A 14 year old boy from Brevard, North Carolina was nearly killed Sunday while trying to stop his Xbox 360 from overheating.

The boy’s mother told local news that his Xbox 360 kept turning itself off after about 5 minutes. Her son had read online that he could stop it from cutting off by cooling the power supply. “I saw him put the cord on top of a box in the living room”, said the boy’s mother. “When I left to go next door he was playing a game but when I got back he was laying on his back on the floor and unconscious”.

While his mother was away the boy had taken the power supply and wrapped it in plastic and tape. In an attempt to cool it off, he submerged it into a pan of water with the cord still plugged in. The boy had regained consciousness by the time paramedics had arrived. He was taken to the Transylvania Community Hospital in Brevard where he spent the night.

Source: Guru3d.com

age 14 from Brevard, North Carolina. I think Darwin called it natural selection, but this time it failed.

age 14 from Brevard, North Carolina. I think Darwin called it natural selection, but this time it failed.

I heard on a podcast about guys who had modified bar fridges to hold Xbox360s

age 14 from Brevard, North Carolina. I think Darwin called it natural selection, but this time it failed.

Yeah, I guess my first instinct was to label this kid as a Darwinian failure also, but then it occurred to me that he's really a victim of poor parenting and a questionable education system. I, like most of us, recall being warned very strongly at an early age that electricity and water don't mix -- the combination can kill you!

age 14 from Brevard, North Carolina. I think Darwin called it natural selection, but this time it failed.

Yeah, I guess my first instinct was to label this kid as a Darwinian failure also, but then it occurred to me that he's really a victim of poor parenting and a questionable education system. I, like most of us, recall being warned very strongly at an early age that electricity and water don't mix -- the combination can kill you!

Since he was obviously aware that water could cause problems (he used plastic and tape on the power supply before immersing it), I'd say he was merely the victim of youthful exuberance and a little (dangerous) knowledge.

I did some pretty dumb things involving electricity at that age. Although putting a PSU in water wasn't one of them putting a mains plug on a transistor radio was! I'd read that more volts meant more power, and I wanted my radio louder, the resulting bang was quite loud

I survived my experimentation often more by luck than judgement, and went on to become a respected engineer in my field

I wonder what the reaction would be if he had been on holiday in Thailand at the time? Lethal electrical system to blame maybe?

I do feel sorry for the kid. I just couldn't let that one slide. I have been a tech for many years and I v been hit. If ya play with it everyday sooner or later it gets ya. worse case was a miss wired radar test set that just came back from cal. after plugging it in I touched the case and it was hot, knock me flat out.

with 110 Volt so shocked is pretty unlucky. usually the 220 Volt don't kill you easily and water has a high resistance.

Normaly it should end with a painfull screaming. I read that extrem painfull experiences cause braincells to make some extra connections, to avoid such things in future.