just got the xbox 360 red rings of death

raised by monkeys · 03-11-2007, 01:36 AM

damn! i was looking forward to some xbox live tonight too.

im glad i bought the extended warranty then cause my standard year warranty would have finished 2 months ago.

any experience with microsoft customer service in this area?

Sloth · 03-11-2007, 01:50 AM

My brothers console has had it twice. The second time was just last week so its away being repaired again now. It sucks because he had a months trial of Live that we only got to use 2 weeks of.

From what I understand is its covered even if the warranty is expired since it is essentially a recall because of faulty soldering or cooling or something. I could be totally wrong though.

You just ring Microsoft/Xbox and they sort out the freight etc.

RG · 03-11-2007, 01:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sloth

My brothers console has had it twice. The second time was just last week so its away being repaired again now. It sucks because he had a months trial of Live that we only got to use 2 weeks of.

From what I understand is its covered even if the warranty is expired since it is essentially a recall because of faulty soldering or cooling or something. I could be totally wrong though.

You just ring Microsoft/Xbox and they sort out the freight etc.

It's faulty rubbish solder so I've been told. If Microsoft wont help you can actually fix it yourself. What apparently happens is the solder heats up and runs out from the tracks so to fix it you get a heat gun and heat the board to get the solder back where it should be.

Sloth · 03-11-2007, 02:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RedXR347

It's faulty rubbish solder so I've been told. If Microsoft wont help you can actually fix it yourself. What apparently happens is the solder heats up and runs out from the tracks so to fix it you get a heat gun and heat the board to get the solder back where it should be.

Cheers, thought so. My brother had started using a small fan set up at the back of the console in an attempt to keep it cool. No such luck, lol.

raised by monkeys · 03-11-2007, 02:34 AM

yeah its crap. its the year 2007 AD. Sounds linke theyd better off runing a wheel and mouse to keep the bloody things going.

goldfire · 03-11-2007, 02:55 AM

get yourself a aftermarket intercooler... yes i realise the pun.

we have a 360 that has red ringed a couple of times, got the cooler and it's been fine ever since.

I FluXx I · 03-11-2007, 03:33 AM

Dont get the cooler. they have already been proven to cause more harm than good. The 360 is designed to run at a certain temp. Running it at a different temp can cause it to stuff up. Not to mention some of the coolers run by plugging into the the 360's power socket which can cause the right amount of power to not get through to the console.

Pretty sure the boards where soldered in brazil where its quite humid. And the solder they use is Lead free. Apparently because the solder is lead free and the climate is humid, the solder cant set properly. The "ring of death" has nothing to do with overheating. A over heating 360 will display 2 quadrants lit up red.

Microsoft extended the warranty for the "ring of death"(three red lights) to 3 years. So your covered. Just give xbox a call and they will email you a form to print out. Put the 360 in a box with a little padding and and stick the reply paid form to the box and drop it off at a post office. I got mine back in 6 working days and I live in perth, so it will be quicker for you. Plus they should send you a free one month live card. I got one when I got my 360 back. But Iv always got live.

cheers

Zed7fiddy · 03-11-2007, 07:43 AM

I jsut purchased one the other week, got it home, and straight up had the Red Rings of Death :(

There was a problem with the power pack, so straight abck to WOW to pick up a new console, Microsoft was pretty good to deal with too.

raised by monkeys · 03-11-2007, 12:50 PM

well ive had mine over 14-15 months and all my friends have had problems up untill now. i might take it to Harvey Norman where i bought and hit them up to see if they can give me a replacement and send mine to microsoft for me because its saturday night and im trying to save money by not going out...

im going to cry

Kommandant · 03-11-2007, 02:10 PM

Within the first two days of owning one i got the red rings, left it for a week, played it and its been fine ever since, Had it for like 4-6months now, it overheats and freezes occasionally but havn't had anymore problems with red rings.

I FluXx I · 03-11-2007, 07:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by raised by monkeys

well ive had mine over 14-15 months and all my friends have had problems up untill now. i might take it to Harvey Norman where i bought and hit them up to see if they can give me a replacement and send mine to microsoft for me because its saturday night and im trying to save money by not going out...

im going to cry

They wont do it mate. Its gotta stuff up within a month of owning it for a in store replacement.

The 360 is great console but it has some quality issues with the solder. But they have been getting better. And newly designed board which will eliminate the problem will be going in all new 360 very soon

paule11 · 03-11-2007, 07:14 PM

They did have problems up here with the hunidity and I heard of lots of xbox 360 failures . Brought one the other week if id known about the newly designed board I would have waited. That lead free solder is horrible stuff compared to using normal solder

pertuan · 03-11-2007, 07:30 PM

Lead free solder shouldn't really be the issue. AFAIK, the electronics industry has been using lead free solder for over 2.5 years.

FOCUSonTHIS · 03-11-2007, 08:30 PM

I got the rings of death on my xbox. I called up xbox and they sent me an email with a reply paid to send it to their Sydney HQ. They repaired it and sent it back to me within a week and 1 month xbox live card for free. My warrenty ran out also but it was fixed free due to the extended 3 years warrenty they have on the 360 now. Just call up Microsoft and get it shipped to them. I only paid $5 for a box and some bubble wrap.

I FluXx I · 03-11-2007, 09:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pertuan

Lead free solder shouldn't really be the issue. AFAIK, the electronics industry has been using lead free solder for over 2.5 years.

apparently due to it being so humid where there soldered, it has been the cause of the problem.

ef_classic · 03-11-2007, 10:05 PM

There is a odd way in fixing this, you wrap it in towels and turn it on and leave it on for 15 minutes, this heats up the console so much that it is forced to hard reset itself.

I am not kidding...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjjinHmEoss

I FluXx I · 04-11-2007, 04:59 AM

^^^causes the solder to run back to the right spots fixing any brakes in the tracks. Same as the hairdryer trick. But its only a temp fix. Mine lasted around 2 days befor you would have to do it again. Eventually it wouldnt work anymore.

If you try it, dont even mention of a towel trick to microsoft. Or you can kiss your warranty good buy.

bingoTE50 · 04-11-2007, 04:41 PM

We had the same problem .Ring Microsoft in Australia , you should have 3 years warranty as mentioned. The warranty service was excellent .They will keep you informed via email .