Is there any such thing?  Flying P3D in Orbx NCA with A2A Cherokee and my CH Products throttle stops working.  I unplug and replug.  It works again, then it stops working again.  Is it something with my PC where those ports just quit for some reason?

Could be your USB port going to powersave/sleep mode. I have overpowered USB ports before, but it took alot of Gear attached,

Well I have a lot of connections....  CH throttle, MS FFB2 stick, Saitek combat pedals, mouse, kb, TrackIR+TCP, Printer, USB 4 port dongle (non powered)

 

The throttle seems to be the first one to die....

 

hmmm

The biggest thing to be careful about are things that require power.  Too much current draw and you can absolutely have issues which may be easily solved by a decent powered hub.  But this time of year in the northern hemisphere, many of us also have issues in our homes with static electricity, and it's possible to zap a port as well.

 

All that aside, ports can start to fail for no good reason other than age and wear.

 

Scott

Oh boy didn't think about static...  I had some serious static issues last Winter and ended up adding a humidifier which seemed to help at the end of last Winter.

 

Sometimes when someone touches my tower the sound pops... or even if I touch my mouse it will do that some days...

It's still doing it...  maybe I'll try swapping ports

Windows 8 issue with USB ports, possibly (a lot more about that in the Win 8 forum here, if you have that OS).

 

Thanks, Bruce.

 

 

It's still doing it... maybe I'll try swapping ports

 

If there's anything plugged into your hub or other ports directly on you PC which draw power, I'd still consider picking up a powered hub and seeing if that makes a difference.  Weird things start to happen when the power draw exceeds what your system can handle, and sometimes even though you appear to be under the rated current you can have issues.  Powered hubs are relatively inexpensive - it's worth a try.

 

Scott

 

 

I'd still consider picking up a powered hub

 

+1 

 

I have all my Saitek gear running through a dedicated powered USB hub because like the OP, my yoke would disconnect at random times and my autopilot and NAV/COM panels would blink and become unresponsive. Since I switched to the dedicated powered USB hub, I've had zeor issues.

Ok, any of you guys got recommendations?

Windows 8 issue with USB ports, possibly (a lot more about that in the Win 8 forum here, if you have that OS).

Thanks, Bruce.

 I use Win7 thanks for the info though

Just want to thank the guys who recommend the powered hub - I completely forgot I have a mini 2 port sitting on my desk....  I used that for the throttle and haven't had an issue since.  Maybe I'll just buy one of those fancy ones on amazon and plug everything into it