cut the hole larger (I believe they come 1/2") so it fits snug and slide up
Will the snap-on chokes be sent in Box #2 for those who have yet to receive a shipping confirmation for Box #2 if those who have already received the final box will be getting a separate shipment of them?
@noboost4you If you received a Box#2 shipping notification today the choke is inside the USB cable bag. If you have already received the final Box#2 or had yours ship earlier this week but havent received it yet, we will be sending out a bubble mailer this week with your choke inside and installation instructions. Hope this helps!
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I fall into the category of no shipping notification (#8922) and thus asked if a choke would be included in everyone’s Box #2 moving forward.
I will repeat myself once again… Awsome customer service as always.
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You guys ROCK from a customer service perspective. The fact that you’d proactively send a fix to all customers instead of waiting for those that complain to notify you is a true testament to what we can expect from this fine company. I’ve been in the customer service business for nearly 30 years and always find it a joy to do business with companies that do what you do, HOW you do it! Thanks, Team Langmuir!!! You’re truly creating Raving Fans!
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I’m having the same issue USB disconnecting what did you do to fix it?
I updated the THC driver and it hasnt happened since. I spaced my electronics further apart due to the noise issues. It may have been that also
@jhassling Do you have your Ferrite choke installed? We sent each customer one of these via USPS this week and you should receive it any day now.
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I don’t have the ferrite choke yet maybe Monday but if I held the laptop I was fine. If I left the laptop on the stand the USB would disconnect. I finished wiring the plasma cutter and hooking up the thc today. Everything worked awesome with default settings. I tried to make it fail with warped old skeletons. Never missed a beat! Wow!
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Still experiencing this problem and I’m completely up to date with every “fix” and software/firmware updates that have been released so far. FireControl randomly freezes and torch relay gets stuck mid-cut on and I’m forced to pull the plug. I’m getting incredibly frustrated… I don’t even trust this machine enough to start cutting a sheet of parts for fear the software will freeze, which in turn loses my (0,0) settings and I’m screwed. Someone please help! @langmuir-mike @langmuir-daniel
(Current “fixes” I’ve done: Isolated USB Housing from electronics enclosure. Checked for continuity between board and case. Ferrite choke installed on USB cable. Work lead on opposite side of table from laptop/enclosure and laid in a non-coiled manner. Updated FireControl, Sheetcam post, and V1.08 THC firmware. Running Hypertherm 65 with machine torch.)
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Hi @golferguy17 we are sorry to hear about the freezing issue that you’re experiencing. We’ve only ever seen this happen when EMI causes FireControl to freeze and it’s possible that the one ferrite choke that you have isn’t enough given your setup. I’ve created a new order for you and we’re going to send you another choke to install on the computer side of the USB cable in the same way that you have the choke on the enclosure side.
In addition, just to make sure that it’s not a FireControl issue, we are releasing FireControl Version 20.3 on Monday and I am going to send you the install link hopefully as soon as tomorrow. The reason being is that this version of FireControl has a toggle for the visualizer to turn it off when running a program. This decreases the CPU usage by 70%. We’re not sure if your issue is freezing related or related to a program crashing issue so we want to attack the problem with the kitchen sink method so it doesn’t keep happening to you! My money is still on the ferrite chokes fixing your issue, however. We had a very noisy plasma cutter (AHP with some high frequency electronics) that would freeze even with one choke installed but after installing 3 chokes we were able to get it to cut so that is good news!
When you run FireContol and open task manager, what do you see for CPU usage?
Mine keeps freezing mine up as well. Won’t even let me close my computer. Had to turn it off and start up again.
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I’m running into this issue with a Hypertherm Powermax 600. I have the USB cable with the supplied choke, with two loops through it, installed. As soon as the torch fires the USB connection is lost. This happens if trying to use Firecontrol or the torch trigger. Using the manual torch fire in FireControl I had the torch stay stuck on, almost put a hole in the water table… anyway…
I have another CNC machine which uses USB, from day one I’ve always used a USB isolator between it and the PC. Mounted right next to the machine are two VFDs, which are known to be noisy. I’ve never had a problem, my machining runs are measured in hours (8 hours is typical).
All that to say I grabbed the USB isolator and used it and the problem was solved. Here is a short video showing the problem and the solution with the isolator. You can find the isolators on ebay/amazon for relatively cheap. Although the exact model I use no longer seems to be sold.
FWIW I measured the USB to table for continuity and found none, I also disconnected the VIM from the electronics enclosure, and the problem persisted.
On edit - Perhaps one reason this is showing up on the Hypertherm is that I’ve run the torch trigger wires out the same strain relief fitting as the raw arc lines that go to the VIM. Perhaps the trigger wires are picking up the noise and propagating it to the enclosure/USB. Might be worth documenting how others with this issue have their lines run/ or if they have factory CNC ports…
Here’s a link to one with US Stock, as most of the ones on ebay seem to be shipping from China, although it lacks a nice case
https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Olimex-Ltd/USB-ISO?qs=hO3QYTFrOd09eOKVRIujMQ==
Manufacturer link https://www.olimex.com/Products/USB-Modules/USB-ISO/
Another one with a case but more $$
https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Keterex/KXUSB-150?qs=sGAEpiMZZMuos25lhNoLahchgXDNv7iT
Mouser has other options too, by most are around $100 and up.
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@Greg9504 Thank you for this post it is super helpful! We are going to look into these USB isolators as a potential fix for customers where the issue persists even with the ferrite choke. Thanks again!
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Great stuff. Thanks for sharing.
Does the isolator eliminate the need for the choke then?
They perform different tasks. To keep it simple, the isolator eliminates the path (ground loop) for the interference to travel on, the chokes reduce the amplitude of the interference. While you may have eliminated the path of one source, you can still have other sources, so it’s probably best to have them both. At least that’s my understanding, I’m not claiming to be an expert.
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