How to Repair The Red Ring of Death

Red Ring of Death Fix

I personally know the horrendous feeling of going into the mancave/ gameroom, sitting down on the couch, turning on the Xbox 360, and having those annoying lights flash death right into your face. This lense can help anyone who is disfortunate enough to get the Red Ring of Death,and to get their xbox fixed in no time.This lense will feature many pictures and videos that can get you quickly on your way to fixing your console quick and cost efficiently!
Please read around a little on this lens, Im not only going to show you how to actually REPAIR the Xbox itself, I have troubleshooting, reasons for the red ring of death, the origin of it all, and tips to prevent it if you dont already have the disease.

Origin of the Red Ring of Death

The History of the RROD

The reason that the Red ring of Death shows up in consoles dates back to when the Xbox 360's were in development. They were ignorent and completely miscalculated the amount of components that could fit in the really small Xbox, so they made everything, tried to fit them all in, and realized that the CD drive didn't fit. This forced them to decrease the size of a component of the motherboard. You can probably already guess which thing they belittled, yup, it was the heat sink. This is the essential component which maintains the heat and makes sure that your Xbox doesn't get the red ring of death. So they just said what the heck and released the messed up Xbox. WALAH, the Red Ring of Death! Of course this is just the main reason for the RROD, there are many other reasons that the Red Ring of Death showed up which could not be explained in one day.

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Reasons for the Red Ring of Death

Red Ring of Death cause #1- Power Shortage/Surge: Sometimes an electrical short or surge can affect the current going into your Xbox 360. When the power brick feels the power surge, it automatically shuts down the Xbox 360 to protect it from the excessive electricity, kind of like a kill switch. This will always give it the Red Ring of Death. This is a very easy fix and you are very lucky if this is the cause of you 3 red lights. To fix this problem, just unplug and plug back in your Xbox 360, if this doesn't work; try another outlet in your house. That should solve your Red Ring of Death problem.

Red Ring of Death cause #2- Hardware failure and cracking: Some of the time, this is the problem. This occurs when temperature changes in the Xbox mess with the solder points. This eventually leads to a tiny hairline crack in the points, and then eventually translates into a huge crack in the motherboard which gives the 360 a Red Ring of Death.

Red Ring of Death cause #3- HEAT: Most of the time this is the issue when it comes to the RROD. When excessive heat comes through the Xbox due to the sissy heat sink, it can potentially melt essential components on the Xbox 360 giving you....you guessed it, the Red Ring of Death.

Red Ring of Death cause #4- Other: There are actually many other causes for the 3 red rings, but they are hardly popular. A not so popular problem is the thermal compound on the heat sink, when ever heat is to intense, it melts the thermal compound which is the component that is supposed to keep the heat sink cool while the heat sink cools the rest of the assembly, whenever the thermal paste melts, it messes up everything in the Xbox which can give you the RROD.

Another problem that could give the 3 red lights is the flawed X-Clamp design, the X clamp has a much messed pressure distribution which causes the motherboard to constantly flex and reflex the motherboard when the GPU and the CPU heat up. This eventually snaps a part of the console which then gives you the Red Ring of Death.

Step 1- Take Apart your Console Case

Courtesy of James Dean's Repair guide-Click the Video and Watch the First HD Video Free!

Find a nice comfortable place to sit and a nice sturdy table to place your Xbox on during the repair. Then slowy and not forcefully remove the faceplate trom the Xbox.The faceplate is the very front of the Xbox that has the circle that you push to turn it on. Make sure not to pull to hard, or your Xbox could face permanent damage and thats not what we need. Start at the bottom where you plug your controller in, and stick your finger through the hole, then pull slowly. It should pop right off.

This image is obviously not a video. Its actually a still shot of James Dean's repair guide members only video. You dont really need the guide if you can follow pictures have a good understanding of text instructions. But if you would like HD videos and support. Click any of the Pictures below in the repair to visit his site..

Step 2- Removing of the Housing

The housing is the part of the top and bottom of your console that has thousands of little tiny dots. Use a small screwdriver or nail or even a small pencil to poke throught the sides of the Xbox, pushing the clips in that hold the housing in place, and slowly lift the housing off. Repeat the step with the bottom one.
Sorry for the bad text interpretation, its really hard to describe this without a video, if I had the Red RIng of Death I'd record it but I already fixed it months ago using James Deans guide! I was too late!

Step 3- Expose the Motherboard

After you take all of the panels off including the top and bottom plastic parts, you will be left with this box. Now make sure to unplug all of the cables that are connected to your Xbox including av cables and power cables. You now need to use a screwdriver to open the metal protective casing to expose the mother board. Once the motherboard is exposed, you are going to want to take out the cd drive, take out the motherboard, and also take out the fan. After all of this is done, you should be left with a naked green motherboard without a cd drive or a fan. If this doesnt seem clear, james deans repair guide will reassure you when conduciting this repair, its a great tool to have!

