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How to Fix the 3 Red Lights (RRoD)
By Scar
By Scar
Items Needed:
- Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste
- 24 5mm flat washers
- 8 M5 x .8 x 10mm machine screws
Tools:
- T10 and T8 Torx
- Pliers
- Phillips screwdriver
- 1/4 inch socket
Tutorials for openeing the case:
How to open/dissassemble a 360 case
Remove the dvd drive, air duct, Ring of light board, and all of the motherboard screws on the bottom. Pull the motherboard out of the metal case and you should be left with this:
Flip the motherboard over and you will see Microsofts cheap x clamps. These are the main cause of the 3 red lights. We need to pry these off, I use pliers but you can use a small flathead screwdriver. either way, be VERY careful not to damage the motherboard in the process.
After removing both of them it should look like this:
Flip the motherboard over again and pull off the heatsinks.
Clean off the excess of the old thermal paste on both the CPU/GPU and heatsinks. I use a razor blade.
Use a 1/4" socket to remove the feet from both heatsinks.
Take your screws and washers...
...And put 1 washer on each screw.
Take your thermal paste and put a SMALL amount of paste on each chip. Dont apply too much or it will ooze off of the chip when you clamp the heatsink down.
Flip the motherboard over, take 4 screws and put them through the same holes the heatsink feet used to go through.
Flip the motherboard over again with your hand under the screws holding them in place. Put 2 washers on each screw.
Heres the tricky part, you have to hold the screws in place while threading them into the heatsinks. I flip the motherboard on its side then thread the screws into the heatsink.
Flip the motherboard over and screw them in as tight as you can.
Repeat with the other side.
Put the motherboard back in the metal casing and plug in the ring of light, AV and power cables.
Turn it on, you will most likely still have the 3 red lights.
If you do, leave the fan unplugged and let it run until it overheats (2 red lights). Wait a few more minutes then turn it off.
Let it cool for a minute then turn it on and see if it worked.
If its green lights put everything back together and your good to go.
Tutorial made by Scar, do not rip.
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