Topic: Some random thoughts on avalon 6 antminer s-7 and j4bberwock/finksy boards - page 2. (Read 3362 times)

 What do sidehack's cables look like in action?

okay I have some good news on the j4bberwock 2880/2980 boards

they have 20 jacks and can run 2 s-7s using the 20 jacks and or 2 avalon 6's using 8 jacks

I have had sidehack build be custom 39 inch y cable

2 plugs go into the breakout board and  they merge into the 1 plug for the avalon.

so 8 jacks break out board to 4 jacks avalon 6

then 8 jacks break out board to 4 jack avalon 6

or 16  down to 8

what happens id the power on the break out board is spread to 16 jacks not 8 to run the 2 avalons

so each break out jack is doing 120 watts dc  10 amps  of 12 volt  maybe 130 watts dc 10.8 amps at 12 volts.

rather then doing  240 watts dc 20 amps of 12 volt maybe 260 watts dc 21.6 amps of 12 volt

so far all jacks dropped 15c in temp and this appears to solve the problem if you have

avalon 6's

I will post photos later today. 

At sidehack  these may be a good item for you to produce for owners of avalon 6's and j4bberwock 2880 boards.

Sorry for the confusion it's the one from Jabber

https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/ibm-dps-4kw-psu-dual-dps-2000bb-breakout-boards-and-packages-1308296

EDIt: I edited my post and I took a look of each connector, no burning on my side with that breaking board.

Not sure what you mean by a double DPS2000 board from sidehack - if you mean a single board that runs two PSUs, that's not one of mine. We thought of it a year and some ago but never had the resources to build it. If the board has PCIe jacks, it's not one of mine. The screw terminals on the boards I build are good for 250W per cable, and my DPS2K boards have a total of 14oz copper in the power traces so they should hold up pretty well. Leastways the test board held up just fine when we ran it at 196A draw for seven days in July heat. But again, if it's a double board it's not one of mine; I've only done single boards for that PSU.

I do have, within a couple weeks, a DPS800/DPS1200 board rolling out that'll take a dozen 6-pins. Should be just fine for an Avalon, and I've had an S7 running on a test board for a month with no problems. I forget the copper thickness offhand, but it's probably something like 4oz per rail. Not the best, but it is spread out.

Phil, I should have those cables done up probably tomorrow or the next day. Depends on when I can get to it, but shouldn't take half an hour. I did some test pinning earlier and figured out how I want to do the doubles with 16AWG wire.

no sidehack has more copper.

I am have sidehack build me a set of test cables that should bypass the problem

once I get them I will demo and see if they work.

Suckssss, I have two hosting A6 using that breaking board....

Gotta need to find a better solution I guess. I'm running 3 on a double 2000DPS breaking board from Sidehack.

Do you think i'm gonna have the same issue with that breaking board ?

EDIT: Did Jabber gave you some feedback on this ?
EDIT2: I just checking most of my connectors on the double 2000DPS. They are all good. I did space all the connectors to make none of them is next to another one tho. To make sure I spread the heat.

my issue is on the break out board side.

@ yslyung  
it is late and I am tired .  I need to make a long detailed reply to some of your post I will so  in the morning.

but real fast those cardboard boxes are lined with fireproof materials

I use 15 gauge high end  cables.

and I am looking for y cables in a reverse format.

which feed from 2 psu jacks into 1 avalon 6 jack.

not a normal procedure at all  only the insanely under specced knc miner jacks needed  to do this.

And because I fear that this will simply transfer the issue from the break out board to the avalon 6 I am hesitating to do it. those extra fans are cooling the jacks quite nicely and I am using the top row of jacks.  I am a bit more inclined to blame the break out boards but frankly the avalong 6 shares this issue with the  breakout board.
Note edit:
]also the  avalon 6 states do not run in a 95 f room.    they state 38 c which is 100.4 f not 95 f.
I converted wrong to f as I thought 40c was 100f it is not

 I picked up issues at 95f.  as I had problems running at this temp in my garage  as the 2880 break out board jacks ran very hot  and browned.

https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Avalon6


info from above
Basic Information
 Hashrate: 3.5Ths ± 5%
 Power Consumption: ≈ 1050 Watt (with assumption of 90% power conversion ratio)
 Overclocking: Support automatically optimizes frequency, no need to overclock manually.
 PSU ouput pin: 4 x 6PIN PCIe power connector.
 Controller: Raspberry Pi (version B or B+) Raspberry Pi 2 is not supported yet.
 AUC: Each AUC can connect up to 6 devices.
 Dimensions: 340 mm x 136 mm x 150 mm
 Operating Temperature: -10 °C to 38°C
 Fan Specs: 12038, Current less then 2.4A
 Protection Degree: IP20
 Net weight: 4.8kg
 Gross weight: 5kg

