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Xbox 360 power brick dies by red light, owner dismayed over warranty policy

Posted Mar 23, 2008 at 7:25AM EST by QJ Staff

Listed in: Xbox 360 Tags: customer service, Microsoft, xbox 360 titles

Everyone and his mom are already aware of what the Microsoft Xbox 360's "three red lights of death" mean. Just about everyone will agree that the console's power brick is ridiculously heavy, making travels with the console a real chore. Some have been whining about Microsoft's warranty policies. What happens when these three issues collide? We found out today.

NeoGAF member AlxRymnd914 posted that his Xbox 360's power brick was doing fine in the six months of ownership that he's spent with it.

One day, he comes home and plugs the console in to play some Halo 3. The quick flashes of green on the console light up, and then nothing happens.

He notices that the usual orange light on the power brick has turned red. He says that the console was not overheated, and the unit was in a cool, ventilated spot.

AlxRymnd914 calls Microsoft customer service, and was informed that his power supply unit had died. The Microsoft rep then informs him that unlike the warranty policy on the console itself, the power brick only has three months of warranty. Since the Xbox 360 in question was bought in September of 2007, the warranty period was up, leaving the customer with only one course of action.

The Microsoft rep says AlxRymnd914 will have to order a new power brick for US$ 80. Disappointed, the owner headed to the forums to seek advice and get people's attention to this issue.

Have you encountered similar problems with your console's power brick? If so, it might help if you can share it with us in the comments section to get this issue out in the open.

Via NeoGAF

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if he digs around i "think" this is relatively fixable, but then again this kid prolly has 0 technical experience, so its not a very viable solution..... fork out the 80bux, no company can insure every part for this long, a 3 year warranty is nearly unheardof for free on a less that 500$ item, sell ur halo 3 do a few hrs of work and get a new brick

# Meh — Fallen 2008-03-23 13:07

Its not like the power brick has a massive failure rate, Tough luck kid. Though 3 months rather than the standard 12 is odd (I seriously hope nobody expects 3 years on all parts).

Just shill for a new one, Ebay will probably have it cheaper.

# Heard before. — Woden501 2008-03-23 15:07

I had a call at the Game Crazy I work at about something like this. I tried to tell the kid it was probably his power brick, and that he could bring his 360 in to test it. He never did though, so I don't know if it was or not.

Anyway $80 isn't too bad... the cheap third party ones we sell at my store cost $100... we haven't sold one yet, and we've had them for about three months.

# ... — [DVSDevise] 2008-03-23 15:33

You can buy them for between $20 to $40 on eBay.

http://search.ebay.com/360-power-brick_W0QQ_trksidZm37QQfromZR40

# Attention seeking whiner... — NeoGreendawg 2008-03-23 15:45

Things break... It's sad but not worth all this attention...

Fork out the cash and quit calling the whambulance when your expensive 'toys' break down!

SORTED.

# No sh_1t Sherlock — Manny151 2008-03-23 16:10

That's not the point. I don't expect a three year warranty on all parts but at least as much as the damn console itself. Shoot he bought the damn thing not even six months ago and already the power brick has gone bad and it's not even covered under the one year warranty!!!! That's Microsoft for you. And ofcourse it couldn't just be 30 or 40 bucks but 80 freaking dollars fro that damn thing. Ridiculously priced just like every other periferal for the 360. 20GB hard drive 100 bucks. Sons of *****es!!!!

# it's funny how you all are so forgiving to MS — na2rul 2008-03-23 16:38

They dont deserve to be in this market after taking a gamble with the untested 360.

Consumers are the ones who suffer the most.

I guess thats one game less for the kid this year

# yup — WompaStompa 2008-03-23 17:54

I agree with Neo

# Same problem but different solution — GarrettGR 2008-03-23 19:42

My power unit broke down a year after I bought the 360 and microsoft customers service sent me a new one for free without asking questions and without asking for the broken one back. There is no such thing as 3 month warranty. They were quite clear about that when I asked them.

# yep to all xcrap that will keep on breaking owners — houaruto 2008-03-24 04:17

Just remember to kiss Microsoft's as$ and shine it really well after u get screw over. And don't forget to do it another 20 more times until they get another new crappy box out...... and relive the horror..... As always don't argue back and ask for them to do a better job--just bend down and let them screw U......heck who knows u been screwed so many times u probably got pretty loose and love them for it...."Hit me Bill"

# my problem — Albert Wesker 2008-03-24 07:14

My power died just after i got it back from repairs. (RROD) That was not even a week ago. We will see though if i get a new one.

# You know — whaleshark 2008-03-24 07:21

its funny, how people say "tough luck. it doesnt happen to often...." but what if the red ring was rare? would you be dismayed to call in to microsoft only to be told that you have to pay 80 bucks to fix the system? i think so. I feel bad for the kid. just because he doesnt have the RROD people start telling him tough luck.

