Experiences with used Miners?

[JayP]

Hi,

I want to invest some money in bitcoin mining, because I have the opportunity of a location where I have an extreme low price for power ( <1c$ ). I want to setup 10 THash there.


To achieve 10 T I want to buy a bunch of used miners in the Terahash-Range. Has anyone here experience with used Miners in this range? I want to know if there are miners which are known for a lot of trouble when becoming old - or which are generally known for technical issues.

Any comments or suggestions?

Jay

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[frankenmint]

Bitfury full kit has been a fantastic failure for me (if i turn it on it can manage to get me 130 GH or so but should be able to get 400).

I've heard about issues with terraminers also being total piece-o-crap worthy.

I have a couple block erupters that died out but the bulk of them are probably still okay if I ran them.

[klondike_bar]

buy antminer S3 units, or if you can get them for cheap enough, get r3-box units from rockminer (less energy-efficient, but i think they are cheaper per GH)

also, make sure the electricity cost you pay is what you think. often theres the base fee + delivery fees + debt reduction fees + admin fees, and it can add up. I pay 5-7c/kwh depending on time of day, but a consistent ~8c/kwh worth of extra costs, making it average at $0.14/kwh

[klondike_bar]

Bitfury full kit has been a fantastic failure for me (if i turn it on it can manage to get me 130 GH or so but should be able to get 400).

I've heard about issues with terraminers also being total piece-o-crap worthy.

I have a couple block erupters that died out but the bulk of them are probably still okay if I ran them.

6/7 boards on my bitfury are still running fine for me, but the unit is very sensitive to vibrations. do a power cycle, and then back away quickly so its not disturbed when running

[opieum2]

I bought 12 S3s b7s with PSUs from someone locally a month ago. Has worked out for me just fine. My advice is if it comes from a vendor that deals in used hardware, check the fine print. If they dont have fine print, then they opened themselves up to all sorts of legal trouble. There are laws in the US at least on how to handle second hand hardware and advertise it.

[klondike_bar]

I bought 12 S3s b7s with PSUs from someone locally a month ago. Has worked out for me just fine. My advice is if it comes from a vendor that deals in used hardware, check the fine print. If they dont have fine print, then they opened themselves up to all sorts of legal trouble. There are laws in the US at least on how to handle second hand hardware and advertise it.

fine print generally isnt needed if its a local and/or small-size transaction. common sense is a huge part of the law, and if the seller states that the units are working and problem-free, then that is sufficient to be considered at least a DOA warranty.

[opieum2]

I bought 12 S3s b7s with PSUs from someone locally a month ago. Has worked out for me just fine. My advice is if it comes from a vendor that deals in used hardware, check the fine print. If they dont have fine print, then they opened themselves up to all sorts of legal trouble. There are laws in the US at least on how to handle second hand hardware and advertise it.

fine print generally isnt needed if its a local and/or small-size transaction. common sense is a huge part of the law, and if the seller states that the units are working and problem-free, then that is sufficient to be considered at least a DOA warranty.

Right more or less what I was getting at with fine print. Probably should have phrased it "fine print". Basically they need to declare the state of the device before purchase/shipping.

[wunkbone]

Hi,

I want to invest some money in bitcoin mining, because I have the opportunity of a location where I have an extreme low price for power ( <1c$ ). I want to setup 10 THash there.


To achieve 10 T I want to buy a bunch of used miners in the Terahash-Range. Has anyone here experience with used Miners in this range? I want to know if there are miners which are known for a lot of trouble when becoming old - or which are generally known for technical issues.

Any comments or suggestions?

Jay

You might as well bulk purchase new hardware from bitfury or bitmain, you get cheaper and better deals..

[Zelek Uther]

Results from my collection:

My "October batch" KnCMiner Jupiter has been mining non-stop for a year. My Neptune is a star (once I got 2-to-1 PCIe cables). KnC gear is whisper quiet.
My batch 2 Bitmain S2 is solid (original PSU failed though). S1 solid.
All my Spondoolies-Tech gear is awesome (but loud): SP10, SP30.
My Bitmine Coincraft Desk units have had some troubles (some failed modules).
ASICMINER Block Erupters still running solid.
BFL 7GH/s Jalapeno still running.
BFL 60GH/s Singles ran fine (although under-par at around 57GH/s each) for the 3 or 4 months I had them. Crap PSUs though.

