Interference on Centre 304. Please help!

[earyzhe]

Hey guys

I'm having a very strange problem at the moment and its blowing my mind. Just wondering if any of you have come across it before and if so,  how you remedied it?

The problem is basically I connect everything together in my system apart from the USB cable to the pc and everything works fine. As soon as I connect the USB cable from the Centre 304 to my PC the temperature across all sensors goes from room temp (24c) to to around -54c.

The Video is here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHu4LGUK6Gc

I played around some more and worked out that if I disconnected the drum motor and some of the equipotential bonding I installed, I could plug the USB in and the sensors would all read normal.

Here I have the USB connected plugging the motor in and out. Note the switch for motor is off.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMVyrIci8U4

Obviously neither situation can be used. I was living in Melbourne before and this system was working fine. Now I'm in the UK.  I shipped everything over, set it up the same and now it's just being weird. The only thing that is different is the PC I'm using, but I have tried a couple here and the result is the same.

Any idea's or advice would be appreciated

Thanks

Andrew

[day]

I have read a lot about grounding issues but never experienced
It. Try a laptop and unplug it.

[earyzhe]

I just tried it with a laptop and it works!

Thanks but really wierd and annyoying when you cannot use it with a PC

[JavaBuzz]

This might workaround the issue on a PC:
http://www.phidgets.com/products.php?product_id=3060

Not exactly cheap (and make sure you buy the case with it if you actually get it).

I'd be interested to see if it does.

I had a lot of issues with grounding and the TC4 I had. The Phidget 1048 I'm now using seems to handle ground fluctuations much better.

[hankua]

I actually went to HD and bought an 8' ground rod and clamp; and use some wire I had laying around. Then assembled a short ground wire from the roaster and use a wire connector for attachment.