Anyone fixed their own 360 RROD?

steinooo

steinooo

steinooo

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31 Dec 2003
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Stoke on Trent
My 360 gave up the ghost today with the dreaded 3 red lights of death

I am going to B & Q tomorrow to try and get some screws and washers (avf-853746 machine screw 5*10mm and flat washer 5mm part number avf-852398)

I just wondered if anyone had done this on here?

I sort of understand what I need to do, although have heard conflicting reports on what screws, washers and stuff to buy....and I also don't fully understand what to do once the x clamp has been replaced with screws. Some people seem to overheat it again etc.
 
Yep they're exactly the bits I use - have repaired quite a few 360s now. You'll need 24 of the washers, so 3 packs of 10 and 8 bolts, so 1 pack of 10. All 360s I've fixed are still going fine. I use one washer per screw on the underside of the board then on the GPU/CPU side, 2 washers per bolt. Obviously clear off the old thermal compound and reapply some new stuff then mount the heatsinks to it. You only need to tighten the screws gently - don't go doing them up crazy tight.

Once that's done more often than not the thing will boot up 1st or 2nd go and carry on working fine, for a little while at least. Some people do need to overheat the GPU (by taking the fan out and cooling the CPU only as the cutoff protection is in the CPU) although quite honestly I'm not sure why this does anything as the chip will never ever get as hot as the melting point of the solder which is 218 degrees C.

I have had a few stubborn consoles that just wouldn't boot up again though. With those I simply covered the capacitors and plastic parts of the board in tinfoil and put the thing in the oven on 230 degrees C for 3 or 4 minutes. I'm not recommending you do this though :) The best way to fix it on the cheap is to use a heatgun and keep going over the board for a few minutes as this helps to reflow the solder and fixes the broken connections. After that I've put the heatsinks back on with the bolts and washers and all has been good.

Far better than manually overheating the GPU or the stupid pointless towel trick. In short, the chances are after putting the bolts and washers on your 360 will be fine for at least a little while. Don't be surprised if it does die again in a few months and needs a going over with the heatgun though. If you do have a heatgun I'd suggest going at it while the thing is apart.
 
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Cheers mate, how come i'll need 24 washers if I'm to use 2 per screw? Doesnt that'll mean i need 16 washers?

Also whats going on with the bolt on the end of the screw? Do I just throw that bit away?

5020789853746_001c_v001_ap


edit: cant send it back to MS, its 2nd hand so no RROD warranty.
 
What's being 2nd hand got to do with it? :p

As long as it's within the 3 year extended RROD warranty then it's fine.

I sent mine back, that had been opened up to fix the dvd drive and it got replaced and returned to me.

T.
 
1 washer underneath the board then 2 on top of the board, so 3 per screw in total. You won't need the nut either so yeah you can get rid.
 
Thesnipergecko said:
What's being 2nd hand got to do with it? :p

As long as it's within the 3 year extended RROD warranty then it's fine.

I sent mine back, that had been opened up to fix the dvd drive and it got replaced and returned to me.

T.
Click to expand...

It's not, they wont let me send it back. Asked them today. Also I've already had to void the warranty by opening it to superglue something inside the DVD drive.

Cheers Phemo will give those bits a go then!
 
stokefan said:
It's not, they wont let me send it back. Asked them today. Also I've already had to void the warranty by opening it to superglue something inside the DVD drive.

Cheers Phemo will give those bits a go then!
Click to expand...

LOL that wasnt the magnet you superglued was it? Thats the very reason I opened mine up.

T.
 
I've tried but it wont let me register the serial number as a device:( from their point of view though I could well have nicked it.
 
I repaired about this time last year, still going strong.

Heres what i did........

xclampms9.jpg


Not the greatest picture i know but you get the idea, part numbers on there to. They didnt have the normal parts people use so made up my own mix.
 
how come you use a nylon washer above the board, but other people (Phemo etc) use 2 x metal washers ?

thanks for the post tho dude
 
Theres tons of different ways of doing it really. The part of the board around the screw hole is bare copper anyway so it's not going to be conducting with anything. Neither method is wrong, they both work :)
 
I got 3rrod a couple of weeks back. It happened when my mate brought cod 4 to my house, 10mins in and my 360 froze, turned it off and got the 3rrod. From then on sometimes my 360 would work and freeze, others I would get the rings. so i unplugged it, turned it from horizontal to vertical, and moved it into less of a cramped place, and it's been fine ever since
 
stokefan said:
how come you use a nylon washer above the board, but other people (Phemo etc) use 2 x metal washers ?

thanks for the post tho dude
Click to expand...

They didnt have the right kinda washers in stock at my b&q at the time, so just made up my own combo. Aslong as you get the right height for the heatsink to seat on the core without too much pressure your good to go, thats just what i ended up with.

Its made a huge difference, the exhaust air is actually HOT rather than like room temp, pretty sure its helped its a reliability a lot in the long run.
 
I've done it to a fleabay one that died last Summer. I've had to reheat the GPU again several times as it'd gradually sink back into 3 red light mode again after a few weeks/months. Lately I've had it running it open top as the GPU seems to run stupidly hot - i.e. burn your finger on the heatsink within seconds kinda hot.

I am curious though.. anyone else have finger toastingly hot GPUs?
 
Mine gave up today too :( must not like us stokies haha.

I'm sending mine back, mine died a sudden death! One freeze in two years and its dead.
 
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