FAQs

The differences between BitCool and ElectroCool are based on the raw material components, their reaction times, post processing, and their resulting viscosity and material compatibility index. The materials compatibility index is the measure of how compatible a specific Dielectric Coolant is with the various materials we expect the coolant to come into contact with. Because each of our Dielectric Coolants is formulated for different applications our Chief Scientist, Dr. David Sundin, has formulated each coolant to have the highest thermal density and greatest material compatibility for its application.

Our Dielectric Fluids are composed of a host of 60+ raw material components that are fed into our reactors under very specific temperatures and pressures during the reaction which results in the final composition of our Dielectric Coolants. Generally speaking the longer we allow the reaction to continue higher the material compatibility index of the coolant, because the less unprocessed raw materials are left in the final product. In addition, for some products we also run them through an additional post process to remove specific catalysts and unreacted components to further improve the purity thus the material compatibility index of the final coolant.

BitCool is our least processed coolant, and thus has the highest degree of unprocessed / intermediate materials and thus the lowest material compatibility index of all of our products. However, because ASIC miners are relatively simple devices and generally share the same components these devices do not require a high material compatibility index – as long as the coolant is fully compatible with targeted subset of common components.

We’ve a couple of simple solutions to solve the issue of labels peeling off and/or the ink on the labels degrading. As you’ll notice, ccertain types of labels have better material compatibility than others and it depends on the label location, label substrate material, ink type, and adhesive used.

Etched metallic substrate (mylar-type, alumimum, etc.) labels which are adhered to flat surfaces are generally fully compatible and stay adhered when immersed.

For paper labels adhered to a flat surface we recommend a few drops of Cyanoacrylate glue, this very thin fast drying material (full cures in seconds) wicks readily into paper based labels and fully seals the paper, bonds the ink, and also seals the adhesive. This process takes a few seconds with practice. This method is a great way to ensure labels remain readable and attached during immersion.

For labels that are attached in locations with uneven surfaces we recommend first the Permabond 790 application, and then an application of Goop II Max. This is a polypropylene/solvent adhesive that both seals and adheres. We use this in situations where we feel a label is not fully adhered or will have gaps under the adhesive that the 790 will not gap. We spread a very thin layer of the material around the edges of the label making sure to have contact with the label and the surface of the material that label is bonding to. We allow this to fully cure which is about 30m at 18C.

Long term we would recommend a migration to Mylar etched type label with a fast curing polypropylene adhesive.

Servers, GPUs, FPGAs, batteries, and charging systems have a much longer expected useful life (~4-8 years) because of this and the fact that they have a much wider set of materials and componentry they require a significantly higher material compatibility index than ASIC miners do to ensure they are able to meet their expected operational life.

If you are going to be mixing both GPUs and ASICs in a single tank, we highly recommend using EC-100 or EC-110 as the Dielectric Coolant. Using BitCool with GPUs could result in a device failure due to material incompatibilities

The Engineered Fluids Recycling Program is designed to provide Engineered Fluids customers the opportunity to recycle their used dielectric coolants instead of disposing of them in ways that can harm our environment. The process for recycling requires that Engineered Fluids test samples of the coolants to be recycled for contamination and any resulting toxicity to ensure that the coolants are properly handled.

The steps in the recycling process are:

1) Customer contacts Engineered Fluids at support@engineeredfluids.com with a description of the type and amount of fluid to be recycled.

2) Engineered Fluids will provide an estimate for the cost of containers, transportation, and recycling of the fluids.

3) Fluids will send out testing containers to customers to collect the necessary samples and return the samples to Engineered Fluids for testing.

If the samples test negative for toxicity and contamination:

1) Engineered Fluids will arrange with Customer for their purchase of empty shipping containers to the Customer site and loading instructions for the Coolants;

2) Customer will be responsible for transferring the fluid to the containers and readying them for shipping in accordance with Engineered Fluids instructions:

3) Engineered Fluids will organize the shipping of the full containers to the Engineered Fluids recycling facility at the customers cost.

