ANTMINER S4 Discussion and Support Thread

[Tim.Shao19]

hi, please pm or send email to me with your order info, i will doublecheck it. Thanks,

Ive been waiting patiently since JUNE for compensation which bitmain had finally offered to pay for four dead PSUs (actually i RMAd the first one, but the replacemnet which took 2 weeks was DOA & dented too, so its 5..) after MUCH MUCH struggle and effort

Can you post your order number so it can be looked at please? [or PM to Tim]

im not in the US

i have sent all relevant details to bitmain - as i stated we have exchnanged over 400 emails. most of them utter stupidity, usually repeatedly.

i am now at the point that only actual compensation as offered previously will suffice.

i have enough shit antminer junk in my home, i am able to read and as such will never accept another dangerous (3 month BS warranty) rig from bitmain.

four S2s = FOUR DEAD PSUs + 1 more PSU that was RMA'd and arrived dirty, dented and only able to power 9 blades.ffs!

multiple dead/failing boards have been RMA'd - some were ok, others not.

a Dead power board has been RMA'd - an equally shit & filthy one was sent

a dead control board has been RMA'd - it works but arrived absolutely FILTHY.

he's refused to replace the buckled fans & the dead LED screen and to be quite honest the last blade needing RMA'd has just sat gathering dust despite having been sent a shipping label. Its just more messing around to be sent yet another already RMA'd piece of shit.

so now ive repeated myself to you too, what do you suggest?

more order numbers?

more screen grabs?

Tell 'Tim'?

ZZzzzzzzz....

[1715033653]

1715033653

[MissouriMiner]

A friend of mine kept having problems with his computer power supplies.  He was using standard surge protector, but not a UPS.  Eventually, after I talked him into it, he bought an APC UPS.  And because of the voltage monitoring and protection, he found out that his voltage went up and down quite a bit.  The UPS had to intervene often to normalize the voltage input.  So, he found out the fluctuation in voltage was causing the problem.  I'm not trying to say this is the reason for any of the reported problems on this forum.  I'm only passing along information for future reference.  Food for thought...

[Zeta0S]

A friend of mine kept having problems with his computer power supplies.  He was using standard surge protector, but not a UPS.  Eventually, after I talked him into it, he bought an APC UPS.  And because of the voltage monitoring and protection, he found out that his voltage went up and down quite a bit.  The UPS had to intervene often to normalize the voltage input.  So, he found out the fluctuation in voltage was causing the problem.  I'm not trying to say this is the reason for any of the reported problems on this forum.  I'm only passing along information for future reference.  Food for thought...

What you are saying is: Buy a good PSU!!! Right!?

[MissouriMiner]

A friend of mine kept having problems with his computer power supplies.  He was using standard surge protector, but not a UPS.  Eventually, after I talked him into it, he bought an APC UPS.  And because of the voltage monitoring and protection, he found out that his voltage went up and down quite a bit.  The UPS had to intervene often to normalize the voltage input.  So, he found out the fluctuation in voltage was causing the problem.  I'm not trying to say this is the reason for any of the reported problems on this forum.  I'm only passing along information for future reference.  Food for thought...

What you are saying is: Buy a good PSU!!! Right!?

Well, that is definitely a good thing, but not what I was saying.  The house wiring had a problem.  But the problem did not trip a breaker or a surge protector.  However, the problem was caught by a battery backup (UPS, Uninterruptible Power Supply).   I'm pointing out one of the benefits of a UPS is to ensure the power line is "clean".  It's too expensive to use UPS's for the miners, however I have all of my computers and networking equipment using UPS.

[cathoderay]

Updated the Untrusted Manufacturers Trustworthiness Guide to more accurately reflect recent events & provide a more realistic overview from the customers experiences instead of a paid off bell boy......

