Who all here has fixed their Xbox 360 RROD with the X-clamp method?

[Shawn]

So I fixed my roommates xbox 360 that had the RROD using the X-Clamp method. I was surprised by how easy it was. I saw that someone posted an ad on craigslist wanting someone to fix their xbox360, so I fixed it as well and charged him $40. I tested it for a good 5 hours with no problems. Hopefully it won't die again as soon as he takes it home.

My question is what the long term reliability of this fix is. I'm wondering if I should start listing repair services on craigslist, but I don't want a bunch of people calling me because the fix failed after a week. Also I was thinking about buying some red ringed xbox360s off ebay, fixing them and reselling them.

Also, I have an older one without HDMI that is over 3 years old now and still hasn't red ringed. I wonder if I should do the x-clamp fix as a preventive measure, or just leave it alone. The ones I fixed were both newer HDMI models that had their warranties voided.

 

[Maxspeed996]

I'd like to know about this too. I've got an xbox in my closet that I've been wanting to try that on. Curiously where did you get the kit? Llamma's page?

 

[purbeast0]

I've fixed about 4-5 of them.

My own had an RRoD come back about 2 months later after more extensive play but I just reseated the heatsink and it worked again.

the others I fixed for people I've never had come back.

i do however want to get a new fan for my 360 to just help it stay cooler.

there was 1 360 I couldn't fix and the secondary error code had something to do with the RAM and I couldn't get it fixed and tried a bunch of different things.

I use the method described on llama.com which is a tad different than others and requires some drilling.

 

[PieIsAwesome]

Did it to mine like a year ago, still working perfectly.

 

[RaiderJ]

Have done two, still working over a year later. Have a third one now that I can't fully test since I don't have a full wattage Xbox PSU.

 

[nboy22]

I started fixing 360s on craigslist about a year ago. So far, I have taught my old room mate, and my new room mate how to fix them. My old room mate ended up getting a job at a local video game shop fixing 360s. We charge $30 per fix, and if we don't fix it for some reason, money back. We have fixed hundreds of them together and get about $600 dollars a month just to put towards rent.

In my experience, I would say that a small amount of 360s will have a reoccurring problem and most 360s won't. I have read many theories, watched many videos, and spent many of hours experimenting with different methods. I would say after doing all this research that the combination of brittle lead-free solder, motherboard flex, xclamp design and heating/cooling all cause the problem together. No one truly knows what is happening, but I've also talked with a few different EE's, including my dad, who have all said it's not the smartest idea to put the GPU and CPU chips in the center of the board, due to flex issues. My dad also mentioned that it's not the optimal location to stick the processors on the edge of the board either. Out of the 360s that get to me that haven't been opened before, I would say a mere 5% or less come back with a reoccurring problem. People come to me with reoccurring errors in their 360s, and as far as I can tell it's a big waste of time trying to fix them again. Every one of the reoccurring error 360s will always come back to me, if someone has a cure for a reoccurring red ring or E74 xbox, I would love to know.

As for the xclamp mod being a preventative measure, I would say it is. Applying arctic silver 5 will reduce and transfer heat much better than stock cooling paste, while the heatsink is held on more securely to the board and chip. I would recommend buying the M5 bolts that are in the llama's xclamp fix guide, I would recommend llama's guide over any other. I get some 360s in that have philips head screws that don't do as well of a job. I think that the big philips head screws that are used promote motherboard flexing.

If you'd like to know more you can ask me specific questions, I will do my best to answer.

 

[Spineshank]

I do it as well. I heatgun the traces from the Video chip to the ANA chip as well. I have only had 1 person ever bring it back. I had to do it to my own as well and havent had a reoccurance.

 

[Maxspeed996]

Sweet info. I'm going to pick up a kit from Llamma next week then!

 

[Spankthru]

Fixed mine first try, no problems since. Non HDMI arcade that also had a bad DVD drive. Fixed them both with spare parts.

 

[Bill Brasky]

Forgive my ignorance, but what is this x-clamp business? I did a quick google search, and it looks like some sort of mounting bracket for a heatsink. How does this fix the RROD? Thanks.

edit: I read nboy22's post more carefully. So the problem is the heatsink is coming loose with the factory mounting kit?

 

[nboy22]

Originally posted by: Zaitsev
Forgive my ignorance, but what is this x-clamp business? I did a quick google search, and it looks like some sort of mounting bracket for a heatsink. How does this fix the RROD? Thanks.

edit: I read nboy22's post more carefully. So the problem is the heatsink is coming loose with the factory mounting kit?

The x-clamps are pieces of hardware that are used to clamp the heatsink down to the motherboard. The design is faulty, and they would have gotten a better fit with just holding the heatsinks on with the hardware in llama's fix. The hardware I'm referring to is the M5 hex bolts - 10 mm length, #10 nylon flat washers, and #10 steel flat washers.

I believe the problem stems from a a few places, such as the xclamps causing motherboard flex, and at the same time, not holding the heatsink on for the best fit. The heatsink is not able to absorb heat very well and the more heat, the more flex. After you turn the xbox off, the motherboard cools in a bent/curved shape which then allows the solder joints under the GPU to become loose, or broken. The main reason why this might happen is because the chips are placed on the center of the board. The E74 and RROD are ONLY GPU problems, not the CPU. Even though the problem is with the GPU, I would recommend replacing the CPU's xclamp with the bolts from llama's guide to help with heat dissipation and motherboard flex.

This is just my 2 cents from all of the 360s I've fixed, and all the research I've done. It's the best explanation I can come up with right now after all my experience.

 

[Bill Brasky]

Originally posted by: nboy22

Originally posted by: Zaitsev
Forgive my ignorance, but what is this x-clamp business? I did a quick google search, and it looks like some sort of mounting bracket for a heatsink. How does this fix the RROD? Thanks.

edit: I read nboy22's post more carefully. So the problem is the heatsink is coming loose with the factory mounting kit?

