Need a n00b guide to repairing a 360!

WeatherMan

Active Member
Hi guys

As some of you know I've recently sold my rig in exchange for money to pick up a netbook & driving lessons, and to also get my room finished off.

I'm looking at picking up a console to start gaming on again. Don't have very much money for one.

I've been thinking about picking up a used faulty xbox360 on ebay. There are a ton of them on there!

My questions are, if I picked one up what is the chance that I'd be able to get it working?

I'm particularly interested in hearing from Gamerofleet, I know he's done quite a bit of this before.

What things would I need to buy to fix up a faulty 360?

My goal is to pick one up hopefully with a controller, I already have a TV, to get a live subscription and then buy a few games for it :)

Could someone go through with me the common faults of the units and what is done to get them working again?

I.E is a 1 red light RROD easier to deal with than a 3 red RROD?

Is the general main problem with most 360's due to the fact that they overheat, and have problematic dvd drives? If so that doesn't seem too much of a hassle :)

Thanks!
 

ducis

Active Member
from what I've heard, the most common problem is that the proc is overheating. So reapplying new thermal paste and getting one of those clip on coolers might help
 

WeatherMan

Active Member
Yeah that's what I've heard too, apparently the overheating issue is usually shown by 3 red lights? I've been thinking about picking up some TP + x clamp kits + fans and buying a 3 light 360 off ebay, I'd like to hear some information from GoL first though see what he thinks :cool:
 

DCIScouts

VIP Member
What might be the easiest thing to do would be to try and find one with a busted CD drive and then just switch that out. Although, I'm not sure how much that type would be in comparison to some other faulty 360s...
 

tdeath101

New Member
i can help you by giving you an invite for best buys's private auction ( i bought an xbox 360 with a game and controller for $125 flat) the private auction usually resales returned stuff (the condition and accesories included are listed as well) send me a pm if you want an invite

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Twist86

Active Member
That is pretty cool...if I bought a lot of electronics id be interested but sadly I don't buy enough to warrant such a site :p
The only thing I don't see though is if they say is it banned on live or not? Cheap 360 = Banned on ebay most the time.
 

Langers2k7

New Member
The famous Xbox 360 'Red Ring of Death', E74, no picture, no sound, freezing, crashing, and overheating are all caused by the same problem.

The solder underneath the GPU is of low quality, and is lead free and thus over time as the chip heats up and cools down on a repetitive cycle, the solder becomes fatigued and eventually breaks, severing the connection from GPU to motherboard. The way to fix this is the well known X-clamp removal process. This involves removing the heatsinks, doing away with the X-clamp retention system and replacing with standard bolts through the motherboard which do actually screw straight into the heatsinks, placing much more pressure on the GPU and preventing it from lifting so much. Naturally, in the process, the heatsinks and chips are cleaned and new (better quality) thermal paste is applied.

However, by far and away the best way to fix these problems (and the most important in the repair) is to purposefully heat the GPU to a very high temperature, re-flowing the solder and re-establishing the connection. I often use a heatgun for this purpose. This way is also much more successful in repairing E74 errors, as this can be related to the HANA/ANA chip, which is located towards the back of the motherboard close to the A/V output.

The basic design of the Xbox 360 is flawed, with no where near enough GPU cooling (DVD drive is placed on top of a very, very small GPU heatsink) with very little airflow either into or out of the case. Subsequent to the original 2005 Xbox 360 consoles, Microsoft has tried to combat the problem by putting larger, heatpipe-extended heatsinks in to try and dissipate more heat, however this is largely unsuccessful and the failures persist.

xbox_heatsink.jpg


Newer consoles are also more energy efficient and appear to generate less heat, however failures are still common and Microsoft still haven't completely addressed this issue.

This is a quick step-by-step guide that I've just come up with, with all the steps I would usually take to repair an Xbox 360:

Tools/items/equipment needed:
- Faulty Xbox 360 console (RROD, E74, No picture, image freezing, etc)
- Xbox 360 Power Supply/adaptor
- Xbox 360 A/V cable or HDMI cable can also be used for newer models (2007 on)
- Xbox 360 Special Tool (find these on eBay)
- Torx T8 and T10 drill bits or drivers
- X-clamp removal kit (8 bolts plus all washers etc) find these on eBay
- Decent thermal paste (do not use one included in kit!)
- Flat headed screwdriver
- Tissue/toilet paper (optional)

