This time it was a Bitaxe GT800, complaining of severe cognitive impairment.
Diagnosis
After a quick examination, the diagnosis was obvious: the right hemisphere had stopped functioning. One ASIC was completely dead, so the poor miner was trying to solve Bitcoin with only half a brain.
Surgery
Thankfully, brain transplants are covered under my warranty.
A successful ASIC replacement later, both hemispheres were talking to each other again. The patient regained full brain function and went back to calculating hashes instead of making excuses.
Notes
The Plot Twist
While I had the patient opened up, I noticed something that made me raise an eyebrow.
The engineers had a great idea by placing the VRMs directly underneath the main heatsink. That’s exactly where you want them.
Then someone apparently said:
“You know what would make this even better? Let’s put about a millimeter of thermal paste between them.”
Thermal paste isn’t peanut butter. It’s supposed to fill microscopic gaps—not become the gap itself.
A thick layer like that actually slows heat transfer.
Time for an Experiment
Since my clinic has no shortage of deceased ASICs (may they rest in pieces), I decided to see if they could become organ donors one last time.
I cleaned everything up, applied a thin layer of thermal paste to both sides of a dead ASIC, and used it as a thermal spacer between the VRMs and the heatsink.
The difference was immediate.
Even before looking at the thermal camera, you could tell the VRMs were running noticeably cooler. The camera simply confirmed what my fingers already suspected.
Not bad for a chip that had already been pronounced dead.
Home Treatment
If you own a Bitaxe GT800, I highly recommend checking yours. This is an easy modification that can noticeably reduce VRM temperatures and give them a much happier life.
Scroll through the photos below to see exactly how I performed the operation.
Need Donor ASICs?
No problem.
My morgue is well stocked.
If you’d like to perform the same modification, I’ll mail you a few dead ASICs. Just cover $2 for a non-machinable letter, and I’ll send them your way.
Who knew that even dead ASICs could continue mining… just in a different career.