Advice -What soldering station? Ends melted on x3 hashboards? Replace??

[BBitcoin92]

Hi

I noticed an S9i miner that was not over locked but has been running at a higher rate since installing brains OS

Just noticed it was off and all the supply wires from PSU had melted/plus the ends?

Plus all x9 connections on all 3 boards are all melted and I have just broken the burnt plastic off for now.

I’ve ordered x50 ends for the hash boards.

Do PSU still powers your and has 12v on the main hex bolts.

1. What solder station/solder/flux/tip cleaner do I need to repair these?

2.  Can you purchase the pre made ends (x10) in total that I can just bolt back on the PSU?

I have an ancient soldering iron and the lead if stuff/short and was not good so looking ti get an ‘all in one’ Hal’s decent station.

Anyone advise please

Thanks.

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[BBitcoin92]

https://ibb.co/j8shZMJ
https://ibb.co/rMNWw0r

[philipma1957]

how much higher was it doing 16th? 17th?

you likely had settings in such a way that you pulled too much power.

running an s9i at 12th and burning 960 watts is a good goal to try to do.


do you have a power meter?

https://www.amazon.com/Poniie-PN1500-Electricity-Electrical-Consumption/dp/B07VPTN8FZ/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?


once you do the repairs   really attempt to clock the gear to 12th and 960 watts

run it an hour or two  with the meter .

then run it direct to the power socket.

check the pool side info to see you are in the 12th area and once in a while check the gear with the meter to see you are under 1000 watts

[NotFuzzyWarm]

Typical results from over clocking an old miner and using a old PSU that no doubt has had the power plugs cycled way too many times. PCIe plugs can only be plugged/unplugged *at best* 25 times before the contacts begin to degrade very fast...
To repair them you need a high wattage soldering iron - as in 60W or more - because those pins and the thick power planes suck away heat like crazy.

[BitMaxz]

Without asking or doing research first before overclocking it with braiinsOS will always end up like this.

Anyway, about the tools there are many cheap adjustable soldering irons like the 60w sunshine brand there is also other soldering iron that can adjust up to 80w it's a bit expensive.

About tip cleaner, steel wool would be enough and about flux I usually use rosin but I think any flux should work just don't forget to use lacquer Flo thinner to clean up the flux.

Another tool you need is a solder wick so that you can clean up all remaining solder from terminals on the hashboard so that you can easily put the new 6-pin socket.

[BBitcoin92]

Yes I have a power meter and run the miner prior to upgrading FW.
It was pulling 1320w.

I upgraded OS. Used sane meter and it was pulling 1420w.
This was with Wattage set at 1350.

I reduced it to 1250w and the meter showed 1370w.

I’ve ordered this iron.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/394066347197?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=yWxoV2EuRkO&sssrc=2349624&ssuid=xuEErDW3RGK&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

Looks like it has solder and copper tip cleaner with it. Hopefully this will keep the tips in good condition as I always seem to ruin them/solder will not adhere but balls up/falls off the top??

I’ll order some wick as well to remove any excess.

What is the secret to keeping the tips in peak condition so solder akways sticks to them?

Is it just turn off, a simple wipe/clean just in the copper and then in the wet foam pad and back in holder?.

Why have the copper and the sponge?

Cheers

[NotFuzzyWarm]

Decent quality irons will have iron-plated tips that hold up very well. The metal 'brillo pad' removes most of the excess solder & crusty flux from a tip and the pad of course wipes off oxidation.
Key to good solder joints is a clean and shiny tip and apply solder to both the tip and joint at the same time. The joint must be hot enough to do the melting - not just the iron.. ALWAYS clean the tip before each joint!

[BBitcoin92]

Decent quality irons will have iron-plated tips that hold up very well. The metal 'brillo pad' removes most of the excess solder & crusty flux from a tip and the pad of course wipes off oxidation.
Key to good solder joints is a clean and shiny tip and apply solder to both the tip and joint. The joint must be hot enough to do the melting - not just the iron.. ALWAYS clean the tip before each joint!

Cheers

I've always ended up having to rub mine on sandpaper, then dip in pot of flux just to get solder to stick!

I've never had the brass tip cleaner before or anything else.

I suspect a good clean before in brass/sponge will keep the coating in place for longer.

Thanks

[NotFuzzyWarm]

I've always ended up having to rub mine on sandpaper, then dip in pot of flux just to get solder to stick!

That tells us that the iron had a bare copper tip -- and was not temperature- controlled so its temp would skyrocket when not actually soldering. Only those heavily oxidize and get 'crusty' quickly. Modern irons like you linked should not have that issue.

[BitMaxz]

I've always ended up having to rub mine on sandpaper, then dip in pot of flux just to get solder to stick!

I've never had the brass tip cleaner before or anything else.

