I want to watercool my S5 Antminer

[The Print Craftsman]

O.K. so my brother gave me his S5 Antminer when he upgraded to the S7.  I plugged it in and mined with it for about 6 months.  Was making money but noisy as hell!  I finally unplugged it because I just can't handle hearing a jet engine taking off all day in my shop.  So last night I had the bright idea of watercooling it.  I took it apart and it seems pretty straight forward.  There are two green circuit boards with 30 ASIC chips on each one.  They were mounted against a solid aluminum plate (Thermal paste on each chip of course) that was 9.875" x 4.50" x 3/16" thick.  There were tapped screw holes in the plate that allowed them to screw the board securely against the plate with screws that had springs on them.  These two plates were connected at the top with a small bridge that held them 3.25" apart (Outside edge of plate 1 to the outside edge of plate 2) and the little controller card was mounted on the flat bridge piece.  The space between these two plates of course is filled with aluminum fins that are coming off of the inside of each plate.  The fins meet in the middle.  A large fan was mounted on the one end and would blow air through the fins.

 

So that being said.  What I want is an aluminum reservoir (or copper) that would be like a rectangle shaped tank that was 9.875" x 4.50" x 3.25" that would be waterproof and have tapped screw holes in the sides of it for mounting the circuit boards against the sides of this tank and would have holes going in and out of the tank for waterflow through the tank.  I wouldn't even necessarily need the tapped screw holes.  I'm thinking I could use a couple C-clamps or some sort of U-shaped clamp on either end of the boards that could just be tightened to hold the boards snug against the sides of the water tank.  After applying the appropriate thermal paste on each chip etc. of course.  Although I will say their screws were placed in a pattern such that it held each and every chip firmly against the aluminum plate.  So maybe sticking with the screws is the best idea.

 

Anyway, where would I even begin looking for something like this?  I'm certain if I can get a tank of that size with water circulating through it and a radiator I could have a silent watercooled S5 Antminer!

 

I realize this will probably be a custom job but I don't even know where to begin looking for someone to fabricate it.  Anyone have any ideas?

 

Thanks for your time and thought on this.  It is appreciated.

 

Randy

"The Print Craftsman"

 

 

[Space Reptile]

hmmmm , i dont know much about the layout (pictures would be nice) But there are these cheap alu waterblocks on ebay ,

might be able to replace the heatsink that is on there w/ a alu plate w/ a few of these stuck to em w/ thermal adhesive 

 

[The Print Craftsman]

Sorry about no pics.  I went ahead and took some.  I will look into those on EBAY.  Attached are pics so you can better see what I am talking about.  I also did a small drawing and attached it.  If I could get a tank with THICK sidewalls.  i.e. if you look at "IMG_201170916_142233.jpg" you will see that the aluminum plate that the board screws into is 3/16" thick.  So if the tank had walls 1/4" thick I could probably tap the holes into them without springing a leak into the tank.  Maybe the walls should be even thicker.  Solid copper if possible.  Solid Aluminum would be acceptable.  I wonder how hard that would be to fabricate myself with 3/8" thick sheets of copper and solder like what they used to use soldering water pipes in the 60's and 70's?

[The Print Craftsman]

Found this online.  I wonder how hard it would be to put a cap on each end?  Making it into an enclosed tank.  Ideally I could find caps that had the inlet and outlet ports built into them.

[The Print Craftsman]

Look what I found!  Don't know if anybody is interested or cares but I'm excited about it!  I'll post pics after I get it all working if I decide to buy this.  The dimensions are almost perfect!  I needed it to be a minimum of 8.875" long. It's 9.25".  I needed it to be a minimum of 4.50" high. It's 6.75". O.K. that's a bit more then I needed but it will be totally harmless.  Just extra height underneath the rig.  The width on my air heat sink was 3.25" but the two boards are connected to the controller card via cables and can actually be spread apart as wide as 5" with the existing cables that are on it right now.  This tank is 4" wide so it will work PERFECTLY as far as the width goes without stretching any of the cables out to the max.

