Easily Fix That Dreaded RROD For Xbox 360

RROD stands for Red Ring Of Death for the Xbox 360. This error comes up when the Xbox 360 console is powered on.

Causes for RROD:

1. Heating issue with the CPU (central processing unit) and GPU (graphical processing unit) - This is where either or both the CPU and GPU are over heated which halts the console to a stop.

2. Circuits not making a complete connection throughout the motherboard of the console. The motherboard is the circuit board for the console.

Resolution:

You will need to use a heat gun to resolder the cracked circuits within the motherboard.

The heat gun method is the best way to fix the RROD long term. Other methods used to "fix" the RROD are temporary..

What you need to get started:

1. Heat gun that is 1000 degrees maximum temperature (this can be found at your local home improvement or hardware store like Lowes or Home Depot)
2. Aluminum foil
3. Artic 5 thermal compound for processor (can get this at Best Buy or online: http://newegg.com)
4. Small flat head screw driver
5. Paper clip to help take off the 360's plastic vent covers
6. Hex screw driver to take out the fastening screws for 360's chassis
7. 90% - 100% rubbing alcohol
8. Q-tips

 

 Steps to Fix RROD With Your Heat Gun:

1. Dismantle your 360 by taking the plastic covering off, removing the "power display" and unscrewing the chassis to the point where the motherboard is removed

2. On motherboard, take off the heat sinks that rest on the cpu and gpu
Clean the old thermal compound off with rubbing alcohol for the gpu an cpu resulting in a mirror shine
3.Place aluminum foil covering all plastic parts like connectors and batteries on the motherboard (plastic parts and batteries have to be covered completely so that the heat will not damage them)
4.Turn on the heat gun to 1000 degrees (use a thick sheet of paper to burn a line on it to help determine when your gun reaches near 1000 degrees)
5. Use the heat gun 1.5 to 2 inches from the motherboard in circular motions around gpu and/or cpu (processors) for up to 2 minutes (do the same for 2 minutes on the back of the motherboard for the same areas - gpu and cpu locations) The goal is to solder the any cracked connections within each circuit on the board.
6. Let the motherboard cool down for an hour or so
7. Apply thermal compound (Artic 5) to the processor(s) Note: DON'T apply too much thermal compound on the processors
8. Test your Xbox and observe that RROD is gone
9. Put XBOX back together

RECOMMENDED!
Note: These steps are general. Please refer to the video below to watch this method in full detail.

If the heat gun method doesn't work for you then you may want to consider reflowing the solder for the GPU since this is where the problem lies. To learn more about reflowing, go to this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reflow_soldering

The amount of effort and equipment needed to reflow your 360 can be a bit much, so call a game console repair shop to have them do it for you. Some places charge 40 bucks but don't pay more than 65 bucks to do this. You might as well buy another 360 console which aren't too much more in price to solve your problem. The 360 console, even the newer ones, have design flaws which is why so many gamers are getting the red rings of death and or other heating issues.

IMPORTANT!

A bent (bowed) motherboard may be unrepairable with any method so DON'T tighten your chassis screws and heat sink screws too tight. Use nylon washers instead of metal ones.

If you don't want to spend the money for reflowing do this and fix this once and for all! I have done this and have had no more issues.

1. Heat Gun just the GPU. Refer to the video above.

2. Go to http://www.xbox360airflow.us/ and buy the extra long power cable for your dvd drive and mount the dvd drive on top of your xbox. This brings in so much more air flow to cool down the GPU so that the soldering will not melt then crack when cooling (powered off). I cut 2 holes about 4 inches in diameter on the top casing (where the dvd drive will mount to) to increase air flow. I used a 1 inch drill bit to make individual holes in a circular pattern and then used shears to cut out the circle. You can also sand the plastic down to make it smooth, optional. These holes are directly over the GPU and CPU. I put a computer heat sink fan over the CPU hole on the case and a fan inside the case on top of the heat sink for the GPU. This adds more cooling to help prevent the solder from melting.

How do you power the computer fans?

Easy. I got my wire cutters and snipped the cable to the fan stripping back the Red and Green wires. Then I found two USB cables and cut those stripping the Red and Green wires as well. All you do is twist Red to Red and Green to Green wrapping the made connections with electrical tape. Now your pc fans will be powered. Just plug in the USB connection to the USB ports on the Xbox.

Tip: If you are purchasing the pc fans get the fastest RPM (revolutions per min) with cool neon lights. They look very good when they are lit up.

So, there you have it.