# That sounds a bit harsh — SomeGuy 2008-03-24 09:34

I don't know what it's like in the US but in Australia they would have to replace it. All electrical products must have a 12 month warranty and we have all sorts of government organizations that makes sure companies trade fairly.

There has to be some sort of Agency in the US and it's a bit much to count a power supply as separate, it could of been internal I hope they didn't take it out just for this loop hole.

I wish the guy good luck, I'm sure if he makes a fuss to the right person he can get the problem solved.

# "Hit me Bill" — Manny151 2008-03-24 10:02

Holly sh_1t that made my day. That was funny. lol lmao What makes it even funnier its that it's true. I own both the 360 and PS3 and it's easy to talk ***** about the build quality of the 360 when you own a PS3 just because it's so well built. The 360 feels like a toy when you pick it up. Every function it does sounds cheap. When the disc tray opens it sounds like and old PC when the disc spins it's loud as hell and even pressing the power button on it feels cheap. Especially when compared to the PS3 that has a feed disc drive a touch sensitive power and eject button and a quiet fans. It's got great games and that's why I own it but to me the PS3 is much better in every respect. Almost nothing about the PS3 is proprietary and it's a well built power house with free online gameplay.

# When was this? — RavenSPe 2008-03-24 19:38

They have since changed their warranty policies so maybe at the time they didn't have just a 3 month warranty but apparently they do now. In any case, $80 is way too freakin much for a power brick.

# & Brian — Stewies 2008-03-25 04:11

Alright listen up!

Manny151,na2rul,and houaruto got it right!

MS's 360 is absolutely a big piece of sh_1t.If you buy an expensive product and take care of it, it should never break down, but clearly these failure rates their putting up speak for themselves. Honestly, people with 360 are getting raped by MS with these poorly manufactured electronics. As always,

Victory is mine!

Nintendo FTW!

Where you at MCS?, where you at?

# My X-perience — Nihane 2008-03-25 04:29

We are currently on our SEVENTH xbox 360... 5th in the last 6 months, technically. Microsoft has honored the warranty on all but our Launch-Box. I'm still regretting getting rid of that one, the only thing broken was the rear USB port for the wifi adapter, and Game Crazy covered it with a straight swap. Anyway, back when our 5th one red-ringed, we started hearing rumors that the 360 NEEDED to be plugged into the wall instead of a breaker-strip. When we got the 6th one back, we plugged it in to the strip and it immediately red-ringed, straight out of the box (our 3rd one had red-ringed within two days of use as well, video here :http://youtube.com/watch?v=OkXDVl6kiKc). I decided to test the "wall theory" and plugged the powerstrip in the way... another red-ring. THEN I went and got my roommates powersource (ours was still from the Launch-Box), plugged it into the wall and low-and-behold, it WORKED. My husband called our "personal rep" (Microsoft gives you one after your 4th complaint... they have other benefits too for repeat 'customers' of the repair department). He talked him into sending us a new powersource. I took our old one to the game store I originally got it from and they straight-swapped it again because they love me there. SO... microsoft did NOT demand the "broken" powersource back... and we now had two. The hubby ended up selling the old one to another Gamestore for $40/The Orange Box (used).

ANYWAY... when the 6th one broke, it stopped reading game-discs after we got the HD drive... this time Microsoft demanded we sent the powersource... and they sent us a totally designed powersource. The morel of the story? If your powersource red-lights... DON'T TELL THEM. Instead, tell them it was the xbox... it stopped reading discs or something... they should demand both the 360 and powersource back, and send you knew ones... all under a new warranty (IF you tell them it red-ringed.)

Also... demand more benefits if you have a history with xbox... we've got a game, the powersource, AND a brand new controller.

# correction... — Nihane 2008-03-25 04:35

Yeah that was supposed to say *tested the WALL theory* not way AND the new powersource is *REdesigned*

# Yeh im tired of MS — na2rul 2008-03-25 08:08

I want them out of the gaming market. If they do make another next gen console, i wont be surprised if it doesnt have wifi. They' ll just make an add-on but slightly more prettier.

realisticly, they will probably have a console comparitive to the current gens - PS3.

My experience with MS's much hyped Vista so far is meh and fustrating. Does same thing as XP with prettier glowy visuals. Compatibility is stressful, stops responding. Very similar with much hyped Halo 3 lol

Buy MSs stuff, but DON'T BE AN M$ FANBOY

# Wierd — That kid 2011-12-31 14:41

My brick has a red light but when i take everything out and plug it back in it works for like an hour the. It just randomly turns off... I can do this for like 1999008 times and it will last like an hour and just turna off

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Xbox 360 power brick dies by red light, owner dismayed over warranty policy

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