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Topic: GridSeed 5-chip USB miner voltage mod - page 26. (Read 157001 times)

sr. member
Activity: 420
Merit: 250
April 25, 2014, 12:52:12 PM
So far I have done 5 Gridseeds Vmod3 49.9k with some Mx-2 Arctic on top of the chips Now the miners are hashing at 510k and no HW errors, I think i know what was causing cgminer to play... its not the software if you see my temp setup I now have 28 Grids plugged in and they are all over the place cabling up , down , around, power going through, under around them , BIG MESS as  well as power being a bit loose but now good,, everything looks good hashing like machines!!! I also have 5 x 290x Cards hashin I will only have 4 by tomorrow , I will sell my final card from GPU days then build myself a quadfire 290x setup.

Anyways..... I still got quite a fair bit to mod, plus I have 10+ more grids to plug in... I will mod most of mine this weekend if not all that should give me more hashrate to the equivalent of buying an extra blade miner...

I dont know if I am not going to bother with r46 I am actually getting the hang of 139k smd 0402 replacement....

I think i may have wasted my money as I have 16.9kohm smd 0603 better and bigger size will fit nicely on r46 let me know if anyone wants ill let them go for what i bought them and ill post them to your door.

I think i may have modded all mine the original way before they arrive I wish I bought 49.9k 0603 size.... ahh well... I have yet to see someone simply unbridge r46 an chuck a 16.9/17k and freq at 1200 I would like to see local hashrate and see if its 510KH like the 49.9k r139k mod.


Guys there is one annoying thing wit  soldering iron , The solder doesnt stick to the iron, it used to in the beginning but now its like oil & water its like the solder trys to run away from the iron... I have tried damp sponge , even as much as shaving the point abit cleaning off all stuck dirt still no good, I hav used flux STILL no good, only thin g I can think of is "that this solder is shit  "

Any ideas?
full member
Activity: 139
Merit: 100
April 25, 2014, 12:26:19 PM
Guys...don't be fooled...

You are replacing R139...27k with higher value...47k to 51k... NOT R52...

R52 is in the Feedback Loop of the Voltage regulator...

Refer to the schematics...

So I've ventured on my own into this mod, but in one of the gridseed I pulled out something I shouldn't, at C43 it seems, I've tried to understand the schematics to identify it but I'm failing, if possible a little help in identifying what is I need to buy and solder back in place.

Any suggestion really is appreciated.
sr. member
Activity: 252
Merit: 254
April 25, 2014, 11:45:44 AM
Is there an easy way to check the voltage on them?

I have a multimeter, would that work? if so where would you probe on the gridseed to test?

On my 2nd seed I modded, I used my 10x loupe and looked at it from the side and it looks like one of the pins on the resistor isnt flat so that is probably the issue on the 2nd seed. I hope its a simple fix on the 1st seed as well, cause it was hashing perfectly for 24 hrs and then decided to stop...

It's hard to push down on these microscopic resistors when your soldering lol... I am such a NOVICE.

The voltage, supplied to the Gridseed chips is easier to measure at C42... here marked in black   ...:

https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/m.6359210

ZiG

Do you have to power the unit on to test the voltage, or can you do it un powered?  Dumb question, I know lol.


Yes, you have to have it plugged in to test the voltage.
ZiG
sr. member
Activity: 406
Merit: 250
April 25, 2014, 11:34:54 AM
Is there an easy way to check the voltage on them?

I have a multimeter, would that work? if so where would you probe on the gridseed to test?

On my 2nd seed I modded, I used my 10x loupe and looked at it from the side and it looks like one of the pins on the resistor isnt flat so that is probably the issue on the 2nd seed. I hope its a simple fix on the 1st seed as well, cause it was hashing perfectly for 24 hrs and then decided to stop...

It's hard to push down on these microscopic resistors when your soldering lol... I am such a NOVICE.

The voltage, supplied to the Gridseed chips is easier to measure at C42... here marked in black   ...:

https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/m.6359210

ZiG

Do you have to power the unit on to test the voltage, or can you do it un powered?  Dumb question, I know lol.

Also with my multimeter.. Would I just touch the black wire from my multimeter to the black fan fire for ground, and then touch the Red to the spot you circled.

