Topic: Are there 240v surge protectors and watt meters for American miners? (Read 503 times)

Surge protectors at the "panel" level are commonly 234 V in the US, due to how common "split phase" power feeds work here.
Past the outlet type surge protectors are bloody rare though the US at anything other than the "common" 117 VAC, as most data centers that run 208V or 234V to their machines have a full-up UPS setup of some sort that provides surge protection, or use panel-level surge protection in the rare cases they don't have a center-level UPS setup.

PDUs often have some sort of metering, but the metered ones tend to be a bit expen$ive - and wattmeters designed to run on 208 or 234 V with US-type connections are bloody RARE otherwise due to lack of demand for them.

I feel your pain man. The solution I came up with for surge protection is to use a whole house surge protector. There are different models depending on if you are using 3 phase or single phase. Here is an example:

https://www.homedepot.com/b/Electrical-Power-Distribution-Whole-House-Surge-Protectors/N-5yc1vZbm05

Another option is to use tripplite Euro-50. It works with 50 and 60 Hz, but it only works for like 10 amps or something so you can probably get away with 2 miners for each unit:

https://www.tripplite.com/isobar-4-outlet-200-240v-surge-protector-2m-cord-680-joules~EURO4

As for amps, just use a clamp ammeter on the line. It is pretty consistent if you can keep your temps regulated and your miners clean.

https://www.kleintools.com/catalog/clamp-meters/digital-clamp-meter-acdc-auto-ranging

Presuming his wiring and breaker are both rated at 20 amps, that DUAL 15-amp receptacle is fine and code.  Each outlet in that receptacle is rated at 15 amps.  This is exactly what I do in my data center (except I used nice brown ones because they looked different, making it easy to tell, and I found them cheaper at Platt).

Have you guys seen this one?

: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00006HZ4N/ref=asc_df_B00006HZ4N5425427/?tag=hyprod-20&creative=394997&creativeASIN=B00006HZ4N&linkCode=df0&hvadid=216499414469&hvpos=1o4&hvnetw=g&hvrand=15951994750210272085&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9033057&hvtargid=aud-416395350856:pla-350998769735

Made by Dell, I have one on the way to try.

I agree, very frustrating, can't belive such a simple thing is not available readily.][url][/url]

As far as a watt meter, I use this:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MRZAFAF/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

There are tons of similar ones out there all under $20.

You really have to install it next to/inside your electric panel so it's not as easy as a kill-a-watt but I looked forever and couldn't find a 220v plug and play.  This little watt meter does a decent job of tracking my usage so i can gauge how much I'm spending on electric.  I'm comfortable with such work, having wired most of my house, and did I installed the meter myself.  No idea what an electrician would charge to hook it up.  It took me ll of 10 minutes, so probably not much.

Here's where I put it:
https://imgur.com/a/ZIGwG

For the record, my 13.5T-S9 using an apw3+ at 220v pulls around 6 amps which works out to 1385w - 1390w according to the meter (1392w at the time of the pic).  I have noticed that when it's a bit warmer, it draws more power, but I've never seen it above 1405w

Just my 2 cents.  Hope it helps.

Nobody ever answered your question huh? Read this post and see what I'm using: https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/m.26593773

Because if you read the previous posts you'll see that "surge protection" is largely a myth in consumer grade products. It's like the BS "Gold Plated" stereo cables on eBay...

1. Run the proper capacity breaker, wire, plug, and power cord.
2. Plug the miner in.
3. Profit.

seems like the only real solution is an expensive PDU

still doesn't solve the surge protector problem. i don't see any PDU with surge capability

Here are a few examples:
https://www.amazon.com/European-Standard-Aobiny-Wireless-Control/dp/B077FXRCQG
https://www.amazon.com/Socket-Switch-Wireless-Remote-Control/dp/B077G16SPJ
https://www.amazon.com/QiTeng-Intelligent-Wireless-Control-Electronics/dp/B073M2QGHS

These are all advertised to work with 220/240V but they don't mean like what is used in the US.
Anyway, finding one with a US compatible plug is also impossible.  There are 110V versions of these that do the power monitoring over the web as well as allowing control (on/off).  But nothing for US 220V except a Z-Wave based one and an older X10 based one.

what is an international 240v smart switch ??

I agree it is frustrating!  After lots of research I never found an affordable one unless you try a PDU that has them built-in (to pricey).
What a lot of people fail to realize is the international 240V meters are not safe to use in the US.  The 240V line in the US is made of two 120V lines that are 180 degrees out of phase.  That means both lines are hot all the time.  The international 240V meters are not built to handle that - they expect 240 on one line and the other line to be neutral.  This becomes even more dangerous when someone tries to use an international 240V "smart switch" since most of them only switch one leg!  I got a few switches and meters and none of them had double pole relays which left the second leg in the US powered to 120V.

Oh well, time to invest in a whole house energy monitoring system!  The clamp on kind takes a bit work to install but then it could monitor everything.

why are there still no fucking links to 240v surge protectors or wattmeters ?

And why would you setup for today and not be ready for whatever hardware we are all running next year? Don't try to skimp a few pennies now to make dollars tomorrow. Use 10/2 wire off of a 30a breaker and terminate with L6-30 receptacles.

Unfortunately you have lumped many unrelated anomalies into one common topic.  No relationship exists between surge protection and those other anomalies.

Every layer of protection is never defined by a protector.  An effective protector is only a connecting device to what does the protection.  If that protector does not make a low impedance (ie less than 10 foot) connection to earth, then it is not a layer of protection. An item that absorbs hundreds of thousands of joules is protection.

Words protector and protection have completely different meanings.

