EMI Troubleshooting: Common Problems with Sim Racing Hardware and How to Fix Them

The proliferation of Direct Drive technology bases has brought many benefits, but it has also brought some disadvantages. We’re not just talking about the potential injuries that some users have reported, but also about other, less visible but far more pressing discomforts. According to Wikipedia, it is as follows:

Electromagnetic interference, radio interference, or radio frequency interference is a disturbance caused by an external or internal source of electromagnetic radiation in any electronic circuit, component, or system.

This disturbance has the potential to disrupt, degrade, or limit the system’s performance. Interference can be caused by any object, man-made or natural, that contains rapidly varying electrical currents, such as an electrical circuit, the sun, or the northern lights.

It is also known as EMI (ElectroMagnetic Interference) or RFI (Radio Frequency Interference) (Radio Frequency Interference).

EMI was a common issue in early Direct Drive installations because the motor controllers were not well isolated and could interfere with other cockpit elements such as pedals and steering wheels, causing them to behave abnormally. There were solutions to try because there is no sure way to get rid of them. The appropriate course of action appears to be to ground the causing devices and be able to conduct these interferences to a safe location.

However, because locating and eliminating them is extremely difficult in most cases, users resort to the opposite solution: isolating the affected device. There are some gadgets for sale for this purpose that users claim to work.

One of them appears to be this one from GeeekPi for 17.99 euros.

Another (apparently ineffective) option is to use ferrite cores in the cables of the affected devices.

Before purchasing, consider the cable’s diameter. They come in a variety of sizes. This 5 pack costs just over 7 euros.

In general, almost all high-end brands insulate their devices well, but many mid-range devices, due in part to their cheaper construction, suffer from this type of problem.

See you on the track!