Bitmain

Product lines:                                                                                                                            Company Site | Bitcointalk Thread Antminer S1, S2,  S3,  S4, U1, U2, L1

___________________________________________________________________________
Rating: 53	Uses own chips? Delivered miners? Uses preorders?	Yes Yes Mix	10/10 10/10 8/20	On time? Quality Issues? Refund Issues?	Mix Huge Plenty	5/10 1/10 2/10	Communication Ethics Size	Poor F Huge	2/10 5/10 10/10

Last Score: 83	Primarily sells in hand hardware, recent service has been piss poor, as have the S4 units - piles of annoying dogie crap everywhere.
___________________________________________________________________________	_______________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________ _

Dogie - stop with your annoying, patronising & excuse making posts already 

[shadowmo]

A friend of mine kept having problems with his computer power supplies.  He was using standard surge protector, but not a UPS.  Eventually, after I talked him into it, he bought an APC UPS.  And because of the voltage monitoring and protection, he found out that his voltage went up and down quite a bit.  The UPS had to intervene often to normalize the voltage input.  So, he found out the fluctuation in voltage was causing the problem.  I'm not trying to say this is the reason for any of the reported problems on this forum.  I'm only passing along information for future reference.  Food for thought...

What you are saying is: Buy a good PSU!!! Right!?

Well, that is definitely a good thing, but not what I was saying.  The house wiring had a problem.  But the problem did not trip a breaker or a surge protector.  However, the problem was caught by a battery backup (UPS, Uninterruptible Power Supply).   I'm pointing out one of the benefits of a UPS is to ensure the power line is "clean".  It's too expensive to use UPS's for the miners, however I have all of my computers and networking equipment using UPS.

A UPS (agreed) is overkill for a miner, but voltage protection for such devices is just as important.  For my miners, I use a APC LE1200 voltage regulator.  Most _decent_ UPSes have this capability built-in, but provides the voltage at a constant level while not being a UPS (with all the hassle of one).  Clean power without all the UPS baggage?  Check.  Extra power plugs for multiple devices? Check.  Offset plug for those fscking volt-on-a-ropes?  Check.  Does it work?  Double Check.  Good for all your electronics (TVs, computers, etc)? Check.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00009RA60/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Because not all of us have decent power to our homes.

[NotFuzzyWarm]

As for US residential powerlines... this should be a major design concern for Bitmain or any other miner mfgr because PSU's do NOT like low lines... In Detroit area home power is 110v - not 120 - and during summer will often drop to 100-105v. The '220v' incoming reflects the same drops. This year it got so bad (hit 95v for 2 weeks) I had to wire in a boost transformer to make up the difference...

I'm not sure anything can be done for that. The vast majority of the market doesn't have that problem, and one which will affect all electronics.

'All electronics' - and more. Gas clothes dryers and stoves did not want to work either because the igniters would not come up to temp...

In this instance the problem only really affects PSU's being pushed to near max output. What to be done? Easy answer, appropriately de-rate the PSUs like HP did with their CS server PSU's so it can run on a low line and still produce required power. Then it is just a matter of balancing cost/benefit. Frankly, given how vocal folks can be here when there is an issue I'd err on making sure they can go down to at least 100v to cover wiring in old homes & apartments.

1400w miners aren't designed for old homes and apartments, and its not fair to make every customer pay another $20 a unit for that small minority. Frankly I'm surprised your derating problem is even legal in the US.

They may not be designed for old homes/neighborhoods but without a caveat about that you know folks will buy them and try to use them there... As for the low voltage being legal, well, MI utility rules say that power must be within +/-10% of nominal. Since our nominal is 110v that means even down to 99v is 'in-spec'.

As for that 2-week spate of 95v (and lower), that was a pure bad timing - a big storm ripped through a couple weeks before taking out power lines, while those were being repaired <drum roll please> another big storm rolled through and did the same thing again so I guess we were lucky to have power at all. My whole-house generator got a good workout during that time as I said screw it and killed the main feed into the house until the lines were repaired...

[neo9436]

A friend of mine kept having problems with his computer power supplies.  He was using standard surge protector, but not a UPS.  Eventually, after I talked him into it, he bought an APC UPS.  And because of the voltage monitoring and protection, he found out that his voltage went up and down quite a bit.  The UPS had to intervene often to normalize the voltage input.  So, he found out the fluctuation in voltage was causing the problem.  I'm not trying to say this is the reason for any of the reported problems on this forum.  I'm only passing along information for future reference.  Food for thought...

