Fix the Red Ring of Death! (without towels!)

Step 10: Afterthoughts and Shoutouts

Now that you've resurrected your console, what can you do to prevent such a travesty from happening again? As you see in the main photo, I attached a small fan from a PCI graphics card onto the CPU heatsink, and wired it into the 360's fan power supply. With it pushing air through the heatsink (or pulling it in if that's your view), the air coming out of the exhaust is actually cool!

NOTE: There is word on the interwebz that Microsoft will ban you from Xbox Live for installing new fans. You have been warned.

Since there's no room to easily add a fan to the GPU heatsink, the next best thing you can do is optimize airflow. While the 360 has dual exhaust fans, most of the airflow goes to the CPU heatsink. By adding cardboard to the fan shroud and covering the top of the GPU heatsink as depicted, you can improve airflow even more, as you've just devoted a whole fan to it.

And if you really don't like the stock fans in the 360, you can always buy 3rd party replacements. There's Talismoon's Whisper brand of fans, with LED accents. I can't say anything on quality, as I haven't used one. But they seem to be quite popular. They can be found at http://www.Divineo.com .

And now onto the shoutouts.
Thanks to Google first and foremost. LOLz.
Xbox-Scene.com and it's members, for their endeavors in resolving this issue.
RBJTech for the idea of adding cardboard to the fan shroud.
Thanks to both those sites for all the info that I mixed and matched to create this tutorial.
Oh yeah, and a special thanks to Cheerios for providing better airflow than Microsoft could.

Instructables FTW!

-Dr. Professor Jake "Biggs" Turner

Comments

[CBCxWhiteKnight]

Ok so we did this tutorial to the letter and the red lights went away. But now, when we start it up none of the green lights flash on in the usual way they are supposed to during startup. No red lights, no green lights. We have not tested it on a tv yet so we dont know if any of the graphics are going through, but we just think this is unusual because normally the green lights always show up. Any suggestions? BTW we started out with the E 74 error code and one red ring in the lower right corner.

[gravityfails]

One ring and an E74 code isn't the RROD, it's only the first ring. What it means is that your cables aren't connected properly, and that's all it means.
A simple guide to red rings is:
  1 quadrant = cable connection error
  2 quadrants = overheating of system
  3 quadrants = internal system error aka RROD

All you need to do is properly connect your cables, however, doing this tutorial wasn't necessary and if you didn't do it right you may have shot your system :(, if you did do it correctly, then your fairly safe in the future from the true RROD.

[blaze.ninja42.0]

and four quadrants for not having the AV cables in the back lol

[Mstocker]

4 red lights is more commonly a cable problem, more specifically an av cable problem.

[Hingedmosquito]

E74: AV cable error... There is a problem with the AV cable, try using a different AV cable. If the cable is known to be working then there is a 90% chance it's a scaler chip problem (the "ANA" or "HANA" chip connected directly to the AV cable) in rare cases it is the GPU. http://www.llamma.com/xbox360/repair/Xbox-360-error-codes.htm

[xenocide100588]

actually... the power plug being loose or only being plugged in half way will display a 3 light... just thought I'd clarify that...

[A.C.E.]

E74 code meant your graphics card is shot. or maybe thats E 73 idk but if you were playing cod 5 or cod 6 or any other newer games and you saw random purple lines its the graphhics card.

[LetsExplodeSomething]

its E74

[Hingedmosquito]

read above comment. but your partly right...

[l33tm4s73r]

try plugging in the av cable then trun it on

[defconhakr]

1 red ring isnt the ring of death
did you google it? i think i found a site with fixes for it but idk what the link is anymore.

and you should try hooking it up to a tv, because if you dont then ALL of the red rings will blibk and mean you need to hook it up to a tv...try those ideas then come back. idk

[joegravelle]

still have rrod even after doing the entire instructable. I've spent about an hour adjusting the heat sink pressure and nothing works.

[blaze.ninja42.0]

rrod is general failure, not always only one cause. it could be something else, thought that was said on the first page, coulda been a different 'ible though

[jimmythegeek]

Just tried this excellent guide (coupled with Llama's guide) and my $25 rrod 360 is working like a champ. The original x-clamps were nowhere near holding the heatsinks on. Probably 1/16" play between the heatsinks and the chips... the result was ZERO cooling for the CPU/GPU. The manufacturer apparently made up for slop in the design by using a ton of thermal paste, but even that couldn't provide the needed heat transfer to the heatsink in the end.

I'm happy that I can give this better-than-original xbox 360 to my nephew!

[blaze.ninja42.0]

awesome deal, i got an rrod for $20

[MrTiddles]

I used this instructable to fix my RROD about a year ago. First of all, you do not need to bolt anything to the metal frame. Bolting everything down just to the motherboard works just fine. Secondly, if you get the washers that are one size smaller than the new bolts that you use, you will not have to worry about grinding down the washers. Lastly, I read a lot about worrying about how tight the bolts should be, but what ultimately worked for me was to just tighten them all down nice and tight. Make sure you get the recommended thermal compound, and get the washer spacing perfect. As I said, I fixed my RROD around a year ago and it is still running great.

