The Basics
I’ve operated various versions of the L3+ for around a year and have done testing with various firmware versions, speeds, and even cooling techniques so many of the articles below are through my own testing, trial and error, and sometimes outright failure.
- Quick hack to monitor that your L7 (or any miner) is working
I’ve seen a lot of posts lately, and even got an message or two, asking how I remotely monitor my L7. Since (as of 8/12/22) there isn’t any after-market firmware available, nor would I suggest using any while your system … Continue reading “Quick hack to monitor that your L7 (or any miner) is working” - How a cheap knockoff duct fan almost took out my crypto farm
How is that for a headline? Certainly nothing you ever want to read or even think about. As you can imagine, I feel very blessed and lucky that the circuit tripped before anything worse could happen, but it’s a very … Continue reading “How a cheap knockoff duct fan almost took out my crypto farm” - How to troubleshoot your L3+ using the kernel log.
We’ve all had miners fail (if you’re here that’s most likely why), it’s frustrating, maddening, but gosh darn-it, people like you. After you’re done staring in the mirror, it’s time to start figuring out what to do. The number one … Continue reading “How to troubleshoot your L3+ using the kernel log.” - Installing 120V or 240V 20A branch circuits for your crypto miners
In my series of, “I know what I want to see, but what do you want to see?” videos I had someone ask about the installation of basics 120V or 240V circuits. Well, you got it. I’ve done electrical work … Continue reading “Installing 120V or 240V 20A branch circuits for your crypto miners” - A (not so) Quick Tutorial on HiveOS Tuning of an L3+
Got a question the other day about how to autotune an L3+ with aftermarket firmware. There are several firmwares out there that you can do this with, however I’ll stick to HiveOS as it has the most flexibility I’ve found, … Continue reading “A (not so) Quick Tutorial on HiveOS Tuning of an L3+” - L3+ Keeps ResettingA buddy called me up and let me know he was having trouble with his L3+. It was resetting every 5-15 minutes, “for no reason.” Well, there’s always a reason so I took this as an opportunity to knock the … Continue reading “L3+ Keeps Resetting”
- What’s my fans CFM and how do I measure it?Part of managing your crypto miner is finding the perfect balance between performance, power usage, cooling, and noise. It’s not often easy, or even fair, how the balance works out. Often times I find myself sacrificing hashing power in favor … Continue reading “What’s my fans CFM and how do I measure it?”
- What to do when you can’t fix an ASIC chip on an L3+ Hash Board?
Bypass it, jump over it, leave it in the dust, at least that’s a path that I decided to go down. I was having problems with ASIC 28 on a hash board, and due to (most likely) a lack of … Continue reading “What to do when you can’t fix an ASIC chip on an L3+ Hash Board?” - How to know if it’s a bad 14V boost circuit or bad LDO’s
I’ve always heard the first thing that fails on an L3 hash board is the 14V boost circuit, I can say that I 100% agree with this. Of all the hash boards I’ve repaired, at least 75% have been fixed … Continue reading “How to know if it’s a bad 14V boost circuit or bad LDO’s” - Inside the Antminer L3+ Hashboard
One of the challenging things with working on an L3+ hash board is the lack of a full set of schematics or gerber files available for the printed circuit board (PCB) to figure out the full function of the board. … Continue reading “Inside the Antminer L3+ Hashboard” - Don’t skimp on the solder when reflowing an ASIC…
What is that I see above? That’s ASIC 28 on an L3+ hash board. You probably can’t tell what’s going on here, but I’ll attempt to explain why the image above is bad and I promise I have a better … Continue reading “Don’t skimp on the solder when reflowing an ASIC…” - A Walkthrough of the L3+ Hash Board (2nd Edition)Like many of you I’ve had some frustrations with my L3+ units, mostly surrounding the hash boards and various failures. Bitmain previously released an L3+ Maintenance Guide in 2018 that did a great job summarizing some basic failures, how to identify, and … Continue reading “A Walkthrough of the L3+ Hash Board (2nd Edition)”
- What to do with 0 asics found and CRC5 errors?
