Topic: Tutorial : X-clamp Replacement - Lawdawg0931's Method (Read 17710 times)

scorpionrecords · « **Reply #1050 on:** July 10, 2009, 08:07:00 AM »

QUOTE(booker @ Apr 30 2007, 11:36 AM)

That´s my point.. so i did nothing wrong.. it was fine to do the Towel trick, after then?...
After doing the towel trick and tighten the Bolts, really tight my system have been working for 4days.. before this i couldn´t play for longer than 5 min.

If i did the X clamp replacement correcltly.. i shouldn´t get those soldering loose again?

I´m correct?
Do i have to register?

JUST TO LET YOU KNOW THE TOWEL TRICK NEVER WILL BE THE SOLUTION...

QUOTE(lycanwrath @ May 3 2009, 02:58 AM)

Hi to all,

I am having 3RROD and Secondary error code 0103 on my falcon board.

I did the xclamp fix, but it worked only for a day max. (tried the fix over and over)
My GPU heatsink gets burning hot while my cpu heatsink stays cold.
Now I can't get rid of the 3RROD

What I would like to know is whether the prob is with my GPU or CPU?
And secondly what options do I have?
Thx in advance

You will need to use the heatgun method first then lawdawgs trick...

SK4DJ · « **Reply #1051 on:** July 11, 2009, 04:47:00 PM »

What do you guys normally use to remove the old Thermal compound? ArctiClean 1 and 2? Any other suggestions?

Thanks

krindog · « **Reply #1052 on:** August 03, 2009, 07:13:00 AM »

Hey guys,

My xbox worked fine for 3 years then all of a sudden one day froze a few times and then got the 3ROD. error code was 1020.

So I went about trying to fix it myself with x-clamp replacement, following this tutorial.

So i could only find a generic thermal heat paste and fibre washers. I cleaned both chips and applied the paste, i do not know the thickness of the fibre washers but we started off with 2 washers between heatsink an chip. Connected power with no fan and got 3ROD, so i left to heat up. Only took about a minute and a half to reach 2ROD so powered it off again and left it for 25 min.

Then on power up i got excited only to find out that now it was just 1ROD and the e74 issue.

And now after playing around with different numbers of washers, different tighnesses and even just simply holding the heatsink onto the chip with my finger, it did not work at all. Even tried just putting the x-clamps back on.

Now it has gone back to 3ROD.

Does anyone have any advice? Does the heat paste really make that much difference (should I get arctic). Could there be any other problems?

Thanks
krin

MxRacer · « **Reply #1053 on:** August 03, 2009, 09:09:00 AM »

QUOTE(krindog @ Aug 3 2009, 02:13 PM)

Hey guys,

My xbox worked fine for 3 years then all of a sudden one day froze a few times and then got the 3ROD. error code was 1020.

So I went about trying to fix it myself with x-clamp replacement, following this tutorial.

So i could only find a generic thermal heat paste and fibre washers. I cleaned both chips and applied the paste, i do not know the thickness of the fibre washers but we started off with 2 washers between heatsink an chip. Connected power with no fan and got 3ROD, so i left to heat up. Only took about a minute and a half to reach 2ROD so powered it off again and left it for 25 min.

Then on power up i got excited only to find out that now it was just 1ROD and the e74 issue.

And now after playing around with different numbers of washers, different tighnesses and even just simply holding the heatsink onto the chip with my finger, it did not work at all. Even tried just putting the x-clamps back on.

Now it has gone back to 3ROD.

Does anyone have any advice? Does the heat paste really make that much difference (should I get arctic). Could there be any other problems?

Thanks
krin

Try removing the motherboard and the heat sinks. Plug the power card, power cord, and video cable in. Set the heat sinks on top of the GPU and CPU. Make sure your ethernet is not plugged in. Then push the power button and quickly push hard on the heat sinks. If it starts you have hope with the normal X-clamp fix. Just follow the guide trying different tightness of the bolts for the x-clamp. Also, make sure you clean the chips to a mirror finish and only put a tiny dab of thermal paste. About half the size of a grain of rice just enough to change the color of the chips. Make sure you cover both chips under the GPU.

