It seems that the Foxlink power supply which is in question was manufactured by a company by the name of Cheng Uei Precision Industry Co., Ltd. The name "Foxlink" is an undoubtedly an attempt on their part to sound more American. This brings us to the question of why they would want to hide their true Asian nationality. I think its safe to say that the answer is that most Americans, or purchasers of the MS Xbox would not care to buy a product which contains a power supply that was built by penny-skimping Chinese sweatshop owners.

From the desk of,
Bill

in one of my xbox's i just have the power cord soldered directly to the psu

is there something wrong with you? 90% of electronics companies are asian. no one cares.

i was thinking of doing this as the pins on the connector have burnt and broken away is it just a case of putting the wires through the holes and soldering them ?

or is there another way i can fix it ? apart from buying a new psu

yo. my thing blew up. is there still chance in soldering and fixin it?

Yup, it's possible. My friend gave me his xbox the other day because the psu fried. I opened it up and found a couple fried joints where the cord connects (same as everyone else)

I just cleaned the black crap off the pcb, resoldered the connections, and replaced the fuse (I put it a fuse holder just in case) and it not works great. It cost about $5 or so and took 20 minutes from start to finish.

It was a delta btw.

i'm proud to announce that i too have just joined the group "burned xbox psu's"...

i'll fix it tomorrow... lazzzzyyyy... zzzzzzzzzzzzz...

My xbox has also came victim to

is there any other way to fix it other then soldering since i have no idea how to do such things... >_<

If you don't like soldering, you can send it to me to have it repaired ($10 incl. return shippin to the US), or I have a couple 1.2-1.5 PSU's on hand right now, $20 shipped in the US. Sorry, I currently don't have any 1.0-1.1 or 1.6 PSU's.

guess i'll buy a new psu from ya got m4xx 21
i'll msg ya...

I havent had a chance to examine my box yet, but when I power it on, it comes, off, on off, then stays on but nothing is on the screen. And if I even get near the connection of the power cable, there is some major ssssssshshhshshshsh noise going on, even when the console is off. Then, when I was playing a game, the game's sound started getting really staticy and cutting out then went off all together. Would this be the infamous PSU problem? ( I read the first page of the thread, then skipped to the end..sorry!)

It sounds like your experecing a FRAG, Flashign Red And Green lights, as well as your power connector has a bad case of cold solder joints. Unplug your xbox right away and have someone fix your xbox, if you are not capable of soldering. The longer you leave it pluged in the more damage the arching is causing. It needs repaired

Mabye it was an intentional flaw in the design. You know to get more business. To make the Xbox drop out over time. Then maybe they realized some started to cause fires, and they sent that cord out to prevent it from causing fires. But, at the same time still letting it short and drop out, while not causing fires. I have gotten the cord, but have not been yet a victim of my Xbox catching fire..............yet.

on my first xbox i had 2 fix the cd drive a lot of times. then one day i jumped the power supply with the motherboard and BLEW IT UP . i also got one heck of a zap too. A WORD OF ADVICE: never use all metal tools when working on something with high voltage. i learned my lesson the hard way.

I submitted my Xbox serial number on the MS site, they said my xbox was "not effected", and I wouldn't need a replacement cord.

I, citing my blatant distrust for MS (My dad is a Novell system admin), pop open my system, and lo and behold, a Foxlink PSU on my 1.0. I pop that out, and sure enough, the solder joints are not only cracked, but also burnt. Looks like I caught it just in the nick of time. Thanks for nothing, M$!

I know this is old news to most of you but I just wanted to add that my xbox last week did the spark and KABOOM when I turned it on!! And to my surprise when I unplugged it one of the pins had completely blown off the back of the power supply. When I opened my box the solder joints and about an inch of the power supply board was black. I am a little pissed but I guess a new power supply (25 bucks later) and it should breathe again! I never really look at the threads mentioning the PSU problems or I could of soldered the joints and avoided the explosion. So if your xbox is still running OK and you have never checked out the power supply I would reccomend doing it!

what happens if this has already happen to you aka Me. Cause I got sparks and then a poof me xbox no work no more. I tried a different PSU from another xbox and it worked so the problem is the PSU. What do I do? I wa sone that received a new cord by the way. SHould I call MS and complain? Will they send em a new PSU? Anything I can do then actually get one myself? Cause I tried on these boards and no one seems to live in NY and have a spare to sell me : (

I doubt that MS will send you a new PSU, it seems their answer right now it to deny.

