Xbox 360 3 red rings

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M

Matt²

Bought a broken Xbox 360 this morning for $25.. went out and bought a replacement power supply for additional $40, plus av cable for $10.. finally power it on and it's the 3 red rings of death.

I now have my soldering iron warming up and am going to resolder all the loose caps (there's about 20 of them) that even LOOK like they need resoldering, not just loose.. I hope this fixes the problem.. pics to come.
 
Azurephoenix

Azurephoenix

Have you tested the code that it's throwing? You need to check that first.

If you have one of the older motherboards (basically anything older than the newest one using HDMI outputs) I would bet that you are having the dreaded problem with the GPU solder being screwed. If that's the case... there are a few tricks you can do to squeeze some extra life out of the unit (maybe 80-100 hours from my own tests)... but it's basically dead unless you want to reball the GBA contacts (basically impossible without professional equipment).

This experience is derived from attempting to repair 3 different boxes with the red ring of death and they all died again in the long run.
 
M

Matt²

Azurephoenix said:
Have you tested the code that it's throwing? You need to check that first.

If you have one of the older motherboards (basically anything older than the newest one using HDMI outputs) I would bet that you are having the dreaded problem with the GPU solder being screwed. If that's the case... there are a few tricks you can do to squeeze some extra life out of the unit (maybe 80-100 hours from my own tests)... but it's basically dead unless you want to reball the GBA contacts (basically impossible without professional equipment).

This experience is derived from attempting to repair 3 different boxes with the red ring of death and they all died again in the long run.
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It's all a crap shoot. AFA video, I don't even have a tv here in the office (with rca cable connections) to find out what the code is, so that's a no go.

I just realized the solder used is at a WAY different melting point and there seems to be a protective resin covering the board.. not sure how much good my soldering did? Waiting for it to cool down then attempt to put it back enough to power on and see if it's still red ringing.
 
Azurephoenix

Azurephoenix

You don't need a monitor or TV... as long as you have the AV cable to plug in... try this procedure:

Turn the xbox 360 on, and wait till the 3 red lights are flashing.
Press and hold the sync up button (the small white one), while holding that button press the eject button.
The LEDs will now blink the first number in the code (as described below).
Release the eject button and press it again.
The LEDs will now blink the second number of the code.
Release the eject button and press it again.
The LEDs will now blink the third number of the code.
Release the eject button and press it again.
The LEDs will now blink the forth number of the code.
Release the eject button and press it again.
The LEDs will go back to the 3 red flashing lights.
You should be able to determine the difference between the 3 flashing lights and the error code lights by the rate in which they flash.

Here is how you interpret the LEDs to get the code number:
All four lights flashing - 0
One light flashing - 1
Two Lights flashing - 2
Three lights flashing - 3


My guess is you will either get a 0102 or 0193 code which more than likely means the solder holding your GPU to the board has cracked due to Microsoft using crappy lead free solder as well as their poor GPU design which heats up way more than it should (causing stress from heat expansion which eventually breaks the solder connection).
 
M

Matt²

If I did it right, the error code I got is "4424" .. I still have it plugged in and the fans have spun up very fast .. even though my office is air conditioned, it's about 68 in here, plus I have a fan aimed at me, which is aimed at the open case..wasn't sure if their sound was going to get any louder/higher? :p
(edit)
Oh.. that was because I didn't have the plastic funnel between the fan and the gpu...

now what?
 
M

Matt²

ok, that was weird.. I just unplugged it, noticed a capacitor was crooked.. straightened it, replugged it in and NOW it's working!!

wish I could see what's on the screen now!!
 
Azurephoenix

Azurephoenix

Wow... interesting. No more red LED's or error codes? Lucky you man... you might have lucked out.

Your earlier code... 4424... did you mean 0020? Because there's no 4000 level error codes for the system. 0020 is an overheating problem (although a good many sites have 0020 listed as "unknown").
 
M

Matt²

Azurephoenix said:
Wow... interesting. No more red LED's or error codes? Lucky you man... you might have lucked out.

Your earlier code... 4424... did you mean 0020? Because there's no 4000 level error codes for the system. 0020 is an overheating problem (although a good many sites have 0020 listed as "unknown").
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if by 4424 = 0020 then yes.. I counted 4 lights twice (perhaps it's meant to be "0" ?) , a 2 the third time, then 4 lastly, then it went back to 3 rings at a slower flash.

