I have a related question to this thread if anyone has any ideas.
Can i use two bitmain PSUs on a single antminer?
I am hosting my miners in a data center and they are using 30amp 208v PDUs. Since the miners each draw about 6.5amps, i can only get 3 miners in a PDU before i exceed the 24amp (80%) limit. Rather than buying additional 24 plug circuits for every 3 miners, I thought i could use two PSUs to power a single miner and plug each into a separate PDU that is already running 3 miners. So bascially, running 3.5 miners per PDU.
Not sure if anyone has tried this or if it will work.
So basically, my thought would be to have 2, 30amp PDUs for every 7 miners. I would plug 3 miners into each PDU and then split one miner across the two PDUs using two PSUs.
Not ideal, but thought I would check to see what people thought.
If there are any other ideas on how to cost effectively increase my density in the data center, i'm all ears. I'm finding i'm getting bottlenecked by the circuit size and the cost of larger (50amp) circuits makes it not worth it.
Thanks!
MEK
I know a couple ways which may work for you. Some are kinda grayish so all though hounds here, please relax a minute.
A legit way to do it is to find out if the PDU is 100% rated. I often spec those and I know others do too. If that's true you can just put 4 on one PDU legally. It's best to just get the model number to look it up yourself as asking the question could raise concerns. I often use 100% circuits throughout the data center but still enforce an 80% or 90% limit to provide nuisance tripping headroom. If that's what they are doing and you ask, you could be denied. If they dind't say you can't then you can.
I'd be a little cautious as I typically see 6.5A but sometimes I measure 7.0A at 245V. If they are distributing 208V, your current could be higher. Never guess or rely on specs, always measure. Since you are likely operating in a climate controlled room, you may experience a much more consistent current draw.
Less legit is to just put the miners on it. If it runs for an hour it'll likely hold. The worst that will happen is the breaker will open. Most co-location operators are very familiar with this practice so only care if you call them to reset your breaker.
Nothing forces you to run all 3 hash boards in every miner. You can squeeze a bit more hash power per PDU by adding one hash board at a time into the 4th miner until you reach the maximum current available. Each hash board will add about 2.2A.
NFPA rules allow rounding regarding the 80% restriction. So the limit on an 80% 30A circuit is not really 24A but 24.4A.
Some co-location data centers are pretty savvy. Some measure and monitor EVERY circuit with automated systems. If you exceed the contracted load, they hit you with a charge and also a penalty. So you may want to review the agreement before slipping in more load. This is by far the exception. Most just wait for the breaker to trip then ask you if you need a 50A.
