First time posting here! Gotta say, this is a treasure trove of info. I’m a big agricultural farmer in northern SK and have access to super cheap 3 phase power from hydroelectric. Looks like immersion cooling could be a great match for me. Honestly, my mining experience is just some internet digging.
You might not get the answer you're looking for. Not many folks actually run immersion setups, and even if you find someone who's been doing it for a while, their experience might vary a lot based on their batch. I had 13 S17s sent to one host in Canada and they worked perfectly for 2 years. But with another batch, 3 out of 7 broke down.
From what I’ve seen, the S17 Pro seems to be the best of the 17 series. Doesn’t have those pesky heatsink issues like the older models. But I wonder if Bitmain’s planning to make an immersion version of the S17 or S19. I know Canaan has an immersion model for the Avalon 1246.
Honestly, I see no difference between the S17s, S17 Pro, and T17. The S17+ and T17+ had really bad heatsink problems. They switched to a different chip version with the AG series, which might explain it. The chip arrangement is packed tighter too, so that could be a factor.
The 17-series can be a real gamble. Some are great, others not so much. I’ve got S17+, T17+, S17e, and S17 Pros. The S17+ are definitely the worst, but surprisingly, my batch of 24 S17e have ran like champs for almost 2 years without a hitch. Meanwhile, my T17+ have been much more reliable than the S19s.
Summer heat and noise are huge considerations. Overclocking without much risk is also possible with immersion. It could pay off fast. Plus, if you go the air cooling route, you’d still need to build out a space for miners with vents and exhaust fans. Just so you know, the immersion system for 50 S17s would cost around $80K, plus install.
All x17 models struggle with the same heatsink issue, honestly. The solution is simple: resolder the heatsinks before they cause damage. I’ve seen aftermarket solutions with big heatsinks that screw together. A brand new x17 in immersion might last longer, but is it worth the risk? Most failures are from heatsinks losing their grip without warning.
Yeah, even using the miners for heating can get loud. If we insulated a big area for noise, there’d still be costs. And like someone mentioned, the summer heat adds another layer of mess to deal with.
Ha, welcome to the grind! I bought a 500 lbs pallet of 17 series parts from a mine that closed last year... so here I am, spending all my nights sorting it out.