multimeter the barrel plugs for each unit, and steady 12.4 volts.  The ferrite bead is the one next to the USB plug on the board labeled FB26.  Does anyone know if FB25 is the same as FB26, I would like to try to desolder FB25 from one of them and plug it into FB26 to see if it starts hashing again before I order parts.  Are ferrite beads directional or can they be placed any which way?  Any tips on a way to check to see if they will hash without the bead, IE jump the pads just to check if they will hash?  Thanks in advance for replies, I am frustrated about the death of 3 and am worried it may domino to the rest if it is something else not just a coincidence.

First check a continuity test on ur board between 12+ and 12- and USB power +/- if you see any short between them , there will be no point to solder another FB, because it will blow again. If u do find a short between any of ur 12v and 5v rail , report back. I assume u own a basic multimeter .

PS: because of ur blown FB you will not be able to use USB socket pin to check the continuity . best thing probably to check from one of the pad for BLOWN FB to ground.

[wolfey2014]

For some reason my units are dropping like flies.  In the past 24hr three units have burned the USB ferrite bead.  I can't seem to make any connections for why this is happening, one unit has VOLT mod 1; two bridges, has been running for a month.  The other two have "R-52 or R139" mod with 47k and 50k resistor, also been running stable for a month.  None of the units shared the same USB hub so I crossed that off the list of possible failures,  two shared the same power supply but the ferrite bead that burned is for the USB hense 5volts so not sure if that would have mattered.  I am lost finding any correlations between the units that failed, possibly just a coincidence or a weak part, but its suspicious that 3 have failed in the past 24.  We shall see, now have to order new parts and wait to get them back online.  

That sucks.  Very strange also.  3 different mods, 2 different power supplies.  Same part blown on 3 boards.  Tell us more about the power supplies you have.

Both power supplies are the 30amp LED power supplies, I have checked with a multimeter the barrel plugs for each unit, and steady 12.4 volts.  The ferrite bead is the one next to the USB plug on the board labeled FB26.  Does anyone know if FB25 is the same as FB26, I would like to try to desolder FB25 from one of them and plug it into FB26 to see if it starts hashing again before I order parts.  Are ferrite beads directional or can they be placed any which way?  Any tips on a way to check to see if they will hash without the bead, IE jump the pads just to check if they will hash?  Thanks in advance for replies, I am frustrated about the death of 3 and am worried it may domino to the rest if it is something else not just a coincidence.

Poopy,
12.4V is too low compared to standard 'proper' 12V switch mode power supplies. 13.80 is the minimum voltage it should be outputting under load. More if not loaded i.e. not powering anything.
The FB's are acting as high frequency filters to compensate for crappy power being fed by crappy psu's like the LED type you are using.
I am sure it's the culprit!
You can temporarily bypass the unidirectional/non-polarized FB to see if your pod will power back up. There is a good chance that the FB blew because of an overload or dead short down the line.
It could already be a new brick
Good luck!

[gbyg]

For some reason my units are dropping like flies.  In the past 24hr three units have burned the USB ferrite bead.  I can't seem to make any connections for why this is happening, one unit has VOLT mod 1; two bridges, has been running for a month.  The other two have "R-52 or R139" mod with 47k and 50k resistor, also been running stable for a month.  None of the units shared the same USB hub so I crossed that off the list of possible failures,  two shared the same power supply but the ferrite bead that burned is for the USB hense 5volts so not sure if that would have mattered.  I am lost finding any correlations between the units that failed, possibly just a coincidence or a weak part, but its suspicious that 3 have failed in the past 24.  We shall see, now have to order new parts and wait to get them back online.  

That sucks.  Very strange also.  3 different mods, 2 different power supplies.  Same part blown on 3 boards.  Tell us more about the power supplies you have.

