Author Topic: My xbox 360 repair attempt... (Read 6354 times)

woodyear99 · « **on:** February 06, 2009, 02:55:38 AM »

Alright so I got RROD a few weeks back and decided to fix it myself using one of those kits on Amazon from a seller called 3RedLightFix. Anyhow it came with some washers, screws, xbox opener tool and some thermal paste/remover.

Instructions were decent, standard stuff you see on google with the XClamp fix. Basically you change that xclamp and use regular screws to hold down the heatsink.
Also they recommend using arctic silver on the heatsink as the stuff Microsoft uses on it is quite bad as you will see in this post....

I took these while opening the 360, bye bye MS sticker. I was surprised at how dust free the system was after having it for a year or so...

Hmm those XClamps got to go....

So as I mentioned before the thermal paste Microsoft uses isn't very good and is known to melt away and run off onto other components thus it was no surprise here. Interesting to see how the thermal paste ran down to the right as I had the system running vertical. I had my first 360 fail horizontal so why not try vertical lol, in any case the paste would have run off eventually...
Look at the mess on both the CPU and GPU!!

So I cleaned off the gpu and cpu and applied some Arctic Silver then used the screws and washers supplied in the kit. The one flaky step in this whole repair is the "baking" needed. Basically you leave the system running for a few minutes without the fan. This causes the system to overheat and allows the solder underneath the board to fill in any cracks/faults. I think this definitely shortens the life of the components but hey I reached this far what do I have to lose!

Anyway it wasn't that hard to do and the end result is.........

Yeah that usb fan is my cooling mod, it looks real fraud but at least it working lol. The only question is for how long......hope the RROD train doesn't hit anyone else!

Carigamers · « **on:** February 06, 2009, 02:55:38 AM »

Eroo · « **Reply #1 on:** February 06, 2009, 07:27:55 AM »

Are the xclamps replaced or not needed anymore when normal screws are inserted?

Arcmanov · « **Reply #2 on:** February 06, 2009, 07:50:29 AM »

Ay, good job man. Nothing to lose by trying. So now yuh back in de game.
Still selling all your games?

* orders kit just in case *

woodyear99 · « **Reply #3 on:** February 06, 2009, 09:17:10 AM »

XClamps are totally replaced by separate screws and washers, and of course application of a good thermal paste is a must.

Games are still for sale.

Arc this seems to be a good last ditch effort but from reading what others have said it seems to last anywhere between a few hours to a year +. Did some research and got inspiration from this forum

http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/466179

A bunch of Malaysian gamers plagued by RROD got down to fixing it themselves with varying results lol

W1nTry · « **Reply #4 on:** February 06, 2009, 11:37:29 AM »

Well done meng... you may consider going a step further and modding it to fit in a PC case instead for easier access and troubleshooting. Woodyear for local xbox mod guru XD

Carigamers · « **Reply #4 on:** February 06, 2009, 11:37:29 AM »

woodyear99 · « **Reply #5 on:** February 06, 2009, 11:41:23 AM »

Lol yeah I am going to do some more mods to the case for better airflow. I am investigating a possible move of the DVD drive as I don't like how it is right over the GPU, seems like it can get real hot down there :p

If anyone else tries this fix let me know there are a few other things u can try if things don't work out...

Eroo · « **Reply #6 on:** February 06, 2009, 01:33:38 PM »

Reading up on RROD repairs and it just amazes me at the design flaws present in the 360. Its actually amazing that someone allowed these design specs to go to manufacturing.

The issues for RROD seem to be cause from any one or a combination of the following

1. Flexing of the board due to xclamp losing strength which breaks the solder connection between cpu and gpu. Flexing can also damage ram and other components.
2. Insufficient heat dissipation.
3. 'Tin whiskers' forming on the solder connections.

Add to that some ppl experience disc scratching and its easy to see why it has such a high failure rate.
Click here for a modified RROD fix and discusses the finding from some thermal experts analysis of the 360.

The one thing that seems clear is that once your machine has red ringed it will do so again.

W1nTry · « **Reply #7 on:** February 06, 2009, 01:50:18 PM »

I have first hand Experience with Disc scratching... O_o

woodyear99 · « **Reply #8 on:** February 06, 2009, 02:39:56 PM »

Lol yeah there is no doubt in my mind that it will RROD again, question really is for how long.....

