I have a refurbished 1.0 with a foxlink... I've had it for years now. No solder cracks... Solder actually looked perfect. I probably average 3 unplug & plug-ins a month... which is probably not excessive, but I haven't been trying to be careful with it. I resoldered it anyway with some %96 Tin 4% Silver solder. I'm still not quite sure what causes this problem. People say "shotty soldering" but in my case the soldering job looked fine... so what makes for a "shotty soldering" job? In this case is it moslty due to bad soldering or bad solder?

I was wondering the same thing. I'll take it one step further. What about the fact that most of these people have a modchip in their Xbox (myself included) which voids the warranty? I know some use soft mods. I could be wrong. MS is not going to replace the PSU's in modded Xbox's.

Not necessarily bad soldering, but a lack of reinforcement of the power connector, which transmits too much force the the solder joint, and cracks it.

to Crackmonkey

1) You have a refurbished XBOX 1.0, not the same as having a 1.0, they could have changed the psu and other parts, if it's really a refurb like you say, that means MS played with it

2) 3 times a month? That's like nothing at all, I take mine to LAN's and friend's houses and move it around which is probably at least 20 times unplug/plug, you can't say much with only 3 haha

Maybe this has been said already, but the instruction manual that came with my replacement cord in Australia says something along the lines of "The console is designed to prevent any electrical fire from spreading outside the console, and the new cord is designed to cut the current should an electrical fault develop inside the console."

The cord is a monster! Two huge long powercables, and a huge fuse box in the middle.

Well I checked my powersupply cause I knew for a while now it seemed loose when plugging and unplugging the box.
I don't think the problem is the solder...
The new plugs are different, the new plug has a lip on it which prevents you from pushing the plug in further than it is supposed to go.
With out this people are pushing it in too hard and this is what is breaking the solder joint.
I used hot glue and secured the plastic piece to the powersupply board and it is now nice and tight again.
This will most likely fix everyone's problem but just make sure there is not a broken connection already.

Anyway...just my advice and what I have come to with all the data posted here.
Thanks for all the posts and research.

After reading the article about the kid's xbox blowing a circuit in his house and sparks flying all over the place I thought I should throw in my 2 cents.

I do repairs on xbox's all the time, and one of the issues is the power supplies blowing out, and I mean blowing out beyond fuse replacements. I believe the reason for the power cord replacements was to solve THAT issue.

The rest of the repairs are the power connector's on the PSU being loose with no solder making contact. I literally opened one and the connector fell on the floor, even had a friend send me one and when you plugged it in, it literally shot sparks into the air over 6 inch's I was literally scared to work on the unit. Re-heated the solder on the joints, added a bit more solder and used braid, worked like a charm.

In short, M$ get your act together, you can afford to fork out $20 per unit.

Well after reading the 31 parts of the discussion..... It seems like the Mineba Power Supply doesnt suffer from meltdown . No one has reported it as of yet, so i guess those people are safe!

yeah, I have a mineba ive been screwing around with, it seems to be fine. The cord is loose in the socket, but no popping or sparking, and no broken joints. like most things that are good quality, the Mineba supply appears to be the most expensive (it has like a million capacitors on it!), and therefore it never showed up on the 1.2-1.6 boxes.

Wow i thought this only affected older models. A day ago a friend of a friend came to me with a fried xbox and he reported sparks. I opened it up and sure enough one of the solder points on the plug connection was blown away. But his xbox was a 1.3 or 1.4 only a year old with the newer style power supply connector. I would have taken pictures but he was in a hurry.

Yes, it does also affect the 1.2-1.5 consoles, but not nearly as much as the 1.0-1.1's with foxlink supplies (once again 1.0-1.1's with deltas spark too, but not as much). i have heard no reports of the 1.0-1.1 mineba supply having any of these problems, or of any 1.6 consoles with this problem.