No power strip will discuss numbers that define protection.  How many joules does that 120 or 240 volt protector claim to 'absorb'?  'Block' or 'absorb' is what it must do.  Potentially destructive surges easily blow through such near zero devices.  Worse, an adjacent protector can compromise what is already superior protection inside every miner.  Yes, an adjacent protector simply gives a potentially destructive surge more destructive paths into a miner - directly into semiconductors.

How often have you replaced a dishwasher, furnace, GFCIs, clocks, microwave, dimmer switches, and smoke detectors?  Potentially destructive surges are rare - maybe once every seven years. Those other appliances say how often surges existed.  A number that can vary significantly even in the same venue.  Other anomalies (ie blackouts) have no relationship to and are completely irrelevant to a topic about hardware protection.

If no 'whole house' protector exists at the service entrance, then plug-in protectors are not protected. Even fire is an unacceptable possibility.  So many options exist.  'Whole house' solution can be part of each breaker.  It is usually installed on the breaker box on its own breaker.  Installed in the meter pan.  Or even rented from and installed by the electric company behind the meter.

That is your 'secondary' protection layer.  Also learn about and inspect your 'primary' protection layer.  A simple rule exists.  A protector (any protector) is only as effective as its earth ground.  Each layer of protection is only defined by earth ground - not by any protector.

Each layer of protection will always answer this question.  Where do hundreds of thousands of joules harmlessly dissipate?  A protector is only as effective as its earth ground.  Effective protection always means no surge is anywhere inside the building.  Once inside, then nothing (as in nothing) will avert that destructive hunt for earth via electronics.  Facilities that cannot have damage do not waste money on adjacent protectors.  And always (as in always) properly earth a 'whole house' solution.

All this is unrelated to other power anomalies.  He has not derailed your thread.  You have combined a hodge-podge of unrelated and some completely mythcial anomalies into a single magic box solution.  Each should have been originally defined in separate threads.  A fear of smart meters should have been disposed when a fool or scam artist first suggested it to you.

Maybe I didnt qualify my very first statement enough for you by saying screwed up, inconsistant, or off grid power.

Sounds like you really need to get rid of that 'smart' meter. If you can prove it causes damages to your electronics you need to get rid of it.

1. I have managed over 25000 miners in the past 3 years running unregulated power, so I might have an idea what im talking about. Also, I live in a 60 year old house with original wiring and have never had a surge bad enough to even trip a power strip, let alone blow anything up. I dont know where you have lived but surges bad enough to kill electronics are almost nonexistant these days with clean power.

2. I said dont run ATX, then you tell me a story about an ATX psu blowing up. This is why I mentioned a server PSU as they will go into protect rather than blow up if there are surges.

3. In practice an s9 draws ~6.5 amps at full tilt. 13 amp on a 15 amp circuit is pushing it a bit. If you want to be safe you dont choose to run a surge protector then overheat your wiring.....also you keep doing your calculations at 240 but you almost never get 240 all the way down to the last circuit so your numbers can be a bit off.

4. We are not derailing your thread so much as explaining to you that some of your theories are inaccurate and we are trying to give advise that makes sense so you dont waste your money on accessories that are useless.

5. A kill-a-watt meter will work fine on 220-240 as long as you dont try and draw more than 1800w so you can safely run them one per miner. i use them all the time here with the 235v I get at my test station. So there is your SIMPLE answer.

Did you have a look at those Tripp-Lite PDUs? Those have everything except surge protection. You might give their support a call and see if they have anything with the features you're looking for and surge suppression. Maybe the same for APC, Liebert/Vertiv etc. Or maybe they can offer an alternative method.

I am afraid that their going to say use a UPS, which is what large operations do for line conditioning.

This explains the type of problem my area has, and why I also prefer using voltage regulators. The smart meters used by my utility creates voltage irregularities that increase the risk of damage to sensitive electronics like Bitcoin Miners:

http://www.smartmetereducationnetwork.com/dirty-electricity-and-smart-meters.php

I'm not overreacting. I've had very serious problems that only a combination of surge protection and voltage regulation can solve. I'm not talking about health concerns, I'm talking about the voltage going out of an acceptable range, which in turn causes amperage to go outside of an acceptable range. If, for example, the voltage drops too low the amperage will go too high which will in turn cause the line to overheat. The voltage regulator prevents the type of power irregularities that can lead to fires.

This is the voltage regulator I use for my 120v devices:



Similar to the watt meter and surge protection issue, the company that makes these also makes a 240v version, but it's designed to handle European outlets, and because of the frequency difference it probably wouldn't work right.

I'd like to. That's why I created a topic titled "ARE THERE 240v surge protectors and watt meters for AMERICAN MINERS?" I mean, it's right there. I couldn't be more clear than that. I have explicitly stated that I am looking to spend my money on these products. Why do so many people derail threads into random directions when the question is in the topic?


I never said I wasn't worried about overloading a circuit. I need the ability to read the power draw from each outlet so that I can make sure that I am not overloading a circuit. I've done all the calculations, and updated my last response with them so you can see what I am trying to do with it.

This is Kill-a-watt. I use it to read how much power is being drawn from a 120v outlet so that I can make sure everything is working properly and I am not overloading anything.



I want a 240v version that will work for American outlets so that I can do the same thing for my miners. It's a very very SIMPLE question. If I could even just find one to go on the line it would mean that I could plug the miners in one at a time, at the very least, to test their individual power draw so that I can make sure everything is working properly. Planning for more amps than I actually need would just reduce the maximum number of miners that I can safely run.

You need to take in to account the wire gauge from the breaker to the outlet, it's not *just* the breaker or *just* the outlet that dictates the max amperage.

Hey it's your money if you must have a surge protector get one. Also if you want to run two miners on a 15A circuit go for it, but I find it funny you're worried about surge protectors and fires from a surge more than overloading a circuit.

Oh and it sounds like you need a new electrician...