USB block erupter heatsync
The USB Block Erupter is a Bitcoin Mining ASIC device that mines for bitcoins at a rate of about 333 Mh/s. The USB Block Eruptor can reach temperatures of 86 degrees Celsius (as measured by laser thermometer) at its base when in full operation. This should be overheat temperature for any electronics. The device is literally burning itself up trying to keep up with its self out of the box. It needs some type of way to deal with overheating. Since the USB Block Erupter gets so hot and has such a nice flat metal surface, I thought I would add a heatsync to it to deal with the overheating problem.
Basics
This guide, at least when used with the heatsync I have (a low quality aluminum heatsync from a north bridge on a computer. I cut it in half with a hacksaw) and proper thermal paste, will give roughly these results:
Before- Temperature 86 Celsius After- Temperature 58 Celsius
Materials
- USB Block Erupter
- Heatsync (any kind you can fit on it!)
- Thermal paste (arctic silver)
- 2 zip ties, as small as possible
Add heatsync to USB Block Erupter
First, find an old heatsync (probably from a north/south bridge on a motherboard or an old GPU, a cpu heatsync could be hard to use) that you can use to place on the aluminum layer of the Block Eruptor. You want a heatsync that will cover 80% of the aluminum shield on the device or more. There are some plastic screws, do not put your heatsync over these! You have to make the sync touch the aluminum layer flat. The heatsync can be larger than the device but I recommend by as little as possible so u can have space for other things
Steps to add heatsync
- Cut Heatsync to size with a hacksaw
- Use a dremel tool or chisel to smooth sharp parts
- Make sure the heatsync is perfectly flat on bottom
- Soak in 91% rubbing alcohol 10 minutes
- Clean with razor or paper towel
- Check the fit of the heatsync on the USB block eruptor
- You want as much surface area as possible in contact between the block erupter and the heatsync
- Apply thermal paste (arctic silver)
- Focus on the base of the device, near the USB plug, its the hottest part
- Smear thermal paste around smoothly, with extra at base
- Apply heatsync and slide it around in spot a tad
- Apply zipties (not rubber bands!) with very light pressure
- Enough pressure to hold tightly but NOT too much or youll bend the USB block eruptor
- The zip ties can be tricky and we are just going for a "best fit", it will always look goofy
External Links
- Amazon.com - Block erupter sapphire $40 (price changes a LOT)
- Stackexchange - is it worthy to use bitcoin usb block erupter?
- BitcoinBTC - Setup Block Erupter
