How to Fix the Red Ring of Death on the Xbox 360

Don't you just hate it when you get the red ring of death (rrod) on you xbox 360? Well I do. That's why I've made this cheap and easy guide to help you get rid of and prevent the rrod on your xbox 360.

IMPORTANT

***THIS IS MY FIRST INSTRUCTABLE. PLEASE THINK BEFORE COMMENTING***

Step 1: Identify the Problem of Why It Possibly Overheated

If you find out why your Xbox overheated, you can make sure it won't happen again. For Instance, the problem with mine is that it was in an enclosed area with only a little hole in the back. this prevented good air circulation and therefore caused the whole area to overheat.

Step 2: Unplug Your Xbox 360's Power Cord

This is the single most important step of the whole process. To do this, press on the two tabs on the top and bottom of the plug.

Step 3: Remove All Memmory Items

You want to remove your memory items. These can be either memory units, or hard drives. I have both. You want to remove them so it opens the Xbox up more, to allow for better air circulation to cool it. Also, the heat can probably cause damage to your memory items.

Step 4: Take Off Front Cover.

This step is optional, but definitely helps A LOT. To do this, stick your fingernail in the top corner, and pull apart. Then, slide your fingernail down the front side so the gap moves throughout the whole side.

Step 5: Cool It Down

There are many ways to do this. The way I did it was by placing it vertically and cooling it with a small fan. Obviously, if you have a bigger fan, than use that. Another technique is to just let it sit overnight (minimum) to let it air cool. I used a fan for about an hour, than let it cool for about 15 hours.

Step 6: Prevention

In order to prevent your Xbox from overheating, there are many things you can do.

1st, permanently keep a fan by the back of your Xbox.

2nd, don't put your Xbox in an area that doesn't get enough air circulation.

3rd, don't play your Xbox for so long that it lets it heat up.

Comments

[Mr. Crazy GamerL]

My Xbox 360 E console turns on and 3 seconds later it's On/Off switch turns red, How can I get it to turn back on?
(I've experienced the red light many times but all I had to do those times whats turn the xbox off and back on and I play from 12 pm to like 2-3 pm every day andd when I play sometimes I play with my only fan facing the Xbox, And I play it in the open areas, It gets hot by the end of my game time and I'm in texas and my house has no air conditioner.)

[Kelly1980]

I've noticed I have a ring around the edge of a couple of my Xbox games and now they've stopped working what does this mean?

[ZephticD]

It means that the game has been severely damaged and can not be used but if you got the game from game stop and you got the warranty you can get a new version but you will have to get a new warranty

[Skweg]

Sadly this, is something that cannot be fixed, its called a Laser Burn, once that happens, the disk is done, its because Microsoft decided that no one would need protection for there physical disk. Sorry to say this but you need to buy a new copy of the game, and also have you moved your Xbox while playing a game?

[CandyGurl]

I want to help you so what i did was, searched something about that on Google and i found this: http://m.wikihow.com/Fix-a-Scratched-Xbox-Game also, I'm not saying you have to trust me but, this isn't fake. Again, you don't have to trust me. :)

[nanofries]

I take that back it worked yesterday but now it f***** up my Xbox 360 even more

[CandyGurl]

I know you commented 2 yrs ago but, a lot of people say, take your console to someone who had studied this stuff, or just take it back to where you got it (unless online), Gamestop, blockbuster (i think they might be able to fix it bit then again i don't know), or any electronics store might be able to help you.
NOTE: IF THEY NEED YOU TO DO SOMETHING, DO NOT USE/DO ANYTHING THAT THEY DON'T MENTION/ANYTHING AS A SUBSTITUTE, YOU MIGHT BE TAKING A TERRIBLY DANGEROUS RISK!!!

[StellaM21]

OMG! Thank you X100!

My Xbox360 got RROD and my Step-Dad got so pissed at me. I googled how to get rid of it and found this! You saved my butt! This work 100%!

[CopperT]

Thx alot it realy helps to know that

[austwhite]

I see a lot of comments on here from people that obviously have no idea what they are talking about. Sorry to you all, but stopping the fan turning, flipping it over and letting the chip heat up to remelt the solder is just going to shorten the life of the components, if not risk killing them all together. The internal junction points in the chips are not designed to get hot enough to melt solder without actually melting some of the insides of the chip.

The thing with fans, stopping the fan moving will shorten the life of the fan, having an external fan blowing on the unit will not upset any fan at all and actually will help keep it cooler, even if it appears to be competing with the existing fan a little.

Honestly, if you have the rrod and you do not know much about electronics (ie, have not actually studied) and additional airflow around the unit doesn't help, take it to someone who knows what they are doing as most of the comments below are just going to do more damage than what they fix.

This instructable has a good premise in that additional airflow will help reduce the overheating, but if the damage is done, nothing will fix it properly other than a proper repair.

I am an Electronics Engineer with 20 years personal experience with gaming consoles, domestic electronics and Satellite electronics.

[OculumForamen]

If you get rrod, take it to get fixed and you'll never regret it. If you try to fix it yourself and you are not an electronics tech, you'll blow you system and then you'll be buying a new one. If you are a kid without a job, that means a gift from mom, dad or whoever. Think about what you are doing before you do it, or you'll be short one x-box 360! Extra cooling is good. If you want, mod your x-box with a larger fan so that cooling will never be a problem for you, but sticking paper clips and pennies into your x-box is something an ignorant child would do. Service your expensive toy!

[Tayib]

well..........i am going to try

[nanofries]

It worked good for me

[plokko]

fixxing RROD isn't just about cooling the xbox down,if you have a rrod(that doesen't fix itself)it's because the overheat has damaged the soldering of the vga chip(a common problem with hight temperature for surface soldering,also some macbook vgas have the same problem),you need to HEAT the soldering point at about 300° with an air gun so it's not just about "cooling it down",your "method" is only if your xbox is only overheated and it's becaus you need more room for the air and to clean the fans.

[prayer2666]

obviously this guy is wronger than my enlish, but there is a silmple solution, but be careful if u do this, 
1, put a paperclip in the fan of you xbox
2, turn your xbox upside down
3, let it run until it dissapears
i fixed mine that way, but its just for some weeks, so i changed the cooling paste of the chip and mounted a cpu cooler on it and now i can play day and night

[plokko]

a paperclip in the fan?!?!
you'll simply destry the fan and burn your xbox!

a fan with a paperclip will act as a resistor and the fan motor will burn in no time.

Also note that not all the xbox can be fixxed simply heating by turning it on,some xbox(like one i have here)don't create heat when turned on(maybe the alimentation pin is the one broken).

The RROD is caused by a pin unsolded because of the heating,you need to melt the broken joint pushing the chip and then cool it off,you may imagine that is EXTREMELY dangerous to simply heat the joint by turning on the chip,it may damage it!!!

[gruiz8]

No it won't don't listen to plokko

[prayer2666]

the fan lasts more than 12 minutes stopped, i tested it.
by doing that, you are speeding the process that caused the rrod.
by putting it upside down, the chip can fall into place when overheated,
i tested it and it worked

[plokko]

yes,it MAY work but there are great chanses of failure.

The best option is to open it and use a hot air gun(for soldering)but it cost A LOT of money(>200-300€ used)so if you know someone with one of this things you may  ask his help or you can try run it without fans,it's risky but it's your last option.

[prayer2666]

btw, my friend did it differently, a bit safer, he ductaped the ventilation holes to overheat his xbox, it took 6 minutes, and done, he still has his warranty, and paid nothing for it :p