Is it worth buying this broken used Antminer S17 Pro?

[MrMik]

I'm wondering if I should put in an offer to buy this broken Antminer S17 Pro from ebay.

The item description is this:

S17 Pro 53Th Antminer Bitmain, for repair. Non working

Powers up all three cards are detected within the menu system.

As the picture show two of the heatsinks on one of the cards have fallen off.

1x card shows as alive
2x show aa dead

When you start trying to hash at shows a SOC error.

No repairs have been attempted they are just a non working condition.

Any questions please let me know.

ebay link: https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/144942585363?mkevt=1&mkpid=0&emsid=e11011.m43.l1123&mkcid=7&ch=osgood&euid=88bfaacb3ebb41ed9aa97a1655c25eaf&bu=43147430092&osub=-1%7E1&crd=20230213131002&segname=11011


Here are my specific questions:

1) What are the chances that this miner can be repaired?

2) Can it theoretically run with less than all 3 hashboards (like my S9J does)?

3) Am I correct when I say this is the most power hungry miner that can (only just) be plugged into a standard 240V 10A power outlet?

4) Does the info on the PSU label ( specifically OUTPUT 1: 14.5-21V  170A ) mean that this PSU is NOT a 12v DC PSU and that I will not be able to use if for other miners (in case the hashboards are toast)?



5) What questions should I ask to clarify if it is worth considering?

Thanks for any help with this!

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[BitMaxz]

For me, it's not worth buying look at the price it's too expensive for 2nd hand unit you can able to buy a brand-new unit at that price in Canaan shop the price of a1246 unit is around $996 with a better hashrate.

You can repair that thing but it's worth it about the hashboard if still run the miner without the other hashboard it depends on the firmware because old firmware for this unit will let you mine with one dead hashboard.

About the 240v and 10A outlet, it's not recommended for this unit I think it should be above 15A or 20A for safety.
About chances of repairing it depends in your skill or I think 50% you can maybe repair them or replace the hashboard.

But I suggest better buy a brand-new one from Canaan unit which is cheaper with higher hashrate.

[Rodemi]

My thought is that the price is a bit high since these hash boards don't use refit heatsinks. These little heatsinks notoriously easy to fall off, so even if you can fix the miner, it might break again after a while. The cost of purchase and repair may be enough to buy an otherwise better miner.

[unicornmangle]

why would you suggest a miner to anyone that has horrible customer service and equipment that breaks within a month of owning it and they units also will not run with 1 bad hashboard.

canaan is ripping people off plain and simple. i got no support with my unit it sat for a year i messed with it started working again then it stopped working again and now im ready to just beat the hell out of it with a hammer. its bad enough trying to break even as a small miner let alone take a total loss because canaan wants to sell the worst junk miners possible with the worst software and support possible.

also the canaan miners need to call home to china constantly why is that? i paid money for equipment i exepected to work that i did not abuse i replaced the contnrol board at my expense because they would not sell me one so i paid $300 on ebay for one 6 weeks after ownership and the unit still does not work.

TLDR; if you want to lose even more money in mining buy canaan products

i see mass adoption happening because of all the good the industry does for itself. 

[Bitcoin_Arena]

Not worth it mate, Just keep your money for something else or just buy BTC 

If the owner can decide to sell if off, then who knows what other troubles you are going to have while trying to fix and maintain the gear?

[BitMaxz]

also the canaan miners need to call home to china constantly why is that? i paid money for equipment i exepected to work that i did not abuse i replaced the contnrol board at my expense because they would not sell me one so i paid $300 on ebay for one 6 weeks after ownership and the unit still does not work.

Have you tried to contact this Canaan representative here below

- https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=3481962

And what exactly your miner problem is?
You should learn how to read the API logs you can find them mostly in their manual or download the description log below

- https://canaan.io/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/log-Description.pdf

[Artemis3]

4) Does the info on the PSU label ( specifically OUTPUT 1: 14.5-21V  170A ) mean that this PSU is NOT a 12v DC PSU and that I will not be able to use if for other miners (in case the hashboards are toast)?