Both power supplies are the 30amp LED power supplies, I have checked with a multimeter the barrel plugs for each unit, and steady 12.4 volts.  The ferrite bead is the one next to the USB plug on the board labeled FB26.  Does anyone know if FB25 is the same as FB26, I would like to try to desolder FB25 from one of them and plug it into FB26 to see if it starts hashing again before I order parts.  Are ferrite beads directional or can they be placed any which way?  Any tips on a way to check to see if they will hash without the bead, IE jump the pads just to check if they will hash?  Thanks in advance for replies, I am frustrated about the death of 3 and am worried it may domino to the rest if it is something else not just a coincidence.

Poopy,
12.4V is too low compared to standard 'proper' 12V switch mode power supplies. 13.80 is the minimum voltage it should be outputting under load. More if not loaded i.e. not powering anything.
The FB's are acting as high frequency filters to compensate for crappy power being fed by crappy psu's like the LED type you are using.
I am sure it's the culprit!
You can temporarily bypass the unidirectional/non-polarized FB to see if your pod will power back up. There is a good chance that the FB blew because of an overload or dead short down the line.
It could already be a new brick
Good luck!

I would suggest not to jump ur FB. if u have a short circuit in ur gridseed it could damage ur computer USB port and other damage. I have 10 of them bricked! Found the PCB shorted. Disolder two PCB every single part to find the short! Which I believed sorted now.

[poopypants]

For some reason my units are dropping like flies.  In the past 24hr three units have burned the USB ferrite bead.  I can't seem to make any connections for why this is happening, one unit has VOLT mod 1; two bridges, has been running for a month.  The other two

 have "R-52 or R139" mod with 47k and 50k resistor, also been running stable for a month.  None of the units shared the same USB hub so I crossed that off the list of possible failures,  two shared the same power supply but the ferrite bead that burned is for the USB hense 5volts so not sure if that would have mattered.  I am lost finding any correlations between the units that failed, possibly just a coincidence or a weak part, but its suspicious that 3 have failed in the past 24.  We shall see, now have to order new parts and wait to get them back online.  

That sucks.  Very strange also.  3 different mods, 2 different power supplies.  Same part blown on 3 boards.  Tell us more about the power supplies you have.

Both power supplies are the 30amp LED power supplies, I have checked with a multimeter the barrel plugs for each unit, and steady 12.4 volts.  The ferrite bead is the one next to the USB plug on the board labeled FB26.  Does anyone know if FB25 is the same as FB26, I would like to try to desolder FB25 from one of them and plug it into FB26 to see if it starts hashing again before I order parts.  Are ferrite beads directional or can they be placed any which way?  Any tips on a way to check to see if they will hash without the bead, IE jump the pads just to check if they will hash?  Thanks in advance for replies, I am frustrated about the death of 3 and am worried it may domino to the rest if it is something else not just a coincidence.

First check a continuity test on ur board between 12+ and 12- and USB power +/- if you see any short between them , there will be no point to solder another FB, because it will blow again. If u do find a short between any of ur 12v and 5v rail , report back. I assume u own a basic multimeter .

PS: because of ur blown FB you will not be able to use USB socket pin to check the continuity . best thing probably to check from one of the pad for BLOWN FB to ground.

Could you explain a little further how to check the power.

[gbyg]

For some reason my units are dropping like flies.  In the past 24hr three units have burned the USB ferrite bead.  I can't seem to make any connections for why this is happening, one unit has VOLT mod 1; two bridges, has been running for a month.  The other two

 have "R-52 or R139" mod with 47k and 50k resistor, also been running stable for a month.  None of the units shared the same USB hub so I crossed that off the list of possible failures,  two shared the same power supply but the ferrite bead that burned is for the USB hense 5volts so not sure if that would have mattered.  I am lost finding any correlations between the units that failed, possibly just a coincidence or a weak part, but its suspicious that 3 have failed in the past 24.  We shall see, now have to order new parts and wait to get them back online.  

That sucks.  Very strange also.  3 different mods, 2 different power supplies.  Same part blown on 3 boards.  Tell us more about the power supplies you have.