 

I've written the seller to see how thick the walls are.  Hoping they are thick enough to drill tap holes for my mounting screws.  Don't want to put a hole all the way through and cause it to leak!  I'll have to be careful.  Probably should do it on a drill press if I can.

 

Anyway, I'll keep everyone posted on my progress on the off chance this interests anyone.

[The Print Craftsman]

O.K. so my tank has arrived!  It looks just like the one in the pictures.  So now I'm trying to decide what size pump I should buy?  How many gallons per minute circulation do I need?  And what type of radiator to put on it?  I'm thinking the computer radiators might be too small?  But then maybe not?  Maybe I put like 3 or 4 360's in series.  I also looked at high performance racing radiators.  There were some pretty small ones.  I don't know if they were for a motorbike or were just small.  Should I even be looking at automotive radiators?  Then I wondered about heating type radiators that are used in residential construction i.e. Hot water heating systems.  Would any of those make more sense?  I'm totally out of my depth here.  And while I will end up making some decisions and doing something I'm certainly open to any constructive advice. :=)  I looked at water pumps on Amazon and saw small fish tank pumps that would move 5 to 10 gallons of water per hour all the way up through water feature pumps to the gold fish pond pumps that would move 973 gallons per hour!  Submersible pumps and non-submersible pumps.  I'm thinking I want to go with a non-submersible.  But I want one that can run 24/7 and not get too hot either.

 

Anyway, this tank holds 1 gallon of water.  I assume after adding tubing and a radiator I might get up to 2 or 3 gallons of water.  Depending on what type of radiator I get.

 

Wide open to advice at this point.  I'm ready to buy so I can finish the project but just have NO IDEA what to buy next.  I realize know how much heat I am trying to dissapate would help an engineer answer some of my questions.  The truth is I have no idea.  I do know that there will be 60 ASIC chips that I will be cooling with this set-up.  And I'm fine if we end up over engineering it some.  The main thing I want is for it to be quiet.  So an automotive radiator with one of those high pitched wine fans is out of the question.  I need quiet fans for the radiator.  I was wondering about just setting up a box fan on LOW angled to blow across whatever radiator(s) I set up?

[The Print Craftsman]

So after much googling all I have come up with regarding the specs on the Antminer S5 is this:

Specifications Antminer S5:

• Hash Rate: 1155 GH/s ±5%
• Power Consumption: 560 to 590 W
• Power Efficiency: 0.51 J/GH
• Chips 60x Bitmain BM1384 Gen3
• Rated Voltage: 12V
• Dimensions: 298 mm x 137 mm x 155 mm
• Cooling: 1x 12038 fan
• Operating Conditions: 0 °C to 35 °C
• Network Connection: Ethernet

 

I can't seem to find out what the TDP for the BM1384 Gen3 chip is.  Anybody know?

[The Print Craftsman]

O.K. so I found this on EBAY and decided the heck with TDP and all the engineering jazz.  Surely this will work well! And be in excess of what I need.  The size is what sealed the deal for me.

12 1/4" x 5 3/8" x 3 3/8" Water to Air Heat Exchanger 3/4" Copper ports

My tank I bought is 9.25" x 6.75" x 4" so they are very similar in size.  I'm thinking I can mount a flat platform across the top of this and mount my tank directly on top of it and maybe I'll have room to put a small pump beside the tank?  If not I'll mount the pump elsewhere.  I'll probably cut myself a piece of 3/4" plywood for a base and then mount everything onto it.  I'm thinking I could mount a few computer fans on one side of this and have them blow air through it.  It should be cool when I get done with it.  Pun intended :=)

[markr54632]

I have not used one for water cooling, but having used those cheaper aluminum expansion tanks on cars the walls usually arent very thick, and a lot of them seep at the welds.

