Are all of the BFL power bricks complete shit?

JWU42

legendary

Activity: 1666

Merit: 1000

Quote from: rjk on August 05, 2012, 04:28:13 PM

Quote from: JWU42 on August 05, 2012, 04:09:34 PM

Negative - they are even actively cooled...

I had 6 plugged into a power strip. I turned off the power strip and when i turned it back on 2 of the 6 made a pop sound and now 1 of my singles (that was plugged into the offending unit) is not working (will not "show up" when plugged into USB).

Time to put the claims of a fast RMA process to the test! Grin

Mini-Rig should ship tomorrow - hoping they can "throw these in" Cheesy

rjk

sr. member

Activity: 448

Merit: 250

1ngldh

Quote from: JWU42 on August 05, 2012, 04:09:34 PM

Negative - they are even actively cooled...

I had 6 plugged into a power strip. I turned off the power strip and when i turned it back on 2 of the 6 made a pop sound and now 1 of my singles (that was plugged into the offending unit) is not working (will not "show up" when plugged into USB).

Time to put the claims of a fast RMA process to the test! Grin

JWU42

legendary

Activity: 1666

Merit: 1000

Negative - they are even actively cooled...

I had 6 plugged into a power strip. I turned off the power strip and when i turned it back on 2 of the 6 made a pop sound and now 1 of my singles (that was plugged into the offending unit) is not working (will not "show up" when plugged into USB).

smracer

donator

Activity: 1057

Merit: 1021

I have 42 bricks running without problem. Are you guys leaving these bricks in the sunlight?

imsaguy

vip

Activity: 574

Merit: 500

Don't send me a pm unless you gpg encrypt it.

Quote from: JWU42 on August 05, 2012, 02:36:03 PM

Two of my Six power bricks died yesterday Angry

Surely there's more to your story Wink

JWU42

legendary

Activity: 1666

Merit: 1000

Two of my Six power bricks died yesterday Angry

rjk

sr. member

Activity: 448

Merit: 250

1ngldh

Quote from: mrb on July 09, 2012, 02:30:44 PM

Thanks rjk, assuming Inaba measured one of the rev 3 Singles with a 80mm fan at the bottom (not all rev 3 have this fan), then he confirms my numbers within ±4% (I measure 5.7A under load).

At that point, it probably would have been a Rev2 with the additional fan. They might pull more if they run at a higher temp due to additional leakage. Also, they all seem to have their own personality, so I wouldn't be surprised if there were some that pulled 5.5A and others that pulled 6A that were otherwise identical.

mrb

legendary

Activity: 1512

Merit: 1028

Thanks rjk, assuming Inaba measured one of the rev 3 Singles with a 80mm fan at the bottom (not all rev 3 have this fan), then he confirms my numbers within ±4% (I measure 5.7A under load).

rjk

sr. member

Activity: 448

Merit: 250

1ngldh

Quote from: mrb on July 09, 2012, 12:25:20 AM

Quote from: rjk on July 06, 2012, 09:48:54 AM

I know they are Mean Wells and everything, but what's the actual efficiency of the stock brick? I'm betting it isn't too far different from 87%, and Inaba tested one with a clamp meter somwhere, just can't find the post atm. All I am saying is, the MW is rated LESS (102 watts instead of 120) than the stock brick, and so it might get just as hot.

AFAIK I am the only one to have published clamp meter measurements. I measured the BFL power adapters to be 81% efficient: https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/m.1003140

(Again, jothan, your numbers an incorrect. Accurate measurements can't be done at the wall, you need a clamp meter or similar.)

Here it is, I found it: https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/m.796852

Quote from: Inaba on March 12, 2012, 09:06:15 AM

Ok, got the numbers:

1.7A @ Idle
5.9A @ At 100% mining

So we're looking at around 70w of actual usage on a quality PSU instead of a power brick. Not terrible.

(That was DC measurements on a stock brick, I believe)

mrb

legendary

Activity: 1512

Merit: 1028

Quote from: rjk on July 06, 2012, 09:48:54 AM

I know they are Mean Wells and everything, but what's the actual efficiency of the stock brick? I'm betting it isn't too far different from 87%, and Inaba tested one with a clamp meter somwhere, just can't find the post atm. All I am saying is, the MW is rated LESS (102 watts instead of 120) than the stock brick, and so it might get just as hot.

AFAIK I am the only one to have published clamp meter measurements. I measured the BFL power adapters to be 81% efficient: https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/m.1003140

(Again, jothan, your numbers an incorrect. Accurate measurements can't be done at the wall, you need a clamp meter or similar.)

jothan

full member

Activity: 184

Merit: 100

Feel the coffee, be the coffee.

While BFL states that the singles use 80 W of power, using a computer PSU and measuring with a Kill-A-Watt, I get about 50 watts per single and that does not compensate for the DreamPlug and the USB hubs that drive the singles.

So, not only are the default bricks huge and crap, but they are only 62.5 % efficient power-wise.

P_Shep

legendary

Activity: 1795