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[hiddensphinx]

QUOTE(mygameswirelesscom @ Dec 13 2006, 10:51 AM)

Now this got my mind thinking, what if we could heat the board up to the 400-450 degree mark and let the solder flow enough to remake these knackered contacts. My solution to this is to put the complete board into the oven!!, set it up for about 400-450 as the thermostats are not great, remember there for cooking food!

that sounds like a crazy idea but I guess this is how MS do it when they manufacture these 360s?

So did it work  

[Tortuga2112]

ok, so I decided to do a fan mod . I followed this fan mod

I got some foil tape and sealed the gaps around the fan shroud, and put some on the heat sink of the gpu to channel the air flow better .

foil tape

then I put some under the dvd drive to insulate it from the heat, figured it couldn't hurt.

under dvd drive

and here's what it looks like

fan mod

I had thought about having the fan pulling air out of the box to draw heat out , but decided to try blowing the air in instead.  I know , you're not supposed to have it blowing in because its going to blow dust into the box.
but I figured it would keep it cooler if it was pumping cool air in and having the rear fans expel the hot air.
(if I see a lot of dust accumulating , I'll just put a cloth filter on it or just vacuum the dust out)

I stuck a thermometer by the back just to get a rough idea if it was making a difference. before the mod, the air coming out the back was hovering around 50-52 C. after I installed the fan , it came down to 46 C.
so it helped a little.

I also noticed that playing gears of war did make it produce more heat than when I played PGR 3. When I was playing gears, that was when it got up to 46 C . as soon as I switched to pgr 3 it didn't get any hotter than 39 C.

I don't know if this fan mod will do much, as I think the console will tolerate much more heat. but I figured any cooling will be better than none and it was pretty much free. I just had to buy the grill $1.75, I had the fan already from a computer.

I think I might put an xbox 1 fan in and see if it brings it down more.the one I'm using is a slim one and I"m sure the xbox one moves more air as the blades are  much wider.

 as you were saying, Safrole, about the temp fluctuations, that might be what puts it over the edge. so why not try to keep the temp swings to a smaller window.
 

 

[Safrole]

You're right.  I actually think that mine would have been better if I would have set a reptile heater underneath it, and never let it get so cool.  (Hah!)  Nice that our 360's have to be treated like China.

@mygameswirelesscom:  Happy to help.  Happy that you will tell others.  I wish they would modify the pinned topics first post to include some in-depth principles, and some advice for using solder pieces as temperature indication.  This is the place for knowledge and they're just not delivering the complete picture.  My crusader points are about all used up.

[Tortuga2112]

I just wanted to add that the temp testing I did was not meant to be an accurate reading of the GPU or CPU
temps.

I just wanted to see if the extra fan dropped the temp. and by checking the air temp coming from the back of the console I could definitely see there was a difference.

if anyone has a nyko cooler or some other cooling mod, I'd be interested in hearing if you noticed much difference in the temp after adding the extra fans.

[Safrole]

You are exactly right.  While slightly more heat is surely flowing with faster air, there is a significantly diminishing return on airflow rate.  After all, you're not changing the metal through which the heat must flow.  This is why a 12v mod makes no sense to me.  The weakness of the 360 is in the chip layout or maybe an error in the reflow oven technique, not because M$ was too stupid to turn the fan up all the way.  Shoot, if that would help their "fleet", then they could do it with an update.  They're in a better position to judge after all.  So putting the fan on full-time-noisy isn't going to dampen the thermal cycle a bit, IMO.  I'm just planning on a yearly reflow until I kill it on the operating table.

Of course on a side note, the toothpick trick that fixes so many GPU problems might also help prevent a BGA crack from reoccuring.  Well I hope anyway.  And if there was a borderline temp in the reflow ovens, then my reflow is surely superior.  A thin bond of solder should resist expansion cracking much better than a thick, less fully melted one.  Just like any glued joint - the less glue and the tighter the joint, the more durable the bond.  Again, mostly a hope.

EDIT:  Just wanted to add that I've passed one month with my reflow and it's been better than new.  The night before last was the first freezup I've had in that whole month, literally.  When it was new I would get the occasional freeze, but these days I had almost forgotten about them.  That freezeup caught me off guard and I, too, was frozen for a second.  At first I thought my major troubles were back, but it was just a normal freeze like the old days.  How sad a comment is that?  "A normal freeze"...