Rare cases my ass. Look at all the people JUST ON XBOX-SCENE that have had these broken joints. Now consider the percentage of ppl on X-S vs. the total number of xbox owners, and you can see that there are easily tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of xbox psu's with broken power connectors.

Ordinary wear and tear? Its clearly a bad design. Why is it mostly Foxlink supplies that are broken? Answer: lack of support of the power connector. Bad design, should be replaced.

Not a safety issue? It is most definitely a safety issue! What the hell do you think is sparking in there? Many of us that have had Xboxes CATCH ON FIRE have opened the consoles, and discovered that the area around the power connector was the source of the fire, and it was because of the broken solder joints. How can a console catching of fire not be a safety issue? People are getting burned, and property is damaged. Sooner or later somebody's house is going to get burned down, or worse, somebody may DIE. How is this not a safety issue?

Shit like this just makes me so mad

Update! My own damn Foxlink power supply just burnt up on me. You know, the one I repaired in my first post (pics are currently down due to using up my bandwidth). Fried the same as everybody else's.

I can't post a pic directly, but here's a link.

bottom

top

edit- nevermind, thoke links dont work either. Should be back up tomorrow.

You sir are a fire waiting to happen!!

Anyone mentioned about yesterdays MS statement (if it has, i'm sorry)? MS claim that the cord replacement has nothing to do with the foxlink PSU problem.

A single report recently surfaced that inaccurately speculates that the recently announced power cord replacement for Xbox is somehow related to broken "solder joints" inside of early Xbox consoles. This report is simply not true. In rare cases, solder joints have broken. This issue is not associated with the power cord replacement program, nor is it unique to the Foxlink power supplies or even Xbox consoles.

All consumer electronics products experience some broken solder joints as a result of ordinary wear and tear. Broken solder joints inside the Xbox are a warranty issue. All Xbox consoles (even without a replacement cord) have been designed to insure that a broken solder joint does not present any safety issue.

Taken from http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/03/23/xbox_no_problem/

A single report? Its all over the web!

I have the same xbox I bought new, not refurbished. I ordered the replacement cord but after reading everything I decided that trusting m$ was foolish so I opened up my box to check the solder and it was perfect! my box sets in with the rest of my home theater components and almost never gets unplugged so I think that repeatedly unplugging and plugging it back in is what's causing the problems.

so what about the new cord? should I use it? doesn't seem to have done much good for some people.

Just checked my Xbox (v1.1) yesterday and found out it's got a Delta PSU, the replacement cord I got was one of those huge things with the green and red buttons.
I might aswell just use the old powercord.

Id still use the new one... just incase... I got delta`s and i use the big one...

OK, I filled out a full report on the Foxlink PSU .and submitted it to UL (Underwriter's Laboratories, they did the safety certification on both the xbox and this power supply). If they determine that this power supply is unsafe, then MS could be forced to recall all the xboxes with this psu.

ok im a noob to this and all but my xbox was manufactured in 2004-11-05...now just recently for no reason i have to push the eject buttons rapidly in order for the xbox to boot up or it just makes this noise inside the cd drive...first i thought it was just the xbox tweaking out or something but my friend gave me the new cords and also tried it with the new cord and i still had to do the same routine. just a few min ago my bro called and said that he now got the xbox to work and was telling me that it was just that the power cord was loose and he said he had to pressure it in there...and now it starts up normal...now my concern is if my xbox is now at risk at getting fried? loose power cord and not getting contact with xbox power now just got me thinking...

This is coming back to bite MS in the ass. Good riddens I say for trying to skimp out, I mean, it's not like they're a multi-billion dollar company, oh wait they are.

I have a launch Xbox, Nov 13, 2001 is the manuf. date and I use my launch cord, after fixing my charred up PSU of course.

Well, this is the reply I got back from UL. These guys aren't any better than the idiots at M$.