W1nTry · « **Reply #9 on:** February 06, 2009, 02:53:59 PM »

Considering there are the X brackets... I wonder if it is size compatible with CPU heatsinks for Intel based systems... if they are you could put some pretty exotic cooling and perhaps extend the life more substantially... OCZ vendettas XD

woodyear99 · « **Reply #10 on:** February 06, 2009, 02:59:53 PM »

Yeah I've seen people put them in PC cases and used water cooling but I think that is going a bit overboard.

Any bets as to how long it will last? lol

Arcmanov · « **Reply #11 on:** February 06, 2009, 03:35:46 PM »

With moderate use...I say 1 year. Hardcore use...8 months.

moderate = 2-4 hrs/day

hardcore = 6+ hrs/day

woodyear99 · « **Reply #12 on:** February 08, 2009, 01:01:31 PM »

Ok so I decided on leaving the console like this, with the dvd drive outside the case to allow the usb fan to cool both the gpu and cpu. I could not understand why they put the GPU right under the dvd drive, it gets really hot.

I realized that the dvd drive uses standard SATA cables so I used a longer one to get it outside the case. Played a bit this weekend so far so good. Will run this for a few weeks to make a decision on a more permanent case perhaps....

Arcmanov · « **Reply #13 on:** February 08, 2009, 01:59:38 PM »

I say...get an Antec 300 case...and mod it to put all the components in.
It shouldn't be that hard, and the DVD drive is standard size, so it will
fit in a drive bay easy.

...on second thought, scratch that. By my calculations it would cost somewhere in the vicinity
of 900 TT to buy and ship it here. For that price, you can actually get an Antec 900 in Circuit Zone.

woodyear99 · « **Reply #14 on:** February 08, 2009, 03:31:13 PM »

Lol ah yes but the point of this experiment is to repair at minimum cost, since it would be cheaper to just buy a new console :p

So far the total is about 15 US for the USB fan + 11 US for the repair kit. So at $26 US not doin too badly :p

Exar_Kun · « **Reply #15 on:** February 08, 2009, 03:58:18 PM »

I'm planning on doing the penny repair to fix my 360. After catching my royal ass to take off that case I realize that you need some kinda special screwdriver to open this thing. T9 they call it. That was last night.

Anyone know where I can get this? Is it a regularly sold screwdriver? We've got a construction company and I've never seen that before. So I'm assuming it's particular to electronics.

W1nTry · « **Reply #16 on:** February 08, 2009, 08:16:45 PM »

Actually I know someone with an Antec 300 in T&T for sale.. I believe his asking price was 300TT, if you interested Woody hit meh a PM.

woodyear99 · « **Reply #17 on:** February 09, 2009, 12:15:02 AM »

Hmm $300 u say? I will have to research, how easy would it be to fit the components in that case?

Exar_kun those Torx screws are pretty standard you can get them in a hardware store, they use screw sizes T8 and T10, if you go on amazon and search for xbox repair you can buy the same kit I got, comes with everything....xbox case tool, torx screwdrivers, replacement screws etc. The individual things could probably be bought for less in a store but the convenience of getting everything in a package was well worth the 12 US or so I paid for it...

You get get T screwdrivers or bits online as well if you check here...

http://www.amazon.com/Torx-Driver-Security-Small-Sizes/dp/B0002SPICU/ref=pd_bbs_sr_3?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1234185694&sr=8-3

woodyear99 · « **Reply #18 on:** February 17, 2009, 02:48:39 PM »

Ok so last night I got the E74 error with one red light on the bottom right.

I suspect it is the ANA chip now coming lose due to poor solder, will try using that penny fix to weigh it down securely. Does not look very promising though.

Note this is a separate issue from the 3 RROD problem thus if I had sent it to Microsoft and they really did just fix the heatsink/paste issue I did this problem would still have occurred. And probably sooner since I had the case open with much better cooling......

Will post my findings later.

W1nTry · « **Reply #19 on:** February 17, 2009, 03:41:50 PM »

Got a correction, it is actually an Antec 660 AMG ATX Case for 400TT. If yuh interested lemme know.

Carigamers · « **Reply #19 on:** February 17, 2009, 03:41:50 PM »

Author Topic: My xbox 360 repair attempt... (Read 6354 times)

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