Xbox Troubleshooting: Red Ring of Death Fix

To Shoot or Troubleshoot Your Xbox 360, That is the Question...

Things don't get any worse than having your favorite recreational activity taken away from you when you're in the middle of doing it. As a kid, my parents did this to me without fail, but I digress... What I'm talking of here is the red ring of death.

As you may know already, the red ring of death refers to those three red lights that form a three quarter ring about the power button of your Xbox 360 when it malfunctions.

See below, why this happens, what you ought to do before getting your console fixed, and finally how to make your own repairs and whether you should.

Something You Need to Know Before Proceeding Further:

OPENING UP YOUR CONSOLE WILL VOID YOUR WARRANTY.

If you have already been inside your console or if your warranty has run out then there is little to lose now. Otherwise you should think about this first.

So Why Does the Red Ring of Death Happen in the First Place?

Causes for the Red Ring of Death

Well it seems that Microsoft's 'get the product to market first, deal with the bugs later' approach has left the consumer with a product full of design mistakes. These bugs can either act alone or work together to shut your Xbox down.

Six of these are explained below.

1. Heat

Xbox 360 heat is excessive.

The Xbox 360 design uses numerous high powered components that occupy a small space. These high powered components are giving off an enormous amount of heat. Heat sinks, fans, and vents within the console are used to dissipate this heat. Since there isn't much cooling capacity in reserve, this system easily overheats if the required airflow into the Xbox 360 gets blocked. The red ring of death takes place when different design defects act up due to the rising heat levels.

2. Lead free solder

Xbox 360 solder is brittle.

In order to avoid using lead in products used by children, Microsoft made the Xbox 360 with lead free solder. Lead free solder tends to be more brittle. To make matters worse, the wrong type of lead free solder was used by Microsoft, one that gets really brittle with heat exposure over long periods. If you stress this brittle solder, tiny hair-line cracks will develop. The cracks can obstruct the flow of electrical current and also result in a weak solder joint that easily breaks.

3. Flawed heat sink clamp design

Xbox 360 heatsink clamp causes motherboard to flex.

The X clamp is badly designed because the clamp presses down with a non uniform force. When the GPU and CPU heat up, this uneven pressure intensifies, which makes the motherboard bend and flex. Brittle, lead free solder joints get stressed when the motherboard flexes. When this stress is repeated over time, cracks and breaks occur in the solder joints.

4. Left over foil on the heat sink

Xbox 360 heat sink has foil attached.

On a number of it's units, Microsoft failed to remove some foil on the heat sink. Several "ring of death" failures can be attributed to this. The thermal compound must be reapplied if you decide to remove the foil.

5. Deficient Manufacturing Process: Soldering Temperature Was Too Low

Xbox solder process was sub-optimal.

The soldering process during manufacture was done at too low a temperature. When lead free solder is under heated, the resulting solder joint is full of voids and other defects. These weak joints won't hold up for long even under normal circumstances. If you include the other Xbox faults such as running too hot and warping of the motherboard, you've got the perfect formula for failure.

6. The Graphics Chip Puts Out Too Much Heat

Graphics Chip Was Designed on the Cheap by Microsoft.

Instead of going to an experienced vendor for its chip design (ASIC vendor), Microsoft designed the graphics chip in house, in other words, on it's own. They did this in order to save some tens of millions of dollars in the cost of the design.

Although Microsoft has some experience here, it doesn't come close to the level of expertise of the ASIC vendors. As a result, their graphics chip is inefficient in that it dissipates too much waste heat.

This problem dovetails in with the weak cooling system in the console.

Microsoft has gone to an ASIC vendor in the US and had the graphics chip redesigned. This move goes a long way to resolving the overheating problem.

However, there are lots of Xbox units in use that still have the old graphics chip. These will continue to be susceptible to heating problems.

Troubleshooting Tips for the Red Ring of Death

Xbox troubleshooting before you do repair.

Before attempting any repair on your Xbox 360, you should consider these suggestions first. If you're lucky, your Xbox has not sustained any heat damage yet. So keep those fingers crossed.

Troubleshooting tips in order from the simple to the more complex:

Xbox trouble shooting procedure

Restart the console.
If this did not work, there could be a loose cord or cable. First, any cables and power cords that can be removed should be disconnected. Unplug the power cable from the wall plug. Firmly reattach all cables and cords back into the console. Now connect up the power and turn on the console.
If the above step didn't work, then try turning off the console, unplugging the power and then disconnecting the hard drive. Now plug into the power and turn the console back on. If console does not show the three red lights error, turn it off and disconnect the power cord from the wall. Finally, reconnect the hard drive, plug in the power, and turn on the console.
If you are using a defective surge protector, plug strip, or extension cord, your xbox may not be getting adequate power. Try plugging the power brick directly into the wall. This sort of thing happens more often than you might think. My DSL connection used to be very unreliable until I bypassed my surge protector and plugged my modem directly into the wall. I should have done this in the first place rather than making a lot of angry (and useless) phone calls to my internet service provider.
If you think that your machine has overheated, then turn it off and let it cool down. Ensure that the cooling vents are not blocked in any way and keep your Xbox 360 in a ventilated and open area.