[rilhouse]

I have successfully performed the heat gun fix and I'm wondering if I should have my 360 in the horizontal or vertical position? I figure that verticly it would keep the 360 cooler but on the other hand gravity might be working against the connection between the GPU and mother board.

What do you guys think?

[mygameswirelesscom]

QUOTE(Le Nikolaz @ Jan 4 2007, 04:14 PM)

3 weeks have passed since final(third) hot gun fix for my 360, and it fucked up again:(
3 red lights again.
So i'm seriously think about what to do next....wait for new revision of 360's hardware or buy a new 360 now?

also, the guy who fixed my console with hot air gun suggested to solder motherboard of my 360 by himself...probably not for free. What'll you say? Whether it is necessary to have deal with?

hey that is su**
http://forums.xbox-s...howtopic=577062

[FearsomeSNR]

Hi, i have the infamous 0102 error on my xbox which was purchased last march.  I think its one of the earlier batches as the DVD drive has a manufacture date of oct 2005 on it.

I get the same graphic errors shown on the modfreakz video (white vertical lines and/or checkerboard pattern).

Strange thing is that i can play live arcade games like doom but when i play anything 360, it will get the above errors with 2 mins.  Tried the towel trick didnt work at all, still crashed after 2 mins.

I have a couple of questions, i already replaced the thermal paste with arctic ceramic compound as shown here http://www.thecoolin...products_id/348.

I since found out people said the arctic silver 5 is best.  Will this cause a problem or is it still ok to use (just not as good).

I also ordered a heat gun to fix like you guys have.  I ordered this model http://www.machinema...asp?p=060815002 is that going to be ok?

The problem i will have is knowing if the solder reflow has worked.  Can you visually see anything whilst your doing this to indicate?

Thanks in advance.

[mygameswirelesscom]

QUOTE(rilhouse @ Jan 6 2007, 03:25 AM)

I have successfully performed the heat gun fix and I'm wondering if I should have my 360 in the horizontal or vertical position? I figure that verticly it would keep the 360 cooler but on the other hand gravity might be working against the connection between the GPU and mother board.

What do you guys think?

 hey
good 4 you hop yours have better luck!!
u ask me i put my 360 in
horizontal and put chop stick under each side   !!
i think it helps
with vertical position with hd in top  !!!
i dont thing ....

hey good luck!!

[mygameswirelesscom]

QUOTE(FearsomeSNR @ Jan 7 2007, 02:30 AM)

Hi, i have the infamous 0102 error on my xbox which was purchased last march.  I think its one of the earlier batches as the DVD drive has a manufacture date of oct 2005 on it.

I get the same graphic errors shown on the modfreakz video (white vertical lines and/or checkerboard pattern).

Strange thing is that i can play live arcade games like doom but when i play anything 360, it will get the above errors with 2 mins.  Tried the towel trick didnt work at all, still crashed after 2 mins.

I have a couple of questions, i already replaced the thermal paste with arctic ceramic compound as shown here http://www.thecoolin...products_id/348.

I since found out people said the arctic silver 5 is best.  Will this cause a problem or is it still ok to use (just not as good).

I also ordered a heat gun to fix like you guys have.  I ordered this model http://www.machinema...asp?p=060815002 is that going to be ok?

The problem i will have is knowing if the solder reflow has worked.  Can you visually see anything whilst your doing this to indicate?

Thanks in advance.

hey good luck!!
i used http://www.arcticsilver.com/as5.htm
Contains 99.9% pure silver:
Arctic Silver 5
hey dont be chip
 Arctic Silver 5 Heat Compound
£4.65 ex  
do what you want ~~
good luck

p.s. if you think mods heat gun video shows all how it is  i say dont do!!
       you need to understand the Full principle  then do it  !!!

[FearsomeSNR]

I have to go for it......i have no other choice.  I'm pretty sure i understand the principle behind it rather than just waving the heat gun around like a maniac.

As far as i can see, in its simplest terms is a broken circuit caused by constant expanding/contracting over time ( i had mine 9 months before this started).

