Your Guide to DIY Xbox 360 Repair

The Xbox 360 is an amazing game console, and it is definitely better than its older versions have. However, this particular game console is not perfect- it also has issues. Because of this, we have come up with a simple repair guide which might really be useful to you. This repair guide is dedicated to a specific error: 3 red lights.

The 3 red lights error, known as the red ring of death, is not something to take lightly. This is especially true when it happened to you for the first time. If you do not do something about the problem, it will keep recurring. The good news is that for errors like this, you can fix the problem on your own and save at least a hundred bucks from having to send it to a technician or a repair center.

The Cause of 3 Red Lights

Overheating is the root cause of this problem. You see, the Xbox 360 has a very small LSI heat sink, which functions primarily to cool the unit.

When you have been playing with the console for hours, the motherboard starts to heat up, and as a result, it would vibrate. Once this happens, the soldering feature would weaken. The Graphics Processing Unit, or GPU, would then become lose, thus resulting to the 3 red lights error.

Fix 

Because the 3 red lights error is brought about by overheating, our goal would be to cool your game console. Here are a few easy steps to follow:

1. Remove the cover and the faceplate.

2. Take out the heat sink as well as the motherboard.

3. Put a little room in between the heat sink and the motherboard. This way, they can cool off.

4. With the use of a Q-tip, clean the motherboard and the GPU.

5. Once all of these are done, assemble them back together.

As you can see, the basic troubleshooting steps are pretty simple. You do not need technical know-how to do this. Repair can be done in about half an hour, at no cost to you!

Fatal Errors Gamers Make

1. Hitting your console

2. Using a heat gun

3. Wrapping the console with a towel

Believe it or not, people actually do this and end up causing more harm than good to their Xbox 360.

Why Not Send Your Xbox 360 to Microsoft for Repair?

For one thing, if you send it to a Microsoft repair center, it will cost you at least $140 dollars, plus you need to wait about 4 weeks before you can get it back.

That should be reason enough for you not to do so. However, if you have warranty and you can spare a month without your precious Xbox360, then of course, you can always take that option.

Proper Care for Your Xbox 360

1. Make sure you put it in a cool area, with plenty of room to breathe.

2. Separate the power chord from the unit because it contributes to the heat in your system.

3. Utilize a fail-safe power bar because if there are power surges, this can also harm your unit.