Note edit ends


my wiring management has never been good and won't be good in my garage

plain and simple I turn over the gear too much .

but I have to say I could effort ot make my compac sticks neater as they just sit and mine away for months

wut ? 102 F is hot ?

at this part of the world is roughly 35 C day & 26 C night with 70-80+ % humidity all year long !

if you use good quality PCIE cables 16 awg, it will be able to take more than 250W. good idea to have air flowing thru them.

j4b's boards are good, no complaints, works very well.

i don't mean to jack the thread or try to say something -ve but i've always look into stuffs you post & share, thx for sharing but there are a few things you might want to reconsider in your setups such as . . .

-put the boxes or miners away from card boxes (from your garage?) try to use other materials ? - you did mention about jacks melting etc so the risk of fire is slightly higher than normal.

- looking good & better from before, more well organized miners & wiring, but i do recall from earlier days of your mining, it was a little "messy" sorry to be that direct but risk of fire is not something to joke around.

may i suggest a swamp cooler for your cooling needs as at the part of your world, you get more dry air than me over here. it's not expensive & you can diy it, some ample time to diy before the hot summer hits.

airflow direction of the mining room, make it 1 way in & no other way out, good +ve cold/cool air in & only 1 way out for the hot air, make sure they have only 1 way out or have a chance of flowing back in. *i had that issue long time back & once i stopped that, wow HUGE difference* . . . i can't see much as the pics are close ups.

sorry if i'm being too direct, but i do have some small concerns about fire hazard/risk or me trying to be a guru, always appreciate what you share to the community ! but i hope you take it from a +ve side of things. keep it up & keep on evolving !

thx again for your time to share lots of info with everyone.

** don't use those Y splitter or share 1 pice for 2 jacks... NEVER a good idea** use 1 for each 16 awg cables can handle it without any issues.

I'll need to take a look at my EVGA power supply tomorrow although connectors are black if I recall.

Phil, are the connectors brown on the avalon 6 or just at your breakout board?

I may ask for something along the lines of a y-pcie  in which 2  female plugs go into the 2880 psu board   and they merge into 1 female plug for the avalon 6

this would in effect double the copper of the 2880 board since I would be using 8 jacks on the psu side to go into 4 jacks on the avalon 6 side.

I am using 2980 psu's and they give me a true platinum rating.

I could use four of them at first to run 1 avalon 6.

they maybe a niche product for j4bberwock to avalon 6

what do you think?

received with many thanks

I trust a proper jack up to about 250W. Not really more than that. Course, I also plan to put two jacks on any S1-refit board I make and I don't expect to build 'em to draw more than 250W. For long-term reliability's sake, it's good practice to overspec. Course, since when were mining hardware manufacturers into doing anything more than the minimum required to clinch a sale, and since when were they into long-term reliability? If they thought about either of those things, they wouldn't be selling fixed-voltage string miners.

Also, you do know I make custom cables also? And by "make" I don't mean "outsource to a factory in China with a large MOQ to make it feasible". I have a wire cutter machine and crimping tools, partial spools of 16AWG copper MCW; if you only need a handful of something let me know, and if it's doable with parts I have in stock I can probably have it shipped within a day or two.

sent from my coinbase account

https://blockchain.info/tx/5b9237e205d55dfc48dde7fca91d6dafc40f46074cfd211d903bd09fe0ff9f26

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VF5P7qLaEQ

o wow thanks 1GSv7EXULxf2Csbr3oUpsxDh7aEuiRjXw8

yes give me a btc address

 I will send you 0.025 btc  


back to thoughts.

I like the avalon 6's more then the s-7's

I like the finksy/j4bberwock 2880 break out boards with a 2980 pus and fan mods.

but both the avalon and the certainly the breakout boards need improvement.

I have an avalon 6 running with a seasonic 1200 plat and thin 18 gauge cables here it is as part of the solar array

I will closely examine it maybe this weds as I am going to the solar array this week.  hopefully there will be no sign of melting

very nice thread. Groundhog Day with Bill Murray?