4) The contents of each container will be tested again upon arrival at the Engineered Fluids recycling facility to validate the earlier test results and ensure compliance with handling and safety requirements as well as to access any additional costs that may be the responsibility of the Customer.

5) Engineered Fluids will process and recycle the used dielectric coolant at no cost to the customer.

If the samples test positive for toxicity or contamination:

1) Engineered Fluids will provide the Customer with a copy of the test results and discuss the nature of the contamination results with the Customer.

2) Engineered Fluids will take the appropriate actions to assist customers in arranging for either the safe destruction or third-party recycling of the contaminated coolants.

3) Engineered Fluids will arrange with Customer for their purchase of empty shipping containers to the Customer site and loading instructions for the Coolants;

4) Customer will be responsible for transferring the fluid to the containers and readying them for shipping in accordance with Engineered Fluids instructions:

5) Engineered Fluids will organize the shipping of the full containers to the appropriate third-party recycling or disposal facility at the customer’s cost.

6) The contents of all containers will be tested again upon arrival at the recycling or disposal facility to validate the earlier test results and ensure compliance with handling and safety requirements as well as to assess any additional costs that may be the responsibility of the Customer..
7) The coolants will be recycled or disposed of at customers cost in accordance with all local, state, and federal laws.

Please note that this information is provided as general program guidelines only. You must comply with all country, state and local regulations for the disposal of all chemicals, regardless of our recommendations below. Because our coolants come in contact with electrical devices, other chemicals, equipment and materials of many types and manufacturers it is impossible for us to provide specific instructions for disposal and recycling without the processing of test samples and a specific geographic location of the used Coolants. Engineered Fluids takes no responsibility for the customers’ disposal, handling, or other similar and related actions taken by users of our products.

How to clean new devices before immersing them.

We recommend that you always clean all devices prior to immersing them in your SLIC System. We find that servers, miners, and all other electronic devices come from the factory with some amount of manufacturing debris on them. This can be waxes, greases, and other similar materials intentionally placed on the device as a protective film for storage and shipping purposes by the manufacturer or basic dust, dirt and grime that wasn’t removed or gathered during storage. Used equipment, especially devices with fans, are filled with dust and dirt, and you want to remove this BEFORE immersing them as the amount of dust can be considerable.

Step 1) Compressed Air Cleaning

We recommend using medium pressure air (about 50psi) and a tight air nozzle gun to blow off as much of the debris as possible, for used equipment, you’ll want to focus on the heat sinks and any surface that was facing the fans. You may need to use a light bristle brush to remove any caked-on dirt, and before looking under the edges of any heat sinks as dust is often trapped there. We have a nozzle that we made for our shop that has a short 90deg bend in it to help get under overhangs like heat sinks. For new equipment, a light blow over is usually sufficient, and an effective way to see if there is anything built up on the boards. Be very careful with how much air pressure you use and how close you get on the boards, we’ve have seen customers using high pressure air nozzles blow memory, capacitors, and other modules clean off the boards rending them useless.

Step 2) Agitated Rinse in Coolant

After removing as must of the debris as possible, the next step is to rinse the device with the Dielectric Coolant you will be using.

We get a lot of questions about using our DS-100 Dielectric Solvent to clean devices prior to immersing them. While you can use our DS-100 to clean devices prior to immersion, you will have to wait until the device has fully dried before immersing it as you don’t want to bring active DS-100 solvent into your SLICTank. We only recommend using DS-100 when you are trying to remove the Dielectric Coolant from a device that has already been immersed.