Has anyone else ever been frustrated with an error that simply says, “bitmain_scanreg,crc5 error, should be 00, but check as 01…..” I have, and lacking available source code to trace this down, I’m only guessing to the culprit. The fact … Continue reading “What to do with 0 asics found and CRC5 errors?” - Programming the PIC on an L3+ Hash Board
I recently came across an L3+ hash board that wasn’t producing 10V from the buck controller and therefore no 14.2V from the boost circuit. I know the boost circuit often goes bad, but it’s rare to not see 10V from … Continue reading “Programming the PIC on an L3+ Hash Board” - Reviving a $300 “for parts only” L3+ I bought off Ebay
I’m always looking for a project, and a good deal, so I’ll often browse Ebay and see if there’s any cheap “for parts only” complete miners to buy. Most the times these get bid up near complete working unit prices, but from … Continue reading “Reviving a $300 “for parts only” L3+ I bought off Ebay” - How many miners, how big of a miner, can I fit on a circuit?
More and more I’ve seen questions from folks about how many, or how big, of a miner can I fit on a circuit. This is a question that has many unknown variables that I plan on diving into below. Disclaimer … Continue reading “How many miners, how big of a miner, can I fit on a circuit?” - No chips, no temp, no hash, no problem!Hey all, How many times have you seen a post by someone that has a hash board that doesn’t recognize all the ASICs on board, has no temperature reading, and isn’t hashing or the hash rate starts then rolls down … Continue reading “No chips, no temp, no hash, no problem!”
- 120V or 240V, what’s right look like?I’ve seen a lot of posts about crypto miners (all types and brands) where people are having issues such as no hashing, low hash rates, or errors connecting to pools. One thing you should be prepared for, if you ask … Continue reading “120V or 240V, what’s right look like?”
- A Walkthrough of the L3+ Hash Board (1st Edition)Like many of you I’ve had some frustrations with my L3+ units, mostly surrounding the hash boards and various failures. Bitmain previously released an L3+ Maintenance Guide in 2018 that did a great job summarizing some basic failures, how to identify, and … Continue reading “A Walkthrough of the L3+ Hash Board (1st Edition)”
- Replacing the Antminer L3+ 14.2V Boost CircuitLike many of you I’ve had the displeasure of my L3+ lose a hash board, frustrating, but sometimes easily fixable. Often times, and I mean often, you’ll find that the 14.2V boost circuit has died which leads to your hash … Continue reading “Replacing the Antminer L3+ 14.2V Boost Circuit”
- L3+ V1.6 hashboard shows missing or very few chips and abnormal temp readings.
So I’ve had a hash board down for a few weeks and just now finally got a chance to take the unit down and see what we’ve got. Upon boot up the L3+ sometimes shows a missing hash board in … Continue reading “L3+ V1.6 hashboard shows missing or very few chips and abnormal temp readings.” - DIY Test Fixture for the L3+
To continue our series on Bitmain’s Antminer L3+, we enter the troubleshooting phase. Over the last few months I’ve posted about various ways to extend the life of your miner and still maximize the efficiency. Well, sometimes we push a … Continue reading “DIY Test Fixture for the L3+” - Overclocking dangers (Why does an L3+ hash board love up to 240W)
I’ve had a lot of folks hit me up with various overclock settings, and while most of them are within an acceptable range, there’s a few that really had me wondering when they would start seeing catastrophic failures. I consider … Continue reading “Overclocking dangers (Why does an L3+ hash board love up to 240W)” - Maximize your circuits and minimize costs
To continue the journey into setting up your crypto miners, specifically the L3+, you should start considering a long term electrical plan. What I mean by this is how can you optimize your existing electrical circuits in your home, office, … Continue reading “Maximize your circuits and minimize costs” - Overclocking on the L3+, is the juice worth the squeeze?
Like many of you I’ve often wondered just how much can I get out of my L3+/++, at just the level before I completely smoke it. For my own education I did some digging to find out just how much … Continue reading “Overclocking on the L3+, is the juice worth the squeeze?” - L3+ Cheap and Effective noise reduction
When I bought my first L3+ miner in early 2021 I was excited to plug it in, set it up, and watch the money pour into my account. I had planned for everything I needed to hit the ground running … Continue reading “L3+ Cheap and Effective noise reduction” - Installation of Hive OS on an L3+
So after learning a thing or two about the stock Bitmain firmware I quickly realized that to continue running these in my home, and remain somewhat profitable given electricity costs, I had to get a better return on each kWH … Continue reading “Installation of Hive OS on an L3+”