Both power supplies are the 30amp LED power supplies, I have checked with a multimeter the barrel plugs for each unit, and steady 12.4 volts.  The ferrite bead is the one next to the USB plug on the board labeled FB26.  Does anyone know if FB25 is the same as FB26, I would like to try to desolder FB25 from one of them and plug it into FB26 to see if it starts hashing again before I order parts.  Are ferrite beads directional or can they be placed any which way?  Any tips on a way to check to see if they will hash without the bead, IE jump the pads just to check if they will hash?  Thanks in advance for replies, I am frustrated about the death of 3 and am worried it may domino to the rest if it is something else not just a coincidence.

First check a continuity test on ur board between 12+ and 12- and USB power +/- if you see any short between them , there will be no point to solder another FB, because it will blow again. If u do find a short between any of ur 12v and 5v rail , report back. I assume u own a basic multimeter .

PS: because of ur blown FB you will not be able to use USB socket pin to check the continuity . best thing probably to check from one of the pad for BLOWN FB to ground.

Could you explain a little further how to check the power.

Make sure ur gridseed is not powered on. Take off the 12v plug from gridseed. Set ur voltmeter to continuity test mod. Put the red prob from volt meter to blown FB pad(one at a time) and put your black prob to fan's black cable. Does it make any sance to u?

You should get 2 result. Both should indicate no continuity at all.

[poopypants]

For some reason my units are dropping like flies.  In the past 24hr three units have burned the USB ferrite bead.  I can't seem to make any connections for why this is happening, one unit has VOLT mod 1; two bridges, has been running for a month.  The other two

 have "R-52 or R139" mod with 47k and 50k resistor, also been running stable for a month.  None of the units shared the same USB hub so I crossed that off the list of possible failures,  two shared the same power supply but the ferrite bead that burned is for the USB hense 5volts so not sure if that would have mattered.  I am lost finding any correlations between the units that failed, possibly just a coincidence or a weak part, but its suspicious that 3 have failed in the past 24.  We shall see, now have to order new parts and wait to get them back online.  

That sucks.  Very strange also.  3 different mods, 2 different power supplies.  Same part blown on 3 boards.  Tell us more about the power supplies you have.

Both power supplies are the 30amp LED power supplies, I have checked with a multimeter the barrel plugs for each unit, and steady 12.4 volts.  The ferrite bead is the one next to the USB plug on the board labeled FB26.  Does anyone know if FB25 is the same as FB26, I would like to try to desolder FB25 from one of them and plug it into FB26 to see if it starts hashing again before I order parts.  Are ferrite beads directional or can they be placed any which way?  Any tips on a way to check to see if they will hash without the bead, IE jump the pads just to check if they will hash?  Thanks in advance for replies, I am frustrated about the death of 3 and am worried it may domino to the rest if it is something else not just a coincidence.

First check a continuity test on ur board between 12+ and 12- and USB power +/- if you see any short between them , there will be no point to solder another FB, because it will blow again. If u do find a short between any of ur 12v and 5v rail , report back. I assume u own a basic multimeter .

PS: because of ur blown FB you will not be able to use USB socket pin to check the continuity . best thing probably to check from one of the pad for BLOWN FB to ground.

Could you explain a little further how to check the power.

Make sure ur gridseed is not powered on. Take off the 12v plug from gridseed. Set ur voltmeter to continuity test mod. Put the red prob from volt meter to blown FB pad(one at a time) and put your black prob to fan's black cable. Does it make any sance to u?

You should get 2 result. Both should indicate no continuity at all.

Alright so I salvaged one unit by taking FB25 from the other burnt out board and using it for FB26 in the first.  At first it didn't start hashing again until I hit the reset button and then it worked.  I did not see any shorts using the multimeter to check on that board so hopefully it will continue to work.  The other board has a short between FB23-24 shorted to FB27, not intirely sure where it is shorted but cross checking with a good unit, those are not suposto be connected.  I am going to have to look through the brd file to see where a short could happen between those pads.  The third one I also found no shorts like the first, but am going to have to wait to get the new ferrite beads in before I can try that one again.  I think the 2nd one will just end up bricked unless I can locate the short or someone else chimes in that has had that problem and figured out a fix for it.  Thanks for the replies and help, and hopefully when I get the proper parts I can get the third back up and hopefully no more decide to shit the bed.

