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View Full Version : I fixed the RROD all by myself...


MasterShake
08-04-2009, 08:31 PM
Took about 2 hours and $10! I have an Elite and thought it would never happen to me (so soon, anyway). It started as a weird graphics glitch followed by a blank screen and only sound. The old "towel trick" would make it work for a few days, but overheating my Xbox on purpose was getting old and kind of a fire hazard. Then the other day the damn thing gave me the 3 red rings of death. My unit is just over 2 years old, and the idiot I called at Microsoft said it would take 6-9 weeks to fix and send back. Screw that, Madden comes out soon. I used to scrap and rebuild PC's so I grabbed my precision screwdriver kit and found the culprit of the RROD.

The hardest part was getting the casing off, but after I did I took off the X clamps to remove the heat sink and found a major flub by MS. The cooling compound between the chip and heatsink used by them in their manufacturing had melted off (As you can see in the second pic, albeit blurry) and was overheating the GPU. The CPU had the same problem.

Using some goo gone and rubbing alcohol I removed the cheap crap they used and bought some Arctic Silver 5 from RadioShack for $10 and gave both processors a new coat. After manhandling the X clamps back on (the hardest part) my Xbox not only worked like new, it now runs cooler than ever. And, its noticeably quieter. So if anyone ever runs into this problem with their Xbox and either doesn't care about or have a warranty its a pretty easy fix and cheap. The only screwdrivers I used were an T8 and T10. There's tons of dismantling guides online. If someone like me can do it, YOU CAN DO IT! :lol:

After telling my friend about this who used to work at a GameStop, he said this was basically the process they would use to refurbish Xbox's that had the RROD. Had I known I would have called him. :D

http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u14/Kenobi1_bucket/6411_1028845578609_1749437675_54477.jpg

http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u14/Kenobi1_bucket/6411_1028845698612_1749437675_54480.jpg

http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u14/Kenobi1_bucket/6411_1028845778614_1749437675_54481.jpg
MOtorboat
08-04-2009, 08:46 PM
Holy crap...I actually have one here at the house that did that, but it was like four years old...so I just bought a new one...maybe I can have two...shit...not that I needed two, but I would have a backup!
NightTrainLayne
08-04-2009, 08:48 PM
Good work MS.

Thank goodness I bought a PS3. I wouldn't have the patience for that.
Shazam!
08-04-2009, 09:13 PM
I got mine back from MS in 9 days, and they really made a lot of changes to it.

Overall, I was very happy with their warranty/product replacement plan or whatever.

I did the towel trick too and it worked, but since it was covered I figured may as well have sent it back.

Either way, I'm glad yours is fixed.

For the record too, PS3's fail. My bro's PS3 wasn't even an early launch and like a year old, it won't read anything, he called Sony and pretty much told him he's screwed. I told him to bring it to Play N' Trade where they'll fix it for like $100.
MasterShake
08-04-2009, 09:29 PM
Good work MS.

Thank goodness I bought a PS3. I wouldn't have the patience for that.

I would have got a PS3 too (as in addition to my Xbox) if I was still single, but I like the Xbox games quite a bit. My wife only lets me have one game system at a time. Not that I have the time to play, if you notice each of my pictures has a baby monitor in it!
MasterShake
08-04-2009, 09:31 PM
Holy crap...I actually have one here at the house that did that, but it was like four years old...so I just bought a new one...maybe I can have two...shit...not that I needed two, but I would have a backup!

If you want to try the fix, then you would have a backup or at least something to sell/trade in at a game store for more games! If you have any questions, just let me know. If I had to do it again it would only take me 15 minutes now that I know what to do.
MasterShake
08-04-2009, 09:33 PM
And the worst thing is its such an easy fix for Microsoft. Like I said mine was 2 years old so maybe they use a better thermal compound now. The stuff I put on is tested to 500 degrees, that crap they put in melted in a well ventilated area right under an AC vent in my basement.

My friend just bought a new one, wonder if he'd let me take it apart and take a look-see.
MOtorboat
08-04-2009, 09:35 PM
If you want to try the fix, then you would have a backup or at least something to sell/trade in at a game store for more games! If you have any questions, just let me know. If I had to do it again it would only take me 15 minutes now that I know what to do.

I might try if I find any time...works going to be hell in the next month. Maybe in September.
Shazam!
08-05-2009, 12:10 AM
Mo, maybe call MS and try to arrange the free repair, 1 800 4MY XBOX

You may have to ship it one way, I don't think they still send the perforated coffins.

MS customer service was pretty good I thought. I sent my 360 back 3 times, only once for the RROD, others it was disc read errors that I didn't have to send in, but I figured why not as long as it's free. I always had phone calls and emails to keep me updated on it's progress. While being without my console sucked, overall the experience with them was very good.