Free Articles at Neutron Marketing Article Publishing and Distribution » Computers-and-technology » Games » Why You Are Having Problems With The Xbox 360
Previous Article - Keeping Your Computer Clean
Next Article - Troubleshoot Your Xbox 360 Using These Simple Suggestions

View PDF | Print View | Html Version
by: MarcSandford
Total views: 8
Word Count: 448

The Xbox 360 is a fantastic gaming experience providing people with great addictive fun. This makes the occurrence of the red ring of death all the more painful.

This error is indicative of a general hardware failure. So the question is: Why does this happen in the first place? It has to do with Microsoft rushing the product to market without sufficient testing.

These design mistakes are discussed below.

1) Heat - The Xbox design has a lot of high powered components that are crammed into a small space. Just as large engines put out lots of heat, these high powered components also create a great deal of heat. The Xbox design uses fans, vents, and heat sinks to keep the console cool. Because there isn't much of a reserve cooling capacity, this system will easily overheat if the airflow into the console gets obstructed. When the temperatures get hot enough, the heat starts to affect different design flaws (discussed below) which cause the ring of death failure.

2) Lead free solder - In order to avoid the use of lead in products used by children, Microsoft built the Xbox with lead free solder. However, this type of solder is more brittle than standard lead-tin solder. To add insult to injury, Microsoft also picked a lead free solder that gets especially brittle when exposed to heat over a long time. If you stress this brittle solder, hair-line cracks will develop. This results in a weakened solder joint which breaks when stressed and can obstruct electrical current.

3) Badly designed heat sink clamp - The X clamp distributes it's "clamping force" non uniformly which makes it a poor design. There is a plastic spacer that presses very hard on the motherboard at one tiny little area at the center of the X clamp. When the CPU and GPU get hot, this pressure increases which causes the motherboard to flex. Solder points which are already brittle due to the lead free solder are stressed by the flexing motherboard. The solder joints snap with enough time and heat.

4) Left over foil on the heat sink - On a some of it's units, Microsoft forgot to remove some foil on the heat sink. This foil has been the cause of many ring of death failures. Don't forget to reapply the thermal compound if you take off the foil.

So now you know the "why" behind the red ring of death. Although this knowledge is no substitute for actually playing games, it should help you to evaluate the various Xbox repair guides out there. Remember, if your Xbox was never opened before, it should still be under a warranty and you can send it away to Microsoft for repair.

About the Author

Marc Sandford is a gaming enthusiast and writer. Get more Xbox 360 troubleshooting information about fixing the Red Ring of Death.

---

Rating: Not yet rated

--Choose-- 0 1 2 3 4 5

No comments posted.

Add Comment

Enter the code shown