How to Reduce the Noise of Antminer S17? Full Guide

This post will introduce the ways to reduce the noise of Antminer S17 and also tell you the methods prohibited by engineers.

The majority of miners are now very concerned about noise control because it affects their physical and mental health, as well as their ability to sleep and their ability to maintain good relationships with their neighbors and families. However, mining cannot stop being done for financial gain. How can mining operations increase profits while minimizing noise? The discussion of noise reduction of Antminer S17 will now proceed as follows.

Where Does the Miner Noise Come From?

Typically, an ASIC miner has two fans—one at the air intake and the other at the air outlet—to exhaust heat produced by the miner chip and guard against miner damage brought on by excessive heat. Because the miner fans must operate at a specific speed to effectively dissipate heat, noise will be produced.

As an example, consider the Antminer S17. The fan speed on the mining status page ranges between 4320 and 4560 rpm during normal operation, and the measured noise at a distance of 1 meter is approximately 76 dB(A), which is almost identical to the noise at a busy transportation hub.

Also read: How to Keep Antminer S17 Cool – Ultimate Guide

Why Are Antminer S17 Series Miners So Loud?

The cooling fans on all miners cause them to all make a lot of noise, not just the Bitmain Antminer S17.

Why does bitcoin mining, which uses powerful computers to solve extremely challenging computational math problems, seem to make so much noise to the uninitiated? Modern laptops and desktop computers don’t even make noise while they’re running.

Yes, personal computers are much quieter than they once were, but unless you’re using one for video editing, you’re not really taxing their capabilities. Your email client and web browsing won’t exactly overburden your device.

If you’ve ever used a gaming laptop or a CPU, you’re probably aware that under intense use, the GPU and the CPU have a tendency to overheat, forcing the chassis’s fans to spin at maximum speed in an effort to remove as much heat as possible.

That process can be quite loud if you’re alone in a room.

However, when it comes to bitcoin, you should press the button as firmly as you can. Finding a solution to the issue is what the computer aims to do. The first computer to arrive at the solution receives a block subsidy in bitcoin, after which the process continues. The race against time is a time-based event that happens about every ten minutes, so you have to push as many computations as you can in the hope of making a profit.

To produce more computation, the computer must operate at a faster rate, which consumes more electricity and generates heat. The majority of the noise is produced by cooling fans spinning at maximum speed, which is required to keep the mining machine’s cooling system operating and prevent circuits from being damaged by heat.

Bitcoin mining no longer takes place on personal computers. Today, the hardware required to run this mining setup is specialized to only do one thing: mine bitcoin. To set up a mining rig, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) is required. These rigs only contain the essential parts that maximize the production of hash power; all mining-related extraneous components have been eliminated.

How to Reduce the Miner Noise in a Scientific Way?

Theoretically, there are three ways to reduce noise of Antminer S17 miners:

Ⅰ. Reduce Noise from the Source.

The miner fans will automatically adjust the speed, as was mentioned above. In order to make less noise, the fan speed will therefore be somewhat reduced if the miner is placed in a low-temperature environment. As a result, the miners can be placed in a cool area of the mine.

Ⅱ. Reduce Noise in Sound Transmission.

Numerous miners have outfitted their indoor spaces with soundproof panels and cotton. Some people have also given the miners soundproof boxes. Those who conduct mining at home typically use these techniques. When attempting to reduce noise, it should be noted that the indoor temperature needs to be properly managed.

Ⅲ. Reduce Noise at Human Ears.

Wearing earplugs and earmuffs while you sleep is a wise decision.

Creative Noise Reduction Methods by Antminer S17 Users

The Antminer S17 users have also developed a variety of inventive noise reduction techniques, some of which are listed below (Tip: Not verified; proceed with caution).

A: Installing a sizable piece of sound insulation or cloth will produce excellent results. However, it’s important to regulate the temperature because a hot room can easily catch fire because it’s difficult to get the hot air out of the space.

B: Set up a mobile room on the roof which is installed with soundproof cotton as well as window and ventilating fan on the top. Actually, the outcome is not that bad.

C: Several steps to reduce miner noise:

1. Choose a room with two windows;
2. Use plasterboard to separate the miners inside the room;
3. Drill air inlet and outlet on the plasterboard;
4. Connect the ventilation pipe attached with soundproof cotton to the air outlet and window;
5. Install negative-pressure fan at the air outlet to blow the hot air out of the pipe;
6. Set up heatproof boards between miner racks to stop heat returning;
7. Connect the ventilation pipe to the air inlet window;
8. Keep the door to the room closed.

D. Three focuses on noise control

1. Source control (place cushion materials under the miner chassis);
2. Transmission control (keep space sealed or set up noise barriers around the miners on the premise of good ventilation);
3. Receiving end control (headphones or other self-control methods for noise insulation);

E: Specifically, the sound of airflow produced by the vibration of fan blades is what causes the miner noise. Given that the noise is a vibration, it is possible to cancel it out by using phases that are at odds with one another. To greatly reduce noise, try positioning two machines side by side and slowly moving the other into position. To find the ideal point, be persistent.

Reduce Noise Methods Prohibited by Engineers

The noise produced by a single miner appears to be acceptable in terms of decibel levels. But today’s miners typically work in teams. In addition, all the miners usually run for 7X24 hours. What about the neighbors, even if the employees can act as if they are immune to the noise?

As a result, the employees have devised a variety of original ideas to lessen the noise. Unfortunately, some methods are completely wrong, for instance:

Worker A: Why not take out the fans since the cooling ones are making noise?

Response from Engineer: No. Without cooling fans, the high temperature generated by the chip cannot be dissipated, which may result in irreversible damages to the miner. Additionally, the miner won’t ever operate if no cooling fan activity is detected.

Worker B: Is it possible to arbitrarily reduce the fan speed for quieter operation?

Response from Engineer: No, the fan speed can be adjusted automatically by the Antminer. When the ambient temperature is low, the fans will automatically slow down, so that the miner can run in the most suitable temperature with less noise decibels. However, if the fan speed is arbitrarily reduced (for example, by installing additional low-speed fans), the heat cannot be dissipated in a timely manner, which will impact the miner’s operation.

Worker C: It’s said that water cooling and oil cooling are also applicable, so I intend to modify the miner by myself.

Response from Engineer: It’s best to avoid doing so because doing so could harm the miner’s precision parts and void the warranty. Indeed, many computers have adopted water-cooling/oil-cooling devices to replace the traditional fan cooling system, which seems to be a new idea for miner cooling. However, none of the mainstream miners in the market nowadays has ever adopted the water-cooling/oil-cooling systems (expect for Antminer S9 Hydro). Most likely, there is a technical constraint involved. As a result, it is advised against trying something out at random.

Summary: Reduce the Noise of Antminer S17

We listed following three professional methods of reducing the noise of Antminer S17:

Ⅰ. Streamline source noise.

Ⅱ. minimize transmission of background noise.

Ⅲ. lessen the amount of noise that people can hear.

and some original approaches from the users.

What other effective noise-reduction techniques do you have? In the message box below, please share your efforts.

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