USB Ports Get Hot And Stop Working

[ZooNamedGames]

As the title says, the USB ports on my new computer often get very hot and the devices connected (ranging from my new webcam, to my USB internet adapter) stop working. Being that I want to get back into streaming, this is a major problem. Does anyone know any devices I could buy to counter this or any other suggestions?

Thanks for the help.

[GDJ]

1 hour ago, ZooNamedGames said:

As the title says, the USB ports on my new computer often get very hot and the devices connected (ranging from my new webcam, to my USB internet adapter) stop working. Being that I want to get back into streaming, this is a major problem. Does anyone know any devices I could buy to counter this or any other suggestions?

Thanks for the help.

I would contact the manufacturer and describe the problem. This may be a warranty issue.

[ZooNamedGames]

Just now, GDJ said:

I would contact the manufacturer and describe the problem. This may be a warranty issue.

Hm. Ok. I'd like not to since it's always a pain to set up everything.

[GDJ]

1 minute ago, ZooNamedGames said:

Hm. Ok. I'd like not to since it's always a pain to set up everything.

I can see your point, but if something that is supposed to handle 2 to 3 amps is getting hot, then there is something wrong.

Edited July 5, 2018 by GDJ

[ZooNamedGames]

4 minutes ago, GDJ said:

I can see your point, but if something that is supposed to handle 2 to 3 amps is getting hot, then there is something wrong.

The two things that seem to have the biggest problems, is the wifi dongle and the webcam. The rest seem largely unaffected (joystick, microphone, external hard drive, phone charging cable... there's too many cables and I'm not sorting through all 5 of them). The webcam kept stopping in the middle of my stream. Though, that could be OBS. I just unboxed the webcam today so I'm still working through things.

The one I can say is having a problem, without a doubt, is the wifi dongle which is constantly overheating and thus, stopping. Usually when playing online or streaming.

Edited July 5, 2018 by ZooNamedGames

[YNM]

10 minutes ago, ZooNamedGames said:

Hm. Ok. I'd like not to since it's always a pain to set up everything.

Keep in mind the weather.

You could start from ensuring all the drivers and firmwares are up-to-date.

If it still happens it might be the hardware. Check with manufacturer. Or manually check all the soldering and stuff then note down all the faults.

[StrandedonEarth]

And see if the same devices have the same problems in different ports

[ZooNamedGames]

1 hour ago, StrandedonEarth said:

And see if the same devices have the same problems in different ports

The wifi adaptor does seem to overheat no matter what port it is plugged into.

[steve_v]

6 hours ago, ZooNamedGames said:

Does anyone know any devices I could buy to counter this or any other suggestions?

Get a powered hub and you will quickly discover whether or not it is a power supply problem. A USB3 PCIE card with it's own internal power connector would do the same.

Measuring the current delivered (possibly into a dummy load) would also be worthwhile, if the USB ports fail to meet spec you have a bulletproof warranty claim.
Devices to do this are cheap, or you could just butcher a USB cable and use a multimeter.

USB ports should not get hot when delivering rated current.
Devices plugged into them might though - if you haven't already, get that power hungry wifi dongle away from the port on an extension cable and see where the heat is actually coming from.

Check out your cooling in general too, it's just possible there's enough heat coming from something nearby on the motherboard to kill the USB controller or voltage regulator when under load. I've seen laptops that have the GPU heatpipes practically on top of the USB ports.
What kind of machine is this anyway?

 

5 hours ago, GDJ said:

I can see your point, but if something that is supposed to handle 2 to 3 amps is getting hot, then there is something wrong.

USB2 spec is only 500mA. USB3: 900, unless they implement one of the charging port standards.
Most are indeed good for ~2A, but it would pay to check the hardware specifications - particularly if talking about a laptop or rear ports on a cheap motherboard.

Edited July 5, 2018 by steve_v

[invision]

it sounds like the motherboard is letting through too much voltage which will heat up any electronic part quickly, if that is the case it would be considered defective.

you could try the rear USB ports directly connected to the motherboard and see if that problem still happens.

if you are using the rear then try the front.

either way that shouldnt happen and you should ask for a replacement board.

it could also be your power supply and if you have another you could try hooking it up and checking.

 

[Nuke]

On 7/4/2018 at 6:34 PM, ZooNamedGames said:

The two things that seem to have the biggest problems, is the wifi dongle and the webcam. The rest seem largely unaffected (joystick, microphone, external hard drive, phone charging cable... there's too many cables and I'm not sorting through all 5 of them). The webcam kept stopping in the middle of my stream. Though, that could be OBS. I just unboxed the webcam today so I'm still working through things.

The one I can say is having a problem, without a doubt, is the wifi dongle which is constantly overheating and thus, stopping. Usually when playing online or streaming.

try to spread them out to the different host controllers so that no more than a couple devices on each one, high power devices should get their own. if you go into your device manager and do 'devices by connection' you can trace out where everything is on your system. also check the power tab on your root hubs for your 2.0 ports to see if anything is drawing too much power (500ma max). most input devices use less than 100ma but it can add up if you run several. 

i use an absurd number of usb ports and have problems overloading the host controllers. and it doesnt help that ive abused my usb ports with all kinds of mcu projects either.

Edited July 6, 2018 by Nuke

[ZooNamedGames]

On 7/5/2018 at 7:55 PM, invision said:

it sounds like the motherboard is letting through too much voltage which will heat up any electronic part quickly, if that is the case it would be considered defective.

you could try the rear USB ports directly connected to the motherboard and see if that problem still happens.

if you are using the rear then try the front.

either way that shouldnt happen and you should ask for a replacement board.

it could also be your power supply and if you have another you could try hooking it up and checking.

 

It happens on both the front and rear USB ports. Though again the problem seems contained to the USB wifi adapter.

[Lisias]

The WIFI adapter is just the trigger. The problem is on the MoBo.

Try using a powered USB hub for the WiFi. This would lesser the load on the MoBo's circuits, but, frankly, this should not be happening. 

[ZooNamedGames]

11 minutes ago, Lisias said:

The WIFI adapter is just the trigger. The problem is on the MoBo.

Try using a powered USB hub for the WiFi. This would lesser the load on the MoBo's circuits, but, frankly, this should not be happening. 

I have a USB hub but the update speed is terrible, and not worth compromising to.

[Lisias]

26 minutes ago, ZooNamedGames said:

I have a USB hub but the update speed is terrible, and not worth compromising to.

Should not be that horrible. Your hub could be in USB 1.1 mode due energy constraints. Try a powered hub 3.0 to see if it make things better - the alternative is change the MoBo (what can be probably a good idea, as things are not going well with it).

EDIT: Check the PSU too. Just in case.

Edited July 7, 2018 by Lisias
typos galore

[GDJ]

If you need a powered USB hub I have this one for my Mac Mini. Works very well and has 1.5 amps to boot!


https://www.bestbuy.com/site/j5create-4-port-usb-3-0-hub-black/4445016.p?skuId=4445016

Edited July 7, 2018 by GDJ

[Gargamel]

Heck, I went out and got a 12 port hub from amazon.  It'a the only thing I plug into the laptop, and I only have 1 free port in it right now.   This way I only have the one USB cord and the power supply cord to plug into the laptop anytime I want to move it.  

[haanuman]

I'd be interested in knowing what the problem is, personally I think it is has to do something with the MOBO and the voltages.