I have to check but 2-3 months.  I noticed the issue when it got really hot in NJ  for March 8 ,9, 10 ,11 

 we were hot the days in bold

Daily Weather History & Observations
2016   Temp. (°F)   Dew Point (°F)   Humidity (%)   Sea Level Press. (in)   Visibility (mi)   Wind (mph)   Precip. (in)   Events
Mar   high   avg   low   high   avg   low   high   avg   low   high   avg   low   high   avg   low   high   avg   high   sum   
1   51   46   42   43   30   25   76   54   43   30.17   30.01   29.63   10   10   10   16   9   26   0.00   
2   57   44   30   46   23   7   76   47   29   30.12   29.75   29.47   10   10   8   28   15   44   0.13   
3   37   30   24   21   11   7   69   43   28   30.28   30.21   30.12   10   10   2   16   8   21   0.00   
4   35   30   26   25   21   12   80   65   48   30.18   30.06   29.97   10   6   1   18   7   25   0.09   
5   37   30   24   19   15   10   60   51   38   30.22   30.17   30.08   10   10   10   12   7   -   0.00   
6   41   34   26   21   19   18   69   54   39   30.31   30.26   30.19   10   10   10   10   5   -   0.00   
7   60   45   30   36   29   21   70   53   36   30.31   30.16   30.02   10   10   6   18   8   29   0.00   
8   64   54   44   37   34   30   62   50   37   30.17   30.12   30.07   10   10   9   12   6   -   0.00   
9   80   60   39   46   38   30   70   46   18   30.15   30.08   30.01   10   10   10   17   5   22   0.00   
10   80   70   60   52   48   45   60   46   30   30.04   29.97   29.90   10   10   10   16   9   21   0.00   
11   66   56   46   52   40   27   72   50   28   30.33   30.12   29.88   10   10   10   21   9   30   0.00   
12   59   47   35   37   32   25   65   51   42   30.35   30.22   30.01   10   10   10   13   6   17   0.00   
13   60   54   48   37   34   30   62   48   31   30.11   30.04   29.98   10   10   10   14   7   17   0.00   
14   48   45   42   37   35   34   76   69   58   30.10   30.00   29.84   10   6   2   25   15   37   0.81   
15   53   48   44   43   39   36   76   72   62   29.84   29.80   29.77   10   7   2   16   11   28   0.01   
16   46   44   42   39   37   36   81   76   71   29.86   29.83   29.80   5   3   0   6   4   -   0.00   
17   -   -   -

Hmm, i've run high quality fat retail EVGA 1600 cables at close to 350-400W though. They never browned. On the Avalon6 i'm using standard retail PCI-e and they are still fully cold.

How long did it take for your jacks to brown?

it is both but you are not wrong I would say you are ⅔ correct.

Asking a pcie jack to handle 250-275 watts dc is asking for trouble.

and the optimizer testing   along with my temps finally getting warm enough show a flaw in the  boards in that the air that comes from the psu blows warm and hits the back of the pcie board and does nothing to cool where the pin meets the socket.

the fans pulling air directly across the connection and not behind the connection are a good cheap fix.


a better board with more copper will help the socket on the psu end not melt   which is where I think you are fully correct.

but on the avalon 6 end the same issue is there and a perfect psu side may simply move the problem to the avalon 6 side  pcie jacks.

for now the fans will keep the break out boards safe.

I was going to have y cables made   that would be a pair of 18 gauge cables into the  break out  board   and then connecting to a 15 gauge cable into the avalon 6

which would mean 8 break board jacks into 4 avalon 6 jacks.   this would solve the issue in that the break out jacks would do 125 to 150 watts max.

but it allows for a lot more power into the avalon 6 jacks.  as much as  400-500 watts per jack in case of a loose connection on the avalon jack side.

So I concluded that the fan idea is best in the short run.  I do suggest a 3 jack avalon solution for the future and a heavy copper  fix for the  break out boards.

Mean while if you are like me and have 2880's and avalon 6's watch for this.

the fan solution really seems to work. also note I have the top jacks of the break out boards filled as they get the most cooling from the fans.


I asked for custom cables on the  12th



Reply came on the 13th


I realized that this idea would reduce the issue on the breakout boards but a very good shot at moving issue to the avalon 6's


So I remembered the little fan controllers  I purchased the mesh which is heat resistant and made the board coolers for now.

In a magical perfect world made for mining BTC and digital coins  the breakout boards would have 25 to 50% more copper  and the avalon 6.5's would have 3 pcie jacks.

In this world be very careful and mind those pcie jacks.  on the psus and on the avalon 6's

I am going to buysolar and the solar array  those avalon 6's are on different psu's.   I will look at the pcie jacks very closely to see how they are doing.

That seems more like a problem with the breakout board than with the Avalon, and kinda verifies some of Optimizer's testing and concerns about thin copper.