If you or someone you know can solder, you should try the fix posted by DarkMatter here:
http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?sho...c=361537&st=435

Else you could find out what version Xbox you have and buy a new PSU from here:
http://secure.llamma.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=64_22

I know this is a huuuuugggeeee bump, but how can you avoid getting shocked by ur PSU? That one guy in the first few pages said he did, but i think if i just unplug my xbox (its been unplugs for a week now) that i shouldnt get shocked. Am i right?

Edit: oh yeah, and how do you remove solder?

oh yeah, and does it matter what solder i use?

the stuff ifound at my house is Oatley 40% tin 60% lead (thats what i tsaid on the role). Will this work?

To prevent getting shocked, i recommend wearing some marigolds

To remove solder you can either use de-solder braid available from many places, or a "solder sucker" (sorry but i dont know the technical name, unless that is it) which looks like a fat pen with a piston inside.

And as far as i know, that solder should be fine.

Well i got the PSU out and it IS a Foxlink and there are some burns and stuff (once i have the PSU out is there still a possibility of getting shocked?) so i was wondering if i should scrape the burns off or just leave em. BTW what do u mean by marigolds?

MKkkkkkkkk... So i took everything out and stuff then i soldered the two spots (here's where i think i skrewed up). My dad helped me mostly but he said it didn't necessarily have to be connected to teh trace... so we didn't solder it to the trace and the when he soldered the other one, he kinda blended it with a different thing....



anyway...... after this happened i put everythign back together... (i still had a lil' golden screw left and once everyhting was together I tried turning it on but when i did the light circle in the front blinked red and green or sum other color so i turned it off and took it apart again. My bro said it always did that but i dont think it did.... HEEEELLLLPPPP PLLLZZZZZ!!!

Seeing i have learned a whole lot in 35 pages i would like to comment i had the spark situation and called MS as well. Im not really into hearing about what kinda Power cord everyone got cause it does nothing.

What i would like to know is IF YOU DID NOT SODDER BUT BOUGHT A NEW PSU, where did you get it from? I will most likely try to sodder my brown lose connection but curious where everyone has gone to buy a PSU. I have seen some recommendations for llama's website wasn't sure if i can get some kinda direction? Thanx for all assistance

many people either get it from ebay or from the buy/sell/trade forum on this site.
it tends to be a bit cheaper than from getting it at an on-line store.

BTW, I have a few v1.0 PSUs if you're still looking for one. Just PM me for details

Simmilliar problem, same soldering solution. I didn't really want to pop open my console for the first time, but M$ was saying $80 and a couple of weeks for the fix... I am 15 years old and have never popped open a console before. I have played around some in old computers and HAVE fried a couple HDD's , but this was even easier (Dad did the soldering, but I exposed the bottom of the power supply). All it requires is some basic "Match the shape to the hole" screwdriver skills and the brains to respect the equipment. Thanx for the pics in the first posts they were a pretty big help. Head here and "please sign this petition to have MS fix the REAL problem with the xbox, the power supply"

just fixed my psu... same issue as the first picture... i heard it arching.. dam foxlink

I am trying to figure out what is going on with my Xbox, I sent in for a new cord and got the cord with the AGI box attached. Just the other day i have had the AGI thing for months. The breaker on the afi started tripping sporadically, so I figure I had the foxlink problem that everyone has described. So I opened up the box and the PSU is a Delta and there is no sign of loose connections or scorching. Any suggestions?

Does the breaker still trip if you move your Xbox to a different room in your house?

Double, tripple check the bottom of the PSU, heck resolder it if you can just in case.

I'll explain this for you, and any others,

The original xbox power supplys (FOXLINK) only attached to the powerboard by means of two pieces of metal, and two plastic clippy thingys (i have no idea what they are called). MS must have realised the problem, and in the newer versions, the black socket was wider, and was secured by two steel pins that were soldered to the Circuit Board, thus, not allowing the socket to move, and, break the solder!

There, thats the reason.

Now, for a solution.
OPTION 1 - Buy a new power supply from EBAY or other source.
OPTION 2 - Remove all solder, and replace with new stuff. (make sure its Industrial grade stuff, not just the stuff you can buy at a supermarket, as its not strong enough)

PREVENTION:
When removing the power cord, make sure you dont wriggle the cord up+down or left+right, becuase thats what causes the problem. Instead, grip the plug by the entire hard-plastic casing, and pull in a horizontal position until completely removed!

I was having lots of PSU problems recently, and it wasn't until tonight that I remembered about the Foxlink problems...
My box has been "arching" all summer, and only works when plugged in with the cord tucked under the box at just the right angle (I was using it as a fileserver, and on occasion had to turn it on).

