The Power Cord Conspiracy, Here's the truth Options

[jimk72]

I might get alot of flames, but I think this is not MS problem. A 1.0 and 1.2 xbox puts it at what over 3 years old? Mine is a day one 1.0 and never had any problems, looked and joints are fine. In my spare time I have had many xbox owners bring me there xbox to fix and found everything from trashed HD to busted av port on back and found %98 of to be the owners fault. The one kid said he got pissed at a game and threw is xbox and now it only works some times. The HD was bad and the power cord connection was half ripped out from throwing it wile it was plugged in!

Im not saying all cases are like this, but any hardware that has a plug like that and is abused(unpluged and repluged many times a month) is going to go bad. Im an electrician and before that I was an electronics tech in the army, I Don't see this as MS fault. I feel they did more than they had to by sending out a proper safety cord. The GFI cord will prevent any problems that may occur and disconnect the power in Milliseconds! yes Milliseconds, thats how fast a GFI works!

That is my .02

[shank69xo]

I might get alot of flames, but I think this is not MS problem. A 1.0 and 1.2 xbox puts it at what over 3 years old? Mine is a day one 1.0 and never had any problems, looked and joints are fine. In my spare time I have had many xbox owners bring me there xbox to fix and found everything from trashed HD to busted av port on back and found %98 of to be the owners fault. The one kid said he got pissed at a game and threw is xbox and now it only works some times. The HD was bad and the power cord connection was half ripped out from throwing it wile it was plugged in! 

Im not saying all cases are like this, but any hardware that has a plug like that and is abused(unpluged and repluged many times a month) is going to go bad. Im an electrician and before that I was an electronics tech in the army, I Don't see this as MS fault. I feel they did more than they had to by sending out a proper safety cord. The GFI cord will prevent any problems that may occur and disconnect the power in Milliseconds! yes Milliseconds, thats how fast a GFI works!

That is my .02

Thats fine and dandy, but thats not what is going on here. I personally have fixed countless Foxlink PS's because of this. Although I will say this. It seems, well in my cases anyways, that it is more apt to happen to customers who move their XBOX, unplugging and replugging it back in alot.

MS needs to address this issue qith another solution besides replacing cords.

On a side note 400

This post has been edited by shank69xo: Mar 20 2005, 04:42 PM

[TheMuffinMan]

Saw HD's news post thought I'd reply

I've got 2 consoles that are affected, both 1.0, both with Foxlink, and both with cracked solder jobs, my first launch xbox, had both prongs broken (just like everyone else's) causing it to be incredibly wobbly when plugged in and spark occassionally, the 2nd I received from a friend recently because it was broken, crack it open to find it's got the same problem, just on one prong though, fixed both, and figured I'd take a look at my other boxes - "just in case" type of thing. Well 2 other of my consoles have Foxlinks, but their power prongs/encasing is different, not only is it attached via the solder joints and prongs, but the plastic boot was extended on both sides of the connection and riveted down to the power supply. In my opinion then, Foxlink themselves knew it was a bad design right after 1.0 and 1.1's and changed it, but I sure didn't get a letter then

[COTA-GodlyOne]

This is the weird thing, your ALL having the problem with the foxlink psu right? well i had the same fuckin problem with my delta! maybe they just had really bad development in that time period =/ that psu ended up dieing, i guess i didnt fix it fast enough, i just kept fuckin around with the cord to make it work , lol.

[shenlong77]

Yes I had that PSU problem like a couple of weeks ago with my v1.0 (i think it was one week before the recall )

My xbox suddenly turned off and smelled like burnt plastic.
I immediately disconnected it and opened it up.
looked around and the solder points of the power cord connector where busted and that where it arked between the solder and the metal connector.
Easy fix but a hell of a scare.

And yes I think that if you unplug and replug your xbox a lot( kind of what I do moving it around a lot) then your definetly more succeptible to this failure.
the problem isn't the solder points, it's the fact that the connecter is not fixed to the psu by any other means. the only thing holding it in place are the solder points. anyone knows that solder isn't the best glue around and if your consistently applying force to the connector it will eventually break the solder connection causing a fire hazard.

[Chancer]

might get alot of flames, but I think this is not MS problem. A 1.0 and 1.2 xbox puts it at what over 3 years old? Mine is a day one 1.0 and never had any problems, looked and joints are fine.

Thats fine and I am glad yours is ok but even if it were only a few boxes this is a potential safety and fire hazard and I think Ms is under obligation to correct this correctly by making the Xbox safe not just chucking an RCD protection device at everyone. The wording they have used in the press is very convenient when they describe at is a Power cord problem , which its clearly not. I have checked all 3 of my V1 and they are ok but if they were not the pics would be up here to build the case in point.

