flat4

Thought i'd post this just so you know yours will break at some point well, managed to get almost 11 months out of my 2nd 360 before i got the 3 red lights of death again it started a few days before with weird lock ups with glitches on the screen and a screaching noise until it gave the 3 red lights a few days later.

Luckily this time round people out there are a bit more clued up on the failures and i managed to get the error code from my machine (0102) which is a general hardware failure that the 360 can't diagnose, so onto the xbox forums we go and find the infamous heat gun fix (they believe it's the crap soldering connection failing on the major componenets like the processor, GPU, southbridge & memory), i thought it was worth a go as i've already had my 360 apart so no warranty for me and hey presto, i turn it back on and we're back in business I also did the thermal compounds under the heatsink while i was at it wth arctic silver. Well, it worked for a couple of days and it started crashing again but no red lights, so apart it comes again...

After a bit of testing last night i've come to the conclusion that for some reason the 360 isn't controlling the fans properly, i know it was after the first heat gun application as i didn't tighten the heatsink screws under the case when i tested it and the fans went mental when the temps got too high, but now they just seem to be running at their slowest speed all i can think is that i must of nadged the temp sensors when i applied the heat the 2nd time.

So back to the testing last night, i put COD3 on, and it will run fine playing the menu video for well over 2 hours, the second i go to play the first mission and i get into the back of the truck and all hell breaks loose behind it then it crashes, i check the temp by hand on the heatsinks, the processor one if ok to touch, the GPU is red hot! yet the fans at the back are running really slowly. This point i hunt down my USB laptop bendy fan thing and aim it at the GPU (im running the 360 without it's case and the DVD drive up at an angle to get some air to it) i then proceeded to play for 3 hours none stop without a crash with the extra cooling so on my shopping list today is some new quieter fans and a potentiometer to do the 12v variable fan mod

messiah

Have you looked into the intercooler kits?

flat4

i have but M$ dont like how they rob power from the PSU socket, especially on startup, (and they won't fix a console under warrranty if one of these has been fitted apparently) plus i've heard a few people say they've had failures when using them these talismoon fans i've ordered are the same price as the intercooler kit so might aswell seeing as it's in bits now

Iain Young

I got one of the Nyko intercooler things, and the machine runs practically cold now. The only downside is that it's a bit noisier. I might take it apart and put some quieter fans in it.

The cooler king looks interesting as well...

Gameplay » Xbox 360 » Xbox 360 Cooler King - FREE UK Delivery

flat4

got one of these on order [::][:: Talismoon.com ::][::] QUALITY, INNOVATION, LOW PRICES ... PS2, PSP, XBOX, XBOX360

Mogsi

Be careful with the Nyko cooler, they potentially have there own problems..

Intercooler's Cruel Irony - Kotaku

bugeyeandy

Mine sounds like a jet taking off as soon as it has to do any work - is this normal?
Doesn't seem to go on temps inside the case - it just whacks the fans on full whenever I load a game.

flat4

that's what i red


make sure you're not confusing the DVD drive whirring for the fans, but yes, the heatsink don't take too long to get hot and the fans to kick in (or not in my case )

Sleazy Badger

I was thinking of using one of these USB plug-in fans (not that my 360 has yet had any problems - touch wood) Are they ok to use

flat4

you mean one of these?



i'm only using that as a temp. solution pointed at my GPU, i doubt it would do much pointed at the back of the 360 as the fans suck air out

DJ Dunk

iTrader: (5)

The usb ones are apparently fine, its just the ones that draw direct from the power supply that are iffy.

EDIT: I mean the ones designed to connect to the back of the 360 not those above

flat4

i think we were getting our wires crossed somewhere along the line

flat4

new fans have turned up ready to be installed along with the parts needed to do the variable speed mod played all night on Splinter Cell without a failure with the makeshift fan doing all the work, fans at the back definitely didn't alter speed once last nite and you can barely feel a draft coming out the back as it is, measured temps on the heatsinks of around 40-60 degrees, could drop that to mid 30s when aiming the fan directly at one of them, had thoughts of mounting a fan in the gap infront of the processor and a hole in the top of the 360 but will see how this goes first off

mart360

I sat my first ps1 on a naff of huge heatsink, (a freebie from my wifes work) it was 18"x10" and 6" thick,

no crash probs on that puppy


Mart

Boro

iTrader: (1)

Are these any good? >>>> Gameplay » Xbox 360 » Xbox 360 Cooler King - FREE UK Delivery

flat4

^^^ not out yet, so don't think anyone can comment, looks ok to me




update: new fans fitted, tried the variable fan mod but don't think i got the right potentiometer as it started to play up fairly quickly so reverted to full on 12v for now (fackin noisey!) a bit of testing later and i found that i still need to run some sort of fan on the GPU to stop it crashing so i've fitted a 60mm fan onto the heatsink and it ran solid all day saturday, problem now is i can't put the thing back together as the fan stops the DVD drive sitting properly so i've got a jumbled mess of an Xbox 360 sat under my TV cluttering the place up atm