What you are saying is: Buy a good PSU!!! Right!?

Well, that is definitely a good thing, but not what I was saying.  The house wiring had a problem.  But the problem did not trip a breaker or a surge protector.  However, the problem was caught by a battery backup (UPS, Uninterruptible Power Supply).   I'm pointing out one of the benefits of a UPS is to ensure the power line is "clean".  It's too expensive to use UPS's for the miners, however I have all of my computers and networking equipment using UPS.

A UPS (agreed) is overkill for a miner, but voltage protection for such devices is just as important.  For my miners, I use a APC LE1200 voltage regulator.  Most _decent_ UPSes have this capability built-in, but provides the voltage at a constant level while not being a UPS (with all the hassle of one).  Clean power without all the UPS baggage?  Check.  Extra power plugs for multiple devices? Check.  Offset plug for those fscking volt-on-a-ropes?  Check.  Does it work?  Double Check.  Good for all your electronics (TVs, computers, etc)? Check.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00009RA60/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Because not all of us have decent power to our homes.

This is a great idea - could it handle numerous PSUs? I'd want to plug 4 S3's into it, and then an S4 into one on its own probably.

[NotFuzzyWarm]

A friend of mine kept having problems with his computer power supplies.  He was using standard surge protector, but not a UPS.  Eventually, after I talked him into it, he bought an APC UPS.  And because of the voltage monitoring and protection, he found out that his voltage went up and down quite a bit.  The UPS had to intervene often to normalize the voltage input.  So, he found out the fluctuation in voltage was causing the problem.  I'm not trying to say this is the reason for any of the reported problems on this forum.  I'm only passing along information for future reference.  Food for thought...

What you are saying is: Buy a good PSU!!! Right!?

Well, that is definitely a good thing, but not what I was saying.  The house wiring had a problem.  But the problem did not trip a breaker or a surge protector.  However, the problem was caught by a battery backup (UPS, Uninterruptible Power Supply).   I'm pointing out one of the benefits of a UPS is to ensure the power line is "clean".  It's too expensive to use UPS's for the miners, however I have all of my computers and networking equipment using UPS.

A UPS (agreed) is overkill for a miner, but voltage protection for such devices is just as important.  For my miners, I use a APC LE1200 voltage regulator.  Most _decent_ UPSes have this capability built-in, but provides the voltage at a constant level while not being a UPS (with all the hassle of one).  Clean power without all the UPS baggage?  Check.  Extra power plugs for multiple devices? Check.  Offset plug for those fscking volt-on-a-ropes?  Check.  Does it work?  Double Check.  Good for all your electronics (TVs, computers, etc)? Check.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00009RA60/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Because not all of us have decent power to our homes.

Hmm that looks interesting since the Amazon link does not give the important particulars (and I'm too lazy to look them up) do you know the switching time on voltage changes? I *do* use several large on-line UPS's from Cyberpower http://www.cyberpowersystems.com/products/ups-systems/smart-app-ups/paragon-series/ol2200rtxl2u.html for my s2's and s4's - the normal standby ones with AVR use relays to change the voltage taps which glitches the line long enough to kill an S2/4.

[Prelude]

Bitmain, any updates on down time compensation?

[BITMAIN]

Thank you for waiting the compensation and replacement parts related to the problematic PSUs.
We placed the priority in replacing all the PSU and gathering the refund information to include the Bitcoin Address.  
Now the replacement PSU are almost processed and we will be focusing on issuing out the compensation to the effected customers.
We prioritized the RMA Process as #1 Priority, so the S4 will be mining while we process the compensation.  We expect to start sending out the compensation early next week.
Thank you for your understanding and patience.


BITMAIN
Oct. 31st

[Prelude]

Thank you for waiting the compensation and replacement parts related to the problematic PSUs.
We placed the priority in replacing all the PSU and gathering the refund information to include the Bitcoin Address.  
Now the replacement PSU are almost processed and we will be focusing on issuing out the compensation to the effected customers.
We prioritized the RMA Process as #1 Priority, so the S4 will be mining while we process the compensation.  We expect to start sending out the compensation early next week.
Thank you for your understanding and patience.


