Xbox 360 Power Supply Blamed for Arkansas House Fire

Beryllium writes "In Arkansas, an XBox 360's power supply (or power cord, the story is a bit ambiguous) apparently caused a fire with over $10,000 in damages. The fire chief says that it was probably due to the power supply unit being crammed into a space that had poor air circulation. The previously-documented heat issues with 360s led me to buy 'Andy', an affordable IKEA wireframe stand for my gaming system — with drawers! Since I've also got the power supply inside one of the unit's drawers, it should have more than adequate airflow to dissipate heat. I wonder what other airflow-improving ideas Slashdotters have come up with for their consoles?"

Comments

Are you sure...?

[OMNIpotusCOM]

In Arkansas, an XBox 360's power supply (or power cord, the story is a bit ambiguous) apparently caused a fire with over $10,000 in damages. The fire chief says that it was probably due to the power supply unit being crammed into a space that had poor air circulation.

Doesn't that mean the fire was caused by an idiot who didn't realize that a power brick weighing 5 pounds with a fan on it kinda needs to have airflow? Not only that but it was probably a old-school one that wasn't registered and didn't get the replacement cables.

The previously-documented heat issues with 360s led me to buy 'Andy', an affordable IKEA wireframe stand for my gaming system -- with drawers! Since I've also got the power supply inside one of the unit's drawers, it should have more than adequate airflow to dissipate heat.

There's a lot of "should" in that... I'm sure the people who owned the home that had fire damage had a lot of "should" insurance too.

Re:Are you sure...?

[OMNIpotusCOM]

From the XBox 360 Manual

Failure to properly set up, use, and care for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system can increase the risk of serious injury or death, or damage to the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system

Do not block any ventilation openings on the console or power supply. Do not place the console or power supply on a bed, sofa, or other soft surface that may block ventilation openings. Do not place the console or power supply in a confined space, such as a bookcase, rack, or stereo cabinet, unless the space is well ventilated.

From the Amazon description of power cables

Features: Internal cooling fan

Re:Are you sure...?

[enosys]

There should be protective devices inside which prevent a fire even in those conditions. For example simple transformer based wall warts have an overtemperature protector inside the transformer windings. I thought such protection was necessary to get UL certification.

Huh?

[What Would NPH Do]

The fire chief says that it was probably due to the power supply unit being crammed into a space that had poor air circulation. Did the submitter even read their own summary before writing their title? It clearly is said that the problem was due to the person putting the PSU into a space with poor air circulation which is clearly against the instructions given by Microsoft with respect to the PSU.

Re:Huh?

[What Would NPH Do]

while you are 100% right the fact is PSU's shouldn't need their own cooling fans. I can see the device needing airflow but the PSU should be passive enough to not require a fan. While that is all well and good, the fact of the matter is that implicit instructions come from Microsoft to not have the PSU in a place with poor air circulation. It's not their fault that some idiot in Arkansas disregarded those instructions.

Re:Huh?

[What Would NPH Do]

Explicit instructions, I mean.

Re:Huh?

[B3ryllium]

I don't know about yours, but my XBox manual doesn't have any nudity or swearing.

Re:Huh?

[OMNIpotusCOM]

And honestly, how many people read contracts before signing them? Come on, I mean all of the contract. Alright, still some dissenters, how about this... how many understand all the terms? There we go. That's what I thought.

And how many of us have been burned by a cup of coffee when it didn't say "Served Hot"? And how many of you have had a firework blow up in your hand and take a finger off? That's right. All of us. Obviously this is a manufacturer problem in all of these cases. The salesperson should be required to tell us every warning.

Re:Huh?

[B3ryllium]

... so you advocate placing some flammable (and airflow-blocking) material on the unit suspected of causing this fire, in the hopes it would prevent future fires? :)

Re:Huh?

[OMNIpotusCOM]

It's like page 3. Do you need Cliffs Notes for the guide? You dropped $400 or so on it, you expect to get years of use out of it... don't you think you'd peruse the manual, or just the fact that it is one of the biggest power bricks in existence and has a fan on it isn't enough of a hint?

Re:Huh?

[OMNIpotusCOM]

That's like saying I lit a match, dropped it on some newspapers, it caused damage to my house, but the newspapers caused the fire, then complaining that the match had an instruction booklet that said not to drop it on newspapers.

Re:Huh?

[Anonymous Coward]

The problem is that manuals have so many bullshit precautions that nobody bothers to read them. (What? You mean I shouldn't drop my Xbox on a baby? Now what am I supposed to do with it?)

Re:Huh?

[wjsteele]

"How many other media devices out there require a PSU with a cooling fan? anything can someone name me more than 1?"

My Tivo does AND my Media Center PC does.

Come to think of it, so does every home computer I have ever owned!!! It's just that the Power Supply is IN the computer. The XBox designers decided to move it out of the unit.

Bill

Re:My solution

[Sangui]

You should update your Wii's firmware to at least 3.1
They fixed the whole "fans turn off in standby" thing.

Unlikely

[gweihir]

Birch-type PSUs have to have overheating protection. Without that the diesign would be crimonally neglient. It is far more likely that this was one of the incompetently done power connections, were MS showed its typical lack of understanding for engineering questions.

How did this PSU get UL approval again?

[blincoln]

Isn't the whole reason that various government entities in the US have effectively granted a monopoly to a private corporation (Underwriters Laboratories) to help ensure the safety of consumer products powered by electricity? Or is UL now as corporation-friendly as the Better (for) Businesses Bureau?
What happened to the sorts of tests where devices were deliberately abused to make sure they failed in a way that didn't involve burning down the owner's home?
Failing that, why is MS not building the heat equivalent of a circuit breaker into these PSUs? The possibility of corrupting the hard drive or whatever due to a non-graceful shutdown has to be less than the bad publicity caused by burning down customers' houses.

Re:How did this PSU get UL approval again?

[MechaStreisand]

You've said that three times now, and you've been wrong three times. It is not possible for the air around the power supply to get hotter than the power supply itself unless something else is heating it (in which case it wouldn't be the PSU's fault) or it's being compressed, like in an air compressor, which it is not. If it ever DID get as hot as the only source of heat, the PSU, then the PSU would not be able to heat it anymore, because heat does not flow from cold to hot. So stop spreading nonsense.