diff --git a/persistent-memory.d/2026-09-01-ada-migration-branch-a.md b/persistent-memory.d/2026-09-01-ada-migration-branch-a.md
index eb5fbca..ed5d931 100644
--- a/persistent-memory.d/2026-09-01-ada-migration-branch-a.md
+++ b/persistent-memory.d/2026-09-01-ada-migration-branch-a.md
@@ -210,12 +210,37 @@ they had spent part of the day reporting LTX 2.5 as the strategic acquisition of
 scan and queuing a 15.9 GB REDGraft 2.5 checkpoint on top of a base already present. Their
 domain, no infra-ops action.
 
-⚠ **OPEN QUESTION back to comfy-dev, unanswered:** `qwen3vl_32b_minimax_h3_int8_convrot`
-(25.3 GiB) is listed as an orphan because the pin favours a 15.7 GB nvfp4 build over "the
-27.1 GB int8 one". **sm_89 Ada has no native nvfp4** — that is Blackwell, and it is the same
-fact that made their OTHER pin (away from a 7.74 GB nvfp4, toward a 12.84 GB int8) correct.
-If the H3 pin was set under a Blackwell assumption, the int8 file may be the one that is right
-on the new box. Asked, not asserted; infra-ops may be conflating two pins.
+## ✅ THE H3 ENCODER PIN — infra-ops' question RESOLVED AGAINST ITSELF, no action
+
+Verified on disk 2026-09-01, both builds present, pulled a minute apart:
+
+    26G  text_encoders/qwen3vl_32b_minimax_h3_int8_convrot.safetensors   Aug 23 21:57
+    15G  text_encoders/qwen3vl_32b_minimax_h3_nvfp4_awq.safetensors      Aug 23 21:58
+
+**The question was:** comfy-dev pinned the nvfp4 build; **sm_89 Ada has no native nvfp4** (that
+is Blackwell), and that same fact made their OTHER pin (away from a 7.74 GB nvfp4, toward a
+12.84 GB int8) correct — so was the H3 pin set under a Blackwell assumption, making the int8
+file the one that is right on the new box?
+
+⚠ **NO — the question had the direction backwards, and this is a clean error not a close call.**
+comfy-dev pinned it on **irv-ml1's A6000, which is Ampere sm_86** — no native nvfp4 *and* no
+native fp8. **Ada sm_89 supports a strict superset** (adds fp8 e4m3, still no fp4). **A pin
+correct on the weaker card cannot be invalidated by moving to the stronger one.** The migration
+is incapable of breaking it.
+
+**What the pin is actually about: VRAM, not architecture.** 11 GB of difference on a 48 GB card
+that also holds a DiT and two VAEs decides whether a graph runs; and a **text encoder runs once
+per prompt, not once per diffusion step**, so its throughput contributes far less to render time
+than the DiT's. Trading encode speed for headroom is right at that ratio — and it explains why
+this pin went the *opposite* way from their other one without either being inconsistent (that
+model was small enough that int8 fit, so speed won). **The RTX 6000 Ada is also 48 GB, so the
+constraint does not relax.** Pin stands.
+
+⚠ **The int8 build is surplus but must NOT be read as a delete signal.** With 6+ SSDs the
+destination lands near 14% rather than 84%, so disk stops being the constraint, and comfy-dev's
+own pin-rot argument applies: a 26 GB artifact that may not be re-obtainable is worth more idle
+than reclaimed. Reclassified from "orphan" to "spare". Question withdrawn to comfy-dev; nothing
+owed by them.
 
 ## THE PATTERN THIS THREAD KEEPS PRODUCING
 
@@ -298,8 +323,6 @@ comfy-dev raised it; infra-ops concurs. **Operator's call.** Two independent rea
 - **Retain vs reclaim irv-ml1's `/storetank`** — surfaced to the operator, retain recommended.
 - **comfy-dev's per-file prune audit** — offered, explicitly NOT gating the cutover, waiting
   on the operator wanting it. Their judgment, not infra-ops'.
-- **The H3 encoder nvfp4-vs-int8 pin** — infra-ops asked whether it was set under a Blackwell
-  assumption; unanswered.
 - **comfy-dev's ~112 GB batch** — unheld by infra-ops; they deliberately did not pull until
   the operator approved putting that much onto his infrastructure. Manifest pinned and staged
   (`29324e9`). **Landed 2026-09-01**, SHAs green; 93.4 GiB on disk awaiting catalogue
diff --git a/persistent-memory.md b/persistent-memory.md
index 2ebc159..1b8d6fd 100644
--- a/persistent-memory.md
+++ b/persistent-memory.md
@@ -188,7 +188,11 @@ _As of 2026-09-01 — **the GX10 is on the operator's desk, NOT racked. Standing
   RETAIN recommended** (two paywalled pins mean a from-source rebuild cannot reproduce the
   stack; and under a no-spend striped destination it is the only redundancy). comfy-dev also
   found ~215 GiB of unreferenced weights and offers a per-file prune audit — **explicitly NOT
-  gating**, because pruning all of it still lands the as-bought mirror at 72%.
+  gating**, because pruning all of it still lands the as-bought mirror at 72%. ✅ **H3 encoder
+  pin RESOLVED** — infra-ops' nvfp4-vs-int8 question had the direction backwards (pinned on
+  Ampere sm_86; Ada sm_89 is a strict superset, so the move cannot break it). Pin is about
+  **VRAM not architecture**; stands. The 26 GB int8 is a **spare, not an orphan** — do not
+  delete.
   → `persistent-memory.d/2026-09-01-ada-migration-branch-a.md`
 - **⏸ Worldtree `route_not_found` awaiting the operator's DEPLOY PUSH.** Approved and landed
   by worldtree-dev as `ece0250c` (wire 2.5.0→2.6.0). main auto-deploys demo. Until it ships,