ASIC miner faults: what to do and what breaks most often
When an ASIC miner breaks, it either stops mining entirely or loses only part of its hashrate – and the pool payout drops by the same share. First find out which component has failed: the miner's web interface and log usually reveal it. A fan, cable or network you can fix yourself; a hashboard, power supply or control board is better left to a service centre.
What to do first
- Open the miner's web interface and check which hashboard is missing or has a lower hashrate, and what the temperatures and fan speeds are.
- Go through the log (Kernel Log or System Log). Look for messages about fans (fan), the number of chips found on a board (chain, asic) or temperature (temp).
- Switch off the power, wait a minute and switch the machine back on.
- Check the power cable, the socket or PDU, the network cable and the room temperature.
- If the error persists, write down the model, the serial number and the text from the log. This makes diagnostics easier for the service centre.
Typical faults and their symptoms
| Symptom | Likely cause | What to try yourself |
|---|---|---|
| Hashrate dropped by about a third | one of the three hashboards was not detected | restart, check the board's data and power connectors |
| One board reports fewer chips than it should | a faulty chip broke the chain – the chips after it “disappear” | nothing; diagnostics and chip replacement at a service centre are needed |
| The machine will not switch on, the fans are still | power supply (PSU) or power feed | a different socket and cable; if that does not help, take the PSU to a service centre |
| Random restarts | weak circuit, overheated PSU, loose connector | check the circuit breaker and connectors – replace a hot or discoloured connector immediately |
| Fan error, the others run at 100% | faulty fan or temperature sensor | replace the fan with the same type |
| One board is permanently warmer than the others | dried-out paste, loose heatsink, dust | clean it; re-pasting at a service centre |
| The miner has no IP address, the interface does not load | control board, network or corrupted firmware | a different cable and router port, factory reset with the Reset button |
How a hashboard works and why one chip also knocks out the ones after it is explained in the article Hashboard. What the temperatures in the interface mean can be found in the article ASIC temperature sensors.
Repair or replace?
Replacing a fan or a power supply is almost always worth it. With the hashboard of an older machine, compare the repair cost with how much the machine will still earn. If it is nearing the end of its economic lifespan, it is often better to sell it for parts and buy a more efficient model.
With a machine under warranty, do not take anything apart and contact the seller. New miners from our range come with a 24-month warranty. The warranty covers manufacturing defects, but usually not damage from power surges, water or unprofessional intervention.
Why it matters for miners
Every day of downtime is lost revenue – and the machine pays for itself later. Prevention helps – regular cleaning and temperature monitoring following the guide ASIC miner maintenance – as do alerts on hashrate drops, which you can set up in the pool or in a farm manager.
What next
In our ASIC miner service centre in Prague we repair hashboards, power supplies, control boards, fans and water cooling from all major manufacturers. If you do not want to deal with faults at all, keep the machine in hosting, where data centre technicians take care of monitoring and servicing.
Sources
Frequently asked questions
Can I repair a hash board myself?
Does a miner still mine with one faulty hash board?
What should I prepare before contacting the service centre?
Is the fault covered by the warranty?
This text was prepared with the help of AI. Facts, figures and procedures were checked by Yegor.
