360 owners - have you attempted to fix a RROD?

[inertianinja]

posting this here because it is video-game related and RROD is totally not rad.

so, here's the deal:

my little sister's friend bought a used xbox from ebay. it got the RROD.
the genius then bought ANOTHER used xbox from ebay, from the same seller, and that too RROD'd. microsoft refused repair of both.

apparently my sister worked out some deal with her that if i am able to fix both, i get to keep one. i took the first one apart (not difficult, actually) and ordered the "Team Xecuter" fix, which apparently just puts 4 pads under the video RAM chips that force them to re-solder as it heats up.

has anyone attempted this?

i know the *method* works, since i tried something similar on my girlfriend's broken ibook G4.

if no, would you all want me to take pics and write up a tutorial when the fix comes?

[dolson]

I saw a guy on YouTube fix it using a towel.. But I hear it's not permanent.

A guy I work with bought a RROD for $50 and he fixed it, but I'm not sure how he did it. If I remember, I'll ask him and let you know.

[lavahot]

I got a refurb 360 from buy.com and it rroded. If it's the specific RROD wher the whole thing is lit up except the top left, microsoft will fix it for free if it's within three years of the manufacture date.

[bayareaking510]

Sounds like more trouble than it's worth. Unless you have the time to work on this and accept a very possible failure, I say cut your losses short. :)

Any way of getting a refund from the seller? I'm sure you can ask for a refund if it was fairly recent.

[dolson]

I got a refurb 360 from buy.com and it rroded. If it's the specific RROD wher the whole thing is lit up except the top left, microsoft will fix it for free if it's within three years of the manufacture date.

Didn't you just get that?

[lavahot]

Yeah, but I "rented" one from Wally world while mine was in the shop.

[stubadub]

I think a tutorial would be awesome, or a link to the tutorial you used with any clarifying comments or notes that would be useful added. Mine is almost out of the 3 year warranty, I'm on my 4th one and this one has lasted about as long as the others. I just know it's going to go out again about a week after my warranty ends.

[masherscf]

I don't want to jinx myself by discussing it...

[inertianinja]

well, the two boxes i've been asked to attempt to fix have been rejected by microsoft, i believe because the reseller that this girl bought them from opened the box and voided the warranty.

that leaves very limited options - sell it "as-is" on ebay or attempt a fix.

if this fix works, it will DEFINITELY be worth the trouble for people who are in a similar situation (out of warranty / voided warranty RROD xbox).

taking the xbox apart took about 10 minutes, but now that i know the process i could probably do it in 5. the "fix" itself involves attaching 4 sticky pads and putting it back together.

i'll definitely do a write-up when the parts come.

[inertianinja]

I saw a guy on YouTube fix it using a towel.. But I hear it's not permanent.

A guy I work with bought a RROD for $50 and he fixed it, but I'm not sure how he did it. If I remember, I'll ask him and let you know.

...and yea...the towel fix is risky. all it does is superheat the xbox so the solder re-melts partially and fixes itself temporarily.

problem is that under normal usage you'll get the same problems with the xbox and it will break again.

[lonelytv]

I've fixed several Xbox 360s that have had the red ring. It's very tricky to get it right. I've had a few that I spent a few hours working on and they never worked past the fifth day. My suggestions would be to do the shrod mod and the x-clamp fix first. If they don't fix the issue try using a heat gun and see if you can 're-seat' the chip(s). Though it all depends on what the issue is. It could be any number of things RAM, Scaler chip, GPU or even the CPU. More than likely it's the scaler chip. You'll know though if you get the error code from the screen it shows.

Good Luck on fixing it. It can be done just takes time.

[dolson]

Just asked my co-worker, he also used the x-clamp method. So that's your best bet, I think.

[ckrieger]

Yeah, I successfully fixed my overheating RROD by taking it apart and removing the x-clamps, popping in some new bolts and then heating it up without the fan installed so the solder points would melt back together. I've been running it almost non-stop for a solid year since then with the case all reassembled. No issues. There are tons of tutorials documenting this fix on the web.

[summx]

i replaced the x-clamp with screws a while back and the 360 ran like a champ for like 2 months and then died again. It's not really a permenant fix but if you're out of warranty it's a good option, other people have gotten a more time out of their "repaired" 360 than me.

[septim]

I had a launch 360 that would get the red rings often. If you did the towel trick it would be fixed for awhile at least. But even then it was prone to scratching games.

[summx]

I had a launch 360 that would get the red rings often. If you did the towel trick it would be fixed for awhile at least. But even then it was prone to scratching games.
the towel trick is good for an extra 10 minutes of life, it's not even a decent trick. It makes the 360 work long enough to get saved games off the hard drive. The x-clamp replacement is the only plausible long-term solution

[inertianinja]

as an update:

i did the fix on two xboxes. it was so easy to do that it wasn't worth writing up a tutorial. if you want to try it, just google "xecuter RROD fix" and check out this guide http://www.360-hq.com/article-2703--0-0.html

it literally goes like this:
-open xbox, remove ~20 screws, pull out DVD Drive and Fan
-place sticky pads on bottom of motherboard on RAM chips
-put everything back together
-let it run for 20 minutes, let it cool down, turn it back on.

Results:
- on the first xbox (2006 build date) worked immediately after doing the above.
- on the second xbox (2005 build date) didn't work, despite three attempts of letting it run...BUT i should say that it was evident that the previous owner of the box had tried a similar fix before...so something else could have gone wrong.

bottom line, it was a quick, cheap, and easy fix. worth a shot if your box is out of warranty.

[satori]

Can you fix the economy now please?

[7h0m45]

i have a launch box and i get the 2 red lights(overheat), it's not a huge deal but it is very annoying. is there any easy way to fix this? or should i do the same thing ninja did?

[inertianinja]

i have a launch box and i get the 2 red lights(overheat), it's not a huge deal but it is very annoying. is there any easy way to fix this? or should i do the same thing ninja did?

the fan was one of the things i had to pull out in order to do the stuff i did.

once you get the box open, it's one cable attached to the mobo.

i'd say order a new fan and give it a shot