BITMAIN
Oct. 31st

You made the most logical choice. Thanks for the update!

[pikachuy]

Thank you for waiting the compensation and replacement parts related to the problematic PSUs.
We placed the priority in replacing all the PSU and gathering the refund information to include the Bitcoin Address.  
Now the replacement PSU are almost processed and we will be focusing on issuing out the compensation to the effected customers.
We prioritized the RMA Process as #1 Priority, so the S4 will be mining while we process the compensation.  We expect to start sending out the compensation early next week.
Thank you for your understanding and patience.


BITMAIN
Oct. 31st

If I bought a "S4 batch 2 with a defective PSU" from a reseller and you guys already shipped me the PSU replacement, what information do you need for me to get my compensation?

[dogie]

If I bought a "S4 batch 2 with a defective PSU" from a reseller and you guys already shipped me the PSU replacement, what information do you need for me to get my compensation?

See https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=796839.msg9207574#msg9207574. I believe you need to contact your reseller [and get your reseller to email Bitmain as per the link].

[dlowings]

Thank you for waiting the compensation and replacement parts related to the problematic PSUs.
We placed the priority in replacing all the PSU and gathering the refund information to include the Bitcoin Address.  
Now the replacement PSU are almost processed and we will be focusing on issuing out the compensation to the effected customers.
We prioritized the RMA Process as #1 Priority, so the S4 will be mining while we process the compensation.  We expect to start sending out the compensation early next week.
Thank you for your understanding and patience.


BITMAIN
Oct. 31st

THANK YOU for the update … All I ever wanted was to know what to expect …. Setting out a time line like this and communication is the KEY to doing good business .

[MrGreenHat]

Thank you for waiting the compensation and replacement parts related to the problematic PSUs.
We placed the priority in replacing all the PSU and gathering the refund information to include the Bitcoin Address.  
Now the replacement PSU are almost processed and we will be focusing on issuing out the compensation to the effected customers.
We prioritized the RMA Process as #1 Priority, so the S4 will be mining while we process the compensation.  We expect to start sending out the compensation early next week.
Thank you for your understanding and patience.


BITMAIN
Oct. 31st

NOTE TO THE PUBLIC, ESPECIALLY THOSE CONSIDERING DOING BUSINESS WITH BITMAIN: Please disregard this post, at least until BITMAIN sees it and realizes how foolish they are for not just compensating me, knowing full well I don't have any problem with posting the TRUTH! The following post essentially be ignored, 80% of it was copy/pasted straight from a member of the BITMAIN team in order for me to "turn this into a positive experience" (which, as a customer, is not my responsibility, but when you are dealing with BITMAIN, you are pretty much forced to do whatever they say if you actually want to have a chance of being made whole for whatever reason (and christ, there are dozens) that they owe you compensation. Of all of the names who I listed in this post, I never even was in CONTACT with ANY of them except for 2 or 3, maximum. Like I said, this was a copy/paste job by me from a BITMAIN employee who really did help me out, but apparently has since abandoned me, and the following was what he wanted me to say. I even made edits at his request. This is the end of my disclaimer.
Anything below this line is the "original" post I made.


BITMAIN- Thank you so much! I owe you and the entire BITMAIN staff an apology for being so quick to hop on these forums and say that you guys were screwing me over. Thanks to BitmainWarranty, I was able to get in touch with the Bitmain North American team who arranged for me to send my unit to Denver and I received a replacement unit this morning. So far, it is hashing wonderfully! My faith has been restored in BITMAIN and I once again can say without a doubt that they are the BEST ASIC manufacturers on the globe!!

I am providing this update because I want everyone to know that the BITMAIN team are dedicated to making sure that their customers are satisfied.


 If I have learned anything from this, If I or ANYONE ever has any issues with a BITMAIN unit and lives in North America (or anywhere on the globe, for that matter, as I understand that the North American team can offer parts replacement with a fee, and the same applied to the expired warranty item, if the parts replacement is needed), call 1-844-248-6246 (844-BITMAIN) !!! Your problem will be solved much faster than if you were to contact the regular BITMAIN support email address. They will process everything for you very quickly, and obviously will have faster shipping times, as they have a location in Denver where you can send your unit (even if you aren't sure what is broken). Their address is 3700 Quebec St #100239, Denver, Colorado 80216. As long as there is a printed original purchase order page with full information, a brief letter describing what is wrong with it and the original unit will be diagnosed and if its defective, the replacement/refurbished/repaired unit will be send back to the customers in just a few days!!!

