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Xbox Troubleshooting: Red Ring of Death Fix part 1

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J@YBUGGIE:
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Sometimes overheating will trigger the three red light condition (red ring of death) before any damage has occurred. In such cases you will have to pamper your Xbox in various ways (described in the troubleshooting procedure) to keep it from overheating.

However, overheating (or repeated overheating) can also damage the motherboard. If this is the case, then repair of some kind will be necessary. You can either send your Xbox back to Microsoft if you have a valid warranty or you can do the repair yourself (see the "Repairing Your XBox" section below).

The heat problem and the Xbox design issues that contribute to the red ring of death are explained as follows:
1. Heat
Xbox 360 heat is excessive.
The Xbox 360 design uses numerous high powered components that occupy a small space. These high powered components (the CPU and GPU in particular) are giving off an enormous amount of heat. Heat sinks, fans, and vents within the console are used to dissipate this heat. Since there isn't much cooling capacity in reserve, this system easily overheats if the required airflow into the Xbox 360 gets blocked. The red ring of death takes place when different design defects act up due to the rising heat levels.
2. Lead free solder
Xbox 360 solder is brittle.
In order to avoid using lead in products used by children, Microsoft made the Xbox 360 with lead free solder. Lead free solder tends to be more brittle. To make matters worse, the wrong type of lead free solder was used by Microsoft, one that gets really brittle with heat exposure over long periods. If you stress this brittle solder, tiny hair-line cracks will develop. The cracks can obstruct the flow of electrical current and also result in a weak solder joint that easily breaks.

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