ANTMINER S3+ Discussion and Support Thread

[heldertb]

Need help/info

I'm overclocking both my S3+ miners to 231.25GHz. One is working fine and after 3 days of mining non stop is stable at 465GH/s. But the other one quickly drops it hash rate to about ~433GH/s after 1 day of mining. I've rebooted this one before because "x"'s started showing up. But this time they're all "o". So no chip faults or shutting down.

Is this because the load is to high because of the overclocking or is it because the miner is just underperforming?

[xstr8guy]

Need help/info

I'm overclocking both my S3+ miners to 231.25GHz. One is working fine and after 3 days of mining non stop is stable at 465GH/s. But the other one quickly drops it hash rate to about ~433GH/s after 1 day of mining. I've rebooted this one before because "x"'s started showing up. But this time they're all "o". So no chip faults or shutting down.

Is this because the load is to high because of the overclocking or is it because the miner is just underperforming?

You do know that the difference of 32GHs is currently 22 cents per day in earnings? Not really worth the worry. Just let them run.

[heldertb]

Need help/info

I'm overclocking both my S3+ miners to 231.25GHz. One is working fine and after 3 days of mining non stop is stable at 465GH/s. But the other one quickly drops it hash rate to about ~433GH/s after 1 day of mining. I've rebooted this one before because "x"'s started showing up. But this time they're all "o". So no chip faults or shutting down.

Is this because the load is to high because of the overclocking or is it because the miner is just underperforming?

You do know that the difference of 32GHs is currently 22 cents per day in earnings? Not really worth the worry. Just let them run.

Well if there is something I could do to fix this. I wouldn't mind the worry (:

[kabopar]

Need help/info

I'm overclocking both my S3+ miners to 231.25GHz. One is working fine and after 3 days of mining non stop is stable at 465GH/s. But the other one quickly drops it hash rate to about ~433GH/s after 1 day of mining. I've rebooted this one before because "x"'s started showing up. But this time they're all "o". So no chip faults or shutting down.

Is this because the load is to high because of the overclocking or is it because the miner is just underperforming?

You do know that the difference of 32GHs is currently 22 cents per day in earnings? Not really worth the worry. Just let them run.

Well if there is something I could do to fix this. I wouldn't mind the worry (:

My impression is that every S3 has its own 'personality'.  This is probably related to the consistency (or lack of) in putting these together.  During removal of hashing boards for the S1 to S3 upgrade I noticed how the amount of thermal paste and its distribution is different among different units.  This is just one example where inconsistent workmanship would cause differences in performance.  There may be also external differences such as different power supplies or different air-flow circumstances to the different miners.

Cheers

[soy]

Having already repasted the heat sinks in the past today's effort was aimed at cleaning the ASIC pins and anything near components that might effect operation like perhaps compound on capacitors.  Since the inside heatsink paste is assumed good, I removed the cover, the fans, the outside heatsinks, the controller board.  I found the ASICs are numbered from 2 to 17 starting at the upper left then to the lower left then to the next lower ASIC then up then across to the next upper ASIC so it finishes with 17 at the upper right.  Putting the miner without fans or controller board upside down outside I used a can of brake cleaner with straw to clean the board and it's inside then used a second can to clean the other board and its inside with a little cleaner left over for the controller board.  Then firing up my air compressor I blew off the boards.  Hoping it left the controller board okay.  Experience showed me compressed air hitting an asicminer blade FPGA could cause it to lose programming.  Now to reassemble....

Note there's a void in the outside heatsink over the LM75A and a channel for the line of capacitors.

...has awakened with all ASICs o's.

Can't ask for better conditions for this to be running right.  63°F outside, 72°F in the room with miners and that's at 20%rh.

Considering right now if I were to do this again I'd put the spring screws back in place without the heatsink before cleaning the board with the brake cleaner so the cleaner doesn't get into the screwholes.  Worth mentioning clumps of thermal paste on the ASIC pins, e.g. if the heatsink had been slid sideways in removal, might be removed CAREFULLY with a wooden toothpick.  The spray brake cleaner gets used up pretty quickly.

At 30 minutes it's doing 440.82GH/s.  I suspect it will continue to be reasonable most of the day unless it warms then drop tonight again to the mid-430's.  Engines turning off in one of the ASICs for some reason and all the cleaning and reapplication of thermal paste won't fix it.  I could be wrong and maybe it will stay good but I doubt it.

...maybe

40 min 444.29(avg)
 1 hr  443.72
 2 hr  441.60
 3 hr  441.22
 4 hr  440.74
 5 hr  439.68
 6 hr  434.89
 rebooted due to low hashrate

If I were still in the game I'd look for an open.  The low fan speed is an indicator of something amiss as well.  A plated thru hole that fails would fit the bill.  Tough to find without a schematic but not impossible.

If it's a charge buildup then a complete shutdown would be more effective than a restart.

I had adjusted the cgminer-avg-monitor script to look for a hashrate of 432 rather than 439 and run the program only on the hour not every 30 minutes as there were too many restarts and changed the script to reboot instead of cgminer restart.  It triggered at 431.

I'll see how this rebooting works out.  There is a 60 second delay added before rebooting.  The loss, as someone has accurately pointed out, in not much in dollars and cents so troubleshooting it isn't high on my list of things to do.  If I do opt to troubleshoot, I have the other board with which to compare.

 18 m   438.35
 31 m  437.63
 1 hr   439.67     Temps dropping
 2 hr   440.24     Room Temp 76°
 2h59m  431.83  Room Temp 75°
 3h rebooted due to low hashrate

 30 m  437.51 75.0°
 1 hr   440.45  75.0°
 2 hr   435.66  73.7°
 3 hr   438.18  73.9°  Lower room temperature does slow the decline.  Utility down to 14.  ~Midnight.