 

I will add I think that the plan is flawed. There will be a very high thermal mass provided by the 1 gallon of fluid, but there is no dwell time. I have a feeling it will just continue heating up although dissipating enough heat. Although it will take a long time with that much coolant. (Your autos cooling system is only 2.5-4 gallons).

[markr54632]

Just now, markr54632 said:

I have not used one for water cooling, but having used those cheaper aluminum expansion tanks on cars the walls usually arent very thick, and a lot of them seep at the welds.

 

I will add I think that the plan is flawed. There will be a very high thermal mass provided by the 1 gallon of fluid, but there is no dwell time. I have a feeling it will just continue heating up without dissipating enough heat. Although it will take a long time with that much coolant. (Your autos cooling system is only 2.5-4 gallons).

 

[The Print Craftsman]

But if I'm circulating the water out of the tank into the radiator and back and have fans blowing across the fins of the radiator why would it not keep the water cool?  Also, while it's too late to cancel the EBAY order for the radiator I showed I am noticing that the larger radiators for the computers are actually quite large.  For example:

EK-CoolStream XE 480 (Quad)

Seems quite massive.  I'm thinking it could handle dissipating the heat being generated from the 60 ASIC chips?  And if one radiator wasn't enough I could put two in tandem.  I know by the time I'm done I will have spent enough money to have bought another Ant miner. he he.  But at least the one I do have will be running quiet! :=)

 

I'll let you know how things turn out.  At the very least I will post the finished build.

[Limecat86]

4 hours ago, The Print Craftsman said:

But if I'm circulating the water out of the tank into the radiator and back and have fans blowing across the fins of the radiator why would it not keep the water cool?  Also, while it's too late to cancel the EBAY order for the radiator I showed I am noticing that the larger radiators for the computers are actually quite large.  For example:

EK-CoolStream XE 480 (Quad)

Seems quite massive.  I'm thinking it could handle dissipating the heat being generated from the 60 ASIC chips?  And if one radiator wasn't enough I could put two in tandem.  I know by the time I'm done I will have spent enough money to have bought another Ant miner. he he.  But at least the one I do have will be running quiet! :=)

 

I'll let you know how things turn out.  At the very least I will post the finished build.

Well, I guess you can try it it with 1 EK-CoolStream XE 480. You can always add a second or a smaller one if necessary.

I would monitor the temps if possible or at least the temp of the coolant. Which should never rise above 60C or it could kill the pump.

[The Print Craftsman]

Markr thanks for the heads up on the possibility that this tank will leak at the welds.  I will test it out first before strapping the circuit boards to its sides.

Thanks for the tip Limecat86. I will try and figure out a way to monitor the coolant temp.

 

O.K. so I went and looked at hardware to connect the tank to my cooling loop tubing.  The hardware store had a BRASS fitting that was PERFECT for the job.  My question is: Will the BRASS and ALUMINUM TANK play well together?  I know you can't mix COPPER and ALUMINUM.

 

Also, what about GALVANIZED IRON?  They had some fittings made with BLACK IRON and the same fittings made with GALVANIZED IRON.  I didn't know if one would be better then the other or do I need to stay away from BOTH?

 

They also had one PLASTIC fitting which I felt pretty safe buying.  Unfortunately, they didn't have all the fittings I needed in plastic.  So I bought the one plastic fitting that I needed and I'm hoping it will be O.K.

 

 

Anyway, I'm not a metallurgist so I figured you guys would know what I could and couldn't do when it came to mixing Aluminum with other metals in my loop.  I had accidentally ordered the wrong water cooling kit for my actual PC build I am doing at the moment and picked up one of EKWB's Fluid Gaming's kits which are ALL ALUMINUM!  I was getting ready to RMA it and buy the correct kit when I realized my TANK for this bit mining project was all aluminum.  So I decided to keep it and use it with this project.

 

I'll be sure and post final pics when it is done.

