Reading Thermal Images on ASIC Boards
A practical guide to interpreting infrared thermal scans during SHA-256 miner field assessments.
Infrared thermal imaging is standard equipment on every Apphemlockcore field assessment. The images look dramatic—glowing boards in shades of orange and red—but reading them correctly requires understanding what normal looks like for your specific unit model.
Baseline Temperature Zones
On a healthy SHA-256 miner running at rated voltage, chip temperatures typically cluster within a 12°C spread across the board. Hot spots isolated to one or two chips suggest imminent failure. Uniform elevation across the entire board usually indicates airflow problems rather than chip defects.
Common Patterns We See
Edge heating: Chips along the board perimeter run hotter when the heat sink has lifted from thermal paste degradation. Re-pasting costs ₩5,000 in materials and two hours of labor—far less than a board replacement.
Center hot spot with cool edges: Often a failing chip dumping heat locally. Compare pool reject rate on that unit against siblings on the same rack.
Uniform high temperature: Check intake filter, fan speed, and ambient room temperature before blaming hardware.
When to Act
We flag any chip reading above 90°C sustained during our 72-hour benchmark window. Between 80°C and 90°C, we note it in the maintenance calendar for monitoring. Below 80°C on units rated above 0.05 TH/s, routine filter and fan maintenance is usually sufficient.
Thermal imaging does not replace hash rate benchmarking, but it predicts problems that benchmarks have not yet caught.