The x-clamps are pieces of hardware that are used to clamp the heatsink down to the motherboard. The design is faulty, and they would have gotten a better fit with just holding the heatsinks on with the hardware in llama's fix. The hardware I'm referring to is the M5 hex bolts - 10 mm length, #10 nylon flat washers, and #10 steel flat washers.

I believe the problem stems from a a few places, such as the xclamps causing motherboard flex, and at the same time, not holding the heatsink on for the best fit. The heatsink is not able to absorb heat very well and the more heat, the more flex. After you turn the xbox off, the motherboard cools in a bent/curved shape which then allows the solder joints under the GPU to become loose, or broken. The main reason why this might happen is because the chips are placed on the center of the board. The E74 and RROD are ONLY GPU problems, not the CPU. Even though the problem is with the GPU, I would recommend replacing the CPU's xclamp with the bolts from llama's guide to help with heat dissipation and motherboard flex.

This is just my 2 cents from all of the 360s I've fixed, and all the research I've done. It's the best explanation I can come up with right now after all my experience.

I understand what you mean now when you said this is more of a preventative measure. Thanks for the clear explanation. :thumbsup:

 

[Auryg]

I've fixed 3. 2 broke again after a year or so, and the other is running on two years so far.

 

[Shawn]

I ended up getting these 3 parts from amazon and it was cheaper:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/produ...A/ref=ox_ya_oh_product
http://www.amazon.com/gp/produ...2/ref=ox_ya_oh_product
http://www.amazon.com/gp/produ...Q/ref=ox_ya_oh_product

Although I have an Amazon prime account so i get free shipping. But if you don't you can order something else and the shipping is free. I don't like screwing to the case and this gives enough room to avoid that.

 

[Shawn]

So I just fixed another RROD xbox from craigslist. However it appears the DVD drive jams. I took the drive completely apart and removed the gears and it doesn't jam 100% of the time now, just 75% of the time. Any way to fix it?

 

[Sniper82]

anyone that doesn't want to wait on shipping lowes has the parts.

Part number:
139065 (nylon washer)
138433 (screws)
138319 (metal washers)

Fixed my RRoD Falcon system couple weeks ago.

 

[nboy22]

Originally posted by: Shawn
So I just fixed another RROD xbox from craigslist. However it appears the DVD drive jams. I took the drive completely apart and removed the gears and it doesn't jam 100% of the time now, just 75% of the time. Any way to fix it?

Clean the rubberband by putting it under some hot water for a minute?

Most DVD drive jams are just the rubber band slipping on the two pulleys.

 

[Shawn]

I took the DVD drive apart and anything that wasn't electrical got dumped in hot water. After I let it dry I put some white lithium grease on the track. Worked fine after that. :thumbsup:

BTW, I picked up a console with a bricked drive for $35. I dumped the firmware but it was completely blank, so the key is gone. I reflashed it without a key and the drive works now and plays dvds but of course it won't play xbox games. Is there anyway to pull the key off the motherboard yet?
If not I'm gonna use the drive for parts and make the xbox into a cheap media center extender.

 

[nboy22]

Originally posted by: Shawn
I took the DVD drive apart and anything that wasn't electrical got dumped in hot water. After I let it dry I put some white lithium grease on the track. Worked fine after that. :thumbsup:

BTW, I picked up a console with a bricked drive for $35. I dumped the firmware but it was completely blank, so the key is gone. I reflashed it without a key and the drive works now and plays dvds but of course it won't play xbox games. Is there anyway to pull the key off the motherboard yet?
If not I'm gonna use the drive for parts and make the xbox into a cheap media center extender.

I just did some research, and the answer appears to be no in your situation. The only way to get the key off the motherboard is to already have a working drive and to do something called the "king kong exploit" (I didn't look into it any further than that). After the king kong exploit is finished, you are able to pull the key off the motherboard with the Infectus 2 chip. So it is possible, but not in your case.

 

[Shawn]

Well if I had a working drive then wouldn't I be able to just pull the key off that?

 

[Shawn]

Looks like the poll got lost with the move to vB. Unfortunately I can't have 2 polls like in fusetalk, so the part asking how long your x clamp fix worked got lost. So post them in this thread.

 

[agibby5]

I fixed like 3 X360s like this. I didn't get a kit, I just found a thread on xbox-scene that posted part numbers for Home Depot or something. I got all the nuts and bolts for like $7.00, if I remember correctly, then fixed it in like 30 mins. Great stuff.

 

[KeithMac]

Hi, all. I tried the llama RROD fix, but after a couple of attempts and tightening the screws, I'm still getting the 0022 secondary error. After I tried to overheat the GPU while having a fan over the CPU for 45 minutes, I removed the DVD drive and it was toasty, but not painful to the touch. Could this be what went wrong? The only other thing I can think of is that I used a RadioShack heatsink grease whereas most seem to use ArticSilver. Any suggestions? Thanks.

 

[purbeast0]

they even sell arctic silver at radio shack lol (i know cause i buy it there)!

well your error is the following (from xbox-scene)

E10: Unconfirmed: CPU error, generally caused by a poor connection to the mainboard (cold solder joints/bridged solder joints). This can also be triggered by an error with the TSOP.

i've never fixed one of those kinds before though, sorry.

 

[Shawn]

Don't make it too tight. In fact, only finger tighten it at first. Then overheat it, but only the GPU, not the CPU. The cpu has a temp gauge and will shut down the xbox if it gets too hot. You can do this by putting the fan over the cpu but not the gpu. Let it overheat for at least 45min. Shut it off, then screw down the screws tighter. Let it cool to room temp and turn on. It should work.