 

[The Print Craftsman]

Well after some googling I see that BRASS is a no no with Aluminum.  So I am going to stop at another supply store in the hopes of getting the other fittings that Lowes did not have in plastic in a plastic version.  I'm seeing a 1/2" NPT Natural Polypropylene Threaded Plug at Grainger.  So maybe I will go there.

[W-L]

1 hour ago, The Print Craftsman said:

Well after some googling I see that BRASS is a no no with Aluminum.  So I am going to stop at another supply store in the hopes of getting the other fittings that Lowes did not have in plastic in a plastic version.  I'm seeing a 1/2" NPT Natural Polypropylene Threaded Plug at Grainger.  So maybe I will go there.

If you have the fluid gaming kit on hand the fittings you get with it are all aluminum so they can work together with that tank you have.

[The Print Craftsman]

Interesting that you mention that W-L.  Because after I got the RMA authorization from New Egg the same thought occurred to me as well.  So I am keeping it and will be using it in conjunction with this aluminum tank that I have.  Now I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that it doesn't leak.

[W-L]

20 hours ago, The Print Craftsman said:

Interesting that you mention that W-L.  Because after I got the RMA authorization from New Egg the same thought occurred to me as well.  So I am keeping it and will be using it in conjunction with this aluminum tank that I have.  Now I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that it doesn't leak.

I look forward to seeing more, just make sure the waterblock you use is aluminium if you are going with an all aluminium loop since that heat exchanger wouldn't be super happy. 

[The Print Craftsman]

O.K. for anybody that has been following this.  I am starting to make some headway.  I had to order some custom Aluminum fittings for the tank but they are here now.  Well all of them except the plug.  Anyway, I worked on it some tonight and I'm going to post where I'm at.  I had originally planned on making this look a lot nicer and to be more compact but when it got right down to it I decided it didn't matter.  So I built it on a long 2x6 board.  I think it's fine and easy to work on any part of it.  If it works I'll stick it up on top of my hutch and run it!

 

Anyway, you get the idea.  I need to put a block of wood up on top underneath the little controller board so it doesn't short out against the aluminum tank.

 

And I'll need to CLAMP the two circuit boards securely against the aluminum tank.  I have 2 C-clamps for this.

 

Got a little ways to go.  It should be fun!

 

Can I plug the pump and my two radiator fans directly into the power supply?  Or do I need to plug them into the small controller board?  It has a fan leed coming off it that use to run the big fan at the end of it.  Maybe I need to somehow tie my two fans into that lead?

 

Randy

[Limecat86]

--Double post... Sorry--

[Limecat86]

9 hours ago, The Print Craftsman said:

O.K. for anybody that has been following this.  I am starting to make some headway.  I had to order some custom Aluminum fittings for the tank but they are here now.  Well all of them except the plug.  Anyway, I worked on it some tonight and I'm going to post where I'm at.  I had originally planned on making this look a lot nicer and to be more compact but when it got right down to it I decided it didn't matter.  So I built it on a long 2x6 board.  I think it's fine and easy to work on any part of it.  If it works I'll stick it up on top of my hutch and run it!

 

Anyway, you get the idea.  I need to put a block of wood up on top underneath the little controller board so it doesn't short out against the aluminum tank.

 

And I'll need to CLAMP the two circuit boards securely against the aluminum tank.  I have 2 C-clamps for this.

 

Got a little ways to go.  It should be fun!

 

Can I plug the pump and my two radiator fans directly into the power supply?  Or do I need to plug them into the small controller board?  It has a fan leed coming off it that use to run the big fan at the end of it.  Maybe I need to somehow tie my two fans into that lead?

 

Randy

--SNIP --

 

 

I would say you can drive your pump and fans directly from the PSU. 12 volts is just 12 volts.

The only down side to it would be the lack of speed control through PWM but a fan controller can solve that.

Something like this: https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811997019&ignorebbr=1&cm_re=fan_controller-_-11-997-019-_-Product