The Xbox 360
has experienced a wide variety of hardware problems since its
release and these mainly seem to be due to overheating. The three
red lights error seems to cause the most problems and currently
seems likely to affect 30% of all systems.
So why does this happen?
The error is caused by the processing units overheating and is not
so much due to where you store your Xbox 360 as much as its basic
design. The chips generate a huge amount of heat and the system is
programmed to shut down if they overheat in order to protect the
system. The motherboard can also warp in the excessive heat, causing
the soldering to come loose which also causes problems.
How do I fix it?
Once those red lights come up you can’t prevent it from happening,
obviously, so you have to get the system repaired. You can send it
off to Microsoft who will fix it for you, but this takes a long
time, up to three months in some cases.
You can also repair the unit yourself using a repair guide – these
are easily found online and often include videos that walk you
through every step of the process. This involves making some
adjustments inside the console to help it dissipate heat more
efficiently.
Make sure you look around for opinions on any particular guide so
that you can get an idea of its quality and usefulness before you
commit your money. Also contact the customer service department and
see how long it takes them to respond and whether they do so in a
helpful way.