[dyland]

I will just add my 2 cents for the people thinking about this.... I have tested Vmod3 vs Stock and I GUARANTEE the voltmod pumps more accepted shares than stock.... I had them running side by side with the same pool my test Had 10 Stock vs 10 Vmod3 with the 49.9k swap @1200mhs for an EXACT 510KH NOTHING more or nothing less... Dont get confused by all the people claiming 600KH 550KH stable YES the pool shows what ever sometimes more sometimes less and sometimes VERY high, I listen to what the local hashrates as this is what the POD is ACTUALLY mining at. Just like travelling in a car and looking at the aftermarket GPS showing you how fast your going, you dont look at that right? you look at your cars speedo

 I do not get ANY disconnects now that I use a PROPER USB hub with enough power... I have noticed that if you have 10 port hub you need a 5amp POWER adapter if you dont want ANY Libusb errors or CGminer restarts << these happen when there is not enough power.. THink about it like this --- Each USB Port needs atleast 500ma of power, you can get lucky running less but don't be surprised if you get Cgminer shutting down or your hashrates aren't showing properly.

I purchased a 30day old used 49Port HUb for $80, This has a 40amp fuse and connects to a 24pin ATX power.

Anyway back to my test 10 vs 10, Started the EXACT same time Within 1 Hr this is where you see the Gap between the shares grow, and the gap keeps getting larger and larger, by 2 hrs the gaps show that EVERY single vmod pod beating the Stock and not by small amounts of shares by significant amount. Even the strongest stock do not have a chance...

Without a doubt Vmod trumps stock the only time you may think about not vmodding if your power costs are MEGA $$$ but even then it would have to be VERY Expensive not to take it...

a simple test is to use coinwars just to see if hashrate and powercosts increase or decrease your  daily profit you will see what I am talking about.

Do a test, goto profit calculater click on scrypt and enter your hashrate @ 510KH + 25w + how much your power is then click CALCULATE, check to see your profit then do the same thing but this time choose 361KH @ 7w at the power costs see the difference. PLEASE NOTE, this is ONLY to see the difference between the both not to see how much you will make.

Anyway as Of now I have modded every single pod to 49.9k and I run them at 1200mhz I hash tested 1275, 1250, 1225 & 1213   ---- DEFINITLEY 1200 i feel is the best but `1213 is OK also But id rather 1200 and seeing less HW.... I havent done extensive calculations between the HW error rates and the accepted between the above frequencies because I feel its a waste of time... 1200 @ 510KH is perfect for me..

Just my 2 cents.

Anyone on hashra?

[Xer0]

Poopy,
12.4V is too low compared to standard 'proper' 12V switch mode power supplies. 13.80 is the minimum voltage it should be outputting under load. More if not loaded i.e. not powering anything.

sorry, that is wrong
a proper 12v supply does 12v, period
my ATX and brick psus are all doing 12,5v max!

13.8v is used in car equipment as “12v“

most 12v stuff will handle 14v, though, but produces more heat
because there are always some linear voltage regulators too

[Xer0]

and put your black prob to fan's black cable.

btw, if you need a ground, stick your probe in one of the screw spacer bolts

that way you dont have to hold both probes and get a free hand

[byt411]

Bit of a noob question here. I have no idea how to solder and replace resistors and stuff. Is there a pencil mod for the gridseed?

[Xer0]

Bit of a noob question here. I have no idea how to solder and replace resistors and stuff. Is there a pencil mod for the gridseed?

not really. you could try the simple bridge-voltmod with silver pcb paint

[byt411]

Bit of a noob question here. I have no idea how to solder and replace resistors and stuff. Is there a pencil mod for the gridseed?

not really. you could try the simple bridge-voltmod with silver pcb paint

Is there a proper simple tutorial for noobs?