If that didn't work, put the x-clamp back together. Then try pushing down on the Hana chip and the chip with the silver circle. If this doesn't work either then I don't know how to help.

Just make sure you don't have too much thermal paste on and that you have those things down tight. Don't strip it or crack the chips but it should go from loose, to snug, then you should be able to feel it quickly get tight.

TheAbyss13 · « **Reply #1054 on:** August 06, 2009, 09:04:00 PM »

Lawdog, I am having no luck with this repair.

currently, what i have done is this mod around 12 times, with no luck.
I have the materials, except i can't find arctic sliver 5, i got arctic silver ceramique instead (Could this sole issue be the cause of why it's not working?)

I have one nylon washer on top of motherboard for both heatsinks and one metal washer on bottom for both with nuts on the bottom for the gpu heatsink since the screws go in through the top and not from the bottom. (i've tried the other ways of having more washers and less washers, and having different types, as having nylon or rubber or metal washers.)

i can get many different effects with this.
sometimes, i get past the baking part and plug it in, and it just gives me the three rings again.
sometimes, i get past the baking part and plug it in, and i get three red lights to two red lights to fan going fast and 360 shutting off.
sometimes, i can't get it to overheat because i just get the two red lights and my heat sinks won't heat up because of it.

What i mostly get is just the three red rings once again after assembling it after baking and cooling for a range of 15 min. - over an hour. I applied the thermal paste thinly over the chips most of the time, this last time i just tried the dabbing style (as in the rice drop or whatever) and still just the three red rings again. I tighten the screws, i loosen the screws, nothing seems to work.

I WOULD VERY MUCH APPRECIATE ANY HELP ANYONE CAN OFFER!!! Please, and thank you.

This post has been edited by TheAbyss13: Aug 7 2009, 04:22 AM

TheAbyss13 · « **Reply #1055 on:** August 07, 2009, 12:47:00 PM »

QUOTE(TheAbyss13 @ Aug 6 2009, 10:04 PM)

Lawdog, I am having no luck with this repair.

currently, what i have done is this mod around 12 times, with no luck.
I have the materials, except i can't find arctic sliver 5, i got arctic silver ceramique instead (Could this sole issue be the cause of why it's not working?)

I have one nylon washer on top of motherboard for both heatsinks and one metal washer on bottom for both with nuts on the bottom for the gpu heatsink since the screws go in through the top and not from the bottom. (i've tried the other ways of having more washers and less washers, and having different types, as having nylon or rubber or metal washers.)

i can get many different effects with this.
sometimes, i get past the baking part and plug it in, and it just gives me the three rings again.
sometimes, i get past the baking part and plug it in, and i get three red lights to two red lights to fan going fast and 360 shutting off.
sometimes, i can't get it to overheat because i just get the two red lights and my heat sinks won't heat up because of it.

What i mostly get is just the three red rings once again after assembling it after baking and cooling for a range of 15 min. - over an hour. I applied the thermal paste thinly over the chips most of the time, this last time i just tried the dabbing style (as in the rice drop or whatever) and still just the three red rings again. I tighten the screws, i loosen the screws, nothing seems to work.

I WOULD VERY MUCH APPRECIATE ANY HELP ANYONE CAN OFFER!!! Please, and thank you.

Edit:
I have now purchased arctic silver 5, and to no avail. it seems to have made no difference.
WHAT AM I DOING WRONG!!!!

darknuss · « **Reply #1056 on:** August 18, 2009, 06:56:00 PM »

If anybody cares, please read.

I let it overheat with the new bolts on, confirmed with fingers the heatsinks was very warm, then turned it off, after 5 seconds, then turned it on, the 360 worked. Then I screwed the bolts tighter, may have been too tight as per instruction saying to tighten them after burn in. The screws then seem to have been much much looser after the burn in, mobo was really bent badly? I turned the 360 on, and got 3 red rings again. I left it on to overheat again, but I touched the heatsinks and they didn't feel warm at all. So I removed the heatsinks, turned on the 360, touched the chips, all the chips, none were warm, none were hot. I check the GPU, saw one little, tiny resistor off the pads, I tried to solder back in, but it's impossible since it's so damn tiny. So mobo is completely dead now, still 3 RROD.

