bitcoin mining and your electrical outlets - page 2.

Biodom

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Quote from: philipma1957 on May 29, 2015, 06:20:01 PM

Quote from: Biodom on May 29, 2015, 06:17:52 PM

Quote from: philipma1957 on May 29, 2015, 05:32:22 PM

Lastly are your inside the wall wires 12 gauge?

Not 100% sure, but I think that all 15A outlets are wired with 14 gauge instead of 12, which I think was what prevented me to change outlets from 15A to 20A before.
I am not sure about outlets on 20A circuit, but i suspect that they are also 14 gauge, but I never run more than 12.5A on any outlet anyway.

14 gauge is the issue long (120 days) runs cause issues with them. be careful .

Interesting-what exactly did you observe re long runs and 14 gauge? i assume that you had some experience.

philipma1957

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'The right to privacy matters'

Quote from: Biodom on May 29, 2015, 06:17:52 PM

Quote from: philipma1957 on May 29, 2015, 05:32:22 PM

Lastly are your inside the wall wires 12 gauge?

Not 100% sure, but I think that all 15A outlets are wired with 14 gauge instead of 12, which I think was what prevented me to change outlets from 15A to 20A before.
I am not sure about outlets on 20A circuit, but i suspect that they are also 14 gauge, but I never run more than 12.5A on any outlet anyway.

14 gauge is the issue long (120 days) runs cause issues with them. be careful .

Biodom

legendary

Activity: 3892

Merit: 4331

Quote from: philipma1957 on May 29, 2015, 05:32:22 PM

Lastly are your inside the wall wires 12 gauge?

Not 100% sure, but I think that all 15A outlets are wired with 14 gauge instead of 12, which I think was what prevented me to change outlets from 15A to 20A before.
I am not sure about outlets on 20A circuits, but i suspect that they are also 14 gauge, but I never run more than 12.5A on any outlet anyway.

Biodom

legendary

Activity: 3892

Merit: 4331

Quote from: dunand on May 29, 2015, 05:16:38 PM

A wall outlet should not be hot to the touch or change color.

of course

The case of "burning inside" outlet with nothing plugged in is especially bizarre.
I will open it up tomorrow and take a look

philipma1957

legendary

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'The right to privacy matters'

Constant mining beyond 150 days your house and the ground under it start to act like 1 massive heat sink.

Turn all gear off for 3 days and check all outlets that = brown/yellow

also consider some 20 amp plugs

white will show yellowing faster.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Leviton-20-Amp-Commercial-Duplex-Power-Outlet-White-R62-CBR20-00W/202066702

Lastly are your inside the wall wires 12 gauge?

dunand

hero member

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A wall outlet should not be hot to the touch or change color.

Unacceptable

legendary

Activity: 2212

Merit: 1001

Most outlets are wired in series,main wires come in to one outlet,then go back up the wall & over to the next outlet.

Sometimes as many as 4 outlets on a single line.

You need to remove the cover & look inside,unless the wires are "pushed" in the back of the outlet(you may need to pull the outlet out),to see if the line goes back out.

Also,most outlets are rated for 15 amps or less.You can upgrade your outlets to 20 amp models.

Standard 15amp outlet:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Leviton-15-Amp-Duplex-Outlet-White-R52-05320-00W/202066670

20amp outlet:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Leviton-20-Amp-Commercial-Duplex-Power-Outlet-White-R62-CBR20-00W/202066702

Biodom

legendary

Activity: 3892

Merit: 4331

after >15 mo of pretty much constant mining in the house I noticed the following:

1. wall outlets with constant current draw (even at permissible 12.5A for 15A outlet) has changed color to brown and I see some plastic partially melted on the outside of the outlet plug.
2. i think that I also saw some sparks from "mining" outlets during thunder-strikes that kicked the power out

in addition, i had a supremely bizzarre occurrence when one outlet basically started melting without anything plugged in.
It could be a spontaneous short, I just don't see how this short could have developed. the plate became extremely hot and i could see something burning or at least red hot inside the outlet, so i had to cut the power.

My point is-be safe with mining equipment and electricity. i was surprised that even a supposedly safe outlet could basically put you in danger.

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