I have 2 xboxes now both working, i fixed my old one not a while ago, it had 1 rrod, then it got another 1 rrod, fixed and now i just fixed it agian is it a good idea to keep on fixing it the same way im doing it? im ok with it since i have another xbox that i barely use
Are they too old that you can't get them replaced by MS? Or is it because they've been modified/hacked?
Just sell them and buy a later model. My elite from November 2009 is rock solid. I use it pretty much every day for gaming or streeming video from the PC to the TV. I'd say any 360 from late 2009 will be fine.
An old third party article basically said that the nice shape of the 360 was it's downfall. In short: Designers went for design. Caring very little for airflow and functionality. Therefore the first xbox consoles are all doomed. Look at it this way: I fix computers for cash. If someone asks me the questio "bug why did my laptop overheat?" 8/10 of the time every model of that manufacturer has an overheating defect. I tell them simply that small enclosed computers are precision engineered to NOT OVERHEAT. They are an engineering marvel that should be respected. In short, ALL XBOX CONSOLES UP UNTIL I THINK NOV 2009 or 2008 (I can't recall) have the same: -chipset thickness -plastic case And therefore -RROD failure..... Again after November of one of those years they changed the CPU and it became smaller and less prone to heat. Those xbox units are fine. Unless Microsoft did a reball or whomever fixed it reballed with more solder you will suffer again.
That could be the case, but what's interesting is that when my 360 failed it was barely hot after an hour and a bit of play and the fans were pumping out warm air (not hot). In the early cases, it was the graphics chip that became desoldered due to an incorrect specification of solder used - one that would melt at a lower temperature than the chip and heatsink catered for (IIRC: it was something to do with a fool speccing it up for lead solder rather than lead-free). As such, the overheat shut-off would not kick in as the case temperature was within the limits of the specification. There are tales of chips cracking due to the constant heat-cool cycle, but those were down to chip failure rather than any large-scale issue. Of course, reducing heat helps to solve the melting issue, but doesn't out-and-out fix it - the only solution, as you say, is to design the system to run cooler than the solder spec. The problem many non-MS repairs have is that they are cheaply or quickly done - commonly oven-baked (in either the kitchen sense or these specially-designed ones many repair shops use), towel-covered (yeah, like that's going to give you a long-term repair) or badly reballed (even heard some fools try to resolder using a $5 soldering iron). An MS repair *will* last longer, but unfortunately it's just borrowed time if you are a regular gamer. The only way to guarantee at least a reasonable lifespan is to buy a post-HDMI (2008) model or a Slim, as you said.
How are you fixing them? If you're doing a home fix (or as some like to say, a "YouTube" fix), you can't expect them to last that long.
I would like to get into a repairing business as a job in later life. Im already sort of doing it with computers however having a job that im definately going to get paid for (can't always sell things immediately) every week would be much better.
i really don't know how the fuck people mess up their 360s. My brother in law has had 4. I've the same fucking one since 2007, and it red ringed ONCE. I think all of my friends have had theirs die on them one time, but nothing more.
Most likely it's just down to luck. I'm on my third one (although only one was a RROD, the first was DOA). Every single owner I know has had more than one 360, with the exception of my brother, who bought one second hand back in 2007 ish and he abuses it/plays it more than anyone else I know!
Yes it's pretty much hit 'n' miss. My brother purchased the Elite as soon as it came out here. It red-ringed a few months later (he barely plays the thing!). Sent it off to MS and it's been as good as gold ever since. I read somewhere (here?) that keeping it horizontal puts less strain on the soldering.
Makes sense. As a little anecdotal evidence to support that, mine has always been horizontal, owned since 2007 and no red rings yet. I'm the only person I know whose 360 hasn't broken on them at least once though, basically just lucky I think.
November 2006 here (Pro Evo 6 package - NOT my choice, all they had in stock... and I got a shit load of freebies), kept horizontal since day 1, kept on top of unit with good ventilation since day 1. No red rings, still going strong. Back to OT.... Unless you're reballing them with an IR setup, it's a bodge job repair. Are you even changing the X clamp?
Show me an early 360 that doesn't run hot. But yeah, any 360 from that period will die eventually, or so the prevailing wisdom goes. I'm happy enough that mine has lasted this long.
When my 360 + LCD TV are on, my heater goes OFF! Yup, I can heat an entire room by playing my Xbox! :-0
