Well, I guess it had to happen sooner or later. My 18 month old 360 has decided to play silly *****ers.

Was ok last friday when last used but today its decided to keep locking up constantly. Was in the middle of Bejeweled2, livel 241 on endless when the first one struck, game save now corrupted and 1 years work lost progressing to level 241.

At one point I had 3 red lights and it wouldnt do anything, tried my VGA cable/PC monitor and managed to get some life, thats when the lockups started good and proper. Now back on component on the TV and it works for a few mins before locking up. Managed to get a quick game of pinball fx in, but thats it. Console is now locking up on everything from the main bootscreen to switching between blades.

Maybe heat related as for some reason the console is now getting VERY hot, fans appear to be working ok though. Any ideas as to which fan is playing up.

you are out of warranty... take the case off and see which one it is... before any long term damage occurs.

aye id say whip the case off and have a look see if there is anything obvious with it

'lo Manny

Xbox 360 technical problems - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Save your 360 from the dreaded red lights with this fix

Home Entertainment: How To Fix Your Xbox 360's 3 Red Lights of Death - Gizmodo

'lo Steve,

Thanks for the links, have printed them out and ready to attack the 360.

I think she is now dead.

I took the 360 completely to bits, removed the heatsink from both processors and then the cause of the locking up was apparent. The thermal paste between the GPU and CPU had dried up and become brittle meaning that its thermal properties were no more. After removing all the old goo from all the surfaces and re-applying new thermal paste the console was re-assembled and powered on. All looked good initially, got through post and to to all the blades but then she locked up again. I now have 3 flashing red lights, instead of 3 steady ones and going by the links Steve posted its terminal now.

Anyone know where I can get a cheap 360 core with no games, thats not ebay.

If you don't get anywhere with it I have fixed up a few consoles before and also have access to a very handy lass at work who can solder/fix things that I can't believe can be fixed/bodged.

More than willing to ask her to look at if you like.

EDIT:

What thermal compound did you use Manny? It wasn't a silver based one was it?

Also the guy in the article used a brillo steel wool pad to clean the stuff off :eek: :eek:

Just looking at the forum thread with pics that is linked to that piece of silver looks like the protective layer that the bulk CPU heat sinks I have used come with over the thermal layer.

Gives the impression the heat sinks were clamped before this was removed, as the whole point of the heat sink compound is to fill the microscopic holes between the two surfaces to improve thermal conductivity. The silver 'foil' would have the opposite effect so I would be amazed if that was by design.

in quite a few launch consoles one of the factorys that were assembling the 360 forgot to remove the silver foil it caused a lot to fail

play.com are doing a core console with memory card and fuzion frenzy 2 for

Yes, my console is a very early one.

No the paste was not silver based, and I didnt use a brillo to get the gunk off the heatsink either. Cotton wool, and an alcohol based liquid and lots of rubbing. All surfaces were completely clean before applying the goo, I have built enough home pcs to know how important that is.

The heatsinks are attached via a cross type clamp from underneath the main circuit board, and due to the pressure needed to reseat them I am happy that a good contact was made between the heatsink and processor.

Allan thanks for the tip on play.com, the reason I only need the core as I already have the HD fom my premium version, the wireless controller and HD-DVD drive.

Got you Manyyo, was just shocked by the blokes suggestion :eek:

Anyway if you are going to junk the Xbox the offer stands that I can try and get somebody in the workplace to stick a 'scope over it and give it a once over.

If they get it flying i'll post it back to you for postage and any parts they charge for if you like.

in quite a few launch consoles one of the factorys that were assembling the 360 forgot to remove the silver foil it caused a lot to fail

Not a bad guess then, that silver is the protective foil

No wonder some of the things are running a bit hot

IMHO consoles affect by that ought to be FOC replacements even outside of warrenty.

the only other option is let MS repair it for you i think it costs

Try the local GAME or Gamestation for 2nd hand consoles if you don't want to touch fleabay, they normally have a few foating about especially since PS3 came out.

Mine had the dreaded 3 lights, paid £81 to have it fixed my microsoft. When i got it back i started to get the screen freezes, they are now repairing it again.

Decided not to purchase a second hand one, as im waiting for the New elite version that they are bringing out.

Well I have ordered a brand new one, a core pack from boots of all places. When I get it I'll swap all the main parts (HD, HD-DVD) to the new one and also change the white drive tray to the chrome one from the now broken console. Boots have the core console reduced currently and is the cheapest I could find online at a low

i found it strange how boots are selling it cheaper than anyone else around they must have got a great deal on them

Interesting,

I managed to get the old console working for 5 mins this evening, so I know all is not lost with this one I just need to find the problem.

To get it working seems to require giving it a good shake and then whacking the underneath. The console then boots quiet happily to the dashboard, and will sit there for a good few mins before going wrong again, but if I re-attach the HD it seems to crash before signing onto xbox live.

The one from boots should be with me tomorrow with any luck giving me a while to sort this one before selling it.

New console arrived yesterday, so I am back online again. Now the fun starts trying to get the bust one working properly.

I cant believe it, followed some instructions on the internet to replace the heatsink mounts in the broken 360, here

Xbox 360

Ive seen in the Game that they do a Intercooler (it think thats what they call it) which apparently straps to the back of the Xbox and manages to keep the core temps down some how, not quite sure how it actually achives this, but has anyone tired one out ot heard of anyone having any experiance with one?

Intercooler thing is probably just some more fans, but I'd say it is a waste of money since the fans in the box are PWM controlled anyway.

ive head that these intercoolers are at time more trouble than they r worth as some have melted onto the xbox power lead and other problems!!

Used to have problems with my 360 locking up etc but was told to store it verticaly ever since ive done that and put it about a foot off the ground on a small table dont get many problems .

now ive said that it will probably die

ps mine is over a year old

Reading all this has put me off getting one:O

Reading all this has put me off getting one:O

why do you drive a Fabia then?

oh and do you think that the user title "thanks whore" is compatible with the maddy sig?