Using the Dielectric Coolant that you’ll be using in your SLIC system is the best way to pre-clean your devices prior to immersing them for operation. This will remove any waxes, greases or protective films and it will remove dirt and debris as well. There are a couple of different ways to clean your device, the simplest method, and the one that we use for miners is simply to fill a 5gal / 20L bucket about 3/4 fill of Dielectric Coolant (if you are using BitCool you can use the 20L bucket it comes in, just pour some out first in to your tank) and then place the miner into the bucket of Dielectric Coolant and agitate the device a few second under the coolant. Make sure that you get the device completely immersed in the coolant while you are agitating it for about 5-15secs (depending on how dirty your device is). You want to move the device around in the coolant briskly (agitate it) to make sure the Dielectric Coolant enters all areas of the device. Then remove the device and place it on another bucket with a piece of mesh over it to allow the coolant to drip off and remove the material, you can go back and forth between using the coolant in the two buckets to clean off the miners. There is no need to use clean coolant for every miner! We can usually clean about 100-150 new miners with a single bucket of 20L, and about 50-75 used miners.

For servers, the easiest method is to set up a “wash station” using a small oil transfer pump and a large plastic or metal tank, At our lab we use a tall acrylic tank that is largest enough to hang the server in with some distance between the bottom of the server and the pooling coolant. Our tank has three tall sides and a 1/4 front panel so that most of the server is accessible from the front. We then fill the bottom of the tank with about 20L of coolant and using the pump connected to the bottom of the tank we spray the Dielectric Coolant over the entire server using a low-pressure nozzle on a flexible hose. We rinse the server on all sides from top to bottom for about 5-10secs and then allow the coolant to drip off the server for a few minutes to remove any debris.

Another technique is to lay the server down in a pan and spray or pour Dielectric Coolant on the server and stand it up right to allow it to drain off.

For new servers and miners, we have many customers that simply immerse the devices directly in their tanks and rely on their filtering systems to remove the debris, for used devices we DO NOT RECOMMEND this as the quantity of debris you may put in your tank could clog your pumps or worse your dry coolers

You should always have a written spill plan for your location, you can request a spill plan template from Engineered Fluids by emailing support@engineeredfluids.com. The spill plan is important because it is the first thing any emergency responder will ask for when arriving on your site if you are dealing with larger spills.

You can find the absorbent pads (“Pigs”) on sale here
Upon any spill immediately place absorbent pads (“Pigs”) down on the floor to absorb any Dielectric Coolant that maybe on the floor and to prevent change of slipping and place a container in such a sway to contain any further spillage, we recommend using only a non-conductive “plastic” container to catch the coolant if the container will have any chance of contact with any energized electrical devices. If the container will not have a chance of coming in contact with an energized device, then we recommend using aluminum baking pans as they are available in a wide range of sizes and heights to contain the spillage.
Remove as much of the liquid dielectric coolant as possible from the floor using the Pigs to absorb the spilled material and then dispose of the Pigs once saturated. Disposal should be made in accordance with local requirements for the disposal of biodegradable substances.

Once the Dielectric Coolant has been removed, then complete the cleaning of the floor and any non-electrified components using a common degreaser, such as Simple Green or 409, it is important to note that most common aqueous based degreasers (like Simple Green & 409) are NOT dielectric and will conduct electricity, take special care to NOT spray common degreasers on any electrified equipment or near electrified equipment even if the electrical equipment has been de-energized.
Please note that, for areas where the Engineered Fluids Dielectric Coolant has dripped on to electrified equipment it will not harm nor short the equipment. Please refer to Engineered Fluid’s Materials Compatibility Guide for information on compatible materials.

In areas, where it is necessary to clean electrified equipment, we recommend the equipment be de-energized before cleaning. Double check the power to the device has been shut down before proceeding with cleaning.
Prior to handling DS-100 we recommend that you wear rubber gloves to provide electrical insulation and protection of exposed skin from DS-100.

For electrical equipment, use only Engineered Fluids’ Dielectric Solvent DS-100 to clean the equipment to remove any trace of Dielectric Coolant. To clean spray on the DS-100 and then wipe off any access, DS-100 should be used only in well ventilated areas. DS-100 is flammable and should not be used where a source of ignition is possible. Allow the DS-100 to dry before re-energizing the equipment. Because DS-100 is dielectric there is no risk of shortening from residual solvent on electrical equipment is re-energized.