The object i beleive is to get the circuit connected again, and if done correctly this should resolve the issue, although due to the poor board design it probably wont last for 4 years or something and needs to be repeated.

I have heard conflicting reports about the heat gun, do you start at the lowest heat setting and then gradually increase to high or the other way around?  Can anyone confirm this?

And what time scale does the process take from turning on the heat gun to switching it off (just the heating bit)

[Tortuga2112]

that heat gun should be ok . the one I have only goes up to 450C and it was enough.

I pre-heated the obard for 5 mins on the low setting , then hit the gpu chip and cpu on the high setting for two mins

i also used the solder on top of the chip technique (as suggested by Safrole)as an indicator of when I was getting close to the right temp.

mine's been ok for the last week (knock wood) , I left it running for the first two days straight. the last few days I've played a few times with some friends and it was on for at least five to six hours each time.

haven't had one graphical error yet. hope it lasts.

[doogle13]

Man, with all this 3 lights of death talk, it's starting to make me wonder how many 360s how died thus far.  Maybe in the millions now.  I hope the failure rate is not like 50%.  I think M$ should stop worrying about all these hdml crap and fix the x360's ring of death problem. Anyways what is the first symptons of the Ring of Death, because the other day while I was playing Oblivion my x360 got the Ring of Death for a split second.  I sure hope this is not the begining of the end for my x360.  Also recently my cousin's 360 just went bad on him and I was like WTF.  I think the if the x360 was like 200 bucks I would really be that piss if it went bad but because it's $400+, I'll get really pissed if it does die on me.

[mygameswirelesscom]

hi just want to let you know!!

I have want to a job see all the 360 mobo with micscop, at time I had a 4 open up so
I look and, a ha I see!  Almost (2 or 3) side solder points are not touching the mobo.
This has repair 2 time o ready  
Most my heat gun repairs I move fast I try to heat the hold mobo to max  
Than I do the cpu and gpu more closed but fast  
I have read this from forums with 3~4 try  with heat gun repairs people are saying mobo are baning so that got me heating back of mobo ..!!
So now I am thinking…..  It looks the corner solder points from gpu are not touching the mobo!! I think when we heat the mobo cpu and gpu are left up...
I see the deferent beetoin other mobo!!
I was going to do a heat gun one more time but I was thinking I did heat gun 2 times
And I know I did put a lot’s of heat in 2 time I don’t think a heat gun will fix this the
Key is to put increased the pressure on the GPU when it gets hot (very hot hot hot)
Heat gun video shows don’t touch after heat gun but some say push down the gpu it will help so it got me thinking …..

I have deicide to do a one more heat gun repair
But this time I am going to push down the gpu and cup together after heat gun
But with what, I have cut the mouse pad to the size of gpu, CPU together.
I also put 2/4 wood with t-shit rap and put in bottom of the mobo then after heat gun
I put the mobo in top of 2/4 then put the mouse pad in top of cpu,gpu and I push hard
For a 1min it then let it cool of then do the ….
You know the rest so…
Yes it works good !!  I thank you all who has help me!!
good luck on next repairs try what I did
if your heat gun don’t work no more !!
 

[FearsomeSNR]

QUOTE(Tortuga2112 @ Jan 7 2007, 06:18 PM)

that heat gun should be ok . the one I have only goes up to 450C and it was enough.

I pre-heated the obard for 5 mins on the low setting , then hit the gpu chip and cpu on the high setting for two mins

i also used the solder on top of the chip technique (as suggested by Safrole)as an indicator of when I was getting close to the right temp.

mine's been ok for the last week (knock wood) , I left it running for the first two days straight. the last few days I've played a few times with some friends and it was on for at least five to six hours each time.

haven't had one graphical error yet. hope it lasts.

Thanks for that.  My friend had this error, replaced the thermal paste with AS5, still didnt work.  He said he put toothpicks under the X clips and did the towel trick and it worked.  i tried the towel, while the full case was on and it didnt work.

Has any1 any idea what the longest the heat gun method has worked for on anyones 360 repaired like this?

my issue is definately the same as the modfreakz video because i get those white vertical lines on screen.  sometimes a white checkerboard patterm.