I am just keeping my Ground on the 12 V input connector GROUND...Black...left screw...if you have screws type input...Otherwise the other end of C42 ...the marked with "-" ...outer one ...opposite side of C42 is the best...

Should be in the 1.20V to 1.75V or so RANGE...

Cheers,

ZiG
sr. member
Activity: 338
Merit: 251
April 25, 2014, 11:24:40 AM
Is there an easy way to check the voltage on them?

I have a multimeter, would that work? if so where would you probe on the gridseed to test?

On my 2nd seed I modded, I used my 10x loupe and looked at it from the side and it looks like one of the pins on the resistor isnt flat so that is probably the issue on the 2nd seed. I hope its a simple fix on the 1st seed as well, cause it was hashing perfectly for 24 hrs and then decided to stop...

It's hard to push down on these microscopic resistors when your soldering lol... I am such a NOVICE.

The voltage, supplied to the Gridseed chips is easier to measure at C42... here marked in black   ...:

https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/m.6359210

ZiG

Do you have to power the unit on to test the voltage, or can you do it un powered?  Dumb question, I know lol.
ZiG
sr. member
Activity: 406
Merit: 250
April 25, 2014, 11:22:36 AM
Is there an easy way to check the voltage on them?

I have a multimeter, would that work? if so where would you probe on the gridseed to test?

On my 2nd seed I modded, I used my 10x loupe and looked at it from the side and it looks like one of the pins on the resistor isnt flat so that is probably the issue on the 2nd seed. I hope its a simple fix on the 1st seed as well, cause it was hashing perfectly for 24 hrs and then decided to stop...

It's hard to push down on these microscopic resistors when your soldering lol... I am such a NOVICE.

The voltage, supplied to the Gridseed chips is easier to measure at C42... here marked in black   ...:

https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/m.6359210

ZiG
sr. member
Activity: 338
Merit: 251
April 25, 2014, 11:06:53 AM
Is there an easy way to check the voltage on them?

I have a multimeter, would that work? if so where would you probe on the gridseed to test?

On my 2nd seed I modded, I used my 10x loupe and looked at it from the side and it looks like one of the pins on the resistor isnt flat so that is probably the issue on the 2nd seed. I hope its a simple fix on the 1st seed as well, cause it was hashing perfectly for 24 hrs and then decided to stop...

It's hard to push down on these microscopic resistors when your soldering lol... I am such a NOVICE.
sr. member
Activity: 252
Merit: 254
April 25, 2014, 11:02:43 AM
So I modded my 1 Gridseed last night with the SMD mod on R52. It was hashing away just fine for about 24 hours at 1150mhz. I rebooted the PC, and now the device wont accept any shares at all... Any ideas as to what is wrong? I tried the device on both my windows machine and my Raspberry pi, neither will accept any new shares on it.

I used Artic Ceramique to replace the thermal pads, and a little bit of it got on some of the pins around the asic chips. This compound is non conductive, would this cause anything like the problems I am seeing?

The ceramique shouldn't cause what you're seeing.  That's what I used on one of my gridseeds and the stupid plunger in the tube got stuck, after I unstuck it the crap just wouldn't quit coming out and it also got on some of the components around the gc3355 chips.  I just used a bunch of q-tips and alcohol to clean it up best I could but wasn't too worried about it because it's non-conductive.

Check your solder joints and the voltage.  After I've modded my gridseeds if one of them didn't accept any shares re-doing the solder joint has always fixed the problem.
sr. member
Activity: 338
Merit: 251
April 25, 2014, 10:53:53 AM
So I modded my 1 Gridseed last night with the SMD mod on R52. It was hashing away just fine for about 24 hours at 1150mhz. I rebooted the PC, and now the device wont accept any shares at all... Any ideas as to what is wrong? I tried the device on both my windows machine and my Raspberry pi, neither will accept any new shares on it.

