When you play
on an Xbox 360 you are just one of millions of people around the
world who enjoy the vast number of high quality games available to
play on this console. There are also a huge number of web sites out
there that offer help with fixing the three flashing red lights
problem that comes up a lot with this system. Their advice is
usually misleading, to say the least, and often leads Xbox 360
owners to give up altogether and replace their system with something
else.
Firstly, don’t bother sending your system to Texas for Microsoft to
fix. Even if it is still under warranty, you will still have to pay
for shipping, and you will be waiting for six weeks at the very
least before you get the unity back.
So what can you do? You actually have to fix the cause of this
error, which is a failure of your hardware, usually down to chips
burning out when the console overheats.
Ideally, you prevent this by making sure that the unit doesn’t
overheat. People usually keep it in a case or cabinet, in order to
keep the place tidy, but when you stash the unit like this, you make
it much more likely to overheat.
You have to understand that this system really does produce heat
like mad. Keeping in a closed space means that the heat cannot
dissipate, so you should keep it out in the open where the heat can
get away from the unit and help to keep it cool. Keeping and using
it in an air-conditioned room is also a good idea.
Dust is also a contributing factor when it comes to overheating.
Dust can accumulate in and around the system’s air vents which
prevents heat from leaving the console, apart from causing the fans
to stall, which also often happens. This can make the cooling system
die completely.
The chain of logic goes like this: the three flashing red lights
indicate a hardware failure and this is usually caused by excess
heat building up in the console. If you solve the problem at its
root, i.e. prevent the console from overheating in the first place,
you should never have to experience the three flashing lights.
Prevention is far better, not to mention cheaper and quicker, than
cure, especially as it allows you to avoid shipping and repair costs
and time.
