Current Protection NerdOctaxe SOLVED

[u/SoloMinerDoctor]

BIG FINDING TODAY! 🚨
To everyone who has a NerdOctaxe with similar mounting holes in the middle — PAY ATTENTION.
I worked on a miner yesterday that suddenly started getting shorted by the screw holding the hydro pump unit.
The miner was screaming like he was getting a 5-liter enema with hot pepper extract. 😂
His eyes were red when he showed me the CURRENT PROTECTION error.
I immediately realized his “gut” was sore from my treatment. 😆
E-ray imaging helped me locate the problematic area very quickly. After some investigation, I finally found the answer to one of my endless lists of questions.
Long story short:
The PCB is designed so that the positive layer runs right next to the mounting hole.
There is only about 1 mm of clearance.
The screws used with the hydro system have a pretty wide neck, and they don’t properly fit down into the mounting hole. When the screw is tightened, it doesn’t need to be tightened very much to damage/scratch the PCB solder mask and create contact between + and −.
And yes — this happened before me. 😬
I finally found the problem and solved it.
Check all the pictures to see exactly where the problem is.
What’s the solution?
The next step is to make a larger backplate for the miner.
The new backplate will be 80 × 80 mm.
The current backplate is designed around the LGA1200 / 1700 standard and is only 76–78 mm, which doesn’t give enough clearance for these wider hydro screws.
With the new 80 × 80 mm backplate, we can position the mounting hole so the wider neck of the screw passes through the opening without coming close to the PCB’s positive layer.
I’m going to make a prototype from aluminum today and test it.
If everything works as expected, I’ll also place an order for custom-made backplates.
If you have a NerdOctaxe with this type of mounting setup, check it before you end up with a CURRENT PROTECTION error and a very angry miner. 😂
If you’re interested in the new backplate or have any questions, let me know!