Yeah it seems to have a slight overheating problem.. perhaps memory.. I dunno.. yet.. I left it on while I went to Goodwill to buy a tv with rca input.. came back and it was still on without red rings, then had to leave again and get a universal remote, program that shit for Sylvania.. (don't purchase Sylvania :p ) .. all in all, on for about an hour, I finally get it hooked up and it's at a dimmed Xbox live sign in screen (YAY!) .. I pop in my SF4 disc, it says it wants an update, I tell it ok (even though it's not connected to the internet, I assume it's a disc update).. it goes for a reboot and THEN it came up with a red ring error.. I turned it off and back on and it's been on about another 15 minutes and so far so good. I was thinking of getting an upgraded fan for it if I can find one? Got any links to places?
 
Azurephoenix

Azurephoenix

I found a quick a dirty solution to overheating was to put a big bag of frozen peas on top of the unit (worked for me and my brother when we had our xbox 360 overheating from playing Forza 2).

I'm not sure about fan upgrades... you have to be careful as you can burn up your power brick with some of the ones available. I can't help you on that one.

It will be interesting to see if the box overheats quickly under load (playing CPU/GPU intensive games).
 
M

Matt²

ok so I turned it off to plug in my hard drive and it came up with the RR again.. this time it wouldn't go away quickly,.. I pushed the same capacitor again, and then it came UP again, so I'm going to re-solder that particular one and hope I can get a better connection.

I dunno.. maybe that one's a fluke..
 
M

Matt²

...so it definitely *SEEMS* like it is a overheating problem? At least that's what the error code keeps referring to. I think the capacitors *MAY* be a fluke, but this is my first time dealing with it. I can get it to turn on and STAY on for at least 30 minutes (watched an episode of IT Crowd, played some SF4) and I will see if I can test it longer tomorrow. In fact, I'll bring Guitar Hero WT and test it. :D

my solution thus far: turn it on, wait for red rings.. listen for fan to kick on (about 10 seconds).. turn it off and then quickly turn it back ON (using button, not controller).. 1 out of about 3 - 5 times gets it working again, cooled off enough for it to cooperate.
 
M

Matt²

It's dead. I'm sure I killed it. I'm tired of fucking around with it. I spent :
$25 on the system
$50 on new power + av cable
$30 for tv
$12 for remote + batteries for tv
--------------------------------------
$117

and now it's crapped out. If I want, I still have a chance to take back the av cable and power supply and recoup my $50 but I'm debating if I want to do that or spend another $70 and get a refurbished 360 from Knight's Gaming Repair? Xbox 360 Console: PS3 Repair | PSP Repair | Xbox 360 Repair | Nintendo Wii Repair | Nintendo DS Repair | Playstation 3 Repair
 
Azurephoenix

Azurephoenix

Sorry to hear it. I've had my share of frustration trying to fix these things and I know how annoying it can be.

Honestly... I would really advise you to buy the Xbox 360 arcade... it has the newest motherboard (the Jasper chipset I believe) and is supposed to be extremely reliable in the long run. I wouldn't trust any refurbished unit from anyone. There's just too much chance of hidden problems. They can be "repaired" so that they seem to function... but will fail again after a few hours of intense use.
 
M

Matt²

Azurephoenix said:
Sorry to hear it. I've had my share of frustration trying to fix these things and I know how annoying it can be.

Honestly... I would really advise you to buy the Xbox 360 arcade... it has the newest motherboard (the Jasper chipset I believe) and is supposed to be extremely reliable in the long run. I wouldn't trust any refurbished unit from anyone. There's just too much chance of hidden problems. They can be "repaired" so that they seem to function... but will fail again after a few hours of intense use.
Click to expand...
I think I'm actually going to take the parts back. I have a working 360 arcade at home, this was a second one for me to fully take apart without fear of damaging my home one.. I really don't need (even though I want) a 2nd one right now... but I WAS really hoping to get this one going. :(
 
M

Matt²

Dave said:
DOOO EEEET!

Man if you could fix that consistently you'd be rich. RICH I SAY!
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You'd think, huh? The only thing I want to do with them after today is buy a SLEDGE HAMMER!.. and maybe a claymore..
 
SpecialKO

SpecialKO

It's for reasons like this that the 360 is the one console I don't recommend anyone getting a refurbed one for cheaper.
 
Azurephoenix

Azurephoenix

Those X-clamp kits are only a band-aid solution that will possibly earn you another 80-100 hours of gaming. I've repaired 3 xbox 360's with those... and they all failed again (permanently) after the aforementioned time went by.

Bottom line, only buy new ones (and hope Microsoft doesn't design their next gen console with such craptastic engineering the next time around).

Oh, and Matt... bending the motherboard = very good chance of breaking the already weakened GBA solder holding the GPU on. Just bad engineering... not your fault.
 
J

Joe Johnson

Was this also an Arcade version? Or one with an HD. If it's a HD version, at least you can steal the hard drive and put it in the Arcade machine.
 
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