I used Artic Ceramique to replace the thermal pads, and a little bit of it got on some of the pins around the asic chips. This compound is non conductive, would this cause anything like the problems I am seeing?
member
Activity: 84
Merit: 10
April 25, 2014, 10:29:43 AM
Hi did exacly what you had as an idea used cables and put it outside the gridseed but wenn i plug in the dc it starts clicking till i start a miner programm and even if i close it does not start again tikll i unplug the power does i have to worry ? also it is not showing hashrate a poolside dont know why
any help ?
do you have the heatsink fittted together? if not the clicking sound is very likey coming from the crystal, possible not a good connection. Fit the top heatsink and screw it together firmly, applying which version of thermal compund you disire before hand. youll find that the clikcing goes away. the heatsink firms the crystal inot postion and stops it clicking. Alternatively if this works then we can safely assume its the crystal to do a proper fix on it you need an hot air rework station and youll have to re work the crystal. depends oon your skill level and equipment. This is something that cant be done wiht a soldering iron - the contacts are on the underside of the crystal. Or you could try the old fashioned graphics card fix way - stick it in the oven - on a cermic plate in the oven about 180c for about 5-10 mintues. Totally at your own risk. if your unsure either gather more info or dont do it! :9
sr. member
Activity: 252
Merit: 254
April 25, 2014, 10:24:45 AM
If it's not submitting shares, check your solder connections.  It may "look" good, but I've found that if that happened and I re-did the solder joints it resolved it.  As for the clicking, that's what I got with Zig's mod as well.  I didn't really bother to investigate it more though due to lack of time.
full member
Activity: 140
Merit: 100
April 25, 2014, 09:59:49 AM
I wonder if the clicking sound is the result of not cutting the R46 bridge or accidentally bridging it again when soldering?
Emu05 - are you trying Zig mod or a different mod like vmod1?
newbie
Activity: 9
Merit: 0
April 25, 2014, 09:52:32 AM
Hi did exacly what you had as an idea used cables and put it outside the gridseed but wenn i plug in the dc it starts clicking till i start a miner programm and even if i close it does not start again tikll i unplug the power does i have to worry ? also it is not showing hashrate a poolside dont know why
any help ?
ZiG
sr. member
Activity: 406
Merit: 250
April 25, 2014, 09:43:01 AM
Hi im going for the ZigMod but i have one question my local store just had 16kohm 1% 0,6w and 1kohm 1% 0,6w axial resistors can i use them in row to get the needed 17kohm ? or is there a problem with the 0, 6 w ? ZigMod says 0, 125w does that matter or will it be ok ?

You should be just fine with 16K ONLY...o.6W is simply larger size...so ypur problem is how to fit this bigger resistor...

You could use 2 wires to start testing...start with 16K ONLY...measure DVDD ...and white back...

Happy modding...

Zig
full member
Activity: 140
Merit: 100
April 25, 2014, 09:16:56 AM
R52 is the R139 mod.  You are actually replacing R139 but the label R52 is near it so it was first called the R52 mod.  No one is doing anything with the actual R52 resistor. 
sr. member
Activity: 338
Merit: 251
April 25, 2014, 09:10:40 AM
@Anarchy - DO NOT USE A 49k RESISTOR FOR ZIG MOD.

The purpose of Zig's mod is to ADD a resistor value in SERIES with the stock resistor to make a total resistance of 49.9K - which would allow you to leave the stock resistor in place.  Since the original/stock resistor is 33k, you would need to add ~17k for the Zig mod (depending on the slight variance, should result in 49.9k/50k).  

If you replace r139 with 49.9k/50k there is no need to perform Zig's mod.  If you perform Zig's mod, there is no need to replace r139.

I'll have to figure out where R139 is at and try that. I wanted to do Zigs mod because it seemed easier to solder than the R52 SMD Mod. I just got friggin mixed up in my resistor purchases.
sr. member
Activity: 252
Merit: 254
April 25, 2014, 08:58:25 AM
@Anarchy - DO NOT USE A 49k RESISTOR FOR ZIG MOD.

The purpose of Zig's mod is to ADD a resistor value in SERIES with the stock resistor to make a total resistance of 49.9K - which would allow you to leave the stock resistor in place.  Since the original/stock resistor is 33k, you would need to add ~17k for the Zig mod (depending on the slight variance, should result in 49.9k/50k).  

If you replace r139 with 49.9k/50k there is no need to perform Zig's mod.  If you perform Zig's mod, there is no need to replace r139.
sr. member
Activity: 338
Merit: 251
April 25, 2014, 08:33:58 AM
can anyone actually confirm the value of the resistor removed for the mod?  Ive been looking at the schematic  and according to the schematic its a 127k resistor, but the bill of Materials has it as 33k?  also it isnt R52, in fact it R139 for anyone who is interested.

