8
Score
Tristan
99
Asked
Red Ring of Death
I just got the red ring of death, anyone know of a way to fix it? Or a place to send it off to fix it? Might i add, it no longer has the three year warranty.
10
Score
Chris Green
17.3k
Answered
Accepted Answer
You may want to look into something called the X-Clamp Method, it required replacing the X-Clamps, which are brackets that hold the CPU and GPU heatsinks in place, These will warp over time, to the point where they put uneven preassure on the CPU or GPU causing it to form a cold joint (Where the chip is not fully connected to the motherboard causing it to malfunction) This causes the red ring of death. If you are comfortable doing this, it required replacing the clamps with screws, and opening the Xbox. You can buy kits that include the screws and washers, and maybe the thermal compound (Which also needs re-applyment)
The Guides: (This is the first in a series of 3) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bo2dl2vlw...
7
Score
Chris Green
17.3k
Answered
Go to xbox.com and sign in with your windows live ID (If you don't have one, make it) and then select the register a console option. You will need to enter your consoles serial number (Under the faceplate above the USB ports) and register your console. You can then go to the "Request a Repair" option, and select the option to have your console repaired (It has a 3 year warrenty for the 3 red rings[3/4 Ring Red] and the e74 error as long as the silver "Microsoft" Sticker under the faceplate hasn't been tampered with or removed.) They will mail you a box, shipping label, packageing, and instructions, then you can package it, and take it to a UPS store where they will ship it for free as long as you attatch the included shipping label. Once microsoft has repaired it, they send it back (The repair process ususually takes 14-21 days) and give you a free 1 Month Xbox live gold card (If you have an Xbox Like Gold Membership) I have repaired my own 360, but since microsoft will do it for free, I would reccomend sending it to them, unless the microsoft warrenty sticker is damaged, or missing.
3
Score
Steve Logan OSG
295
Answered
I run OSG and we don't fix 360's that old. The X-Clamp method does work, at least 65% of the time. And 50% of the time it will work for more than a few months.
It is not what we would call a reliable fix. But if it's your own time, and you spend little on the kit, you've got little to lose. Just remember this, you are doing a quick fix on a design related heat fault, on a unit with a DVDrom drive that is more than 4 years old. (the DVDrom lifespan averages 4-6 years). I'd use a unit like that in shop, but I'd NEVER let it go to a customer.
Good Luck!
Edited by: Ben Sweedler ( )
The X-Clamp has been pretty reliable for me. I have X-Clamped 4 Different Xboxes, and each one seems so be running fine. I've even done my Elite, and its been running now for over a year.
That's great. In my position multiply the warranty risk by about 100.I have customers I've retained for 7 plus years. Even a years worth of functionality is on the low end of acceptable. 'Fixed' stays fixed in my book. It's not worth the risk to reputation in my estimation. Since it doesn't address the underlying heat dissipation design flaw, I'll stick with being the careful repair guy. For a DIY solution, one has nothing to lose though. Just don't spend a lot of money on such a solution..
2
Score
ripsta33
25
Answered
I repair red ring of death xbox 360's using a hot air reflow station and reflow the solder back under the chips the same as they came out of the factory. The x clamp fix is not actually a fix as it just holds the broken solder joint together.
0
Score
elais
97
Answered
well here's one when you break the seal on the xbox360 you void your warranty so really think about if you can fix this or not
0
Score
nick
15.7k
Answered
0
Score
Answered
Works like a champ!!! I used this site to mod my 360 and hard wired my fans to run them at full voltage in 2006. Then a little over a year ago I got a red-ring error, and used their repair kit and the following walk-through: http://www.llamma.com/xbox360/repair/rin...
No problems since!
0
Score
Estebi
1
Answered
0
Score
conker
11
Answered
Well. from the accepted answer i'd highly recommend you dont replace the x-camps with screws. i learned that the hard way just dont do it.
it can cause flexing, break the heatsink(depend
Gamestop does this fix and a whole bunch of other repair services. if the xclamp fix is done to your xbox the problem will come back in 4 weeks tops maybe even 2 months if your really lucky. so if you send it to someone ask for some pics of their work station and make sure thay dont do an xclamp fix on your xbox.
the best fix anyone could do is reball with LEAD solder balls(make sure its lead!!), add an extra fan to reduce heat on the heatsinks, and a 12v fan mod. doing this to and xbox will make sure you have the best long term fix.
there are many bad fixes out there like the towel fix, xclamp fix,
+ more. if your repair man does reflows be careful with them. they have to have the right equipment. a hot air reflow station is good. id recommend you get someone who reballs then reflows. reflows just melts the solderballs under the chip to make them join again. this fix will last at least 2-4 months depending if they did a proper reflow with flux, make sure they use flux if your repair guy does reflows. reballs is a whole other story. its just like you got it out of the box. if they use lead free solder the xbox will last about 3-5 maybe even 6 months. if they use lead it could last 4-12 months depending if thay did a great job.
THANK YOU AND REMEMBER THE XCLAMP FIX IS BAD!
0
Score
Timothy
79
Answered
I don't mean to pull people from this site because this site is very very helpful but there is a HUGE database of RROD Repair and diagnosis information that would take months even years to accumulate here.
The Xbox Experts Site even has a step by step guide to diagnose your xbox and then a list of possible fixes.. I have repaired over 50 xbox's with this and had great results.
0
Score
Daniel
1
Answered
Removing the xclamp and replacing the leg bolts with washers and bolts is a horrible idea.
A proper reflow with insat super flux and a good reflow station,not a heatgun will ensure a better quality repair.
Albeit,a reball is the only permanent fix.
Dont be suckered into buying xclamp rrod repair kits.
They are garbage.
Reflow with the proper flux,repaste the gpu and and put the xclamps back on.
Retention can be established by placing steel washers on the side close to the motherboard before reattaching the x clamps.
0
Score
Answered
the reason you got the ring of death is because your xbox has moved and it cuts into the disk soo just be more careful and dont move the system while there is a game in it
-2
Score
Chris
1
Answered
To make this easier I will explain what is happening:
The chips on the motherboard have overheated and what you need to do is stop the heat build up.
Edited by: Kyle Wiens ( )
It's not just heat. Heat just accelerate all of the underlying issues. The standoffs are not even which causes flex. The x-clamps are a horrible design which also causes flex. Finnaly the pressure applied to the chip die is very low and uneven. causing more flex.. When heated up all of these are accelerated. Microsoft did fix the standoffs in later versions (Starting spring 2010) but they have yet to replace the horrible x-clamps. And your guide? That you charge $24 for... Well I've seen many many many guides to repair xbox's 90% of them will actually cause damage to your xbox and only temporarily fix it, 100% of them are FREE. See my post in this topic for details..