[C89ZX7R]

sent MS a email and then replied to send a email to the xbox team lol of course they haven't replied yet . sent both the following email and no replies . it was sent out last month .

I see that MS is now sending out replacement cords for the xbox power supply problem . Which it is not the cord and it is the Foxlink power supply solder joints where the connector is soldered onto the board is weak . Meaning when the solder breaks which it will , it could cause sparks , fire , and no power to the PSU . Sending out a cord with a built in surge protector is not going to solve this problem , and why did MS wait so long to fix a defect with there product . It took MS what 2 to 3 years to fix this problem when they stopped installing foxlink and moved to a delta power supply . After the changed was made the problem was fixed 2 to 3 years later . But now your offering a replacement cord for the people who still own the older systems , which won't solve the problem . What happens to the people who bought the xbox before october 2003 that had the power supply problem , there was no recall until now but for something that only prevents fire and sparks but doesn't totaly fix the problem . I bought a xbox when it first came out and about a year later it had the same problem , no recall was issued . MS quoted on the phone that I would have to pay for shipping , parts and labor which was more than the xbox is worth now . I thought that there would be a recall on it so I hung onto it , but of course there wasn't one . So i got rid of it last summer . I know own 2 xboxs , which i'm still down one xbox . I have 3 gaming rooms in my house and of course one is not being used . This problem needs to be resolved soon !

[manu_xl]

who will bring this subject in court.
xbox-scene vs m$!! it will be more interesting to follow then the wacko jacko case.

[Jackco]

The european (or at least the dutch) cables are different and smaller 


what we recieve

the cable

the difference

everywhere in europe is the same except for UK

[Crypty]

My PSU had this problem a very long time ago and until now I thought it was normal malfunction. The strange thing is, just like COTA-GodlyOne, My burnt psu is a delta and my xbox was later than 1.2. Im pretty sure it's the same problem because it matches word for word with everyone's description of the symptoms. Also I did unplug and plug in my xbox frequently when traveling between houses.

At the time I posted my problem a while ago, everyone was clueless but now that I have read that it can be soldered and used again, I sure am glad I saved it.

[dbzfanhater]

THe new cabels without The Ground Fault detectors have a different shaped head preventing people from forcing the plug to far in no matter how much solder u place over the conectiopns the contact area on the board will be the same if you wish to protect your xbox plug the cord in slowly and stop when it hits the back and do not push your xbox back against things wich might force the cord in further and i fyou want ultimate pertection remove the power conecter from its current postition on the board and use high gauge wires an place the conecter else where that way if you push to hard there will be no probs

ignore any spelling problems and ignorance blame it on my ADD

[Crypty]

dbzfanhater, that makes a lot of sense. Now I understand why some people are getting "the same" cord. MS still should be replacing PSUs though because of the people whos PSUs have already fried and dont have the know-how to fix it themselves.

What is weird though is that 1.0-1.2 gets a GFI thing on their cord while the later models only get a new cord. So by giving us a new reshaped cord they are indicating that they know the problem can occur in later xboxes (such as mine and COTA's) yet we don't get a GFI thing on our cord. Why????????

[manu_xl]

everywhere in europe is the same except for UK

one word: bullshit

read this topic again. a bulky one for the 1.0/1.1 and regular cables for the rest.
dude, already 4 posts. but now its time to stfu!

i too received the ugly power cord. ive checked my psu. its a delta one with nice clear solder joints. i still use my old cable. i think i will sell my new one on ebay

This post has been edited by manu_xl: Mar 20 2005, 06:52 PM

[evilmousse]

maybe about a year ago, i had brought my chipped 1.0 down to the local coffeeshop to play some soulcalibur2. i plugged the cord into the back of the xbox, and as soon as i put the plug end into the wall, a decent electric-sounding POP came from my xbox, along with some bad-smelling, but not quite black smoke. she was fried. i brought it over to a friend's with a soldering iron, we opened her up, looked her over, and we found where the explosion happened, on the power supply. now, i'm not a hardware person myself, but with nothing to lose at this point, was fine with trying whatever. the solution looked pretty obvious. we saw a nickel-sized spot of solder, a nickel-sized smoldering hole, and another nickel-sized spot of solder, all in a row. so, we filled up the smoldering hole with solder to match the others, booted her up, and she's been running fine ever since.

who knows if this applies or is common, it's just what happened to me. sorry no pix, too long ago.

[Crypty]

Anyone want to put out a REAL estimate of how often this occurs? It sure as hell isnt 1 in 10,000.

If I had to guess at this point, it seems like maybe 1 in 500.