So with the sleep I added to let it cool it takes 2 minutes before it's hashing again.  Booting at 431GH/s, when it's 10GH/s down, the 10GH/s*120s=1200GH's which is like the miner not running for 2.72 seconds.  So, triggering a reboot with delay that takes ~ 2 minutes loses 117 seconds of hashing.

[faraway]

oooooooo oooooooo
oooooooo ooxooooo

Do you know how to map 'Asic Status' to the electronic chip left/right board and chip.

Is this possible to have the statistics chip by chip?

[Stratobitz]

Butterfly Labs has been Shut Down by the FTC. Closed.

Just happened. That's one less ASIC Miner Company.

Strato

[ocminer]

Butterfly Labs has been Shut Down by the FTC. Closed.

Just happened. That's one less ASIC Miner Company.

Strato

And what is the point of posting this into the  Antminer S3 Thread ?

[mahowi]

Is there any way to undervolt the S3?

[soy]

Butterfly Labs has been Shut Down by the FTC. Closed.

Just happened. That's one less ASIC Miner Company.

Strato

And what is the point of posting this into the  Antminer S3 Thread ?

I appreciate the info.  Won't hijack the S3 thread to dwell on those (see a series of shift up characters from the number row here) Kansas frauds.  Suffice it to say they were not ethical in their dealings.

[Stratobitz]

I feel if anything this is good news for BitMain, which is why I posted it.

We run roughly 100 S3+s.

Strato

[1Neptune]

Butterfly Labs has been Shut Down by the FTC. Closed.

Just happened. That's one less ASIC Miner Company.

Strato

And what is the point of posting this into the  Antminer S3 Thread ?

The point is this news will impact Bitmain and any purchasers of Bitmain as it will impact the bitcoin network in general.

It's also relevant as some of us were unfortunate enough to have had dealings with BFL in the past.

Appreciate the news Strato.

[ocminer]

Butterfly Labs has been Shut Down by the FTC. Closed.

Just happened. That's one less ASIC Miner Company.

Strato

And what is the point of posting this into the  Antminer S3 Thread ?

The point is this news will impact Bitmain and any purchasers of Bitmain as it will impact the bitcoin network in general.

It's also relevant as some of us were unfortunate enough to have had dealings with BFL in the past.

So you think with all the presence of the (multiple) "BFL got shut by the FTC" Threads anyone would overlook that and would not be informed without that OT posting here ??!

If so, they are definitely doing the wrong thing...

[bspurloc]

Butterfly Labs has been Shut Down by the FTC. Closed.

Just happened. That's one less ASIC Miner Company.

Strato

And what is the point of posting this into the  Antminer S3 Thread ?

The point is this news will impact Bitmain and any purchasers of Bitmain as it will impact the bitcoin network in general.

It's also relevant as some of us were unfortunate enough to have had dealings with BFL in the past.

Appreciate the news Strato.

how could it possible affect Bitmain sales or anyone since BFL's hasnt been at a marketable price in over a year.

Posting the news here is just for pure comedic relief...

[thatfunguy]

I received my two S3+'s today. One works, the other makes a ticking noise and I can't connect via LAN. I just sent an e-mail to bitmain.

Anyone had a similar problem?

***update***
Bitmain support got back to me and helped me get it working, just had to re-set it. Appears both units have fans that were damaged in shipping. One works ok, the other is rubbing so I'm looking for a short term solution and I've asked Bitmain if they will send replacements fans.

Damage appears minor but it's enough the plastic pushed in and is keeping the fan from turning properly. I loosened the screw and pushed it out so the fan is clearing the housing now but it's making a ticking noise.

https://i.imgur.com/kBG5mBY.jpg

[Mudbankkeith]

I received my two S3+'s today. One works, the other makes a ticking noise and I can't connect via LAN. I just sent an e-mail to bitmain.

Anyone had a similar problem?

***update***
Bitmain support got back to me and helped me get it working, just had to re-set it. Appears both units have fans that were damaged in shipping. One works ok, the other is rubbing so I'm looking for a short term solution and I've asked Bitmain if they will send replacements fans.

Damage appears minor but it's enough the plastic pushed in and is keeping the fan from turning properly. I loosened the screw and pushed it out so the fan is clearing the housing now but it's making a ticking noise.

https://i.imgur.com/kBG5mBY.jpg

I had one delivered with the fan cover dented, that made a ticking noise, easy enough to push the dent back tho.

[DIDDLE]

Does someone know the company name and street address of Bitman ?

[marklyon]

I received my two S3+'s today. One works, the other makes a ticking noise and I can't connect via LAN. I just sent an e-mail to bitmain.

Anyone had a similar problem?

***update***
Bitmain support got back to me and helped me get it working, just had to re-set it. Appears both units have fans that were damaged in shipping. One works ok, the other is rubbing so I'm looking for a short term solution and I've asked Bitmain if they will send replacements fans.

Damage appears minor but it's enough the plastic pushed in and is keeping the fan from turning properly. I loosened the screw and pushed it out so the fan is clearing the housing now but it's making a ticking noise.

https://i.imgur.com/kBG5mBY.jpg

I replaced my stock fans with Corsair Air Series SP120 PWM High Performance Edition - Twin Pack (CO-9050014-WW) because of noise concerns.  They run a few degrees warmer than stock, but it's not been an issue.  Would you like to know more?

This may help you get up and running faster.

[ftoole]

Does someone know the company name and street address of Bitman ?

They ship under the name
SHENZHEN CENTURY CLOUD CORE TECHNOL
BAoan District
518104 SHENZEN
Peoples republic of china

[Bitkoinzz]

Bitmian been offline all morning. Maybe they are updating products and prices YES