T17/S17 malfunction: cases, solutions, remedies, RMA history

[Biodom]

I would like to use this thread for people to document potential problems with their miners and maybe give some tips on reliabilty, RMAs, settings, etc.
I'll start: in the first two mo of operation I got one T17e that dropped a board (out of 9 machines combination of T17, T17e, S17 and S17pro).
I would like to see people opine on t17e/S17e vs other types specifically.

[1713260293]

1713260293

[1713260293]

1713260293

[favebook]

My S17e has been running for quite some time without any real problems. Maybe once it dropped the hashrate to 0 but that is a problem I could not repeat and I am not sure what caused it so I cannot blame the unit for it (for now). My T17e has just arrived and I will update you if I have any problems with it.
However, I think I have posted about this somewhere already but I'll say it again here... My S17 Pro which arrived during May or June if I remember correctly had 2 dead hashboards after running on Turbo mode for 2 months. I had it RMA-ed and it comunication was fast as well as the process. I lost about 6 days (including 2 non-working days) of mining and most of those were due to shipping. I shipped from Serbia to Netherlands and it cost me around 150$ if I remember correctly. However, due to our utterly BAD customs, I had to pay 20% VAT on already imported unit. So that RMA cost me alot. And after 5 months of that unit working perfectly, that unit lost all three hashboards and now only if I reboot it a DOZEN times, sometimes one hashboard comes alive and if I am lucky, 2 will come alive, third one seems to be dead as a doornail. I would RMA it again, but I would have to pay another 20% VAT due to problem I previously noted and that is way too expensive considering that my unit is now out of warranty and 20% is calculated for price I paid it in middle of 2019 which is around 2500$ if I remember correctly.

I'd like to note that using Taserz custom firmware for S17 Pro helped me regain some speed as it is now running at 38TH/s with 2 hashboards.

[taserz]

My S17e has been running for quite some time without any real problems. Maybe once it dropped the hashrate to 0 but that is a problem I could not repeat and I am not sure what caused it so I cannot blame the unit for it (for now). My T17e has just arrived and I will update you if I have any problems with it.
However, I think I have posted about this somewhere already but I'll say it again here... My S17 Pro which arrived during May or June if I remember correctly had 2 dead hashboards after running on Turbo mode for 2 months. I had it RMA-ed and it comunication was fast as well as the process. I lost about 6 days (including 2 non-working days) of mining and most of those were due to shipping. I shipped from Serbia to Netherlands and it cost me around 150$ if I remember correctly. However, due to our utterly BAD customs, I had to pay 20% VAT on already imported unit. So that RMA cost me alot. And after 5 months of that unit working perfectly, that unit lost all three hashboards and now only if I reboot it a DOZEN times, sometimes one hashboard comes alive and if I am lucky, 2 will come alive, third one seems to be dead as a doornail. I would RMA it again, but I would have to pay another 20% VAT due to problem I previously noted and that is way too expensive considering that my unit is now out of warranty and 20% is calculated for price I paid it in middle of 2019 which is around 2500$ if I remember correctly.

I'd like to note that using Taserz custom firmware for S17 Pro helped me regain some speed as it is now running at 38TH/s with 2 hashboards.

Ayyyyy

I still think you should fight the vat on a warranty item.

Also I am seeing a lot of bad temp sensors on the new units... Which sucks because if they don't work it won't mine...

[philipma1957]

Nice thread idea.

All s17 pro work 16 of them
the t17e works     2 of them but pull a lot of power
the t17+ works    1 of them but it is dropping a board.
the t17                2 of them work

[favebook]

Ayyyyy

I still think you should fight the vat on a warranty item.

Also I am seeing a lot of bad temp sensors on the new units... Which sucks because if they don't work it won't mine...

I fought and fought last time, but they warned me that if I do not pay it, they will ship it back to sender. I lost about month or two fighting and explaining them that it was only sent to Bitmain for repair (I had proof). After that time, I gave up and decided to have as little communication as possible with them. They actually disgust me now. I am professional towards them, but when they become arrogant, I am even worse.

And yes, bad temperature sensors are becoming quite common problem here as well, I had it personally on two different S17 PRO and I had one friend who had it on all three boards...

[akagi82]

shipment of 30 T17 42TH

3 problems units:

1) Wont detect hashboard from new, mines with 2
2) After a month, temperature sensor problem and entire machine wont hash
3) Solid Red and Green light

If anyone has solutions to 1 and 3  please reply.

[taserz]

shipment of 30 T17 42TH

3 problems units:

1) Wont detect hashboard from new, mines with 2
2) After a month, temperature sensor problem and entire machine wont hash
3) Solid Red and Green light

If anyone has solutions to 1 and 3  please reply.

Number 2.... IS SO COMMON... I hate it

[akagi82]

Which machines are you running? Are their flagship S17s also experiencing this problem?

S9s don't have this game-over problem with sensor errors in later firmware... wtf is up with bitmain, they are literally creating problems for miners.


Adding a fourth problem:

Code:

2020-02-02 15:38:53 power_api.c:91:get_average_voltage: error: total_chain get 0 !!
2020-02-02 15:38:53 power_api.c:109:check_voltage: target_vol = 17.90, actural_vol = 0.00, more than 0.5v diff.
2020-02-02 15:38:54 driver-btm-api.c:141:stop_mining: stop mining: power set failed!
2020-02-02 15:38:54 thread.c:832:cancel_check_miner_status_thread: cancel thread
2020-02-02 15:38:54 thread.c:806:cancel_temperature_monitor_thread: cancel thread
2020-02-02 15:38:54 thread.c:816:cancel_read_nonce_reg_thread: cancel thread
2020-02-02 15:38:54 driver-btm-api.c:127:killall_hashboard: ****power off hashboard****

Remedy is to reboot the machine remotely, thus far.