From the Xbox Protection Cord Manual I got:

"Your Xbox console may be susceptible to electrical problems that can cause damage or fire inside the console. Even though the Xbox console is designed to keep fire from spreading outside the console, MS recommends that you alway use the Xbox Protection Cord with your console to further reduce this risk. The Xbox Protection Cord disconnects power to the Xbox console when it detects:
1. A problem with the electircal power supplied to the Xbox console;
2. An electrical problem with the Xbox console."

So it seems clear MS is admitting a problem with the console rather than the cord.

err i meant 2001-11-05...sry about that...

http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=375843

Well my xbox broke and I think it's because of the foxlink supply, but I'm not sure... Will anyone look at the following picture to tell me (warning it's 2megs - wanted to be sure you could see.)
http://anime-gallore.com/foxlink.jpg
here's a small version of it, but it doesn't really show the full zoom.

I think this is because US electricity is 110V while here in Europe it is usually 240V so you need a higher current to deliver the same power, thus thicker cords etc as

P=VI

sorry im a big slow today but it has just twigged the reason u have this problem is due to the glue where the two clips are isnt strong enough but there is a tut on how to fix it
use a 800 degrees/30+ watt iron to fix it
I have just found the TUT
Here

Thanks for the post, can't I just glue them back then I didn't see anything on that page about fixing them.

FOCUS DAMMIT!!!!

Anyway, doesnt look too bad to me, what probs are you actually having with it? does it turn on at all?

Have you replaced THE FUSE???

Well I managed to fix it
Just cleaned all the points with cotton buds and alcohol carefully, then I put it back together and it worked

But even if MS decided to recall all XBoxes...I don't think they'd take in any modded XBoxes.

read this:

http://it.asia1.com.sg/newsdaily/news001_20050328.html

A pretty nice article. I'm famous!!!

The guy sent me an email a few weeks ago asking me to answer some questions to him regarding the issue, its good to see that my reply was used.

I'm not getting anywhere with UL, they are convinced that the cheezy cord is a sufficient fix to the problem.

Bogus! I opened up my v1.0 box the other day, and guess what, both joints in the FoxLink PSU were loose (I could carefully apply pressure to the solder joints and observe them move as described by others in this thread).

How can this be a "rare electrical component failure" if so many ppl in the scene have experienced this with their PSUs ?
BTW: nice article
Edit: spelling arrows

The completely stupid thing is that the cheap bastards who designed the XBOX only had to allow for two extra screws to hold the power cord recepticle firm and none of this would have happened.

Typical of todays manufacturing standard, they would not even need their bull crap cover story of faulty power cords to cover their arses.

Do they really think people are that stupid??

My Box never gets unplugged so i wont be bothering with it, but i have had a few failed power supplies accross my work bench that had failed for oither reasons than the bad power connections.

cheers

Rich

same here... so far i've fixed the solderpoint on 3 foxlink psu for 1.0's
and the shit is only sitting there in solder, nothing else holding the power connector...

did the solder and no sparks came after... also used some hot glue

Many thanks to GOT M4xx 21 his advise was sound and not to technical. The pictures posted where a great help

I would also like to mention XanTium His post on how to open up the XBOX and get to the parts in question where also very helpful.

Cheers to you both

All I have to say is Thank You!!

As a side note:

30 mins researching the web
$10 for Star wrenches to open the XBOX
$15.00 for the soldering iron
45 Minutes of repair
NOT HAVING TO LISTEN TO THE 14 YEAR OLD COMPLAIN THAT THERE IS NOTHING TO DO AND THE WIFE KISSING ME ALL OVER

PRICELESS!!....LOL

yup, that's is priceless

My xbox version is a 1.0 and I have a delta power supply, the foxlink looks like it has cheaper solder and it seems kinda mellowed, mine looks pretty clean, however it did have one bad solder point which I fixed.
(I also ordered a power cord, will see which one I get)

