Antminer S9 Cooling Solutions – Safe Tips

The heat of the summer will be uncomfortable for everyone, including the miners. We will now talk about how to safely use the Antminer S9 series during the sweltering summer.

Antminer S9 Running Temps

Cold or heat spells can cause Antminers S9 with temperature safety features to stop working.

Related Reading:Guidance on the Onshelf and Maintenance of Bitmain Antminer S9 Series in Low-Temperature Areas

Most miners prefer to work above 5 C (41F), though equipment can be operated between 0 C and 40 C (32 F – 104 F). Bitmain suggests keeping the Antminer S9’s operating temperature between 15 and 35C (59 and 95F).

A machine automatically enters “protection mode” and turns off the corresponding hashboards whose sensors report low temperatures if it draws air into its fans below -5C (23F). The same goes for temperatures which are too high. Hashboard shutdowns are also triggered by sensors readings above about 85C (185F).

Where Does the High Temperature Come From?

Why do the ASIC miners have higher hashrate than GPU miners? Because the former uses professional ASIC chips, which produce heat during large calculations. That is merely the source of the high temperatures experienced by miners.

Analyze the Antminer S9, for instance. The air inlet temperature is about 32 degrees if the indoor temperature is 29 degrees and the cooling fans are operating automatically.℃ and the air outlet temperature is about 44.9℃. The chassis temperature is about 36°C, and the chip temperature on the mining status page is approximately 63°C.

In the summer, the temperature in most places will be more than 35℃ or even 40℃, which is very “fatal” for miners because they’re also generating heat. The chip will become damaged due to the high temperature, lowering hashrate and reducing the lifespan of miners. As a result, conducting efficient cooling in the summer is crucial.

What Happens When Antminer S9 Series Miner Overheats?

It is not surprising that miners frequently come up with novel ways to prevent their equipment from overheating.

Some of the Reasons to Avoid Overheating in the Antminer S9 Series Miner Include:

Decrease in Hash Rate

We must first define the hash rate before moving on. The hash rate of a computer used for cryptocurrency mining is a measure of how quickly complex calculations can be completed.

Due to the fact that productivity is frequently determined by this, it is without a doubt the most crucial component when choosing mining equipment.

The machine attempts to reduce workload when it becomes too hot, which effectively lowers the hash rate. Until the miner cools, the hash rate will stay below average.

Lower Power Efficiency

Bitcoin mining is known to be an energy-intensive process. Even though Antminer S9 series miners consume a lot of electricity, things get worse when a machine overheats. More electricity is used while fewer results are produced as a result of the lower hash rate brought on by overheating. Together, the two things lower output and revenue.

Maintenance and Lifespan

The sporadic shutdown of miners that overheating causes is a significant drawback. If mining equipment overheats, it will not only shut down but also experience more frequent failures. Last but not least, a miner from the Antminer S9 series will have a significantly shorter lifespan if it constantly overheats. A miner from the Antminer S9 series, for example, can degrade in a matter of months if exposed to high temperatures, despite having a three to five-year lifespan.

Cost Efficiency

These ideas are connected to this. The majority of mining expenses are related to maintenance and electricity use. When they frequently overheat, miners require twice as much money for maintenance and electricity. As a result, Antminer S9 series miners frequently produce less money.

Overall Reduction in Efficiency

This conclusion has been reached because equipment overheating can affect energy usage, costs, and even equipment lifespan. The Antminer S9 series miner performs less productively than anticipated when these factors are taken into account. As a result, overheating directly contributes to equipment failure, increased energy usage, and decreased profitability.

It’s awful when you get too hot. Antminer S9 series users’ productivity and financial viability are both affected. How can we then prevent overheating? What tactics are there to employ?

How to Cool the Antmiern S9 in a Scientific Way?

Our previous visits with the Antminer technicians resulted in some recommendations for cooling techniques. Let’s have a review first:

• Since it is impossible to guarantee the quality of other brands, Antminer must use the original brand of cooling fans.
• High-speed fans cannot be replaced by low-speed fans, however the low-speed fans can be replaced by the high-speed ones.
• Frequently cleaning up dust is crucial. Keep the miner intact. At intervals of one month, blow the dust backwards using a high-pressure blower.
• Keep a constant eye on the miner’s temperature. Pause if some problems occur. There should be no more than a 10°C difference in the hashboard’s temperature.
• The Antminer should not be disposed of in oil to reduce heat.
• In-room temperatures between 20 and 30 °C are ideal for mining.
• The chip temperature should be controlled at about 70-80℃, overheating may result from the dust accumulation.
• Regarding the low chip temperature issue, a normal miner operation will result in the fan running at a low speed and using less power.

How can we then conduct a scientific study of heat dissipation? Let’s look at how heat is transferred.

The heat transfer can be concluded as the following three ways: heat conduction, heat convection and heat radiation.

• Heat conduction refers to the temperature difference inside the object or the direct contact of two different objects without relative motion. Only the internal particles’ thermal movement is capable of transferring heat. For instance, holding ice cubes frequently causes people to feel cold.
• Heat convection refers to the process of heat transfer caused by relative displacement of different parts of the fluid (gas, liquid or some solid such as powder). For instance, add cold water into boiling water to make the warm water.
• Heat radiation refers to a process during which the objects without touching each other transfer energy through electromagnetic waves. Energy of electromagnetic waves (typically in the form of infrared rays) is created from an object’s internal energy. For instance, the heat from the sun.