So I believe the screws method would have worked for mine if I hadn't screwed it so tightly.
I recommend not to retighten them once you see 360 is working.

buzz1130 · « **Reply #1057 on:** August 26, 2009, 01:28:00 PM »

what i notcied when i did my xclamp fix was that the gpu heatsink wasnt completely coming into contact with the gpu...the small gpu wasnt making any contact so what i did was remove one metal washer from those to corners and now it works properly for 3 months and counting

Orange Power T · « **Reply #1058 on:** August 30, 2009, 02:38:00 AM »

Lawdawg thanks for the tutorial videos. Yours was my second attempt on a friends 360 and it is working! It had a date stamped inside of 13012006 and it was a gamestop refurb unit. So I don't know how long she'll hold out but it was fun to do something like this.

lawdawg0931 · « **Reply #1059 on:** September 08, 2009, 07:47:00 AM »

Sorry I've been away from the thread for awhile....real life & all (IMG:style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif) Anyways, glad to hear people are still having luck with the fix. @Buzz1130--exactly what needed to be done....adjust the washers to ensure proper fit against the die. @TheAbyss13--have you checked out my Utube channel?...adjusting the # of washers is a little different in those videos, I just didn't want to change the tutorial--as still others were having good luck with it. @Orange Power T--glad to hear it worked for you....

This post has been edited by lawdawg0931: Sep 8 2009, 02:49 PM

netmatt · « **Reply #1060 on:** September 13, 2009, 04:15:00 PM »

QUOTE(netmatt @ Sep 12 2009, 12:23 AM)

Lawdawg, thanks, first time tried it, worked for me. Got the exact parts from Frye's (arctic silver) and Lowes for the hardware. Followed your videos. Of course its only been 1/2 hour or so, but enough time for me to get my very first game of Gears of War in...very cool. (yea I used T10 on all screws except the power board needed the T9. Didn't have one so I made do using a small screwdriver)

Is there a typical amount of time this lasts?

Anyone have any "Now you HAVE to do this!" recommendations for cooling mods or options (or a thread on that?) I would hate for this to happen again...

Thanks Again! Its awesome when others help others!

Strike that...worked for about 1 day, then failed. It will work for about 5 minutes now, and then it freezes. Not sure what the next thing to try is...?

netmatt · « **Reply #1061 on:** September 14, 2009, 06:12:00 AM »

QUOTE(netmatt @ Sep 13 2009, 06:15 PM)

Strike that...worked for about 1 day, then failed. It will work for about 5 minutes now, and then it freezes. Not sure what the next thing to try is...?

Well its working again...

Basically, I just loosened the screws a little. Fingers crossed...seems like I am on borrowed time with this system.

RMF · « **Reply #1062 on:** September 15, 2009, 05:52:00 AM »

Hi guys,

I've just done my first x-clamp fix. The 360 on question was given to me long time ago defective and it's been sitting in my storeroom ever since. It probably broke as long as 3 years ago now. Anyway, I got it out today and had a bash at fixing it and it all seemed to go pefectly well. It no longer has the 3 red lights and starts up to the dash as normal. The only problem is that I'm scared to leave it on for any longer than a few minutes as the fans spin up faster and faster and faster and it gets louder than I ever remember any 360 being. All while sitting at the dash.

So what's the problem here? Is it not cooling effectively? Is the heatsinlk maybe not contacting with the CPU?

Thanks in advance.

RMF · « **Reply #1063 on:** September 15, 2009, 06:31:00 AM »

Nevermind,

I've fixed it. I had fitted the heatsink sideways like a dumbass, so the hot air wasnt being sucked through the shroud properly.

One thing that I've noticed though is that this 360's power button blinks continually. It may be worth noting that there's no DVD drive installed as I harvested it long ago to fit into another xbox. Is that why? Or is something else up?

TIA

DevlynSyde · « **Reply #1064 on:** September 19, 2009, 11:38:00 AM »

so is the washer that many are using on the 2 ram chips the same 1mm thick washer? seems strange as most pics appear to be using as5 on top of the ram to hold the washer in place?

Author Topic: Tutorial : X-clamp Replacement - Lawdawg0931's Method (Read 17710 times)