Indeed. The rails are 14~21 and the 12 is for the control board (rail voltage is requested by the firmware using the small data ribbon cable). In modern nomenclature, Bitmain would call this something like: APW9121421. Bitmain is a Chinese company, and China is a 50Hz/230V country, they usually don't test things much for 120V voltage which pulls twice the amps in a circuit anyway so its a bit less efficient (higher resistance) and above certain watts, unsafe. This is why even in America you will see they have 208/240V circuits for things like Air Conditioners, Dryers, etc. And those asic miners certainly fill that category of power hungry "appliance".

Besides the S17 family has the infamous bad solder from factory issue.

[philipma1957]

@ op

Dude I can sell you a non working s17 for 200 usd plus shipping to Australia

which is around 336 so 536 usd which is 766 aud


but to be honest it would likely never work and you would be out 766 AUD


The heatsinks will come loose and the gear won't work.

[NotFuzzyWarm]

...
4) Does the info on the PSU label ( specifically OUTPUT 1: 14.5-21V  170A ) mean that this PSU is NOT a 12v DC PSU and that I will not be able to use if for other miners (in case the hashboards are toast)?

Correct. The integrated PSU on modern miners is directly regulating the voltage fed to the ASIC strings vs the original way of feeding in 12vdc and then each board further reducing that to what the strings use which was around 7 to 9.x vdc.

By eliminating the 2nd stage regulators that 1 change increased overall power efficiency by around 10%. It also means that the control board talks to the the PSU to tell it what voltage to supply to the hash boards. These days that can range from ~14v up to 21v depending on the miner, what your settings are, and what the miners auto-tuning process comes up with.

[mikeywith]

1) What are the chances that this miner can be repaired?

90% if a Profesional with the right tools and spare parts fixes it, slim to nothing if a regular person like myself does.

2) Can it theoretically run with less than all 3 hashboards (like my S9J does)?

It can run with any number of working hashboards.

3) Am I correct when I say this is the most power hungry miner that can (only just) be plugged into a standard 240V 10A power outlet?

not the most power-hungry, some miners consume up to 6000w, the second part however is somehow correct, this needs 220-240v, but 15A not 10A.

4) Does the info on the PSU label ( specifically OUTPUT 1: 14.5-21V  170A ) mean that this PSU is NOT a 12v DC PSU and that I will not be able to use if for other miners (in case the hashboards are toast)?

The PSU can't be used on other miners, not even other miners from the 17 series itself.

5) What questions should I ask to clarify if it is worth considering?

Can you sell it for $20? this is the only question I would be asking.

[philipma1957]

1) What are the chances that this miner can be repaired?

90% if a Profesional with the right tools and spare parts fixes it, slim to nothing if a regular person like myself does.

2) Can it theoretically run with less than all 3 hashboards (like my S9J does)?

It can run with any number of working hashboards.

3) Am I correct when I say this is the most power hungry miner that can (only just) be plugged into a standard 240V 10A power outlet?

not the most power-hungry, some miners consume up to 6000w, the second part however is somehow correct, this needs 220-240v, but 15A not 10A.

4) Does the info on the PSU label ( specifically OUTPUT 1: 14.5-21V  170A ) mean that this PSU is NOT a 12v DC PSU and that I will not be able to use if for other miners (in case the hashboards are toast)?

The PSU can't be used on other miners, not even other miners from the 17 series itself.

5) What questions should I ask to clarify if it is worth considering?

Can you sell it for $20? this is the only question I would be asking.

Yeah selling it for 1000 AUD is a big ask.

[Artemis3]

1) What are the chances that this miner can be repaired?

90% if a Profesional with the right tools and spare parts fixes it, slim to nothing if a regular person like myself does.

Basically: Desolder all, resolder all and replace the damaged components, perhaps do the mod that uses large heatsinks with screws, or go with immersion.

Cost effective? Probably not, but some people did this full refurbish in the past.

[mikeywith]

Basically: Desolder all, resolder all and replace the damaged components, perhaps do the mod that uses large heatsinks with screws, or go with immersion.

Cost effective? Probably not, but some people did this full refurbish in the past.

I saw many of those modified 17 series floating around for sale, but I don't see them anymore nowadays, it's probably because of "low" the mining profitability is, if somehow BTC goes to 100k without the difficulty having a 3x spike, then spending all the time and money on some S17 might be worth it, but as of right now, it goes for about $300 fully working, it's rival Whatsminer M20/M21s sells for $370-$470 fully working, a lot more robust.