Quote from: naimc3243 on March 29, 2014, 05:19:28 AM

Are GridSeeds really this fragile, I purchase 10 and 6 are defective do to a PSU short ? ( is this possible)

Hello Gridseed users.

I purchase a 10 unit GridSeed package that came with a Raspberry PI and 10 port USB hub and two 10A 120 to 12 VDC PSU'.

I connected all the 10 GridSeeds to a the USB hub and powered it up, then I connected a 1 group of 5 gridseed to a 10A 12 PSU (XHY PV-12012000) using a fan out 1 to 5 power cable supplied with the kit. The other 5 GridSeeds were connected in the same way. I powered up one group of 5, and when I plugged the second PSU I huge spark was seen on the 12 VD DC line of the 1 to 5 fanout cable all the fans started and then stopped.

I unpluged the PSU and tried it on only one GridSeed and the PSU was dead. It's green LED was no logner on and my voltmeter showed no 12 volt reading. I then tested each of the 5 Gridseeds and not one would power on, Could they all have died, I though impossible but I got out a better quality 120 to 12V transformer made for CB radio and the 5 devices no longer powered on, and when directly conntected to a USB port no led. The continuity tester on my volt meter shows a short on all of them !.

So I powered-up the other 5 Gridseeds left the room for a few minitues, when I returned all of the units has stopped and the fans where vibrating a making a whining noise. I noticed that the PSU's green LED was flickering. So the second PSU was no longer able to power the load of 5 Gridseeds not even mining. I later discovered that the second PSU was only have to operate a Gridseed for a few minutes before apparently dieing out.

I purchase this kit from Zoomhash.com, and I opened a support ticket. I've played with electrical gadgets for a while and have seen my fare share of cheap made in china power supplies die. But never have I seen damage on this scale occur so fast; Out of my 10 GridSeeds only 4 work after this "incident", 5 don't even power-on and the 6th powers on but the USB circuit appears dead and the internal LED never come on.

I am really regretting that I did not take the time to test each unit one at a time on my PC to determine that each was working properly as I was so excited to and wanted to get the devices working fast.

I'm still at a lose as to what might have cause this chain of events ? Could a short in one of Gridseed has caused a leak of the 12V dc in the USB circuit and back in the USB Hub and back in the other GridSeed's ? The USB hub also is dead.
Huh

Picture of PSU that I suspect was the cause of all this destruction.

Wow! Major bummer! Sorry you got screwed so bad!
The original problem was most likely caused by a pinched red fan wire caught between where the two halves sandwich together. I and others have found this problem in our GS5 units but corrected it in time before it became a serious problem.
Most likely, if a short occurs between 12V+ fan wire and the casing which is ground 12V-, it will short out the driver circuit on the pcb and perhaps also back feed via the 5V USB power as well blowing out that circuit as well.
This could have then back fed the that cheapo power supply and fried everything else.
There should be a fuse inside the power brick but I don't know if the chinglers put those in there or not. Probably not. I know if they were made in the USA by a real ISO 9000 certified company, there would be a fuse in there or in line on the power cord so shit doesn't get fried before it blows the fuse.
The tip off is your description of seeing the sparks coming from the fan power feed wire.
So, that's most likely the culprit. Not your fault at all regardless of how you started them up.
You should have been able to confidently fire them all up at the same time just like you tried without such dire consequence!
You are owed a FULL refund including shipping and insurance costs or minimally a complete replacement of your system with a brand new, fully test run before shipping system!
I remember reading somewhere that one of these guys said that every unit is fully tested and okay'd before they ship out to the customer!
Make sure Zoomhash takes care of you ASAP - F*KN REPLACE THIS SHYT YESTERDAY! This crap has got to stop! It is totally not okay!
Let us know how it goes!
God speed my friend! Wink

Wolfey2014