Home Gaming The Ring of Death becomes a Ring of Fire

The Ring of Death becomes a Ring of Fire

1 min read
9

RingOfFire.jpg

This week in a town called Little Rock in Arkansas ( pronounced: Ar – kan – saw) a fire was reported at the home of one Carl Olson.

Once the fire had been dealt with and the investigation team was able to do what they do best, they found that the fire had originated from the powercord of an Xbox 360. The console was sitting very close to a wall, preventing it from getting proper ventilation for heat dissipation and extraction. There’s a twist to the story as well, the owner of the console mentioned that the console had the Red Rings of Death and was aware that it had to be sent in to be repaired, but still left the console plugged in.

This has caused a small concern amongst owners of Microsoft’s console, as many people leave their consoles plugged in every single day while they are out of the house. This isn’t the first time that something like this has happened either, in 2005, a law suit was filed against Microsoft for a fire that claimed the life of an infant, as well as a separate case of a Texan teen who suffered burns.

Microsoft says that the risk of a scenario such as this one is 1 in 10, 000 but recommends that you unplug your Xbox when you aren’t home. That’s a little scary.

Granted, the chances of something like this happening to anyone are incredibly slim, but it still makes me feel a little uneasy to know that my Console could go all Johnny Cash on me at any moment, especially when I’m not home.

I still however, don’t think that it is such a great idea to leave your console plugged into the power socket long after the three red lights on the front notified you of an overheating problem.

So what do you think? Was the fire started by the console, or the negligent owner?

source: todaysthv.com

Last Updated: April 21, 2008

9 Comments

  1. koldFU5iON

    April 21, 2008 at 08:04

    what I don’t get (and I’m not trying to be funny) is was his console left on? i.e. he could see the RROD, or was it off but plugged into the wall? cause it really just seems stupid that the console will suddenly decide to ignite if it’s not active but then I’m no techy

    Reply

  2. doobiwan

    April 21, 2008 at 10:24

    Haven’t you guys posted this already?

    Agreed kold, I don’t buy it. If the thing is RRoD is pre-bootstrap, let alone running anything significant, it wouldn’t be drawing nearly enough current to warrant that sort of thing. Then there’s the whole, “left it in RRoD” for an hour debacle.

    Hmm, reckon he was trying the towel trick and dumbazz did it to the brick as well?

    doobiwan’s last blog post..The GTA4 & Rock Band combo:Xbox 360’s European Assault

    Reply

  3. Fox1

    April 21, 2008 at 10:59

    This incident doesn’t carry water 😕

    The power brick should have a fuse inside(just like any other PSU) that will go off if in the event of an electric shot. And if that doesn’t go off then the main switch will cut off power to the home if there is a shot. 💡

    Reply

  4. RacerZA

    April 21, 2008 at 11:50

    This guy was definately trying the towel trick. He probably left in machine covered with the towels, then forgot about it ❗

    Reply

  5. Abe

    April 21, 2008 at 12:11

    Or maybe it really did short and burn?

    Reply

  6. doobiwan

    April 21, 2008 at 13:56

    Abe, the reason I find that really unlikely is that MS were sued for the exact same thing with the Xbox 1 and if you’ve seen the 360 powerbrick the thing is designed like a tank. (Perhaps unlike the rest of the console 😉 )

    Having said that, maybe it was an Xbox 1 and he’s trying his luck.

    doobiwan’s last blog post..The GTA4 & Rock Band combo:Xbox 360’s European Assault

    Reply

  7. scotty777

    April 21, 2008 at 14:02

    well, this is something you don’t see everyday, but hey, I guess you xbox boys better be all nice to ye xbox, others wise it might get it’s revenge! 😈

    Reply

  8. sabagamma

    April 21, 2008 at 21:30

    Look dude, we told you the XBox was hot – now do you believe us? :mrgreen:

    Reply

  9. Evilredzombie

    April 22, 2008 at 06:59

    MS should use johnny Cash as a theme…I walked in to a burning ring of fire, i walk dodn and flames went higher…

    Always said that MS is from Hell, now I have proof

    Evilredzombie’s last blog post..Sony PS3 firmware 2.30

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Check Also

5 Tech Innovations Transforming Online Shopping in 2024

Your consumer experience today will never be like the face-to-face and physically draining…