Quick answer
The Antminer L3+ (Bitmain, 2017) is a Scrypt miner for Litecoin and Dogecoin, not a Bitcoin miner. It delivers about 504 MH/s at roughly 800W using 288 BM1485 chips. It is long obsolete for profit but remains a popular, low-power, repairable tinkering and heating unit.
Verdict: a Scrypt classic that sips power — fun to run, easy to repair, but well past its profitable days.
For the full canonical specification sheet, see our Antminer L3+ specs guide. This review focuses on the practical picture: what the L3+ is, what it can and can’t mine, and how to own one today.
The Antminer L3+ is different from every other miner on this site: it runs the Scrypt algorithm, which means it mines Litecoin and other Scrypt coins (such as Dogecoin via merged mining), not Bitcoin. Released in 2017, it was the dominant Litecoin ASIC of its era. It draws relatively little power, which is part of why so many are still in service.
Antminer L3+ specifications
- Hashrate: ~504 MH/s
- Power consumption: ~800W at the wall (stock)
- Algorithm: Scrypt (Litecoin, Dogecoin and other Scrypt coins) — not SHA-256/Bitcoin
- ASIC chip: BM1485
- Chip count: 288 chips across four hashboards
- Cooling: dual fans
- Noise: ~75 dB
- Dimensions: 352 x 130 x 187.5 mm; ~5 kg
- Released: 2017
L3 vs L3+ and efficiency
The L3+ doubled the original L3: ~504 MH/s versus ~250 MH/s, at ~800W versus ~400W, so efficiency stayed similar (~1.6 J/MH) while output doubled. It uses 288 BM1485 chips, with voltage regulated per power domain rather than per chip. By 2026 standards it is far behind newer Scrypt hardware, so like every legacy miner its economics depend on a low electricity price. Underclocking and undervolting can improve efficiency at the cost of some hashrate.
Power and home use
At ~800W the L3+ is one of the few ASICs that runs comfortably on a standard 120V household circuit, which makes it genuinely home-friendly on the electrical side. The catch is noise: at ~75 dB it is still loud for a living space, so a basement, garage, or ventilated room is best. Because almost all of its 800W becomes heat, it doubles nicely as a supplemental heater — D-Central offers an L3+ Space Heater Edition for exactly that. Note that the Bitaxe and other Bitcoin miners cannot replace an L3+ here: they mine SHA-256/Bitcoin, while the L3+ mines Scrypt.
Firmware and tuning
Custom firmware for the L3+ focuses on stability and efficiency tuning. The broader mining-firmware ecosystem stands on the shoulders of the people who built it first — Braiins pioneered ASIC autotuning, and the open-source community reverse-engineered Bitmain’s chips — though Scrypt-specific support varies by project, so check compatibility before flashing anything. Whatever you run, the goal on an old miner is efficiency, not raw speed. D-Central’s own GPL-3.0 firmware, DCENT_OS, is in closed beta (public beta targeted for summer 2026, experimental, waitlist-only) and is focused on Bitcoin SHA-256 hardware.
Buying, refurb, and repair
D-Central has run a mining repair bench since 2016, and the L3+ shares much of its design language with the S9 era, so it is well within our wheelhouse. When hashrate drops it is usually a single board at fault; a replacement L3 hashboard is often cheaper than a whole unit, and our transparent ASIC repair pricing shows when a fix makes sense. We also list working L3+ units and heater conversions. Refurbished hardware carries D-Central’s own warranty; new units carry the manufacturer’s; returns are DOA/defect-only. We build to order, so lead times are estimates, not promises.
FAQ
What does the Antminer L3+ mine?
It mines Scrypt-algorithm coins — primarily Litecoin, and Dogecoin via merged mining. It cannot mine Bitcoin, which uses the SHA-256 algorithm.
What are the Antminer L3+ specifications?
About 504 MH/s at roughly 800W (~1.6 J/MH), using 288 BM1485 chips across four hashboards. It weighs about 5 kg and was released by Bitmain in 2017.
Can I run an Antminer L3+ at home?
Electrically, yes — at ~800W it runs on a standard 120V circuit. The limitation is noise (~75 dB), so a basement, garage, or ventilated room is best. It also works well as a supplemental space heater.
Is the Antminer L3+ profitable in 2026?
At most electricity prices, no. It is far behind modern Scrypt hardware, so it earns only on very cheap power or when its heat output is genuinely useful.
Last reviewed and fact-checked: June 2026 — D-Central. Specifications cross-checked against manufacturer data and our own repair-bench experience.
