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xbox 360 x-clamp penny fix

I posted this over at xbox scene but just thought i'd do a repost here for some of you guys that might get some bother with this bloody red ring of death thing......



Okay here we go .I had mega bother trying to fix the xbox 360 but i got it in the end.I wrote this up for people
This is how the story goes.....
First of all I noticed graphical glitches in the games and then it started freezing.I did all the usual checks removing the power cable, switching it off .I connected the power brick direct to a main source and not using one of them adapters.Of course this doesn’t work so I decided to buy myself a nice laptop cooler which I had heard were pretty good at keeping the console cool.It cost me about £9 from ebay and it plugs into the back usb port of the 360.I formatted the my 20 gb hard drive as I heard also that game saves can cause games to crash or freeze.Now this worked for a few hours worth of play but that was all and I was back to the freezing issues now.I would be able to play games anything form an 10 minutes to 2 hours.
It was just a matter of time I knew the 3 red lights were going to appear sooner or later and they did.
Now to be honest I tried the towel trick first and did it for 16 minutes.This worked for 2 weeks with an average play of about 3hrs a day.Then back to freezing issues here and there then the red ring of death again.So I did the towel trick again thinking that If it didn’t work this time I wasn’t doing it again.I was a bit scared about doing this anyway as everyone knows it just aint good for the console.Anyway It worked for about 4 days this time then back to the usual issues.I thought that’s it no more towel tricks.
So my next step of action was to try the x-clamp fix as this had the best reputation for fixing the rrod.I couldn’t be arsed hunting down the so called parts so decided to buy them from ebay.When it arrived through the door I got this kit here: Xbox360 X Clamp Fixing Kits revision 3.0 7/1/2008.The Instruction sheet I got with this said to put it all together in the following order.Screw then spring washer then motherboard then steel washer then heatsink.When contacting the person that sold me this he said I didn’t need to change the thermal paste it would just work.It didn’t work and I tightened the screw as much as i could.Still nothing.In fact I got two red lights and the fans going crazy.The fans sped so fast it caused the 360 to shut down.Looking through the discussion threads and watching the x-clamp fix video on youtube i realised that puting on the steel washer last was wrong and it should have been steel washer then nylon washer.I tried this but it still didn’t work grrrrrrrrrrrr.Also did the baking trick after the fix but still 3 red lights.I now tried the x-clamp fix on the copper cpu heatsink but still the same results.
Next step of action I scowered the forums and seen that it is due to bad contact between the heatsinks so I thought okay I’m going to have to buy arctic silver 5 paste now and some remover.I got this of ebay for £10 for the lot.When it arrived I cleaned the heatsinks and put on the paste.I put a the tiniest amount of arctic silver paste.Just enough to cover it.It was probably smaller than a grain of rice.This is what was recommended by everyone.Did the x-clamp fix again and the baking trick after it but still nothing.So I went back and forward trying to loosen the screws a little and then tighten a bit .I don’t know how many times.Anyway I spent hours on this but nothing.
More searching the forums and heard of some success with the penny trick.You use two or three pennies with electrical tape on each of the four ram chips on the back of motherboard.I put one piece around the 3 pennies and another piece upside down so that the sticky side was all around.I then stuck them on two the ram chips.Put it back together but nothing.Did the baking trick again and nothing.I was starting to get a bit worried with all this heating up stuff so anyway I tried two 1p coins wrapped in electrical tape ..Now I looked at the underside of the motherboard with my taped pennies on and the x-clamp fix on the gpu and the cpu now this is when i noticed something.The two 1p coins on each of the ram chips were the same height as the x-clamp fix that was done on the copper cpu heatsink but the aluminium gpu heatsink was a little more raised .I couldn’t tighten this anymore and the screws were all the correct size.I thought right I am going to put the original x-clamp back on the aluminium gpu heatsink.I put it back together to test it and now it works.Played it for an hour last night and half hour this morning.
Strange all this as its usually the aluminium gpu that needs the x-clamp fix.
So just to sum it up then I used 8x two 1p coins with electrical tape used arctic silver paste on gpu and cpu.Put the original x-clamp back on the gpu and did the x-clamp fix on the cpu instead.Did the baking trick to set it.Now working.
Will keep this post updated and let you know how my 360 is doing.
Fingers crossed as I have really been at my wits end with all of this.
Be interested if this helps anyone that has had similar issues to myself.
Looks like patience and a bit of luck is what is needed with the red ring of death.

dr; np

wall of fucking text, cannot be bothered to read, sorry.

Don't blame anybody for not reading it.
I got bored typing it up.



Might be worth refering to though if your 360 fucks up it might help you out.

Note to Olskoolife; Paragraphs are cool.

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Originally posted by Robert Jones
wall of fucking text, cannot be bothered to read, sorry.

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A Vote for Ave is a Vote for FREEDOM!

It doesn't matter, coz real men have PS3s

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Originally posted by Avenue_1 v5.0b
It doesn't matter, coz real men have PS3s

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__________________
A Vote for Ave is a Vote for FREEDOM!

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Originally posted by Darlowad v6.0b
Dont try and troll me .

im untrollable

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Originally posted by Avenue_1 v5.0b
I'll troll your girl, or is it trail... Where's the naked pics or i'm calling bullshit and saying SHE'S YOUR SISTER!!!

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snoochie boochies

I know you guys couldn't be arsed reading it and probably just aswell because thats it goosed again.
I was booting the arse out of playing COD4 .Playing like 6hrs straight or something.Fuckin sad but what a great game.

Back to the drawing board..........

Fuck it with this price drop I'm gonna get myself an Elite and sell this old piece of shit.
I love the xbox but I aint gettin it modded again.
To be honest there is only a handful of good games on it anyway and when you have a modded one you end up with a tonne of games you never play.

Plus the good ones are relatively cheap.
Was having a look at play.com and they were selling bioshock for £17.99 and burnout paradise for £24.99.
Gamestation have great deals on their preowned stuff too.

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Originally posted by olskoolfife


Fuck it with this price drop I'm gonna get myself an Elite and sell this old piece of shit.

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I suppose there is advantages and disadvantages with both.
The PS3 has blu-ray and the free multiplayer service but sometimes it's the little things I like.Take for example Burnout Paradise and their shitty soundtrack.With the xbox you can customise your own but not with the ps3.There is a work around sure but ach I want another xbox.
Might get a ps3 eventually maybe free with a mobile phone contract or something but not just now.
My mobile contract is up soon and I was looking at the deals with O2.Think the last time I looked it was £35 a month for 18 months but you get 500 mins talk time to any network and 600 texts.Its not bad.

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Originally posted by Avenue_1 v5.0b
It doesn't matter, coz real men have PS3s

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"Nothing says OBEY ME like a severed head on a fence post,"

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Originally posted by napalmfuzz
real men have both!

So when you're waiting on your 360 to get repaired you can play PS3, and when you're waiting for the PS3 to actually have some decent games, you can play 360 :P

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oh ye and a wiii

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A Vote for Ave is a Vote for FREEDOM!