Turning old S-9s into space heaters

So I've kicked off a new project for the winter. S-9 space heaters. It's a super simple design. Just one S-9 board placed in the middle slot. Using the December 2018 firmware in LPM mode And there are a few tweaks I’ve made to ensure they don’t get too noisy while heating. The GUI shows around 3.3 TH with moderate fan speeds. I checked both options for the speed settings. Running the December 2018 firmware.

spacer The key to doing this is simple. 1) dec 2018 bitmain firmware set to LPM 2) 1 hash board in the center. 3) proper fans ----- The Delta fans I used were purchased from China source at about 9 dollars each https://www.ebay.com/itm/for-Delta-AFB1212SH-12cm-Ball-Bearing-12V-0-8A-4pin-PWM-cooling-Fan/182961677356?  cost was about 32 dollars for 4 fans 4) proper spacers. ----- got these on amazon https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0103MXYA2/ cost was 4 per spacer you only need 1 spacer for the push intake fan You are building a space heater that mines. Not a miner that space heats net cost is 8+8+4 = 20 bucks to make a 1 board 3.3th 335 watt heater. This assumes you have a psu and a miner. I have lots of s-9's and will be retiring them from Clifton farm this fall but they can do space heating for me in my house and buysolar's house hard to read but it is 335 lastly the psu is a 1000 watt gold I think I could drop to 310 watts if I used a titanium You may need run on Low Power Enhanced Mode as it may not cool at Low power mode On my test model I do 4700gh and 480 watts and temps go too high 105 since the fans max at 2800 rpm. So I simply do  Low Power Enhanced Mode get 3300gh at 335 with temps at 88 since fans max at 2800 rpm. No real need to sound proof since sound is in the 41-45db range which is fairly quiet. Since I have 20+ s-9s my guess is I will build quite a few of these units. That fan I use pushes 115 cfm but it is quiet at 2800 rpm. There is another model delta that pushes 150 cfm but goes up to 3600 rpm it may be too loud for a space heater.

It'd take some custom enclosure but cooling would probably be more efficient if you had two fans side by side blowing directly into the heatsinks from the side of the board instead of from the end. I wonder how well it'd work to use pull fans right against the heatsinks. Might work better for being able to aim your heat. 300W isn't too hard to clear either, considering my R606 can clear over 100W with a single 80mm 12v/160mA fan. With some cleverness it might be possible to do away with the stock controller also, for just a single board. Hacking the voltage would require a bit of doing but a dummy USB2 adapter using the same connections as my Newpac/R606 broken out to the 18-pin cable and VH's cgminer driver, with a sufficiently strong controller, should be able to get ~2.7TH out of a single connection. In any case, S9 quiet space heater is a great idea.

I can picture that. That could be better than my thought to further mod this is to use these https://www.lowes.com/pd/Nelson-Wood-Shims-Actual-0-25-in-x-1-25-in-x-7-75-in-12-Pack-Fir-Wood-Shims/50051789 and this https://www.lowes.com/pd/Frost-King-0-125-in-Foam-Plumbing-Pipe-Wrap-Insulation/1081449 glue 3 shims on each side of case and then line with foam wrap. cost for a one heaters is about 20 for fan and spacer mod and below will do 4 for under 20 so 5 for 1.    so 5+20 = 25 bucks 15 minutes work say 330 watts 3300 hash 40-45 db maybe  under 40db with the wedge and foam mods __________>>>>>>>hashboard >>______________________________ I am going to fully flesh out the s-9 build  adding the shim and foam mods. Maybe show it for monday the 8th of July. I think I can build one for 25 dollars for sure under 30 dollars. maybe get it to do 35-38db and 3300gh at 315 watts I have  20+ s-9's that will get pulled  so it is a viable idea. This could possibly work with a Whatsminer m10 but that project would be off in the distance. Maybe in dec 2020.

I've got a couple S9s here at the shop that have been sidelined. Might be worth looking at trying to fold a simple housing that can hold one board and two fans, maybe with the controller mounted on the back. I've got junk/spares of everything; will play around with that at the shop later. Adding wedges internally to make sure your air stays in the heatsinks, especially at the far end, will be helpful. Don't forget that the middle position already has trouble cooling because the fan's motor reduces where air naturally gets moved. You might try a side position where the chipside heatsinks (responsible for the majority of the heat) get right in the main airstream, and then do a single baffle across the middle. You could fetch a small roll of metal flashing and cut and bend the right shape in a few minutes, then have enough material off the one roll to do a host of miners.

I am getting 4TH from my single board S9 units. From the discussion about 110V mining back in April: -Dave

I been too busy with the Clifton build. So I can't play with new ideas much. But this thread will be getting some love from me. I will drive up to Clifton and bring some older beat on s-9's back down to Howell.

__________>>>>>>>hashboard >>______________________________ I am going to fully flesh out the s-9 build  adding the shim and foam mods. first youtube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rzkub23R8QU damn   look at these guis' middle board no wedges just the 25mm delta fans wedge board mod   7c temp drop!  and good fan drop under 40db! even able to run LPM  getting 4.5th with good fans and temps!