I suspect a good clean before in brass/sponge will keep the coating in place for longer.

Thanks

That's not good to use a sponge/sandpaper to clean the solder tip it will always end up oxidized tip, I think most brand-new soldering iron has solder tip coated with lead and too much heat will also lead to an oxidized tip. So you need to set up the properly enough heat that can melt soldering lead. Then use steel wool to remove excess solder from the tip.
Solder wick can be also good to clean the tip.

[NotFuzzyWarm]

The iron the OP liinked is temp controlled so setting to 400c or so plus it having "stainless steel soldering tips prevent accelerate aging" meaning they are steel clad means no real problem with serious oxidation. Unless doing several connections one after another (just go for it) the normal wipe before each joint will keep a nice shiny clean tip.

Something else to be concerned with... When the PCIe connectors get burnt like that - especially all of them on a board - there is a good chance that the ribbon data cables and/or their circuits on the control board took a hit as well. The s9's had a nasty habit of using the data return lines for power return when the usual PCIe connections fail. Well, *trying* to...

[BBitcoin92]

Yes I noticed one ribbon cable was stuck/ had slight damage also the PSU 12v had a little damage.
I was surprised to see this as I presumed it was only for very low voltage data signals.

I could see 2 ends pins were blackened and the plastic surround had melted slightly and I could not plus a cable in.

I managed to removed the end of the plastic damaged end and clean pins up and it cable plugs in fine now.

Bit I presume these again can be purchased/ replaced if necessary?

If not could I not use it on on of my miners that I only run 2 cards on.

It’s an S9i miner but the board looks no different and is a model CTRL_41 Version 1.20.

https://ibb.co/Gxt8cgf

https://ibb.co/LnHcTzT

Thanks

[NotFuzzyWarm]

I was surprised to see this as I presumed it was only for very low voltage data signals.

It is. Problem is that the data cables also have signal return lines that are tied to the power common so when the high power commons are gone guess which lines try to carry the current? Yep - the data returns.

[BBitcoin92]

Brilliant advice as usual.

So the key to keeping the tip in good order is just to keep it clean by a wipe in the pot of copper tool cleaner and then a wipe in the moist foam pad.

That copper tip cleaner just looks like leftover swarf from milling/lathe work with a bit flux in it.

Watched  few videos and it’s also unreal on how far out of calibration these irons are.

There is ‘tool’ that has diodes and you simply add solder and touch to the centre and it gives the accurate temp tip to allow you to cal I rate it.
It looks like a flux capacitor type thing. 

I’m thinking 375c is a good starting temp.

I even purchased a pair of magnifying glasses with leds and a set of verity’s lenses as my eyesight is not good close up.

I’m actually looking forward to having a little play doing this tbh.

I think that cleaner for flux is basically thinners here in the U.K. when I googled it.

Lmk if I’ve missed anything.

Thanks once again, what a great community!

[NotFuzzyWarm]

Do not use lacquer or other paint thinners. They do not completely go away and often leave residue...
Use 100% isopropyl alcohol (not methanol - it corrodes copper) or pure acetone if you chose to not use flux remover. Another good choice is spray brake or carburetor cleaner followed by an alcohol or acetone rinse. Just flood the joint, use a toothbrush to scrub a bit and flood again.

As for the metal swarf, truth be told I rarely need to use it and that's only when using a large tip that has a lot of excess solder on it after doing some heavy work. The wet sponge/pad works fine for normal use.

Exact temp does not exactly matter, key point is that the temp is reasonably controlled.

[unicornmangle]

Exact temp does not exactly matter, key point is that the temp is reasonably controlled.

I would like to thank you for the time you invest here and other places you are a true gem. If anyone is new and starting out your best option is to start reading all of this persons post history.

[NotFuzzyWarm]

Exact temp does not exactly matter, key point is that the temp is reasonably controlled.

I would like to thank you for the time you invest here and other places you are a true gem. If anyone is new and starting out your best option is to start reading all of this persons post history.

Well thank you very much. That more than makes up for what someone who's apparently off their medications posted and this gem as well after they did not like my answer (regarding 'mining' on testnet) and reason behind it. Fortunately the 'Ignore' button takes care of folks like that.

As you said one just has to check my post history. They would be hard pressed to find 'poison'...
Cheers

[BitMaxz]

Do not use lacquer or other paint thinners.

I use lacquer but I use lacquer Flo compared to normal lacquer thinner it's perfect for me to remove flux unlike other lacquer thinners that live residues.

Isoprophyl is the best but the 100% of this is pretty costly.
I also want to suggest Fuji fluid a board cleaner.


Also, take note I already tried dishwashing liquid for cleaning motherboard they are also good alternative but you need to use a hotair/blower to make the board dry.