I want to personally thank the tech guys in Denver for taking care of the the logistical aspects of my SPEEDY RMA.
Thank you James, Billy, Andrea, Faty, Z, Ken, and all others who work so hard to keep BITMAIN customers satisfied!!! I  also would like to thank Tim in China, manager of international sales, who was also of great assistance. And I would not be able to forgive myself if I did not mention Yoshi.

All BITMAIN North American customers need to be aware of the North American staff! I know I am beginning to sound redundant, but things would have gone SO MUCH smoother if I had contacted them from the get-go. I just want anyone who might have an issue in the future to be aware of these wonderful resources.

Right now, I am hashing over 2 TH/s with my Antminer S4, so I can indeed say that this miner does live up to its advertised hash rate. And I haven't even played with the frequency yet!!! Do not hesitate to buy an S4!

Despite the frustration that I experienced, this has been a wonderful learning experience and I look forward to doing more business with BITMAIN in the future, especially now that I know there is a team in Colorado just waiting to help anyone who has issues. I hope that I have not harmed the reputation of BITMAIN as a result of anything I said in anger. I am actually ashamed of myself for getting so rude with the staff, particularly now that they have shown me that they are willing to go so far to assist customers, but they are so professional that they took care of me despite the fact that my responses were sometimes pretty nasty. I just can't say how pleased I am, so I am going to end it here and try to find the firmware that will let me mine on eligius, but right now, BTCGuild is just fine!!! :-)

[dkaufman]

A UPS (agreed) is overkill for a miner, but voltage protection for such devices is just as important.  For my miners, I use a APC LE1200 voltage regulator.  Most _decent_ UPSes have this capability built-in, but provides the voltage at a constant level while not being a UPS (with all the hassle of one).  Clean power without all the UPS baggage?  Check.  Extra power plugs for multiple devices? Check.  Offset plug for those fscking volt-on-a-ropes?  Check.  Does it work?  Double Check.  Good for all your electronics (TVs, computers, etc)? Check.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00009RA60/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Because not all of us have decent power to our homes.

That's a nice little unit at a nice price, but I'd need quite a few of them!  1200 watts is enough for two (but not quote 3) Antminer S-3's, but not quite enough for an S4...

* dkaufman is googling a bigger one right now..

-dave

[FlensGold]

Did anyone try to change the fans to reduce their noise? I have some Arctic F12 PWM Fans but unfortunately heir plug does not fit to the controller board. Are there any recommended fans?

[neo9436]

A UPS (agreed) is overkill for a miner, but voltage protection for such devices is just as important.  For my miners, I use a APC LE1200 voltage regulator.  Most _decent_ UPSes have this capability built-in, but provides the voltage at a constant level while not being a UPS (with all the hassle of one).  Clean power without all the UPS baggage?  Check.  Extra power plugs for multiple devices? Check.  Offset plug for those fscking volt-on-a-ropes?  Check.  Does it work?  Double Check.  Good for all your electronics (TVs, computers, etc)? Check.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00009RA60/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Because not all of us have decent power to our homes.

That's a nice little unit at a nice price, but I'd need quite a few of them!  1200 watts is enough for two (but not quote 3) Antminer S-3's, but not quite enough for an S4...

* dkaufman is googling a bigger one right now..

-dave

Don't the S3's draw 355W? You should be able to fit 3 on one of these little guys?

[MyRig]

Not so cheap, but there are some listed on Amazon.com...  (Voltage Regulator)

http://www.amazon.com/Bright-VC3000W-Voltage-Transformer-converter/dp/B000MY02LQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1414959612&sr=1-1&keywords=voltage+regulator+1500w

http://www.amazon.com/LiteFuze-LR-1500-Regulator-Converter-Transformer/dp/B00370UXWA/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1414959612&sr=1-2&keywords=voltage+regulator+1500w