Xbox 360 Ring of Light LEDs

Step 6 Test and Repeat

After you have soldered in your LED, plug the wireless board back into the Xbox 360 to test if the light works. You must have the video cable plugged into your Xbox 360 in order to get the four player LEDs to light up (Otherwise it is only showing the red/error LEDs that the video cable is not plugged in, which would not be lit for us).

If it worked, excellent, you may continue on to doing the other four. If not, make sure that solder is not connecting any terminals together (such as green negative to red negative). Also make sure that your orientation is correct, and the positive is in fact connected to the positive terminal.

Repeat this process for all the LEDs, and you should have a brand new ring of light. Put the Xbox 360 back together and enjoy!

Comments

[stephin99]

wow did this and when i was testing out did   /    in white and when tested
                                                                        \
the other      \    are the original leds but they were red coool???!?!?!?!?!?!
                    /
it works and all but makes me wonder what made it do that........

[wil0016]

hay im doing this today and was wondering does it matter what the mcd is in the LED cause if i use a 600mcd red LED insted of the 500 mcd in your decription does it matter or its just gonna be brighter????
thanks mate

[QuackMasterDan]

Get as high of a mcd rating you can. A 600mcd LED will be slightly brighter than a 500mcd LED. Go for it, and if you can get an 800 if you can find one.

[Stanvdmeer]

If you still find it hard to see where you have to solder exactly (, like i did), this tutorial may help you! www.mmmonkey.co.uk/console/other/360-rol.htm I find it a little clearer than this one, because the tut from mmmonkey is better to understand if you don't know where to solder, what the positive and negatives are, etc. 

But still a great tutorial dude! 

[QuackMasterDan]

I'm not criticizing that guide, but how is it any more clear? The pictures are almost exact duplicates of the positives and negatives and LED orientation. If anything, mmmonkey has less pictures and notes than this one, they have the exact same information.

[Stanvdmeer]

I think it is just a good replenishment to your tut, because the guy also explaines about the red ERROR LEDs 'n stuff. I don't say it's better than yours, but I found a combination of yours and that one clearer. 

[QuackMasterDan]

Well thanks for the link as a complement guide. If a user really wants error LED patterns without having to install two LEDs for each corner, you can just bridge the negative connections for both green and red. Lets say you were to get a RRoD, lights 1,3, and 4 would be lit the color of your LED choices, and would be easy to tell as long as no controllers are plugged in. If the system is working properly, just powering up with the video cable plugged in will leave no corners lit, any errors would just show up anyways, albeit not red.

[stikman]

With the original LED's removed and no LED installed for an error light, how would you know which error has occured without knowing how many lights are flashing?

[QuackMasterDan]

Two solutions, the easier one is to simply not know what error is going on via the blinking lights. The 360s are pretty solid systems, except for the red ring of death which can be alleviated by either replacing the internal fans (preventative only) or installing the x-clamp heatsink fix (preventative and a possible fix). If you still want to know the error codes, purchase some red LEDs as well, and also solder them on, only for the other terminal. I'd suggest using a small u-shaped chunk of wire to connect them, and it's a trickier install.

[tj the gnome]

and then you run it on carpet... CHERISH THOSE THINGS!!

[QuackMasterDan]

The carpet is only for the pictures, all of my video games are elevated 2 feet above the floor on a wood table. I'm aware of the damage a non-ventilated space and heavy dust can cause, I take care of my systems.

[tj the gnome]

ohh well that's good. i was gonna say, anyone who has the electronic prowess to do this should know why NOT to run an xbox on carpet.

[Nissanine]

i has a question, do u hav to remove the whole casing of the exbox or just the facyplate?

[jam3s08]

Hey Great Guide. I was just wanderin though do u do it the same way for the controller if so wat size/volt are the LEDs cuz i dont wanna try it on my xbox yet. Thanx. Just send a comment or even better send an email 2 [e-mail]. thanx

[QuackMasterDan]

All Xbox 360s use the same voltage for SMD 0603 LEDs, any 0603 LED is going to light up the wireless board or a controller. The only difference between putting the lights on the controller is the polarity (Direction the LED is facing) is different. The size is very small, about the size of a few grains of salt, you will need tweezers to hold them accurately.

[Orion370]

My God Man... That is awesome. I think once my warranty runs out Im gonna do this. Id rather let M$ Pay for my repairs while I can :D

[QuackMasterDan]

I'm glad that you like the mod, in conjunction with doing the same lights on my controllers its worth voiding the warranty (in my opinion). On November 15th of 2008 (2 days ago) the 3-year Microsoft warranty for the initial launch Xbox 360s just expired, convieniently four days before the Xbox 360 Dashboard update (which always causes a number of 360s to break).

[Orion370]

How did you go about putting the cold cathodes into your xbox? Those look pretty sweet also. Is there a website that would show or is there another instructable? Worst comes to worst, I just put some LEDs in there I suppose. Great Job though. Def keep up the good work, and my warranty runs out soon enough. July 09. I think Im gonna try on a dead xbox's wireless board first.

[QuackMasterDan]

I have taken all of the photos on how to install cold cathodes into a 360. I need some spare time to create the instructable and publish it. If you can wait two-four weeks I'll have it uploaded for you to follow.

If you need help now, in my disassembly guide I have a picture of the 12volt supply on the bottom of the motherboard somewhere in there. Cold cathode positive gets soldered to the 12 volt supply, and the tubes are removed from their acrylic shell and hot glued into place.

Here is the guide for the original xbox I learned from and adapted to the Xbox 360.

Llamma Xbox Cold Cathode Install