Step 4- Removing the Xclamps

Next you want to flip the exposed motherboard over and look for the X clamps, as shown by the picture, they arent that hard to find. Use a small screwdriver to pry both of the X's off. Both of these X's are part of the problem that is causing your Xbox to get sick. DARN X CLAMPS!! Make sure that you do this VERY carefully, as messing this up could possible jack your console up big time. So take your time and do it right.

Step 5- Removing the heat sink

Next you need to remove the heat sink to expose the CPU and the GPU. This can be accomplished by a normal screwdriver. Be careful not to damage the motherboard when you are unscrewing the heat sink. For more guidance click this picture and see the guide

Step 6 - Cleaning the CPU and the GPU

Next you need to clean off all of the excess crud on both the GPU and the CPU (the two shiny metal squares). Usually there is a hige buildup of heat sink fluid and a bunch of burnt excess thermal paste. Alchohol and a Q-tip usually does the job quite well.

Step 7- Applying Thermal Paste

Now you need to apply Thermal Paste very carefully over the GPU. This paste can be easily found at stores for less than 5 bucks

Step 8- Reconstruction

This is the step that is better explained by watching a video. This step includes putting a bunch of nylon washers on and putting the Xbox back to gether in a way that it will work properly. I HIGHLY recommend watching James Dean's video on repairing the red ring of death. It will help you a ton, trust me

If your feeling like repairing your Xbox 360 by yourself and not sending it in to Micro$oft, I reccomend that you check out this guide and see what you think.
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Click here for the guide!: This is the best possible guide on the internet that can help you and guide you through the easy task of repairing your Xbox

RROD Repair Options

Choose Wisely!

RROD Repair #1- Microsoft Repair: Sadly, most people choose this option without knowing their other choices. Microsoft will charge you almost as much as you bought your Xbox for in the first place, around 200 dollars. Also, you have to bear in mind that your precious console is in the hands of Microsoft for weeks on end with no knowledge of when you are even going to get it back. There is a much better solution than this that can have your RROD fixed permanately within a few hours.

RROD Repair #2- Xbox RROD repair guide: This is my recommended path for you if you are suffering from your RROD, the Xbox repair guide that I am going to list will have you back to button mashing in a matter of about an hour. A guide is completely optimized to the Tech dummy such as myself, featuring many detailed videos and steps for people who have never had any experience with repairing consoles. An Xbox Repair guide is very cheap costing you less than 30 dollars, which is about 170 dollars cheaper than sending it to Microsoft. With a RROD repair guide, you can, without a doubt, repair your E74 error in an hour or less. It could not be any easier.

Red Ring of Death Troubleshooting Steps

Try this before diagnosing your Xbox!

If your Xbox 360 is plagues with the Red RIng of Death and not caused by hardware melting or snapping, I highly recommend using the guide mentioned below. Follow the highly detailed videos and instructions and fix your 3 red lights fast guaranteed.

Before you attempt any repairing, you should first troubleshoot your Xbox to make sure that you have the permanent Red Ring of Death in the first place.

Red Ring of Death Troubleshooting #1- Cord: Make sure that all of your cords are properly plugged in snug, if one of your cables is hanging out of the socket that will be why you are getting your Red Ring of Death. Make sure that it is properly plugged in to a good outlet that supplies enough power for the Xbox. If your cords are hanging out, take it to a local repair store and get them re-aligned (very cheap) that should fix your problem.

Red Ring of Death Troubleshooting #2- Restart: Try to restart your console. If it still doesn't work, wait a couple hours, let it cool down, and try it again. If this works, you're in luck; if not then you have the permanent Red ring of Death.

Red Ring of Death Troubleshooting #3- Restart everything: Take your hard drive out, and power cord. Then plug your power cord back in and turn on your Xbox without the hard drive, if it works, then you know that your Hard drive is the problem

If none of these Red Ring of Death Troubleshooting steps helped you that you may be facing a more serious, but repairable problem....HEAT.

Red Ring of Death Prevention Tips

Make sure to read this!

If you have already got the rrod, than this will not be that much of a use to you unless you repair your xbox, then, you could use these tips to make sure that you dont get the 3 red lights again.

Heating Tip #1. Keep the Xbox well ventilated. Don't allow and obstructions in front of the fans of the Xbox, this could prevent crucial airflow from cooling down the Xbox that helps prevent the 3 red rings.

Heating Tip #2. Lay the Xbox on its side instead of vertical; you do this because there are actually fans on the top and bottom of the Xbox which many people don't realize. This could definitely save you from the red ring of death.

Heating Tip #3. Avoid prolonged gaming. Don sit on your Xbox for 8 hours strait without giving it a little break. That tiny little heat sink can't take all of that game play and heat, sooner or later it's going to freak out and give you the Red Ring of Death.

Heating Tip #4. Don't get an intercooler. I have heard from a lot of console repair professionals that the intercooler actually blows the air back into the Xbox, basically reflowing the heat back into the box.

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