Guys...don't be fooled...

You are replacing R139...27k with higher value...47k to 51k... NOT R52...

R52 is in the Feedback Loop of the Voltage regulator...

Refer to the schematics...


I told them this...10 days ago...

Let me share this...:

From unpublished PM reply to Wolfey2014 from April 1 2014...(never sent to him...after looking at his "claims" to others people results and annoying adds all over the place)...:

DVDD+ adjustment -

1. First - cut the small bridge in place of R46...it is a trace on the main board...connecting to last pads to the left of VID0/1 resistors row (R63, R64, R66, R139 and non existing capacitors in between ) ...
2. Second - solder a resistor to these ( now separate ) pads with value = to desired value in the VID chain - 27K (R139) ...these resistors are in series...Rmod + R139 = Rtotal...
 
So... Rmod = Rtotal - 27K (R139) ...
Example...:
For Rtotal = 47K ...Rmod = 47K - 27K = 20K ...solder 20K in place of the R46 (bridge)
For Rtotal = 49K ...Rmod = 49K - 27K = 22K ...Solder 22K ...very standard value on the top of R46 pads...
etc...

From now on I will call this

"ZiG mod"

...because I don't mind sharing ...but don't want anybody like Wolfey2014 to claim that it is his/her... Wink

I have been experimenting with this since the beginning days of this thread...soldering the trim pot of 50K to R46 pads...this way the voltage to the chips can be adjusted smooth in 10-20mV small steps to check the hash rates...

Another advantage is that you DON"T NEED to remove ANY of the original components from the Gridseed...no de-soldering of R139 ...

And one more advantage is ...you CAN REVERSE the voltage mod to the ORIGINAL by simply removing the Rmod from R46 pads + restoring the bridge R46= 0 Ohm...or even simpler...making short on Rmod/R46...

Hope it is bringing more light ...and understanding of what Exactly are we all doing...Modding VID reference on the Voltage regulator chip of Gridseeds...That's it...!

Thanks for reading this...and ...Good luck modding...!

ZiG

Edit...:   Some body was exploring the idea of external small switch ( Like DIP switch to be able to go in "MOD/Overclocked" to "Normal/Stock" speed ...I have that switch soldered at the ends of my trim pod ...and it is doing exactly that...MODE SW "OC/Turbo - Stock/Normal"... using the short of R46...or trim pot value...

Enjoy...   


When I unbridge the solder connection on R46 pads, which of the two pads would I solder the other end of my 49.9K Ohm 1/4W 1% Axial resistor to? Or does it not matter which of the 2 pads I pick as long as they are unbridged?

I successfully did the R52 replacement with the SMD resistor, but it was extremely difficult to remove the stock one, and put the new one on. I am hoping I can do these axial mods which seem to be alot easier.

Edit: was I supposed to get a 22kOhm resistor for this job? There are too many damn mods for this device lol. I get confused as to what resistors to buy to do what mod.
newbie
Activity: 58
Merit: 0
April 25, 2014, 08:28:31 AM
Sandor11

I just wanted to thank you for your hardwork on your project. I love cpuminer's autotune feature for Gridseeds. All of mine are hashing away quite nicely!
sr. member
Activity: 252
Merit: 254
April 25, 2014, 08:25:10 AM
Re: ZigMod test - Note: I used the closest resistor I could get quickly which was 15k 5% .5 watt so not exactly what ZiG suggested.

24 hour average poolside:

15k 5% in series 481 kH/s
Vmod1 (2 bridges) 392 kH/s

approx 9 watts greater power usage for the extra 89 kH/s, definitely worth it at my power costs.  Expressed in LTC today, the extra 89 kH/s at 9 watts would give me  $0.19 less $0.02 power costs = $0.17 net

No clicking sounds here nst6563.  I measured 1.75v though.  Which solder points did you use for the mod?  Where did you measure voltage?

I used the same points Zig indicated in his picture.  I also used a 17k 1% axial resistor.  I measured the voltage at the same spot Zig indicated in his picture as well. 
With Zig's method I got a clicking from the mosfets and 1.5v. 

I'm not saying it's a 'bad mod', it just didn't work on my gridseed.
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