Do not place near it any sources of heat. There are obvious sources like heaters and radiators and such. But less obvious sources include the electrical devices that are sitting on top or beneath your xbox.

Try removing any dust buildup inside the machine.

Cool off your console with a small fan.

Tip the console on it's side so that more surface area is exposed to the surrounding air.

Don't forget to keep the power brick cool, so keep it off of shaggy carpeting. Better still, place it on an elevated surface. You can even hang the power brick by its cord off of a hook.

Keep the rear of the console clear. Don't push it up against a wall and keep any debris away. This includes not allowing any cords and cables to get all bunched up in this area.

Don't do any all day gaming marathons. Limit your gaming to just a few hours, then turn it off and let it cool down for a while. The warmer the room temperature is the shorter your playing time should be.

XBox 360 Cooling Systems

Xbox cooling devices

If the above cooling suggestions weren't enough, there are plenty of external cooling devices designed for the Xbox 360 being sold on Ebay. Click the thumbnail image to the left or here for an itemized list.

Two things you should NOT do:

Xbox towel trick

1.) Bake your Xbox - Otherwise known as the towel trick.

Wrapping a towel around your Xbox so that it gets hot enough to melt and maybe join some broken solder joints will also bake the internal chips. Baked chocolate chips in cookies are very good. Baked silicon chips in Xboxes are very bad.

Seriously, even if you pull this off without causing damage, the fix is only temporary in most cases. So there's not much to gain from this risky technique.

2.) Freeze your Xbox.

Don't put your console in the freezer or out in very cold weather. Trying to cool down an overheated Xbox in this way is very hard on the internal electronics which were meant to operate near room temperature.

If all else has failed...Repairing Your XBox

The Xbox 360 Three Red Lights Fix

If you're still having problems after trying the above suggestions, getting your machine repaired is the next step. All Xboxes experiencing the ring of death have had their warranties extended for three years beyond the purchase date. If you have opened up your console this warranty is void.

If you're not used to working with your hands, then sending your Xbox back to Microsoft is the safest way to go. But expect up to several weeks of delay before your repaired Xbox gets back to you. It doesn't make sense to do otherwise unless you're feeling comfortable about doing the repair yourself.

An expensive but quicker option is to send your console to a repair shop.

For those who are inclined to take matters into their own hands, the quickest and cheapest option is to repair it yourself using this guide. If you can follow directions, it's fairly simple to do. My sister recently repaired her kid's Xbox.

Fix Your Xbox Yourself.

This guide will fix these problems:

Freeze ups
Distorted Graphics
2 red lights error
3 red lights error (ring of death)
4 Red Lights
E74 Error - this is the error where you get text on the screen saying E74

The fix will take you 1 to 2 hours to do and can be done with some common household items and tools. It has full videos and a guide to take you through each step with ease. Nothing in the repair process is left out.

If you do this fix following the videos you will have a working xbox. The fix is permanent.

Included Bonus: FREE Ripping software that will allow you to back up your favorite game with ease.

Useful Amazon Products

Xbox 360 Repair Kit - X-Clamp Hardware Replacement

1 used & new available from $12.95

Xbox 360 For Dummies (For Dummies (Computer/Tech))

by: Brian Johnson, Duncan Mackenzie

14 used & new available from $5.97

Moonknight 7 Piece Opening Tool Kit for Xbox 360 and Xbox

1 used & new available from $9.99

Xbox 360 Intercooler 360 - Black

52 used & new available from $7.99

The Gadget Geek's Guide to Your XBox 360

by: Jonathan S. Harbour

38 used & new available from $9.90

More Info here:

Inside Source Reveal the Truth About Xbox 360 "Red Ring of Death" Failures: An individual who has worked on the Xbox 360 project for many years had these unflattering remarks to say...
Wikipedia: Useful and comprehensive information on the ring of death from Wikipedia.

Xbox 360 Disassembly - Photo Sequence

Fixing Your Xbox 360 Is Doable With Some Common Household Items:

If you missed reading my section on repairing your Xbox yourself, click here to find out if this is the right option for you.

Xbox 360 Reliability Statistics

Xbox 360 has worst reliability but should improve.

The following statistics and bar graphs are taken from a study made by Square trade. It analyzed the failure rates of over 16,000 game consoles covered by their warrantee care plans.

The malfunction rates of Xbox 360, PS3, and Wii after 2 years of ownership were compared. Of the three, Xbox 360 had the worst reliability record. With the introduction of the "Jasper" chipset in late 2008, the Xbox 360's reliability should improve.

In the graphs below, RROD is short for "Red Ring of Death".

Xbox360 reliability study

Squidoo