I read through parts of this thread (no time to read 33 pages!) I have a 1.1 xbox and I have gone through 2 PSUs. I have a modded and an unmodded box so i constantly switch the power cable from one to the other and i hear audible sparks a lot of the time but ignore it because im dumb. I want to know what I need to do to prevent my power supply from dying (YET AGAIN!) this 3rd time through. I have the 2nd one still, is there a possibility it is repairable? If the answer is as simple as having 2 power cables and keeping both xboxes plugged in at the same time then that would be awesome. If there is something I need to do in addition to that, then let me know! These PSU's aren't cheap (and getting more expensive by the day, now that more and more of these are failing.) Thanks in advance for the help guys. Thanks!

-Mekapo

i think i blew my xbox's psu's fuse but i cant find whr the fuse is. i posted pics of my psu in the links below. can someone pls help me!

pic 1
pic 2

I pluged my xbox and it made a sparking noise. I quickly unpluged it and noticed a faint burnt smell. I opened the xbox to let it cool down and logged in to the forums to see related problems. I read a similar tale and the problem was the dreaded power supply joints. I removed my power suply( a delta power supply by the way!) and found one of the points had NO solder on it!!! It was just stiking out. I took some pictures and then put some solder on it. I'm going to wait until tomorow to try it out.

in your first pic, its the little black cylinder behind and to the left of the power connector, labeled "F1" on the board.

I've got a 1.3 box, and they just sent me the normal looking cord.

i havent checked to see what PSU i have, but i will check later today.

my friend had a 1.4 box, but it has a foxlink.. i fixed it

I dont get it. I have a foxlink psu and I opened up my xbox and soldered those joints. But the power cord still trips and shuts off my xbox when I play. Anyone knows whats up??

My son has an Xbox manufactured 7-24-2002. It has a Delta psu and it burned up today. He had a replacement cord sent by MS. It began acting up with that cord, sparks flying in the back, etc., so he switched cords to the old one and it just fried.

yeah chack the main solder joints.

Also it has been confirmed that there is another source of the sparking, and yes, it is actually in the connection between power cord and PSU.

From what I've found, this issue is far less common than the solder joints actually breaking, but, sometimes, the pins pn the PSU plug don't make a very good connection with the power cord, and can spark, or at least go high resistance and get very hot.

I have heard many cases of the replacement (huge) power cord tripping very often, even when there's nothing wrong with the psu.

My guess is the cord has a very sensitive current limiter, and if the current draw is even slightly higher than it should be, it trips. So yes, lots of LED's or other goodies running off your psu will cause it to draw more current, which will not only up your electric bill , but possibly trip the replacement cord. Even on an unmodded box, it seems that the current limit is too sensitive and will trip randomly.

IMO the wall wort power cord is causing more problems than it is fixing.

If your solder joints are ok, and the old cord doesn't feel excessively loose, just run your old cord if the new one is tripping all the time.

As for the "normal" looking cord received for 1.2-1.6 boxes, use it. It does have that extra little lip on it, which will save some strain on the power connector.

yea my 1.0 had really bad joints on it. i could actually wiggle the power plug in the back to make my xbox turn off. i just completely resoldered them and threw in two screws where those holes are on the plug on the inside of the box. i think it would been a good idea to secure it to the board a little better. o well. im using the new plug as an extra protection from now on

Hey ive been reading through this huge topic as much as i could, but i cant find anything to help me out,

...Well i have a Delta PSU on a 1.0 xbox, and the dang thing stopped turning on about a week ago. I have it all opened up but i cant see any visible burns on the PSU soldering. The two connectors look like they might be a little cracked, IS THIS THE PROBLEM??
IF NOT WHAT ELSE COULD BE THE PROBLEM? ANY IDEAS??

Ordered the new power cord today, how long does it usually take?
but i dont think the cord will help it suddenly turn back on, since it wont power up at all im thinking the HD is prbably okay YES or NO??

I'll get some pics up tomorrow when i get the camera from my bro...