zircon Posted April 18, 2009 Share Posted April 18, 2009 My 360 has two red rings on the left quadrant right now. I can only assume this is overheating, based on what MS has on their site. This is happening for no good reason (my Xbox hasn't moved in months, nothing wrong with ventilation or the room) so I think the problem must be hardware related. I've mostly disassembled the Xbox and I'm going to try and reseat the processor with new thermal paste. Am I doing the wrong thing here, or is this the only way to fix such a problem? The fans sound like they're working just fine, so... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phill Posted April 18, 2009 Share Posted April 18, 2009 You realize you voided your warranty correct? That fine warranty that MS gave an extra couple of years too. Anyways, according to the intertubes, turn it off for a couple of hours, grab a can of wonder air, blow the hell out of the XBox and see if that fixes things. Otherwise, yee ole tech support and warranty repair.....hopefully they won't notice. Oh, also should note, if you do re-seat your heat sinks, you will need new thermal compound for them. Compound is a single use type of thing and any re-seating, replacing, etc requires new compound application. Seems like a good number of people have replaced their stock compound with aftermarket stuff (like Arctic Silver 5)with good results. Would make me a little nervous to do such a thing to my XBox, Microsoft can be a little...or really uptight about warranties and licenses and voiding a warranty on an XBox is not a good idea (RROD and all that) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zircon Posted April 18, 2009 Author Share Posted April 18, 2009 First of all, the warranty had already expired. Second of all, I tried the solutions you suggested already. Third, their tech support said I would have to pay over $100 and wait 6+ weeks for a repair. I'd rather say 'screw it' and try to fix it myself, since the warranty is gone anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted April 19, 2009 Share Posted April 19, 2009 assuming you use AS5 for the compound, do the gfx heatsink while you're in there. everyone gets pissed off about these things breaking. there are issues, yes, but if your 360 lost its warranty it lasted at least 3 years displaying high-definition content (it's still outputting in max hd, then downsampling the image if you can't play it on your tv), which torches most of the other high-definition players from when the 360 came out. no one talks about the YROD (yellow ROD) from the PS3, but they're quite common among systems used a lot. assuming you want it for longevity's sake, like me, you should buy a jasper system. there's no comparison between the 16.5 amp systems and the jaspers, which run at 12.1a. they're four generations of dvd drives quieter, they're about a quarter of the heat, and they've got a built-in memory card. reassemble your system, sell it on ebay for about 60 bucks or so, and use that to buy a new arcade system and the hd hookups. all that said, kittykar on these forums fixes 360s. maybe he'll know more than you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zircon Posted April 19, 2009 Author Share Posted April 19, 2009 Yeah, I'm sure he does know more, but I PMed him a week ago with no response. I do plan on picking up Arctic Silver 5. Anything I should know for actually applying the stuff and removing the current heatsinks? Also, the 360 is over a year old, so it didn't lose the 3 year warranty (although I guess THAT'S gone now, not that I care) but it lost the one I care about, which fixes issues like THIS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phill Posted April 19, 2009 Share Posted April 19, 2009 Removing the heatsink is retarded (personally) but there are a few dozen youtube videos showing how its done. Applying AS5 is fairly easy though, use alchohal to clean off the old crap (which may actually be a giant fucking mess) from both heat sink and processor, apply as per the instructions that come with the AS5, replace the heatsink and press firmly and reconnect the bracket that holds everything together.. Depending on who you ask, the E74 and RROD errors are common enough to make voiding the warranty something to care about, but what your machine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zircon Posted April 19, 2009 Author Share Posted April 19, 2009 Why is it retarded? What are my other options? I'm not paying $100 and waiting 6 weeks for a repair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted April 19, 2009 Share Posted April 19, 2009 sell it on ebay, buy a jasper. there's an incredible difference, really. i've got kittykar's number, if you want. he doesn't visit much anymore, something about going abroad and being a dumbass in school. edit: get something to use as an applicator for the AS5. the nature of the stuff means it takes days to get it off your finger. something like a q-tip, but that won't disintegrate. it's thick stuff, far thicker than petroleum jelly, and you've gotta use some effort to spread it, so something like a mechanical pencil (with no lead, of course) but wider at the tip will work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phill Posted April 19, 2009 Share Posted April 19, 2009 Why is it retarded? What are my other options? I'm not paying $100 and waiting 6 weeks for a repair. Not retarded in a can't do it yourself type of way, more of a...needlessly complex? I don't know, I just don't think its the best way to hold a heatsink in place, you need to remove the X bracket from the bottom which snaps into place rather then using screws. Similar to some third party video card fans/heat sinks I've installed. Take a look at a few youtube videos and all will be explained, the only thing you need to worry about when removing is that your screwdriver doesn't slip and jam into the board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zircon Posted April 19, 2009 Author Share Posted April 19, 2009 phill... I'm not sure what you recommend instead. Look, guys, all I'm trying to do is just fix my Xbox. Am I missing something? It seems like I am. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skrypnyk Posted April 19, 2009 Share Posted April 19, 2009 Am I missing something? It seems like I am. a Ph.D in electronic repair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phill Posted April 19, 2009 Share Posted April 19, 2009 I'm not really recommending anything else, I'm just whining/warning about the hardware design. To remove the heat sink, you have to remove an X bracket from the underside of the main board, which is not screwed on, its...snapped on. To get it off you basically need to wedge a screw driver in just the right way and if you slip, there is always the risk of taking a chunk out of your board. Once the bracket is off, the heat sink should come off, and the cleaning and application of new compound can be done. See this Vid its basically what you want to do. Not hard to do, and as long as you don't do anything stupid, it should work out nicely. Oh and ground yourself, don't need to fry anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zircon Posted April 19, 2009 Author Share Posted April 19, 2009 Wow... that is way more complicated than I thought. Now I see what you mean, and now I'm not sure I want to do it. If only someone was local, I'd pay 'em $50 in a heartbeat to just open the thing up for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phill Posted April 19, 2009 Share Posted April 19, 2009 If you didn't live out east, I would be all over that $50. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdgeCrusher Posted April 19, 2009 Share Posted April 19, 2009 Most used game stores around here that are not "gamestop" will do 360 and ps3 repairs if you ask them. Might want to try to see if you can find one in your area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abg Posted April 19, 2009 Share Posted April 19, 2009 You could try the , although my understanding is that this is a 3-ring fix, not a 2-ring. Still, it seems to be a (temporary) solution so look into it if you like. If it makes things worse though, well, don't shoot the messenger! Worst case scenario, it's time to pick up an Arcade, and the newer ones are purported to not overheat as much.Also just to clarify Microsoft covers the 3ROD for 3 years but everything else only gets the one year coverage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted April 19, 2009 Share Posted April 19, 2009 you'll torch a 2-ring xbox if you try the towel trick. again, jaspers are a lot better than original 360s, or even falcons (14.2a). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phill Posted April 19, 2009 Share Posted April 19, 2009 mephisto, I'm all for replace old crap with known problems with new crap with new problems but the guy doesn't want to spend 100 bucks on repairing the current problem which is fixable by either himself if he wants to tackle it or someone else. Just relax man, and give fixing it a chance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zircon Posted April 20, 2009 Author Share Posted April 20, 2009 Prophet I might take you up on your offer of.. uh.. you calling kittykar. I've been watching videos and the fine tinkering skills involved here are not what I want to be doing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 heh. fair enough. pm me if you're really interested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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