Topic: Mining and Electrical Fires (Read 1045 times)
GREAT! Exactly what we need
bump, there has to be more horror stories. The danger is very real if it happened to somebody I know.
When it comes to electricity, do not make assumptions! Two outlets in the same room may be running or the same circuit or maybe not. The only way to find out how your house/apt is circuited is to plug in a light bulb into an outlet and turn off the circuit breaker that you think controls that outlet. If the light turns off, then you know what amps that outlet is running (since amps are written on the breaker switch). You can calculate wattage by Watts=Amps x Volts and make sure you do not use more than 80% of the max wattage for continuous load. How long was your friend mining for before the fire happened? Also, when you say fire do you mean a burnt GPU or an actual house/apt fire?
He was mining for at least a couple months, and it was a pretty serious house fire. He was paying rent to a landlord and had to move back in with his parents until the damage is repaired. I dunno if he moved back in or not.
OMG! I didn't know this is dangerous to mine coins, now I see how our inadvertence can cause fire not only money loss
I almost had a fire. One of my Gigabyte R9 270s stopped working. The riser cable attached got really hot and melted. Lucky I caught the burning smell before more damage or a full blown fire occurred.
Did the device have adequate ventilation? What temp was the device running at on a regular basis? How long did the device last?
The card never ran over 77C. But I purchased it used so who knows how many miles were on the card. Problem was when it stopped working I should have just unplugged. I left it attached to the riser.
I almost had a fire. One of my Gigabyte R9 270s stopped working. The riser cable attached got really hot and melted. Lucky I caught the burning smell before more damage or a full blown fire occurred.
Did the device have adequate ventilation? What temp was the device running at on a regular basis? How long did the device last?
I almost had a fire. One of my Gigabyte R9 270s stopped working. The riser cable attached got really hot and melted. Lucky I caught the burning smell before more damage or a full blown fire occurred.
When it comes to electricity, do not make assumptions! Two outlets in the same room may be running or the same circuit or maybe not.
True
When it comes to electricity, do not make assumptions! Two outlets in the same room may be running or the same circuit or maybe not. The only way to find out how your house/apt is circuited is to plug in a light bulb into an outlet and turn off the circuit breaker that you think controls that outlet. If the light turns off, then you know what amps that outlet is running (since amps are written on the breaker switch). You can calculate wattage by Watts=Amps x Volts and make sure you do not use more than 80% of the max wattage for continuous load. How long was your friend mining for before the fire happened? Also, when you say fire do you mean a burnt GPU or an actual house/apt fire?
I don't how this could have possibly happened because I know he had a surge protector and aren't those things supposed to trip when there's too much voltage going through them?
Sorry, but that just isn't true. It may have just been a freak incident, but more likely your friend probably pulled too much current through too thin of wire gauge. Circuit breakers are meant to protect the wire, not the devices. You can pump 16A through 24 gauge wire and it wont ever trip a 20A breaker, but your wire gets too hot, the sleeve melts, and now you have a wire that is 110+ degrees Celsius exposed.
Do yourself a favor and get a Kill-a-Watt meter. It will give you a little piece of mind. Find out what other outlets are controlled by the breaker your rigs are on, and then add up the total amperage of all devices on that circuit, including your rigs. You should be at no more than 80% of the breakers capacity. If you did any DIY wiring, make sure you used the proper gauge wire for the current its carrying. Over gauge the wire if you are extra worried. Also, make sure your PSU power cables are gauged heavy enough for the current they pull. Lastly, make sure your surge protector is rated to at least 15A (most are).
With the rig you are describing you have, I highly doubt you have anything to worry about.
Hello, my friend recently had an electrical fire while he was mining with his 2 rigs in his home. I don't how this could have possibly happened because I know he had a surge protector and aren't those things supposed to trip when there's too much voltage going through them? I believe he had 2 rigs in his room but I'm not sure if both rigs were on one wall outlet or if they had separate outlets. Also, one of the computers had a high end 7970 and I know this can generate a lot of voltage. My question is with my own mining setup am I at risk of starting an electrical fire? Right now I have one 5970 (2 gpus not crossfire) with a Corsair 750 watt PSU. I have it connected to a surge protector and it is the only plug on that surge protector. Any tips would be appreciated as I am shutting down my rig whenever I go to work just in case.
Jump to: