Proper Care for Your 360 and 360 Hardware

by MrNintendo

19K4170

Intro: Proper Care for Your 360 and 360 Hardware

If you're one of those people who want to take really good care of your 360, then this is the Instructable for you.


This is my first instructable, so please give me some feedback on how I did or how I can improve.

STEP 1: Gathering Materials

Here is a list of materials that you will need for the process:

Needed:
scissors
compressed air
polishing cloth


Optional:
Nyko Intercooler (EX model)
small screwdriver (the ones for glasses usually work best)

STEP 2: 360 Dusting

Take your can of Compressed air, point at the 360 as shown in the pictures. Only give bursts of air as this is more effective than holding down the trigger. Holding the trigger down also creates a layer of frost on the outside if your aren't careful. If the bottle does get cold enough, then the air pressure will be cut down to less than 10%. The main targets are the vent holes and the cracks between the 360's case parts.

Also, you should think about getting that dust out of the disc drive. Even though you are spraying the dust back in the disc drive, it is also coming out of another place, because you have so much air pressure. The disc drive is sealed up pretty tight, so you can guarantee that the dust is not getting inside of your 360.

The AC adapter also has vent holes and a fan inside of it, so don't forget to dust the vent holes on the adapter.

The dust that you blow off will not enter your system, it only bounces off of the plastic it's sitting on and gets into the surrounding air.

STEP 3: Polishing

Polishing is not difficult on the 360. Just polish the parts that are shiny, such as the power button, disc drive faceplate, infrared receiver, and if you have one of the earlier models instead of the new ones, the side of the HDD. You can find a polish cloth at your local convenient store for less than a buck.

STEP 4: Xbox 360 Motorized Filter

Dust can easily get inside the 360. I tried just placing filters on the vent holes, but it still got dust inside of it (I guess the filters weren't rated for small dust particles).I did, however, build a motorized one. Just take a look at the pictures below. It also didn't work as well as I thought, but that is just the filter. I will be replacing the filter on it with a better one. If you're interested, I will be making a Instructable in the near future for one. It won't look like this one though. Mine broke after these pictures were taken, but that was from me accidentally stepping on it when it wasn't in use. Just goes to show: Watch where you're stepping!

STEP 5: Keeping Your 360 Dust/Debris Free

The simple way to do this is take some of the filter material(shown below(i will include a picture later, I'm having to spend some time with my grandparents, so I don't have my camera right now)) and cut it into pieces, those resembling the size and shape of the vent holes on the 360. You can just place them on the vents or you can tape down the sides with a little tape. If you're using tape, use painter's tape or some of that other tape you usually find in schools, it's like "Scotch" brand "Magic" tape or something like that. I have tested this filter material on multiple projects and the airflow is actually better than that blue filter material you saw in step 1! It also catches the dust better too.

STEP 6: Inserting the Intercooler (optional)

Because of many rumors around that Microsoft can run secret tests over Xbox Live, this step is to be avoided. If you have a 360 with an intercooler, take it off immediately. If you do want an intercooler, but don't want it to void the warranty, look around the internet and try to find someone that has modded one of these to hook up through a wall adapter, instead of the 360's. This has the same effect at cooling you system, without Microsoft knowing. If you would like me to mod or make an intercooler forthe 360, please leave your suggestions and ideas in the comments section, and I will get to them ASAP.

STEP 7: Cleaning the Controller's Cracks (optional)

Take the screwdriver and place it down into the crack. Turn the screwdriver so it fills as much of the gap as possible (see picture below). Gently scrape the gunk out of the crack, take it out every once in a while and blow out the loose crud with the compressed air. The gunk that normally builds up is the oils from your skin as you play. It's not toxic sludge or anything like that, so don't be grossed out (cause it's probably yours).

STEP 8: Extra

Always keep your batteries charged (unless they're disposable), this gives you an upper hand when you're in mid combat in Halo3 or Call of Duty and your battery runs out. And keeping your battery charged will keep up it's "memory" or how much juice it can hold. It's memory decreases over time, but keeping it charged makes it take longer to deplete.

If you're taking your 360 different places, don't just put it in a cardboard box or in a bag. Get a good reliable case for it, it keeps it protected and if you get the right one, it allows you to play it while it's inside of the case. The one that I have is Naki-World's G-Pak 360. This is the only one so far that I have found to do exceptionally well. It's cheaper than other cases, but does a lot better. It also allows you to play the 360 inside the case without it overheating, because they have large vent holes on the sides. Intec has an aluminum case, but I have 2 of them and they have already broke. The aluminum also bends very easily. In a shortened note, DON'T BUY THE HARD CASES!!! They don't last very long.

And if you have a Memory Unit... Keep the case!!!! The case protects it from humidity and dust in the air.

I believe that concludes my instructable. Thanks for reading guys... and also the girls out there who also play video games.

STEP 9: Upcoming Instructables

Well, it looks like plans have changed again. This time I'm keeping it this way. I will not be able to work on the Xbox projects I have wanted to do for reasons unknown. Because of my career choice and other stuff such as college, I am changing my plans to PC building/modding/etc.

I am sorry for any of you who were looking forward to those projects.

My first Instructable for PC Building will be a Portable, High-Powered, PC. Most of you might be thinking: "That's what laptops are for!"... Yeah you have part of a point, but for most of us energy users out there, we want something with much more "kick" if you catch my drift. I'm not letting out any more details until it is built. Date of completion: No later than the end of this summer. Reason for taking so long: budget, custom case, custom cooling system, and custom modding. All worth the wait.

71 Comments

Wally_Z 13 years ago

Please don't tell me you run your Xbox when it is on the black case made of cloth. The way it is pictured in the intro of this Instructable. It doesn't degrade ventilation that much but it's not a very good idea.

Wally_Z 13 years ago

As you may have noticed from the many comments about the Intercooler, is that it SUCKS. This video explains the airflow and how to improve performance on your Xbox: https://www.instructables.com/id/Things-any-Xbox-owner-should-know/

Jeebiss 15 years ago

I seriously hope you do not run 360 in that case. With both the case, and the intercooler attached, the restricted airflow level is high.

MrNintendo 15 years ago

I don't mean to sound like an idiot, but I don't understand what you're talking about. The intercooler doesn't restrict the airflow, the vent holes on the side allow much more airflow than it needs. The intercooler won't affect the airflow by restricting it, it should improve it.

macwhiz 13 years ago

The intercooler pushes air into the xbox and the internal fans pull air out so an intercooler will work better if you flip the fans in the intercooler like I did

Jimbobjoeyman 13 years ago

thats so stupid
sorry to be blunt but it is the intercooler pushes air out of the 360 and so do the stock fans.
by flipping the fans aroud you have stopped the hot air from leaving your 360 because the intercooler will overpower the stock fans and stop them from working

digitallyinsane 14 years ago

The intercooler has been rumored to push so much airflow through the case as to overcome the rotational capacity of the internal stock fans, significantly shortening their shelf life. I've never had a heat problem with mine, but then again, I don't run it inside of any enclosure, soft or otherwise. My 360 seems to run pretty darn cool all by itself, so I consider myself lucky.

yolarrydabomb 15 years ago

Intercooler Drains the power on your board and causes RROD. Some Intercoolers can melt the plastic. Microsoft picks up information Fan Speed, Voltage, etc from live to make sure nobody modding so if I was you, remove it off your 360

junits15 13 years ago

the 360's PSU is a 203 watt unit. The 12v rail can supply 16 amps! the intercooler can melt, but MS cannot find out, they don't give a sh*t if you have an intercooler. It dosnt cause the RROD, that is caused by poor manufacturing on MS's part. The stuff that gets you kicked is JTAGing and reflashing your dvd drive's firmware not an intercooler.

MrNintendo 15 years ago

I already took off my intercooler, but thanks for your concern. I'm in the process of making a more efficient one. The only problem is that it will have to draw off a power outlet for maximum air flow. If I didn't have to have a great amount of air flow, I would just hook it up to the USB port.

yolarrydabomb 15 years ago

Yeah I was thinking about buying intercooler and rewire it to a DC plug-in or something.

ThatInstructablesGuy 15 years ago

You know there is one just like that bit instead it serves as a stand, I heard it doesn't draw power from the 360 and does not cause the RROD. I can't quite remember its name though.

Cameron657 13 years ago

It is called a 'Pelican Fan Stand'. They are easily found on eBay.

Mstocker 15 years ago

wait does this fan replace the one on the inside. im getting confused cause i was under the impression that it went on the outside but you said it would void the warranty. Personally i think the ones on the outside are a waist of money. Just buy a new internal fan to replace the stock one and it will cool the xbox just as well as externals...even better actually. and it doesnt make your xbox big and bulky ( and they can light up to :D )

Callum Snowden 15 years ago

Yeah but what happened if you cut the speed cable coming from the fan so you could use the cooler??

junits15 13 years ago

I don't know why people are so afraid of getting kicked off of live. MS has no way of knowing if you have an intercooler, its analog hardware. There are no diagnostics tests that anybody could run to show that there is an intercooler, because its not sending data to the machine.

timothy demaegdt 15 years ago

just build an usb pc fan and place it on the side of the xbox
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