What's up with low power use?

Just cleaned up my old Antminer S3 and plugged it in. It's hashing at 496.1GH/s, but I remember it used to pull about 366W. Now, I’m measuring the power and it’s only using between 68.5 and 70.4W. Am I missing something, or did my miner just become a superhero?

What pool are you mining in? Sounds like you could be trying to mine on an Asicboost pool, which isn’t compatible with the S3.

Wait, where do I find the mining logs? Are you saying I need to ssh into the miner for that? I’m on stratum+tcp://eu.stratum.braiins.com:3333, which is Stratum V1, right?

I don’t think that miner supports the V2 firmware. You probably need a firmware that handles V2, which only works on models starting from the S9. Check the braiins site for details.

Can you check what hashrate is actually hitting the pool? If it matches your miner's rate, maybe you got lucky with it. Otherwise, it might just be running on low power for the control board and fans.

That’s definitely strange. Bitmain specs say otherwise. I measured power draw over a few days while comparing the dashboard and pool hashrate. Averaged 65.7W and 410.1GH/s at the pool. Something’s off.

How did you measure that power? Did you use another device to confirm? Is it connected as a single worker? It’s generating shares at that hashrate?

I used two different volt-meters and they both showed the same result. And yeah, I’m mining at a loss, but hey, the electricity is free since it’s from my solar setup.

You might wanna try a different testing tool or ensure it’s actually connected to the miner. Any monitoring panel for your solar setup? That could help double check the consumption. But honestly, does it matter if it’s battery powered?

What’s the deal with low power use in BTC mining anyway?

Check out the OP's other thread. Not in a spot to sell power back. I get why running the miner seems like a waste, but some just do it for the fun, not profit. Weird power draw? Try plugging it into regular power and see what it says.

Dude, you’ve got an Antminer S3, which is ancient. It’s only pulling 366W, which is decent for its time. But compared to an S19 Pro, which uses nearly 10 times that, your mining output is pretty weak. You should upgrade if you want to earn more.

I did that test. Other devices show accurate values, so I’m guessing the miner’s fine too. Maybe it’s just one of those unexplained tech miracles.