Topic: 3 Red Light & Heat Gun (Read 705 times)

phoenix risen · « **Reply #135 on:** March 06, 2007, 12:23:00 PM »

Here are the links to the pics

http://i176.photobuc...Summer06003.jpg <<<enclosure
http://i176.photobuc...Summer06001.jpg <<<MOBO
http://i176.photobuc...Summer06002.jpg <<<Case/ Fans

RBJTech · « **Reply #136 on:** March 06, 2007, 02:26:00 PM »

QUOTE(phoenix risen @ Mar 6 2007, 07:30 PM)

Here are the links to the pics

http://i176.photobuc...Summer06003.jpg <<<enclosure
http://i176.photobuc...Summer06001.jpg <<<MOBO
http://i176.photobuc...Summer06002.jpg <<<Case/ Fans

I've said it before and I'll say it again - no amount of extra cooling will do any good AFTER you have the 3ROL ! The damage has been done - the solder joint(s) have been broken, the board has been warped etc etc. You may be able to slow the break again, but it will happen again. The only fix is a proper reball and reflow as discussed in this very thread as the only real solution. And once this has been done - then apply the cooling mods to keep it from happening again ...

People need to do these cooling mods BEFORE they get the 3ROL not after ... but of course, people think that their xbox is working good so it must be cooling ok .... wrong...

I've never had a single problem with my xbox, but I have done all these mods as a PREVENTATIVE measure in the hope that keeping it cool will eliminate the BGA problem. Touch wood, at the moment my xbox is 'cool' after hours of use, so if the 3ROL happens to me, then I don't think we can blame heat at all !

All the best,

Richard.

dokworm · « **Reply #137 on:** March 06, 2007, 04:08:00 PM »

You might want to try the gun trick again and then replace the heatsink clamps as discussed here: http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=588032

It is worth a shot and bolting the heatsink to the board may just stop the board warping enough (or at least apply pressure in the right places) to keep your 360 humming. At any rate I'd like to see how it goes with a chronic failing unit like yours.

shtonkalot · « **Reply #138 on:** March 06, 2007, 10:54:00 PM »

I just fixed a board using the Heat-gun trick for someone else.
It was my first try at such a repair and it nearly went pretty wrong.
The el-cheapo heat gun I got only had two settings, 300 and 600 degrees Celsius.
I only used the lower setting but managed to heat up some capacitors on the top of the board to the point where one of them blew up. It really exploded too, made a huge bang and shot the casing of the cap straight up to the ceiling.

Plugged it in afterwards and the XBOX is now working fine. I did replace the cap but it was working fine without it too.

The console would not turn on at all before hand and was displaying a 0020 error code. Applying pressure to the memory chips or the 'toothpick trick' didn't make any difference either.

So another win for the heat gun. It has been working for 24 hours now after the fix. I hope it continues.

mygameswirelesscom · « **Reply #139 on:** March 06, 2007, 11:47:00 PM »

QUOTE(phoenix risen @ Mar 6 2007, 08:30 PM)

Here are the links to the pics

http://i176.photobuc...Summer06003.jpg <<<enclosure
http://i176.photobuc...Summer06001.jpg <<<MOBO
http://i176.photobuc...Summer06002.jpg <<<Case/ Fans

you could try tooth pick on
yes used two side by the fan ..
if not you may need to in all coner by the gpu !!
good luck !

ydgmms · « **Reply #140 on:** March 06, 2007, 11:51:00 PM »

QUOTE(bojngles @ Mar 2 2007, 06:13 PM)

I know you arent going to like this but a heatgun is only a temp fix. You could try and use the heatgun but be VERY careful you dont burn those chips. You will need a BGA reflow machine. They range from a few thousand to tens of thousands and more. I recently acquired someone with one to do these repairs. Its a much more guaranteed fix with little chance of messing up the board.

Me not like it? Meh. MY friend..maybe. He stil hasn't brought it over.

I'm aware its a temp fix, if one at all, as is my friend. BUT *IF* it does fix it, I plan on doing more cooling mods (ala RBJTech) to TRY to keep it from happening again. Including - AS5, TalisMoonFan, less air restriction, possibly the fan timer mod, heatsinks on other components. Basically - ANYTHING to keep it cool and keep it from happening again.

drastic · « **Reply #141 on:** March 07, 2007, 04:58:00 PM »

Ok I did heat gun and the 360 is dead again after 3 weeks of flawless play. Not 3 red lights yet but the notorious "checkberboard" is showing itself again. The consolee was wide open the whole time so it was getting plenty of ventilation... so will cooling mods really extend a heat gun fix? I also had applied artic silver.

Should I do heatgun again and -press down- on the GPU chip this time? I know even this won't be a permanent fix but it'd be nice to buy a few more months of time..

Anyone in the Seattle area know of a business that would do a proper reball with lead-free solder? This is what I really want and I'm sure it must be cheaper then M$'s "fix" ($140)

phoenix risen · « **Reply #142 on:** March 08, 2007, 09:06:00 PM »

Racking your brain much?? Me Too. So i have tried a priliminary experiment testing the effects of pressure on certain parts of the GPU (enter Citation of Idea From RBJTech Thanks Man!) Ok so as you all may or may not know i am a Victim of the dreaded 3rlod .... back to my point .... if you see the pics posted ealier my GPU Heat sink is "Chopped and Dropped" to allow for thermal conductivity. so I got the three red lights and i was PO'd ... so what do i not do... thats right i do not break out the heat gun... I simple applied firm pressure on the RAM chips under my chopped off side that was not secure, after testing a pressure point on the main GPU chip... needless to say i am working on a Clamp Idea to secure my severed heat sink to possibly solve this prob....

now here is where the problems arise... Q: is it the pressure or not?? A: Idunno , but its worth a shot ... if brute force hold the connection when it heats up maybe there will be no room for the ram chips to shift to disconnect.
Q: what will it look like when your done .....A: i will post the pics as soon as i finish.
Q: is it worth it ? ....A: yeah sure....

ydgmms · « **Reply #143 on:** March 12, 2007, 05:17:00 AM »

QUOTE(Tortuga2112 @ Mar 5 2007, 03:27 AM)

yes , those screws look like a good alternative , but not what I was thinking.

using those screws will still not help put any pressure on the corners of the chip, just more pressure on the die.

I was thinking about right on the corner of the chip, everyone seems to be in agreement that its most likely the outer balls breaking and not the ones right in the center of the chip.

so I figured that if there was something there, at least it will keep the chip in contact with the board.

Good point here... and it brought back to me a memory of a picture of an old AMD processor.

It had foam pads on the corners of the cpu, I know think it is for that reason. To keep pressure on the entire cpu surface - not just the die.

IPB Image

like that..

Tortuga2112 · « **Reply #144 on:** March 12, 2007, 07:37:00 AM »

that's exactly what I was thinking about.

I"m not sure what material to use for this though. its got to be something thats not going to melt all over the chip.

I was thinking of putting a bit of solder on the GPU heatsink at the spots where the corners of the chip are, but I wanted to put even pressure and it would be pretty hard to get all 4 the exact same height.

ydgmms · « **Reply #145 on:** March 12, 2007, 11:17:00 AM »

I was gonna test some foam thing like those...

ssyoda · « **Reply #146 on:** June 19, 2007, 01:49:00 PM »

I have fixed a couple of Xbox 360 already and I wanted to know if anyone has fixed one
with the heat gun that had the ring of death and when fixed and powered on with the game in the drive, it would go straight to the dashboard. Can anyone Help

Author Topic: 3 Red Light & Heat Gun (Read 705 times)