[jcee3]

i cant see in all honesty how microsoft can ban you from having extra fans because in all honesty if there hooked to them main power supply you cant count how many fans are there.... just my 2 pennys worth

[jchanis]

improving the airflow is a great idea great guide

[NewXbox360Owner]

I signed up to instructables just so that I can say that this guide really helped me out.

A friend gave me a broken (RROD) Xbox 360 and said that It'll never run again. How wrong could he have been ;)

Thanks to you I am now a proud owner of a Xbox 360!

[save_the_turtles]

I'm happy that I get ot be one of the people that writes "Thank you this guide is ******* awesome"!

[kylerq]

you could just stop at the part where you have it taken apart see those 4 little badage thingys remove those and replace with 8 pinnies wraped togather with electrical take in groups of two life made simpler your welcom

[Indexcow]

After I tightened he bolts all the was I still has the red rings do I unscrewed the heat sinks to find that if you tighten them all the way you squeeze the thermal paste right out from underneath them:( still don't work

[2+2=5]

I have tried doing this and it won't work. I removed the old paste, applied new, fitted screws and washers (only nylon on the board) overheated the xbox but it can't run for more than 30-60 minutes. Any suggestions?

[2+2=5]

I didn't use arctic silver like everyone seems to be doing (I used another thermal paste), is there a reason for that?

[downsouth420]

Arctic Silver is simply a better compound than the average Radio Shack paste. It transfers heat better and has been proven to cool the processor an extra 1 degree C over regular thermal compound. 

[thirtyfivefox]

 But I bought my arctic silver 5 and ceramique FROM radio shack ;-)  It's pretty cool that they are actually carrying it now.  I would also like to mention that ceramique is a three phase thermal compound that actually changes its structure after being exposed to heat, it literally has to be cooked in for it to set and provide maximum thermal conductivity.  That being said, even after just being applied it is still a great paste in comparison to most.

[Jake Turner]

I noticed that the shack is carrying it too, I had to pick up a tube tonight to fix yet another RRoD xbox. I actually got it to boot on the first go-around too. I'm getting good at this. :)

[thirtyfivefox]

I guess so... I have yet to get a stable xbox after applying "the fix." That said... my ps3 seems to be running just fine ;-)

[kdude63]

D:

[mcintyrefootball]

I have done all of the steps except putting back together and powering up. I have two problems to solve first. The large silver heatsink actually bottoms out and shorts out a couple of caps (verified with DMM). Can I back out a little bit or do I need a shimmy in there or another nylon washer or what? I will probably try all three in order if no one gives me an answer in the next few days.

The second problem is my replacement bolts do not allow the mother board to re-seat properly. I will need to drill holes to let the bolt heads drop down lower.

Also, do you need to completely reassemble or will the box work with just the boards connected (without metal cage)?

[psyoper22]

i'm going home to try this tonight...i'll relay back whether it works or not...

seems promising though!! =)

[themadtreky]

for all those like me who were unable to revive our dying funboxes. I wold suggest recycling, as you see in the pictures, and when you open yours up; the 360 has several toroidal inductors that can be re-wound as a joule thief, as well as a boat load of other components that can also be re-purposed (I've been cutting up the frame for buildings for warhammer).
that being said, I give props to biggs for a very informative able.

[C.Craigen]

Huh. It actually worked. You just netted me a free Xbox. cookie++

[GMer56]

I tried securing my heatsinks (w/ aluminum foil instead of wasters... that shouldn't cause too much of a problem, should it?) and reapplied the thermal paste.
Adapter turns green for a second, then goes orange.
And when turned on, a slight whirring noise much like a motor is heard from underneath the flattest heatsink (the one with the copper piping).
And have the standard 3 red rings.
Can anyone save the day?

About the banning thing with an extra fan: why tap into the power supply? just attach the fan terminals to a USB connector.  Any USB port can power a small fan (you get around 3.5v from one).

[RSHastingsIV]

You used aluminum foil? I... I guess that MIGHT work. Assuming you managed to compress it just right and trimmed it to the exact size and are extremely lucky. Personally I would just go to home depot and pop out 5 or so bucks for 40 #10 nylon washers. (the metal ones will NOT work for this application. They are to large.)

[Madrias357]

I know for a fact that you get 5v from a USB port (at least, standard USB). If you're getting 3.5, you've got shot voltage regulators.

[[ODST]Falchion]

5volts from a normal usb port, yes. Xbox360's usb ports run on less power, ~3.5v. Ask Microsoft why O.o

[Madrias357]

Probably so no one could use the ports for traditional USB items, or so no one got the wise idea to plug a 360 controller into a PC. (not knowing the Xbox at all, I could be wrong on the connectivity due to wireless, but I know what happens when someone plugs in a gamepad into a rigged USB port. My friend hooked the FireWire into the USB plugs to be a pain.)

[BedriddenMidget]

I'm thinking about doing this because my 360 is no longer under warranty. I just have one question and maybe someone will know the answer. If this fix doesn't work for me can I reassemble the 360 and send it to microsoft and pay the $99 to have it repaired, or do they reject any consoles that have been tampered with?

[RSHastingsIV]

Once you remove the faceplate you will see a bit of silver tape covered the seam between the two halves of the plastic chassis... The moment you remove that sticker, Microsoft will no longer touch your system. Warranty or no.