has anyone else had this problem with the power expanders?
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We have had this happen to 4 of them. I am referring to the crack in the insulation of the wires near the base.
Yes we have. Ours broke after Worlds so now have to purchase a new one 
Im not sure why they dont use the silicone wire that they use on the battery leads for the power expander. The wire that they use seems to be very stiff compared to the battery leads.
We have had the same problem with Motor wires. I repair these with liquid Tape. this is a Brush on Insulation and works very well. I’m not sure if it is VEX legal, but is a lot cheaper than buying new Motors and power expanders.
We had a power expander with a very loose connection at worlds. Our arm was on the power expander, and it wasn’t working, so our driver just backed into the wall a couple times and it worked XD. The power expanders seem to have some issues.
You can fix the connection problems by bending in the metal inside of the connector with a tinny flat head screwdriver. We had that problem at worlds too. I have contacted vex and they said to contact them and they would RMA the powere expanders.
What I have done normally is tape the motor wire to the back of the motor casing so the strain relief doesn’t get broken.
I also tape all the wires to a casing including on batteries just because it may make the wires a little shorter but it saves the parts…
That’s a good idea. I remember one time last year we had a battery and we were testing it, and it smelled of smoke. They can get bad connections by the easiest drop or cut. I think VEX should change ALL the wiring insulation on all cords and connectors.