[mikeywith]

Here is another case I would like to add, I bought 2 S17s+ 67th, brand new ordered from Bitmain, I am overseas at the moment so I had someone receive and install them, the first gear worked just fine, started hashing right away, but the second one did not turn on.

The PSU works just fine, PSU fans spin the way they are supposed to, however, no lights coming out of the control board, the miner's fan do not spin.

At first, we suspected a PSU-Control Board connection problem, so I asked him to check the wires and everything seems to be in place, he had to leave before he could troubleshoot any further, so probably tomorrow. What I suspect is the PSU, there is a tiny chance that the control board might be bad, but that is unlikely, how often do you hear someone complain about a control board compared to PSU?

Anyway, I will keep you guys updated, unfortunately I can't send the gear back to them, so whatever the problem may be, I have to fix it on my own, I will of course "bother" them every day with emails until I get tried or they compensate me (whichever comes first).

[philipma1957]

my t17+ has a hot middle board.

it goes to 86 on one chip and the board shuts off.

the fans never ramp up past 3900-4100

i would think if fans went to 4800 i would be good.

also 1 speed not 2 speeds.

would be nice to have a lower speed.

or faster fans.

i will need to figure a way to save that board.

[thierry4wd]

Hi , if you need more speed by easy mod, just unplug blue wire on each fan if you want for fix it at full speed

[philipma1957]

Hi , if you need more speed by easy mod, just unplug blue wire on each fan if you want for fix it at full speed

yeah when I go back up to clifton i will try this.

[mikeywith]

The problem is both Asic.to aka Taserz as well as AwesomeMiner have not released anything for the T17+ yet, so you can't undervolt that middle board, therefore I would set all fans at static speed of 100% for now, T17+'s hash board costs more than a large box full of those 12mm fans, so I would risk the fans but not the board.

[akagi82]

Umm.. is Bitmain only accept S17s for RMA?  All of the other options for all other miner types dissapeered.  Can someone please verify?  Is it only me?

[mikeywith]

The PSU works just fine, PSU fans spin the way they are supposed to, however, no lights coming out of the control board, the miner's fan do not spin.

an update on the quoted issue, trying another known to work PSU did not solve the problem, trying a different control board fixed the problem and all hash boards work just fine.

This is probably the first time ever that I receive a miner with a faulty control board, what I am going to do now is order a new control board for the S17+ and then start "my war" against Bitmain, it makes no sense to delay the order to wait for them to respond to my complaints. the board costs about 100$ shipped, negotiating with Bitmain will take forever and chances are not high enough.

When I have the chance, I will try to inspect the control board and try to figure out what's wrong with it, will keep updating the situation.

[Philipma1957cellphone]

So new miner with a brick for a control board.

And it never worked. At  all correct.

[mikeywith]

That is correct, straight out of the box, installed on a good voltage regulator of 220v so this rules out any power related issues, there does not seem to be any physical damage from DHL shipping so this in a nutshell is a faulty control bored.

I will still mess with it to find out what's wrong and why isn't any lights coming up, that will take sometime but i will post my findings.

I did order a new one and it ships whiting 20 days so i might end up with at least a month of an expensive gear sitting there doing pretty nothing but loses value.

[Biodom]

A new miner (T17+) only hashes on two boards out of three directly from the box.
Pure thievery as it would cost more to send it back than to keep hashing on two boards.

Not pleased.
DO NOT order T17+

[philipma1957]

A new miner (T17+) only hashes on two boards out of three directly from the box.
Pure thievery as it would cost more to send it back than to keep hashing on two boards.

Not pleased.
DO NOT order T17+

same issue for me.  and shipping it back is pretty senseless as ½ ing  is coming.

It is a PayPal purchase I am under 40 days.  I wonder if I ask for a 33% refund if I can get it.

I have not pushed very hard on this issue with bitmain as my wife has been sick for 70+ days

Since Dec 29 2019.

I have had a lot more important things to do. THEN TO FIGHT OVER 1 HASH BOARD.

BUT  I think doctors have finally figured out my wife health issues and have a treatment plan that is working.

I may pursue a 33% refund on the t17+

I will post back on this idea on Monday the 16th of March. 

[mikeywith]

Glad to hear about your wife's health improvements.

As for the 33% refund I'd say it's highly unlikely, Bitmain has very weird "scamy" rules regarding DOA and warranty, if you claim that this was DOA, then they will say that 30 days have passed from the day they shipped the miner, assuming shipping from China takes 10 days, you have only 20 days to act, if you take more than 20 days to send it then it can't be treated as DOA anymore, so even if for some reason DHL, FedEx or whoever your courier may be fails to deliver the miner under 30 days, and say you get it 31 days after it's shipped, and it arrives dead, Bitmain will refuse to treat it as such because their rule states the following:

Please ship back them within 30 days from Order Ship out date, otherwise, the devices cannot be treated as DOA.

If you decide to go for RMA, on all the new models you MUST ship the WHOLE miner, you might get lucky enough to be asked to ship only the bad part such as a hash board, but Bitmain reserves all the right to tell you that YOU were the one who toasted the board and that they owe you nothing.

Bitmain warranty is a joke, they know that most people will rather keep a half-working miner than waste time returning it and wait for the replacement to arrive due to the nature of mining where time = money.

Having said that, I noticed that being persistent can sometimes (actually seldom) grant you some sort of compensation (in a form of coupon/s) without having to send the whole miner nor the defective part. That of course, depends heavily on your purchase history and the mood of whoever is handling your case  .