Therefore, there are three quick cooling methods as follows:

Ⅰ. Direct Contact With the Objects of Lower Temperature

Both the oil and water cooling systems have undergone testing as of late. It’s a technique for cooling the miner by coming into direct contact with the coolant. The fans don’t make any noise besides lowering the temperature. Although it has not been widely used and popularized at present, this method will most probably be used to replace cooling fans with the development of technology.

Ⅱ. Put Miner in the Place of Good Ventilation and Low Ambient Temperature

It is essential to ensure proper ventilation and dust prevention, as was previously mentioned. Modern mining farms are equipped with window louvers and screens to block air return and reduce dust. Additionally, a lot of sizable mining farms will have commercial negative pressure fans with excellent heat dissipation capabilities installed.

Usually, the places with lower temperatures are the mountains and rivers. Temperatures decrease as altitude increases. High latitude locations also have relatively milder temperatures year-round, making them more conducive to mining.

Ⅲ. Reduce Heat from the Sources

It’s impossible to shut the miners down, but cleaning is quite necessary. Overheating can be successfully avoided with routine dust cleaning. A high-pressure gun can be used in the specific methods to repeatedly blow air from the air outlet to the inlet.

Cooling Methods Prohibited by Engineers

The effects of high temperatures will have more severe effects if the noise from the miner is only disturbing people. These results will not only shorten the service lives of the miners but also have an impact on their physical and mental health.

Consequently, a lot of miners have developed a variety of cooling techniques.

Worker A: Place the miners in an air-conditioned space with a 24-hour cooling mode.

Response from Engineer: Some miners opt to engage in small-scale (less than ten miners) mining in non-professional mining farms like their homes, garages, and lofts. If there are only several miners, the air conditioner can bring satisfactory cooling effect. The cooling effect of the air conditioning won’t be as effective if there are many miners, though. Second, even a typical home air conditioner uses about 1.3 kWh per hour, or 31.2 kWh per day, compared to the Antminer S9’s 35 kWh daily consumption. In terms of costs, it is therefore unprofitable.

Worker B: If it’s possible, open every window, every door, and even the ceiling.

Response from Engineer: Although it’s the correct idea to promote ventilation, the issue of dust proof should be attached great importance. If the miners are in open environment, when the cooling fans blow the wind into the chassis, some dust, insects and debris are most likely to penetrate inside to damage the precision components such as the hashboard and affect the miner performance. If the dust is not removed promptly, the operating temperature will continue to rise and eventually harm the miners.

Worker C: I want to install two faster fans for my miner.

Response from Engineer: The installation of high-speed fans can theoretically replace low-speed fans, so why do Antminer cooling fans come in a variety of models and speeds? Because each component will be considered to achieve the best overall operation, engineers have tested the Antminer configuration numerous times. The overall performance of the miner will be impacted if the original fans are arbitrarily replaced by high-speed ones, which results in increased power consumption and noise.

Creative Cooling Methods by Antminer S9 Users

The Antminer S9 users have also developed a variety of inventive cooling techniques, some of which are listed below (Tip: Not verified; proceed with caution).

A: Dig eight 100-meter wells, each equipped with heat exchange bars, and spend 80,000 yuan to do so. Blow cool air into the enclosed space. It’s enough to support 300 miners to run at low temperature all year round. The biggest benefit is the one-time expense; there are no other maintenance costs involved; only the electricity fees for the fans must be paid. Furthermore, there is hardly any dust. The indoor temperature can be kept at around 28 degrees Celsius even when the outside temperature is close to 40 degrees Celsius.

B: To achieve heat insulation and keep the miner’s temperature under 70°C, install a negative pressure fan at the air outlet and cool the air inlet with a water curtain.

C: As for the miner cooling, some experienced workers usually refuse water curtain, so it’s better to cool down by natural wind.

1. Heat insulation is undoubtedly necessary;
2. Check the wind direction to enable cold wind to blow into the miner from the air inlet direction;
3. It is preferable to design the air inlet as a bell mouth to produce a certain amount of air compression when air enters, according to aerodynamics. Just Google “compress air to reduce temperature” for details. It’s the same principle as that in the refrigerator;
4. It’s necessary to install negative pressure fan at the air outlet.

D: Buy one ice cube for 10 yuan, then put it inside the mining farm. The lifespan of one ice cube is just one day.

E: Remove the frozen water bottles from the refrigerator and set them 10 cm away from the miners. After that, blow cold air into the inlet for heat dissipation using a standard electric fan. To catch the dew on the bottles, put a plate below.

Summary: Antminer S9 Cooling Solutions

To safely and effectively cool your Antminer S9 down, there are three ways:

• Direct contact with the objects of lower temperature
• Put miner in the place of good ventilation and low ambient temperature
• Reduce heat from the sources

We also included a few original user suggestions; however, since they have not been verified, proceed with caution.

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