RRoD: what, why and solution
The most common cause of these failures is usually damaged or “cold” solder points under the graphics processing chip (known as the GPU).
The manufacture of game consoles involves many complexities. One of them is the ecological effect of your article. Because of this, the 360 is made using lead free solder. This is good for the planet but bad for the life of the console. There is a heat cycle involved in using devices with processors (CPU and GPU). During these warm up and cool down periods, there is pressure on the solder joints as the motherboard tends to move around a bit when it cools down. This is regular and usually does not cause harm. Insufficient amount of lead in the solder makes the joints much less flexible and usually breaks a little. Sure this can happen with LED soldering, and it does all the time. The difference is when it happens; 500 power cycles vs. 4,000 power cycles is the difference between your 360 Console lasting 18 months and your 360 Console lasting 6-8 years. Now that’s a big difference! There are several ways to fix these production issues. Some are useless and others are worth the weight of a 360 in silver…
“The Penny Fix”
This is where you put a penny between the GPU chip and the heat sink. This may have worked for someone, somewhere, who had a loose X-clamp, but it doesn’t fix overheating or broken soldering on the processor and is a bad idea. You can tighten the X-clamp and solve the current error, but it causes bigger problems. There is a layer of thermal paste between the chip and the heat sink which is very important for cooling the chip. The penny will not only physically damage the chip, but will also disturb the cooling process and cause chip burns. I’ve also seen the penny under the X-clamps on the bottom of the motherboard. This is even worse as it produces tons of shorts and damages many of the tiny components. This solution will render your Xbox 360 useless and beyond repair.
“The Fixed Towel”
This idea came from the idea that wrapping a towel around the vents on your Xbox 360 would heat up the solder enough to reflow the chip. This is not possible. There are many factors involved in making a successful reflux. The motherboard needs to be preheated to a workable temperature for the solder to dispense evenly, there needs to be a specific method for heating the chip itself, there needs to be an industry-specific flux for the solder to adhere properly, and so on. …and in. The only thing I’ve heard of doing with the towel method is nothing.
“The Reflux of the Furnace”
This solution is achieved by placing the motherboard on a baking sheet in the oven. This is the biggest nightmare repair I’ve had to date. DO NOT DO THIS!!! It doesn’t work and destroys many of the motherboard components!!! Your capacitors will blow, your resistors will drop, and your motherboard will curl up like bacon. This will render your Xbox 360 useless and beyond repair. I said enough, I hope!
“The Hot Plate Reflux”
See above…
“The Reflux of the Hair Dryer”
This correction is ridiculous. I have also seen many capacitors blown from this. Do not try this method. Not only does it not fix your Xbox 360, but it can also damage your DVD drive. This will render your Xbox 360 useless and beyond repair.