Air-Cooled Container Basics

How an air-cooled container works

This illustrative air-cooled layout places miners in racks, admits filtered outside air and uses exhaust fans to support heat removal. Container airflow, transformer arrangements and distribution vary; use the manufacturer documentation and actual site design.

• In this example, racks hold the miners and exhaust fans at one end support airflow through the container.
• Intake filters trap dust — they load up over time and must be changed on a schedule, or airflow (and hashrate) drops.
• Transformer loading and headroom are determined by the equipment ratings and qualified site electrical design. Do not apply a generic 80% transformer rule.

The power tree

In this example, distribution runs through a switchboard to racks and fans. The table illustrates one layout, not universal breaker sizes or installation instructions; confirm actual circuit records with the responsible electrical team.

Cooling & the dust problem

• In this layout, container exhaust fans support the miners’ own cooling airflow. A stopped fan bank may reduce heat removal; the actual cooling design determines the effect.
• Filters are consumable: a clogged filter starves airflow, temps climb, fans max out, and miners throttle. Change them on a cadence.
• Because it breathes outside air, ambient temperature and weather move your hashrate directly — hot days cost real TH.

Networking basics

• A container has a master switch (often above the door) with home-runs to the rack switches, which sit on top of each rack.
• Big containers split miners across multiple VLANs / subnets, since one /24 only holds about 254 addresses.
• If the whole container's network drops, suspect the master switch or its uplink before chasing individual miners.