Looking damn good there. What is the power usage, under 400w I take it? Looks like I may just be able to run some of my old s9's that have been piling up. Considering all the dead hash boards I have, running 1-per casing will work out just fine

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ztc7XIX_Jtg second video. at lowest hash of 3300 it is 330 watts at higher hash of 4800 it is 455 watts actually more efficient at high setting since the fans and controller pull down number more on the low setting I would guess  fans are doing .6 amps x 12 x 2 on low setting = 15 watts plus controller is 20 so 35 watts plus hash board is so low that it does not make effective efficiency  but it is really quiet with fans lower. I would guess fans are doing .7 amps x 12 x2 on high setting = 17 watts plus controller is 20 so 37 watts really happy with these on dec firmware. find some good fans for yourself.  like the deltas I linked.

Really liking the project, got any db readings?

well  before the wedge mod  it was 40-45db on lowest power. (3300gh) since fans are just about the same speed on higher power (4800gh) I would guess 40-45 db give me a few minutes I will go meter it on 4800gh speed yep 45-46db but miner now has no other sound proof ing of any kind. quite remarkable 4800 gb 450 watts 45-46db mod is under 27 bucks 2 fans                        = 16 https://www.ebay.com/itm/for-Delta-AFB1212SH-12cm-Ball-Bearing-12V-0-8A-4pin-PWM-cooling-Fan/182961677356? 1 thick spacer             =   4 for 16.00 or    4 bucks note: it is 7mm https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0103MXYA2 1 thin spacer = 10 for 14.99 or 1.50  typical thin rubber fan spacer about 2 mm https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B073XJLBGJ 1 roll of silver/foam     = 3   you can do 6 miners with an 18 dollar roll. https://www.lowes.com/pd/Frost-King-0-125-in-Foam-Plumbing-Pipe-Wrap-Insulation/1081449 1 box of screws           = 50 cents        you can do 12 with a 6 dollar box 1 box of washers         = 50 cents        you can do 12 with a 6 dollar box 2 pieces of scrap wood = free about 26 bucks for mod fans......... 16.00 spacers....   5.50 foam........   3.00 screws......    .50 washers....    .50 scrap wood... free total--------25.50 basic design more detail

Phil  would this be good with all the m10's you have?

@ yankees next year  maybe I will make one. I think  it does 6 to 9 th on low 1 board. 350-500 watts and  9 to 11 th on high 1 board. 700-800 watts The issue is the psu noise it may not be fixable.

This really makes me want to see if I can fold up a simple single-board case with board-facing fans. Not sure if I'll have the energy to do it this weekend.

yeah may be better that way. here is final video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvHlfQpNH38 I got lowest mode to remarkable sound levels  under 36db. This morning I realized I have 3 s7ln's I am thinking of doing a case mod of that case to fit 1 s9 board. and using a single delta fan as a push.  I have 8 of these delta fans https://www.ebay.com/itm/Delta-AFB1212SHE-120mm-x-38mm-4-Pin-PWM-Fan-Server-Case-Water-Cooling-151-CFM/401711683311? these are a bit faster and move more air. should be fun.  But I won't work on this unit next week.

This is actually pretty cool... If only the shitmain controller wasn't needed;  it would be very nice for the people wanting to put a little gear here, and a little there. I have a friend in Australia that wants to send me some S9's or S9SE's...  So I may end up doing this in one form or another.    I am rather limited on the power I can use at home, but if I get my hands on the stock of panels that I have been promised several times;  it shouldn't be an issue to make several mini satellite machines to stick at the random locations I get free power/network use. The thing that had me sold on the R606 was the <400w and quiet.....   This is also in that realm. Will be interesting to see how far sidehack will get the efficiency when he begins to salvage the s9 chips to build a new generation.

Salvage S9 chips? New generation? The NewPacs and R606 are built with BM1387 same as used in the S9, but not raggedy old salvage chips. Pfft. (we tried; harvesting sucks)

What would be really nice is if I can make the  m10's  do this. Not sure it is possible with that damn  must use psu. I have an extra psu. I would need pull a fan in it and find a quieter fan to put in it. my m10s are as low as 6200gh for one board on low power uses about 375 watts  if I can replace all the fans and  I could get this to work.  this would be very nice as it would be pretty efficient. and m10s are as high as 9200 for one board on low power uses about 552 watts the heat sinks are really good. but it is more complex  to run it due to the must have psu that links to controller. the boards are binned weird. the highest board on high is about 13000 and uses 910 watts  this would be too loud. But these  (m10's) are not getting touched until feb.

Won't you try the trick of separating the input fan away from the case a bit to reduce the vacuum produced in the middle board position due to the proximity of the fan engine? Should be easy if you have a damaged fan you are willing to sacrifice to use its plastic frame as tunnel. this should improve heat dissipation to the part of the board in close proximity to the input fan. Another thing to try would be to use a dummy middle (double wedged) board and try with two hash boards on the sides instead of one in the middle, Not unlike the avalons... While easy to work with, i don't like wood much. It retains heat, and if/when things burn, it might catch fire. It does absorb noise tho.