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1) Send your console in to a big corporation, wait a month, and get a console that'll break in another month.
2) Throw it out or try and sell it. You could make $40 or so and put it towards a new console.
3) Try and fix it yourself. Now there are several paths you can take to "fix" your box, and hopefully this instructable will make this task less daunting (and explain the right
way to do it)
http://www.instructables.com/id/Reflow-Xbox-360/
http://www.instructables.com/id/Reflow-Xbox-360/
step 1: Fixes that DONT WORK
The problem behind the Red Rings (9 times out of 10) has to do with cracks, whiskers, and other issues with the solder balls under all of the BGA chips on the 360 MoBo
caused by constant heating/cooling cycles.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Reflow-Xbox-360/
step 3: Equipment/Materials
Here's what you need to perform a successful and professional quality reflow. This is my setup, so you don't need the exact same things (i.e. you could get a different
model reworking station than I have)
http://www.instructables.com/id/Reflow-Xbox-360/
Image Notes
1. I happen to have a screwdriver set that includes all of these bits... It's a total
life saver.
1) Turn the box on and wait for the Red Rings to come up.
2) Hold down the sync button, you need to be pressing this for the entire time.
3) Hit the eject button once. Note the number of lights around the power button.
4) Do this three more times.
5) You should now have 4 different numbers, in my case it was 1 light, 4 lights, 2 lights, 2 lights.
6) To convert this into "Xbox error code" just take those numbers, but change any 4s to 0s. So my error code would be 1022.
Now that you have the code, you can look here to find out what the exact problem with your board is. My error was a result of a GPU problem, so that's the component I
need to reflow.
Image Notes
1. Sync Button
2. Eject Button
http://www.instructables.com/id/Reflow-Xbox-360/
step 5: Disassembling
I'm going to assume that if you're able to reflow your console, you can take your xbox apart. If you don't know how to, follow this instructable .
http://www.instructables.com/id/Reflow-Xbox-360/
step 6: Remove the X-Clamps
So you've got the MoBo out, and now you need to remove the heat sinks. Flip the Xbox upside down, and you should see two X-shaped clamps. To take these off, put a
flat head screw driver into the part of the clip that curls back. Now turn counter-clockwise and lift up. You HAVE TO rotate the screwdriver, otherwise you'll bend the
clamps. You need to be very careful when you're removing them because if the screwdriver slips it could destroy components around it. After you remove them, set them
off to the side because we're going to put them back on in the end.
Image Notes
1. Twist the screwdriver.
1) Remove the big clumps of thermal paste around the dies on the chip. I use a cut up ID card to do this.
2) Take a Q-tip and lightly coat it in Goo Gone. Rub it around on the die and it'll remove a lot of the paste. Don't worry, this stuff is safe for use on the board, I've used it
countless times.
3) Take another Q-tip and dip it in rubbing alcohol. After you coat the chip in it, use the other end to dry up the excess liquid.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Reflow-Xbox-360/
Image Notes
1. Goo Gone is my hero.
Put your board onto the griddle, and screw a nut snugly onto every screw. This is one of the most important parts of the reflow process. They keep the motherboard from
flexing during it, and allow the solder to reflow properly. The board should be sandwiched between two nuts, and NOT touching the griddle.
Turn the temperature up to 400F, the griddle will get very hot so use your common sense and don't touch it. I let my board preheat for 10 minutes.
Image Notes
1. This part raises the board off the griddle.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Reflow-Xbox-360/
Image Notes Image Notes
1. Make sure they're snug. 1. Heating to 400F
Image Notes
1. Notice that these tables don't touch. The board is on one, and the rework station
is on a different one. This is so that vibrations from the machine do not effect the
reflow.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Reflow-Xbox-360/
Image Notes
1. Fairly close, but not touching.
This is the heating profile that I follow (All temperature increases are in 3 deg/sec, which is one press of the up/down button on the unit a second):
When it reaches 90C, I turn the unit and the griddle off. At this point, it is incredibly crucial to not touch or move the board. You need to let it sit for at least 15 minutes
without being disturbed.
*Another Note* These machines are not exactly the same, my 381C may actually be outputting air at 360C, where yours may be doing 400C. Its very beneficial to get a
test board and figure out just how hot you need to go on your machine before the solder melts. This is called a BGA lift, and just follow this profile up to 350C. After that
go up by 3 degree increments. Wait ten seconds, and try and lift the chip up with a flathead screwdriver. If it lifts, that's the temperature you need to hit. If not, keep going
up until you can lift the chip.
Image Notes
1. The air pressure should never go above 5 1/2.
2. You'll notice two temperature readings. The top displays what temperature the unit is heating/cooling to, and the bottom displays where its temperature at that
http://www.instructables.com/id/Reflow-Xbox-360/
moment.
3. This dial is for soldering, don't worry about it.
4. This is the only switch you need to use.
To replace the heatsinks, just put them back through the holes in the MoBo, and work in reverse. Slide the clamp back on, and press the "legs" of the X down until they
clip on the heatsink bolts. You may need to use a screwdriver to pry them open a little bit while you're pushing them down.
Now you can put it back in the housing and reattach the DVD drive and fan.
Image Notes
1. You can usually put on two of the legs without having to apply force.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Reflow-Xbox-360/
step 12: Testing!
At this point you can try the box out and see if your reflow worked. Plug in the power and video cable, and make sure the RF board is back in the front of the xbox. Turn it
on, pray, and hopefully it'll boot right up.
If it doesn't, don't get discouraged, try reflowing different components, and checking your heat profile. Maybe you aren't going hot enough.
If it does work, finish putting the case back together, and you have a working Xbox 360!
If you're interested in a professional fix, but don't want to try reflowing it yourself, send me an email at napervillexbox360@yahoo.com. You can ship your console to me,
and I'll reflow it for you.
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http://www.instructables.com/id/Reflow-Xbox-360/