XBOX 360 - Red Ring Fixes

[Yetman]

So I bought the Xbox about a year ago, it had an xclamp fitted to the larger of the heatsinks, and had to have a new dvd drive to get it working, but it worked until about a week ago when I got an E74 error (one red ring).

Following the guides on youtube I cleaned the chip under the smaller of the heatsinks, reapplied some thermal paste and reattached it. Then I overheated it for 20 mins and voila! Its still fucking broke. So I did the larger of the heatsinks as well, and still no joy.

Can someone tell me for sure that this is fucked and I can finally buy a new one rather than waste any more time trying to fix this knackered old horse? Or is there another possibility in terms of getting past this?

 

[kyser_soze]

Wouldn't it have been easier to just send it back to MS and get a new one?

 

[Yetman]

I bought it for £20 and it had already been x-clamped.

 

[haZe36]

Fixed mine a while ago with the x-clamp alternative - worked for about 18 months before it went again.

If you've only paid £20 for it, as a last resort you could try the heatgun method. I got to the point of thinking mine was done for anyway, so had nothing to lose by trying (other than a few quid for flux).

I also cut the grill vents out the back to allow the fans to push the warm air out quicker...

Looks a bit of a bodge, but it's been running perfectly ever since

You could also upgrade your heatsink to one of the newer versions if it isn't already.

 

[Addy]

If the xclamp has already been replaced with nuts n bolts, give them a tighten and then heat around the GPU to reflow the solder with a heat gun/ paint stipper gun/ hot air gun type of thing.
Loads of Youtube vids to show you how.

 

[bmd]

I bought it for £20 and it had already been x-clamped.

Has it been registered on the Xbox site? If not you could try to register it and then send it back for fixing. I had x-clamped mine and it worked for a bit then got the e74 error. I checked and it was out of warranty but with that error they will fix it even if it is out of warranty.

 

[Yetman]

Gonna get a second hand one from ebay for £20 with a faulty disk drive and just swap the drives. I want a HDMI model anyway, but I might try and send it back to ms to get it fixed as well just in case.

If not then I'll try the heating and grill removal, and if that doesnt work then I'll practice my golf technique with it in the garden

 

[Addy]

Gonna get a second hand one from ebay for £20 with a faulty disk drive and just swap the drives. I want a HDMI model anyway, but I might try and send it back to ms to get it fixed as well just in case.

If not then I'll try the heating and grill removal, and if that doesnt work then I'll practice my golf technique with it in the garden

You do know you have to extract the key off the old drive and spoof it on the new drive?

 

[dlx1]

BMD
Has it been registered on the Xbox site? If not you could try to register it and then send it back for fixing.

Would they still take a look at fixing it even tho the side panle got a bloody big hole in it

 

[Yetman]

You do know you have to extract the key off the old drive and spoof it on the new drive?

What?! I didnt know that no. Shit. So I'd have to get a new disk drive anyway! Bollocks man....I'm just gonna buy a new one then

 

[haZe36]

Yetman, does it work out of the case or does it go straight to 3rrod?

 

[Yetman]

No it doesnt work out of the case and its only got one red ring

 

[haZe36]

Ah sorry, thought you had the 3 lights...should have read the OP properly.

http://xbox-experts.com/errorcode/E74/1022/

I'd bake it anyway, flux (optional) and heatgun. You haven't got much to lose and it's worked for plenty of people.

Be certain to insulate the capacitors, then double up with aluminium foil and tape down. Use a medium setting on the gun for about 3 minutes in a circular motion.

Don't go menthol and hopefully you'll be good to go!

 

[Yetman]

Well I just put it back together and tried to register it, they are going to send me an email which I have to attach proof of purchase to then they'll accept it back for a repair, however they reckon its £80 to repair it. I did note a refund of repair thing on the MS help site but that might have expired now

Gonna try and get another one, a HDMI one off ebay anyway.

Cheers for the tips people, if nothing else works then I'll rebake it properly. Probably in the oven

 

[haZe36]

Ah crap, seems I've spoken too soon.

After about 20 hours of play (not continuous ) mine has thrown up the 3 red lights again.

Error code 0110 which I think is the ram chips

I think I'll try the penny trick before heatgunning it again.