RROD/X-clamp fix kit [Archive] - Retrogaming Roundtable

geezuzkhrist119

01-27-2010, 09:00 PM

I bought a Red Ringed 360 accouple of weeks ago. I want to fix it myself but i dont want to buy a kit from the internet, mainly cuz i dont have a credit card/paypal and i dont want to wait a month for it.

So my question is, Can I find fix kits in retail stores?

tpugmire

01-27-2010, 09:33 PM

You may have some luck at an independent used game store if you have any in your area. Gamestop, Play N Trade, etc aren't going to have what you need. As an alternative, Play N Trade says that they can fix systems so I would assume that they have at least one tool set in the store. Perhaps you could talk them into letting you use it...

RyanMurf

01-27-2010, 11:28 PM

Pm me your address and Ill send you a kit. its only cost me about 30 cents so im not going to charge you obviously.

geezuzkhrist119

01-28-2010, 11:21 AM

i prefer not to deal with mail

RyanMurf

01-30-2010, 02:58 PM

i prefer not to deal with mail

alright well let me know if you change your mind.

mnbren05

01-30-2010, 03:40 PM

What you need to fix the kit can be found at any hardware store/radio shack. Its really just nylon/metal washers, heat sync, bolts, and a few odds and ends. Sounds shady that you don't want to wait for an ebay kit or "use the mail". If your that secretive go to youtube look it up and go to a hardware store and fix it yourself. No where else will really do the work you want or just offer you a kit like the previous poster graciously did.

geezuzkhrist119

01-30-2010, 06:36 PM

where can i buy arctic silver at?

RyanMurf

01-30-2010, 08:15 PM

You can find the artic silver at microcenter or maybe bestbuy mainly computer stores. If you just give me your address i will mail it to you for free. you wont have to do anything ill also provide written instructions on how to do it.

megasdkirby

01-30-2010, 08:29 PM

alright well let me know if you change your mind.

Hey, I would not mind a kit. LOL

You should consider making a small business with those parts...maybe $5 including shipping?

brykasch

01-31-2010, 12:54 AM

Well he may be underage too and can't give his address out perhaps. Only reason I could see passing up a free solution to a problem.

geezuzkhrist119

01-31-2010, 11:35 AM

i ordered a kit of ebay and hope for it next week sometime

i was watching a video on youtube about the penny trick. so i was thinking of doing that trick with the xclamp fix
would that be a good idea?

megasdkirby

01-31-2010, 11:46 AM

I would avoid the penny thing. I've seen videos and they don't seem neither professional or reliable.

saferkefka

01-31-2010, 01:07 PM

RyanMurf

01-31-2010, 10:36 PM

i wouldnt mess with the xclamp fix. i would find someone on craigslist that does reflowing. i picked up a cheap 360 that had video problems and had it reflowed, its been working almost a year with no problems at all.

I hate to tell you but if you open it up to your obvious surprise it will have the xclamp mod done to it. Reflow is just a fancy way of saying that they did the xclamp fix and let the system run till it overheats to remelt the solder so that it is positioned in the rite place on the chips and board. So just letting you know before you contradict yourself again :p

RyanMurf

01-31-2010, 10:38 PM

And also the penny trick is not such a good idea. Plus that trick would only be relevant if your xboxes error code is suggesting problems with the ram chips. The penny trick normally damages your systems ram chips in the long run by flattening them so much against the board that they fry.

Borman

01-31-2010, 10:50 PM

I hate to tell you but if you open it up to your obvious surprise it will have the xclamp mod done to it. Reflow is just a fancy way of saying that they did the xclamp fix and let the system run till it overheats to remelt the solder so that it is positioned in the rite place on the chips and board. So just letting you know before you contradict yourself again :p

There are people that do that, sure, but there are also people that do actual reflows with the proper hardware.

RyanMurf

01-31-2010, 10:53 PM

There are people that do that, sure, but there are also people that do actual reflows with the proper hardware.

Okay...here we go..... didnt really want to have to explain. but okay. If you Professionally reflowed the shitty solder that is a xbox 360 board the problem would reoccur again. To fix it to make it last a year you would have to not only reflow but reball every pin on the processors with better quality heat resistant solder. chances are that no one would go through that trouble to make a xbox 360 work again. Im interested now to see what was done.

-hellvin-

01-31-2010, 11:35 PM

Pretty easy fix and it worked great for me. Good luck to you, there are youtube videos galore to help you out. The first time I did it, I did not allow it to overheat and then cool, just the x-clamp and then closed it up and it did not work. After I went back and did that it worked just fine, so I recommend doing that step for sure.

saferkefka

02-01-2010, 01:41 AM

contradict yourself again

i watched him do it, so yeah. get your machine reflowed.

RyanMurf

02-01-2010, 12:04 PM

i watched him do it, so yeah. get your machine reflowed.

Can you explain how it was done in lemans terms if you dont know exactly because im amazed that a reflow of the original solder has lasted this long.

HappehLemons

02-01-2010, 03:02 PM

Can you explain how it was done in lemans terms if you dont know exactly because im amazed that a reflow of the original solder has lasted this long.

They put the console in an oven and bake it like a cake.

Why would you think xclamp fixing some solder reflowing are the same thing?
Reflow isn't a "fancy" way of saying xclamp fix. It's a whole different process.

IcBlUsCrN

02-01-2010, 06:32 PM

i wouldnt mess with the xclamp fix. i would find someone on craigslist that does reflowing. i picked up a cheap 360 that had video problems and had it reflowed, its been working almost a year with no problems at all.

the penny trick works for a good bit of time, eventually the clamp would give way but nothing a little bending would not help.

