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360 Red Lights of Death - Permanent Fix (NOT the towel trick!)
benfinkel
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Hello There,
I light of today's post I thought I'd share my recent experience fixing my own bricked 360.
I operated in the same mode of thought as Tycho. I realized some people were losing their systems, but I attributed it to them. Mine had been going fine for more than a year (read: out of warranty!). Well, last week I turned it on one morning to remove a movie I needed to return and blammo: 3 red lights, the red lights of death!
Anyways, I argued with MS for a while but, the fact remained it was out of warranty and they wanted $140 to repair it. In my web browsing for an alternative solution (read: how can I force MS to fix it for free?) I stumbled across a forum site for x-box modders. They had recently come up with an interesting theory and unique fix for the 3 red light problem, and they had fifty successful reports using their method.
I'm not a particularly "handy" guy, but I do build my own PCs and I own Arctic Silver 5, so I figured 'what the hell, it's already broken!'.
Anyways, I'll give you the rundown of the theory and resolution:
Theory: The heat sinks for the CPU and GPU are held onto the motherboard by an "x-clamp" that forces pressure in an odd way on the motherboard. This means the motherboard is being bowed upwards by the pressure to keep the heat sinks pressed down on the dies. Over time, this stress along with the heat that the system generates causes some solder joints to disconnect, resulting in a 3 light error.
Resolution: By disassembling the xbox and removing those clamps and replacing with a straight bolt setup that is bolted right to the 360's case, you remove that bending pressure on the motherboard. Once that's done, overheating the system or blasting it with a heatgun will cause those disconnected solder joints to re-flow and reconnect. It sounds crazy I know, but they're over 60 successes now, of which I'm one.
All in all I spent $30 on parts and tools to fix the 360. Many of the things I bought were things you might already have (drill bits and rubbing alcohol and such) so you could easily come in well under $20. I've been running the system for four days now since I applied the fix. I've played games, watched movies, played BC games, and have not had a single problem.
I hope this helps anyone out there dealing with a bricked system!!
Here is the link to the method I used:
http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=599217
I light of today's post I thought I'd share my recent experience fixing my own bricked 360.
I operated in the same mode of thought as Tycho. I realized some people were losing their systems, but I attributed it to them. Mine had been going fine for more than a year (read: out of warranty!). Well, last week I turned it on one morning to remove a movie I needed to return and blammo: 3 red lights, the red lights of death!
Anyways, I argued with MS for a while but, the fact remained it was out of warranty and they wanted $140 to repair it. In my web browsing for an alternative solution (read: how can I force MS to fix it for free?) I stumbled across a forum site for x-box modders. They had recently come up with an interesting theory and unique fix for the 3 red light problem, and they had fifty successful reports using their method.
I'm not a particularly "handy" guy, but I do build my own PCs and I own Arctic Silver 5, so I figured 'what the hell, it's already broken!'.
Anyways, I'll give you the rundown of the theory and resolution:
Theory: The heat sinks for the CPU and GPU are held onto the motherboard by an "x-clamp" that forces pressure in an odd way on the motherboard. This means the motherboard is being bowed upwards by the pressure to keep the heat sinks pressed down on the dies. Over time, this stress along with the heat that the system generates causes some solder joints to disconnect, resulting in a 3 light error.
Resolution: By disassembling the xbox and removing those clamps and replacing with a straight bolt setup that is bolted right to the 360's case, you remove that bending pressure on the motherboard. Once that's done, overheating the system or blasting it with a heatgun will cause those disconnected solder joints to re-flow and reconnect. It sounds crazy I know, but they're over 60 successes now, of which I'm one.
All in all I spent $30 on parts and tools to fix the 360. Many of the things I bought were things you might already have (drill bits and rubbing alcohol and such) so you could easily come in well under $20. I've been running the system for four days now since I applied the fix. I've played games, watched movies, played BC games, and have not had a single problem.
I hope this helps anyone out there dealing with a bricked system!!
Here is the link to the method I used:
http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=599217
-Ben
benfinkel on
0
Posts
I wonder if this is the kind of thing they will have fixed in the Elite (and post-elite HDMI systems). I know that they've changed the mainboard itself, but the disassembly pictures I've seen don't show the heatsink mounting or anything.
...has anyone done any measurements of the CPU temp of a 360 under heavy use, etc, compared to a normal PC/laptop?
I'M A TWITTER SHITTER
According to the article, it's not just the heat, it's the combination of the heat and the weird clamp that's warping the motherboard.
Seriously, its hotter then hell most of the time.
I don't think the heat is warping the board, but rather the pressure from the x-clamp.
If you look when you take apart the box it's pretty obvious. You can visibly see the bow in the motherboard and the x-clamp is designed in such a way that it would clearly force the motherboard up in the center of the clamp, which is of course centered under the CPU/GPU die.
I don't totally agree with the "re-flow" part either, maybe it just gets warm enough to make it soft? lol, I don't know a lot about solder.
However when my 360 breaks (it is a 2005) I'll be paying for a Microsoft solution (refurb or repair) for $130 as it comes with a year warranty.
I think that even if I did manage to fix it this way... if that was indeed what broke... I'd basically screw myself over for any future official support should any number of other things happen.
Once you've opened it, it's yours. MS won't touch the thing so forget about the $140 repair option.
Of course, there IS the principal of the matter...
"http://rbjtech.bulldoghome.com/pages...com/XClamp.htm
http://copronymous.com/home/wp-conte.../3rlod_fix.pdf
Bottom one is a pdf
Part of the reason 360's break
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQgLBD3F6Bg
Another reason is the x clamps holding on the cpu. What has ms done to temporarily fix it.
http://www.360resin.com/
Thats right glue, as seen here
http://www.llamma.com/xbox360/news/i...ite_part_2.htm
and here
http://www.llamma.com/xbox360/news/i..._360_elite.htm
Towel trick and heat gun work because it reheats the crappy solder. But is not permanent because the board still warps and the clamps used to hold on the heat sinks seem to force the cpu from its solder points. Is the fix I linked to a permanent fix? I have no idea.
Here is a link to the original place where the fix came from
http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=595746
RESULTS SO FAR
1. Fixed the 3RLOD, No issues at all now, No freezes, works fine - 62
2. Fixed the 3RLOD, still video freezes occasionally. 1
3. Mixed results, sometimes works with no 3LOD - 1
4. Didn't fix the 3LOD. - 2
Have fun
Reply With Quote"
Does the 360 do this at all? Or does opening it only void the warranty?
Or I just bought into misinformation. Either way, that it was a mod chip thing was all I wanted to know. Thanks.
There are no switches or anything the system could use to determine you had opened it. Just a sticker in case you try to send it back to them.