Somewhat Clueless Old Fart With Some Equipment

[crabfoot]

I'm at a loss where I should be posting on here, so if this gets moved I shall not be disconcerted.

Lookit, I went to an auction and bought some miners - Bitmain Antminers, D3, L3+, T9. I know enough to know that I got them cheap, but I didn't get any paperwork or instructions with them. It didn't occur to me that they were not economically viable, and that was why they were being sold.

I didn't get any power supplies with them. What I see on the www is reviews indicating that they eat more juice than the bitcoin they produce, in cash terms.
So before I shell out for power supplies - is it a good idea to work these things? Can I perhaps get a better return mining other currencies than bitcoin?

So I need suggestions. Hopefully, nothing to do with where the monkeys put the nuts.

Can these things make money? If so -
What are reasonable suggestions for power supplies, and then what should I do (apart from putting them on eBay so the vultures can make a profit)?  Should I be looking for novel software?

I was a reasonably able C programmer once (somewhere around 1990) so I'm not afraid of fiddling with code, although burglars deprived me of my libraries and knowledge base books a long time ago.

All help appreciated with deep joy!

[Steamtyme]

Not much that can be done, the T9 is the only gear that will mine BTC. You can check this guide out that is fairly universal for mining in general and getting started. First time/Small miner reference for getting started. It's pinned to the top of this board. For trying to make a profit, do you live in a cold climate? That's really the only way to avoid being in the red on this hardware, you can run them in the house to offset your heating cost. That or a garage or shop you heat.
I don't know what the profitability is on the L3+ (Litecoin) or the D3 (Dash), but there are people whi might still buy them on ebay, or the forum here. Marketplace -> Computer hardware this would be your best bet at getting some BTC or other coin for them if that's what interests you. The tough sell is that you don't know if they are operational without the power supplies. On that front though you can find supplies for them easy enough, as there are a lot of people offloading gear and PSU's mostly because newer gear is shipping out as an all in one product. Mostly for the sale or purchase it will also depend on what country you live in.
Hope that helps.

[philipma1957]

the l3+  earns about  0.02 ltc or  about $1.20  there is a power mod to get it down to 725 watts or 17,5 kwatts a day  that is 2.50 in power at 15 cents

you lose $1.30

the T9  uses about 1200 watts to do 11th

or 28.8 kwatts a day or 4.32 in power at 15 cents

it earns about $1.82 a day  you lose $2.50 a day

If you need a space heater  the L3+ is somewhat better as it is less noisy.

D3 is scrap metal  the fans are worth 3 or 4 bucks each
the controller can be flashed into an s-9 controller  it is worth about 10-15 bucks.

I hope you spent under 250 for the lot.

[crabfoot]

All help appreciated - thanks, I'm learning. And since you ask, I'm in England.

My actual spend was below £200 (roughly $235) but I got two L3+ and four D3 - apologies, I was not clear about that. Can they become viable if used together in some way?

I think these miners are new old stock - all boxed, look unused, one D3 not opened, one opened by me to check for paperwork (found a one sheet quick start guide) - and it did occur to me that using them as heaters might help, but I need better ideas than what I have come up with so far.

[MATHReX]

All help appreciated - thanks, I'm learning. And since you ask, I'm in England.

My actual spend was below £200 (roughly $235) but I got two L3+ and four D3 - apologies, I was not clear about that. Can they become viable if used together in some way?

I think these miners are new old stock - all boxed, look unused, one D3 not opened, one opened by me to check for paperwork (found a one sheet quick start guide) - and it did occur to me that using them as heaters might help, but I need better ideas than what I have come up with so far.

Here, you can input the model number of the ASIC and see the profitability for yourself.
https://www.asicminervalue.com/

As they are ASICs, there is nothing that can be done with them other than mining the specific algorithm they were designed to do.
Moreover, the current state of crypto has left mining to be unprofitable for a long time now.

[adaseb]

How much do you pay for electricity? I am assuming it's around the average of 10 cents per kWh and would agree with philipma1957 answer a few posts above.

Unfortunately the newer ASICs that you bought were made compact and didn't have a built into PSU. A few years back during the 2015 bear market I scored some cheap Antminer S2 and S4 and they were pretty much useless miners but they had built in PSUs which were worth something. The PSUs in the S2 I actually still own today and use it on my personal PC actually. The rest was scrapped. Actually I kept the fans also and might use in the future.

You can start to mine as a hobby and maybe BTC or LTC might go up in the future and might pay off. However rather just buy the cryptos directly instead of dealing with the headache.

Another issue that you might not realize is the noise. They are as loud as a vacuum cleaner. So keep this in mind because you can't sleep in the same room.

Let me know if you have any more questions.

[thefix]

You may want to just run one and look at it as a long term investment and learning experience to understand how the whole mining process works. Who knows what you mine now could be worth way more or nothing in a few years. Just look at it as a hobby and a great way to get your feet wet.

I would also check out the manufacturers website for product info and power supply recommendations.


https://support.bitmain.com/hc/en-us/articles/360008380494-How-to-set-up-a-new-L3-

[adaseb]

See if you can flip them, I am sure someone is willing to mine at a loss there, plenty of people are here.

I actually did have some success selling some unprofitable miners but only during a bull market. During a bear market or sideways market like we have now its difficult.

Basically these were old Antminer S1,S2,S3 and were all unprofitable and basically I Craiglisted them for like $50 and I put a disclaimer out there, they aren't profitable due to electricity costs and are only good for getting a head start in mining. Durin the bear/sideways markets they didn't get a single inquiry.

Then when the bull market craze came back I listed them again and people were buying them like crazy, even though I explicity told them they won't make money. They didn't care and wanted it anyways.

So maybe wait until BTC breaks $20K and sell it then for $50 on Craiglist.