I doubt there are many people on craigslist that can do a solder reflow. i would venture to guess it not more then a hairdryer job.

by the way i removed reballed the xbox chips when the problems first occurred years back, you can look under xboxscene under same name for more info. you only put the board in the oven to get the temp up equally so you dont warp it but you need a special ($$$) machine to remove reinstall the chip ( i used one by called sniper) and you need another one to re-ball.

geezuzkhrist119

02-01-2010, 08:24 PM

lets say that i sent my 360 to microsoft. what do that do to fix the problem?

megasdkirby

02-01-2010, 08:27 PM

lets say that i sent my 360 to microsoft. what do that do to fix the problem?

Probably just another refurbished console, not the same one.

IcBlUsCrN

02-01-2010, 08:47 PM

Probably just another refurbished console, not the same one.

i think he was asking how they get refurbished. i assume that they collect the rrod boxes and send back to the manufacture for rework. dont think msft does that type of stuff in house

RyanMurf

02-02-2010, 01:36 PM

They put the console in an oven and bake it like a cake.

Why would you think xclamp fixing some solder reflowing are the same thing?
Reflow isn't a "fancy" way of saying xclamp fix. It's a whole different process.

I dont think that. I know what im talking about im sure I have surpassed you by the hundreds in xbox repairs but reflowing is pretty much explained by its own term. It is the process of reflowing extreme amounts of heat to the solder so it can heat up and remelt again solving any cold or broken solder issues.

PapaStu

02-02-2010, 02:03 PM

lets say that i sent my 360 to microsoft. what do that do to fix the problem?

It depends on what chipset you've got and what problem you had with your 360 initially. Depending on the issues (and if you've got a special box like a Halo 3/Resident Evil unit) they'll likely fix your actual unit. Generic Older Xenon units got a new heat sync and get sent back out. Ones with dead drives are given 'new' refurbs and are sent back out as well. I'm not sure what needs to be done with the 374 errors.

geezuzkhrist119

02-02-2010, 03:36 PM

It depends on what chipset you've got and what problem you had with your 360 initially. Depending on the issues (and if you've got a special box like a Halo 3/Resident Evil unit) they'll likely fix your actual unit. Generic Older Xenon units got a new heat sync and get sent back out. Ones with dead drives are given 'new' refurbs and are sent back out as well. I'm not sure what needs to be done with the 374 errors.

the only reason im asking is cuz i opened mine and saw 3 heatsinks. all the pics i seen online only had 2 heatsinks. all the videos/tutorial on how to fix a 360 where using a console with 2 sinks. so does that make it harder to fix myself?

HappehLemons

02-02-2010, 03:41 PM

I dont think that. I know what im talking about im sure I have surpassed you by the hundreds in xbox repairs but reflowing is pretty much explained by its own term. It is the process of reflowing extreme amounts of heat to the solder so it can heat up and remelt again solving any cold or broken solder issues.

Well, anyone be under the impression that you think that.

Reflow is just a fancy way of saying that they did the xclamp fix and let the system run till it overheats to remelt the solder so that it is positioned in the rite place on the chips and board.

I didn't read all of your posts until now, but after reading that post and then skipping right to you asking saferkefka to explain the how the process of getting his machine reflowed I thought that you didn't know what reflow was.

Even if you've fixed "hundreds" of 360, after you've fixed one or two there's basically nothing more that you can learn by fixing a 3rd or 4th.

IcBlUsCrN

02-02-2010, 05:17 PM

PapaStu

02-02-2010, 05:24 PM

the only reason im asking is cuz i opened mine and saw 3 heatsinks. all the pics i seen online only had 2 heatsinks. all the videos/tutorial on how to fix a 360 where using a console with 2 sinks. so does that make it harder to fix myself?

Again, depending on whats wrong will depend on what they do to the system. The different chips will have different numbers of heatsinks on them. Now that you've opened it, MS won't touch it, so sending it in to them isn't an option.

geezuzkhrist119

02-02-2010, 05:29 PM

Now that you've opened it, MS won't touch it, so sending it in to them isn't an option.

i thought the seal wasnt broken but i was wrong. it wasnt fully ripped off when whoever opened before me.
i would rather shit on the motherboard than sent it to microsoft.

megasdkirby

02-02-2010, 05:51 PM

Again, depending on whats wrong will depend on what they do to the system. The different chips will have different numbers of heatsinks on them. Now that you've opened it, MS won't touch it, so sending it in to them isn't an option.

I always wondered...even if it's opened, what if you send it to them anyway but paying for the repair?

Would they still say no if the customer is paying the fee asked?

PapaStu

02-02-2010, 07:15 PM

I always wondered...even if it's opened, what if you send it to them anyway but paying for the repair?

Would they still say no if the customer is paying the fee asked?

As far as I'm aware its part of the Terms of Use that you void the warranty if you open the Xbox (as it is with any of these systems) and if they find that the sticker has been damaged/removed that they will just return back the unit sent in and the money will be refunded with no work done.

Flack

02-02-2010, 07:35 PM

i thought the seal wasnt broken but i was wrong. it wasnt fully ripped off when whoever opened before me.
i would rather shit on the motherboard than sent it to microsoft.

Unfortunately, only one of those options will fix a RROD.

I'd like to see the other on YouTube, however.

s1lence

02-03-2010, 02:16 PM

As far as I'm aware its part of the Terms of Use that you void the warranty if you open the Xbox (as it is with any of these systems) and if they find that the sticker has been damaged/removed that they will just return back the unit sent in and the money will be refunded with no work done.

There are ways around it though I have never used this method. You can buy stickers on ebay.

http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=xbox+360+warranty+sticker&_sacat=0&_trksid=p3286.m270.l1311&_dmpt=Video_Games_Accessories&_odkw=360+stickers&_osacat=0