Xbox 360 crashes may be caused by PSUs overheating

As reports of Xbox 360 units crashing or freezing continue to emerge from North America, some console owners are claiming to have found the cause of the problem - and its solution.

Apparently many Xbox 360 owners are attempting to hide the console's large power supply unit out of sight, and placing it in areas where there is not enough ventilation as a result.

Just as when a PC crashes if it gets too hot and there's a risk of fire, the Xbox 360's PSU is said to then shut down - which means console owners should be leaving plenty of space around the power pack so that air can circulate and the two built-in fans can perform properly.

One Xbox 360 owner found a particularly inventive solution to the problem - as detailed on the GameSpot forum.

The poster, "goldeneyemaster", claims his Xbox 360 was crashing "like once every 20 minutes," so he suspended it in the air with a bit of string - which solved the problem. He also found that perching the PSU on a box worked just as well: "I left the console on for seven hours without crashing (I finally decided to turn it off)."

Microsoft declined to comment on whether the PSU is causing the crashes, with a spokesperson simply telling our sister site Eurogamer: "Because Xbox 360 has three powerful processing cores, customers may notice that it runs a bit warmer than other game consoles, but this heat output is well within the acceptable and safe range for a CE device of this type and has passed all applicable safety certifications.

"There is no systemic issue with Xbox 360. Each incident is unique and these customer enquiries are being handled on a case-by-case basis."