Anyways, my bro was asking me (read:bugging me) to fix it, and I remembered I had a v1.1 box, with the Foxling thing, and I vaguely remembered reading something on here saying that the power cord replacements were useless because the PSU was the problem.

So, I opened the box, took out the PSU, and sure enough there was a gaping hole in the solder joint, and black burns on the surface of the board around the affected power input pin.

I bought my xbox360 about 2 weeks ago from game stop. Today i go and turn it on and let it sit for about 10 minutes and it automatically shuts off and starts flashing red on the circular logo on the system. I smelled melted plastic and felt the system and it didnt seem hot so i picked up the power adapter and it was extremely hot. I looked at the bottom and it was all melted/warped. I plan on taking it back to gamestop as they should have replaced it with the newer one before they sold it to me. Their lucky my house didnt get burned down or someones ass from microsoft woulda been sued!

"The Power Cord Conspiracy" thread pertained to the X-Box1 and not the 360. They are totally unrelated.
Great of you to revive an old thread.
Regards,
DarkMatter

Actually, I was pretty fortuitous for me that this thread got revived- Over the last week or so, I've noticed crackling when plugging in my XBOX and smelling strange, acrid chemical odors coming from the back of my unit (did I really just type that? ).

Anyway... When I opened up the case and hit the power button, sure enough, sparks were flying from the PSU joint in question.

I originally came to this forum with the intent of asking what was up, but I didn't even have to search for an answer. I've got another brand new XBOX still in the packaging that I bought for the DVD-Drive and controller- I'll just swap the PSU in from that.

That shouldn't be a problem should it? Are all PSU's the same?

haha, the only reason I found this forum was because I googled my username, how lucky for you....lol

I'm pretty sure there wont be a problem. Only thing is, different xbox versions have different plugs which go form the PSU to the motherboard. If its the wrong plug, it won't fit, so there SHOULD be no way you could wreck it by using the wrong one (unless you do something really stupid, lol)

Hope this helps you!

Cheers,
Kerrodhall

1.0 - 1.1 have same plugs But are not ATX, and work either way round as in 1.0 will work with 1.1 visa versa

1.2 - 1.5 have same plugs that are ATX and work either way round as in 1.2 will work with 1.3/1.4/or 1.5 Visa Versa

1.6 have an atx plug but the power is done different on the atx and thus a 1.6 will only work with a 1.6



If you have sparks etc. It isnt to hard to solder the two points that are not small, You dont have to be slightly good at soldering to fix it! Just whack the soldering iron tip on the point and when the solder melts feed the new solder in!

Hi,

Just picked up a couple of 2nd Hand Xbox's the other day and on plugging one in, got this terrible smell and the crackling noise.

I unplugged the thing and found a disassembly guide on here and found the exact same problem as reported in this thread. I resoldered the joints and for now it's alive.

I haven't read all 36 pages of this post, but I agree with some of the comments that the connector doesn't seem fit for pupose as the legs are too short and there is no real mounting for this.

Has anyone found a decent replacement for this mains connector that can be fitted to these PSU boards with a decent mounting, or is is safe just to epoxy the connector case to the board to remove some of its mobility?

Also forgot to say, one of the units came with this bulky cable with a circuit breaker in the middle of it, the other one came with a normal figure8 cable - are MS still supplying replacements in the UK that anyone knows of?

Sorry for keeping this old thread alive, but I am a newb to the xbox, so apologies in advance if some of the other old threads popup in the coming days!

Regards to all,

Mark J.

I have one of these 1.0 Foxlink setups. The solder joints did break at one point and my bro did get the breaker-equipped power cord. Obviously that had nothing to do with the problem though. So, I just opened 'er up and applied way more solder on the pins of that connector. Fluxed it up good too so the solder would adhere really well. This was when I was first installing the mod chip years ago. It's been fine since.

IMO the problem was just insufficient (maybe even incorrect) solder usage on the plug at the factory. And that it's just not designed well enough for a part that gets the stresses it does. Actually, there shouldn't be any stress on the solder joints. They should have supports in place. But, obviously, whoever designed this didn't know what they were doing.

FYI:

I just gave Microsoft a ring from the UK and got 2 replacement cables shipped for a version 1.0 and 1.1.

Took them a while to say yes, lots of chatting in the background xbox 1 cable???

So if you wonder if they still doing it now you know.

I just needed the spare cables I've resoldered all the power supplies