As well as reliability, check out the J/GH power use of the miner. I can give figures for any of my units if you are interested.

[dsattler]

I have an SP10 in an auction here, if you're interested:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=827695.msg9248128#msg9248128

[JayP]

Many thanks for all this answers.

My first idea was ordering new devices. But I read a lot of stuff since and there were a lot of people that had trouble with their vendors. So I decide to buy used ones because that gives me the option to check the hardware before paying.

The cost for my power is really that low. In fact, I'm thinking about rent out the location for 20 % of the bitcoins that are earned here. That would decrease my income, but it would also decrease the risk. Maybe I do both.

[aurel57]

Many thanks for all this answers.

My first idea was ordering new devices. But I read a lot of stuff since and there were a lot of people that had trouble with their vendors. So I decide to buy used ones because that gives me the option to check the hardware before paying.

The cost for my power is really that low. In fact, I'm thinking about rent out the location for 20 % of the bitcoins that are earned here. That would decrease my income, but it would also decrease the risk. Maybe I do both.

Where are you located and what is your electric cost per KW?

[Soros Shorts]

Bitfury full kit has been a fantastic failure for me (if i turn it on it can manage to get me 130 GH or so but should be able to get 400).

I've heard about issues with terraminers also being total piece-o-crap worthy.

I have a couple block erupters that died out but the bulk of them are probably still okay if I ran them.

6/7 boards on my bitfury are still running fine for me, but the unit is very sensitive to vibrations. do a power cycle, and then back away quickly so its not disturbed when running

My first August MBP Bitfury rig is still running very stable at its original 0.69 J/Gh. The newer ones that came volted higher have already started self-destructing a number of H-cards and M-boards.

[Feneusens]

Hate used miners, it never last long.... most probably the user overclocked really high.

[aurel57]

Hate used miners, it never last long.... most probably the user overclocked really high.

All my used miners I bought have worked just fine for me and I always sold miners that worked as well.

[JayP]

Many thanks for all this answers.

My first idea was ordering new devices. But I read a lot of stuff since and there were a lot of people that had trouble with their vendors. So I decide to buy used ones because that gives me the option to check the hardware before paying.

The cost for my power is really that low. In fact, I'm thinking about rent out the location for 20 % of the bitcoins that are earned here. That would decrease my income, but it would also decrease the risk. Maybe I do both.

Where are you located and what is your electric cost per KW?

I live in germany. I pay a fixed amount of money for my power. If I use 20 kw the price is under 1c/kwh.

[HellDiverUK]

I've got a used Antminer S3, and it's been perfect.  I also have a load of old Avalon-based boards that were bought used, and they were fine until I turned them off due to inefficiency.

[SquallLeonhart]

Its pretty risky to buy used miners, I always buy new miner from bitmaintech..

[dplusf]

Many thanks for all this answers.

My first idea was ordering new devices. But I read a lot of stuff since and there were a lot of people that had trouble with their vendors. So I decide to buy used ones because that gives me the option to check the hardware before paying.

The cost for my power is really that low. In fact, I'm thinking about rent out the location for 20 % of the bitcoins that are earned here. That would decrease my income, but it would also decrease the risk. Maybe I do both.

Where are you located and what is your electric cost per KW?

I live in germany. I pay a fixed amount of money for my power. If I use 20 kw the price is under 1c/kwh.

WTF?! under 1c in Germany?
And JayP??
You are not the JayP from jp performance? :-)

[lowbander80]

I have used in the past

BFL jalapeno used and sold in good condition
BFL 60 Single bought used sold all good
Bitmain S1 bought used very good did not trouble me at all (sold all good as well)
KNC bought used still running since march 2014
Bitmain S3 bought new first batch running since June 2014 very very good
LKETC dragon miner just excellent machine!!!! problem free
Spondoolies sp-10 bought also used running up to now without problems (SP customer support SUPERB)

since you have low power cost I would suggest buy only big guns more or just 1 ths so you can avoid to much cabling etc