1) Remove faceplate
2) Remove top and bottom plastic grills using Xbox 360 Special Tool to release clips.
3) Use Xbox 360 Special Tool to open rear of case, left first then right.
4) Use stanley knife to carefully cut through warranty sticker
5) Use flat headed screwdriver to prise open tabs
6) carefully remove bottom casing
7) Using Torx T-10 drill bit or driver, remove all screws from bottom metal casing
8) Carefully remove top plastic and metal casing
9) Remove white plastic piece from the front switch panel/lighting board
10) Use Torx T-8 drill bit or driver to remove the 3 small black screws holding switch panel in place.
11) Remove DVD drive and eject button
12) Carefully lift DVD drive and unplug SATA and power cables from motherboard.
13) Remove DVD drive
14) Remove plastic fan cowling
15) Unplug and remove fan using flat headed screw driver to prise top of fan out first.
16) Carefully lift motherboard out of metal case, holding onto the CPU (right hand side) heatsink to lift.
17) Begin removing X-clamps. This part can be tricky if you have not done it before. Carefully use a small flat headed screwdriver underneath each corner of the X-clamp to prise the X-clamps off the board.
18) Using a pair of pliers, remove the studs from the base of both heatsinks
19) Clean both heatsinks and both chips with appropriate cleaning agent, I mostly just use white spirit on some tissue to remove the old dried on thermal paste.
20) Apply a thin layer of decent thermal paste onto the tops of both chips.
21) Set up all of your bolts with the correct number of washers (varies from kit to kit) and place them underneath the motherboard, through the holes.
22) Place the heatsinks on top of the motherboard and the bolts and carefully screw them in finger tight.
23) Using the correct tool, tighten up all of the bolts to a reasonable tightness, starting with one and moving diagonally across to the other side in order to ensure even pressure across the chip.
24) Now, the important part - reflowing the solder. Place the motherboard on a flat surface and re-attach the DVD drive, fans, and switch board. Place the DVD drive on top of the GPU in its normal position, and place the fan so that it is pushing cold air ONLY onto the CPU (right hand side heatsink). You can use tissue paper or a cloth to cover the GPU (left hand side) to ensure it does not receive any cooling. You want the GPU to get as hot as possible, so leave it running like this for at least 30 minutes. Don't worry, this won't do any harm whatsoever.
25) After 30 minutes have passed, turn the console off and very quickly take your tool and tighten all of the bolts another quarter of a turn whilst it is still hot. Be careful not to burn yourself on the heatsink, it will be VERY hot.
26) Let the console cool down. This will take between 10 and 15 minutes to cool all the way through.
27) Now's the time to try your luck. Make sure the DVD drive, fan and front panel are connected, and plug in the power and A/V cord to the back of the motherboard. If you're successful, you'll get a nice ring of green lights. If you've still got the red ring, the 1 red light or any of the other aforementioned errors, you need to re-heat the console again. If you have access to a heatgun, try using this on the backs of the chips. (Do this WITHOUT the heatsinks on, and WITHOUT any cables plugged in for about 45 seconds on full power)

Phew. That was a fun post. :good:
 
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WeatherMan

Active Member
Cheers for that, I really apprechiate it!

I've read through what you've said and also found a video guide which tells me the same. Is this 'special tool' the thing that you use to get the case undone?

Apparently that can be done with a bit of work with a paperclip? :)

Anyway If I picked up a 'Faulty 3 light RROD' 360 from ebay, what would you say would be the chance of getting it working again?

I've got the option of spending up to £60 on a 'faulty' unit, or up to £80 if I can find a used working one for the price.
 

Langers2k7

New Member
My pleasure :)
You've got to be careful on eBay. A lot of the consoles on there have had previous repairs which have failed again, and are much less likely to be fixable. What you want to find is a console that has only recently failed, and has never been opened before. A few years ago it was very easy for me to find decent consoles, and I made a few thousand quid at it, but these days everybody is at it.
If you get one of these decent consoles, I'd say you've a 95% chance of getting it working provided you are careful and do the job properly. You're more likely to find one of these locally, perhaps a friend has an Xbox 360 which is broken down and he doesn't want it any more? The ones that have had previous repairs attempted really aren't worth the time.
 

tdeath101

New Member
That is pretty cool...if I bought a lot of electronics id be interested but sadly I don't buy enough to warrant such a site :p
The only thing I don't see though is if they say is it banned on live or not? Cheap 360 = Banned on ebay most the time.

nah not banned, basicly things returned to best buy cannot be slod as open box if the system has been turned on or has an issue. if it has an issue we "devo" it and its sent for repairs and back to the store or to the auction online, same applies to the opened boxed items, some get sent out to the auction and some we keep. its legit i bought mine for $90 (had missing controller) and it plays live just fine. my 8GB itouch cost me 30 bucks ;). ike i said its all certified work so theres no ban no previous owner. so in theory refurbished/ Brand new products
 

Twist86

Active Member
Can never be to safe...its amazing how many sites lack quality control. Though its amusing its the first time I ever seen Best Buy as a good deal :p
 

ScottALot

Active Member
I've skimmed through many people's stories on how they fixed their 360s (I just use Best Buy warranty (haha, my 360 Pro got RROD and because of the price drop, I was able to trade it in for an Elite :D ) ). Most of them say that AS5, the most commonly used TIM if I'm correct, is the way to go. Many YouTubers put videos out on how to do it.
 

Motorcharge

Well-Known Member
My bros RRODed twice, Microsoft wouldn't repair it the second time. Opened it and they use those cheap pads instead of thermal compound on the processors. Replace it with TC and it hasn't had an issue since.

I've been debating picking up a cheap one on craigslist and swapping everything into a PC case or fabbing my own case to put both the Xbox and my PC components into one case.
 

Langers2k7

New Member
I had that same idea, a combined 360/PC would be ideal for me.
I've done a few mods to some of my consoles, (extra fans, windows, lighting, Xtreme firmware etc.) but I'd love to do something like that one day.
 

WeatherMan

Active Member
I think I'll blow the risk away and just pick up a new Jasper arcade unit.

Going for around £90 on ebay, & I've just sold off a few goods now have the cash in my ebay...

Hmm :p
 
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