Custom Built Mining Shed

[klondike_bar]

How does this hold up in heavy rain? I see the insulation but between the dog door and vents I'm sure moisture gets in there. Do you run any dehumidifiers or anything like that?

the AC is partially a dehumidifier - it may only have a small effect though.  However the heat of the shed should ensure any moisture stays in the air and does not condense at all.

[TwoPints]

Thanks for all the replies and thoughts. I may have spoken too soon regarding the issues. Currently we are sitting at ~100-110f on the cool side. While the miners are still running just fine, both Shaxs and I are concerned we may be facing some trouble once the temperature here heats up. I'm going to try and develop individual shields for the miners as the heat emanating from the sides of the miners is a major cause of the heat spike.

Speaking of which, has anyone developed heat shields? If so, what materials did you use?

[TwoPints]

Awesome farm! I was thinking about setting one up for a couple of GPU rigs but nothing on the scale of what you're doing. I love the wifi controlled lightbulb, that's a really good idea.

Have you run into any issues with the miners since setting them up there?

The PSU's have been the biggest issue thus far. We're using the 835w IBM PSU's, one for every 2 miners. They have a nagging habit of shutting off and you have to fiddle with them to get them back up. Luckily we're getting them for between $10-$14 per, so I'm not too concerned with having to replace them. Other than that, there's not too many issues we're facing yet. Very curious to see what happens when the outside temperature starts climbing. We've had a very mild spring and haven't really climbed into the Summer temps yet (100+ f). I would imagine there will be some more tinkering in our future to combat that.

That's quite a project, and what a deal on those power supplies, $10-$14 per supply is an awesome deal!

Yeah, the PSU's have been a pretty good deal. We've purchased them off of ebay, and there are still plenty available for those willing to do the wiring themselves. Here's a link to an auction as an example: http://www.ebay.com/itm/IBM-24R2730-24R2731-835W-POWER-SUPPLY-FOR-X3400-X3500-X3650-SERVERS-/251542456212?pt=US_Server_Power_Supplies&hash=item3a91194794

[TwoPints]

How does this hold up in heavy rain? I see the insulation but between the dog door and vents I'm sure moisture gets in there. Do you run any dehumidifiers or anything like that?

Great question! The dog door is completely separate, with the port inside the shed double sealed. The exhaust vents are on the hot side, with our insulation wall separating it from the miners. it's also about 20 degrees hotter than the "cool side". The other vent we have is for the A/C, and we haven't seen any issues with moisture on that end. We've had some pretty major rain storms and the shed has remained dry, so I think we're set.

[alh]

OK, a month later in Texas. What's the state of affairs on this shed? I am curious to see what the reality on the ground is on this. Has the heat overtaken the project, or is it still "full steam ahead" (no pun intended)?

[shaxs]

OK, a month later in Texas. What's the state of affairs on this shed? I am curious to see what the reality on the ground is on this. Has the heat overtaken the project, or is it still "full steam ahead" (no pun intended)?

Heat was becoming an issue and then we shrouded all the miners. We enclosed the whole self of miners in an effort to keep the heat enclosed and pushed out the back fans and have colder air stay on the cold side to suckinto the intake fans. That helped.

We ended up selling off about half the S1s and bought 20 (I think) S3s. So right now I think we have 16 or so S1s and the temperatures in the shed are in the low 80s. The s3s are shrouded out of the box so I am curious to see how 20 of those hold up.

One of the more annoying problems is the Texas humidity. The split ac system he have also a dehumidifier. It takes too much water out of the air and leaks down the wall. It doesn't threaten the equipment,t but leaves an annoying little puddle near the door.

Once we get the S3s installed, we will check back in.

[drmadison]

I am so tempted to do something like this here in cali...
We have the benefit of naturally cool weather here in the Bay Area (it's 62F right now...) so heat buildup should be even less of an issue.
And having a father-in-law that happens to be a commercial electrician can't hurt either

[timk225]

So shaxs, is this room anywhere near ROI with the new and improved 16.8 BILLION difficulty?  Or are you ready to admit yet that you pissed away a ton of money on ASICs and other work with no chance of breaking even yet?

I like the work, I like the setup, but it just doesn't pay off.  And it won't ROI for a long time unles BTC goes way up in price.

[shaxs]

So shaxs, is this room anywhere near ROI with the new and improved 16.8 BILLION difficulty?  Or are you ready to admit yet that you pissed away a ton of money on ASICs and other work with no chance of breaking even yet?

I like the work, I like the setup, but it just doesn't pay off.  And it won't ROI for a long time unles BTC goes way up in price.

Actually, after renting out contracts, mining BTC, and selling equipment, I am pretty sure I have broken even. I need ot go update my ROI tracking spreadsheet to make sure.

But dont forget, in the end I now have a bigger shed to store stuff (after the miners) and an AC system I can move to my garage to work on my classic cars during the summer. So building the shed and having it paid for by miners has other benefits

[philipma1957]

So shaxs, is this room anywhere near ROI with the new and improved 16.8 BILLION difficulty?  Or are you ready to admit yet that you pissed away a ton of money on ASICs and other work with no chance of breaking even yet?

I like the work, I like the setup, but it just doesn't pay off.  And it won't ROI for a long time unles BTC goes way up in price.

Actually, after renting out contracts, mining BTC, and selling equipment, I am pretty sure I have broken even. I need ot go update my ROI tracking spreadsheet to make sure.

But dont forget, in the end I now have a bigger shed to store stuff (after the miners) and an AC system I can move to my garage to work on my classic cars during the summer. So building the shed and having it paid for by miners has other benefits

and you started with  btc coins under 500usd and coins are over 600 usd.   so yeah buy and hold may have earned more but you would not have the shed.  Also many people with buy and hold mentality have no understanding of active mining being a completely different tax animal. Plus a gear head tinker man's dream.

I look at the entire mining thing as this in the last 2 years. I had the bast pc's the best gpu's the best ssd's and I turned a small profit.  All legally ! 

Plus i could get lucky and my remaining gear + coins could go up up and away.  Nice work on the shed and the ants.

[Maidak]

This is a really cool idea the costs seems a little high. A lot of my family is in the construction industry and I could get lumber for practically free. I may actually do a project like this in the near future.