All machines will break down if they aren't given some minimal care. With the Xbox 360, this is especially true. The slim is a fairly stable machine but if your Xbox is an earlier model, then it will overheat and even get the ring of death if it isn't treated right. But there are a number of measures you can take that will add years of life to your console. Two of these will be discussed here.
The number one enemy of micro electronics is heat. The smallness of these devices means they are very poor at dissipating heat. This is because they have little surface area for cooling into the surrounding air. Their small size also means that internal heat is concentrated in a small mass so their temperature can rise very rapidly. That is why cooling systems are always used with these devices.
Your Xbox 360 is no different in this respect. To make matters worse, the cooling system within the console was poorly designed. This makes the machine prone to overheating. Micro chips exposed to high temperatures will degrade over time. So lots of play time with CPU intensive games can reduce the useful life of your Xbox. Other factors can aggravate the situation further such as using the console in an environment with little or no ventilation.
Another issue with heat is how it causes warpage of the motherboard. Repeated warpage stresses and weakens the solder joints. When one or more of these joints break, your Xbox ceases to function.
An obvious but important rule for keeping heat exposure to a minimum is to avoid heat in the first place. Keep your game play down to a couple of hours at a time especially if the game is CPU intensive or the room is hot. Another rule that many people are unaware of is to keep the console idling for 20 minutes at the Xbox dashboard before shutting down the power. This lets the fans remove left over heat from your machine. The temperature can be brought down to a much lower level in idle mode because no new heat is being generated.
When you shut down your Xbox without allowing it to idle, leftover heat gets trapped, taking hours to dissipate without the fans on. This increases the exposure time of the motherboard and its chips to heat.
If you make a habit of using the two tips discussed here, the useful lifetime of your Xbox 360 will be extended. You will also see fewer occurrences of the two red light error. Another benefit is that you will reduce the risk of getting the red ring of death.
The number one enemy of micro electronics is heat. The smallness of these devices means they are very poor at dissipating heat. This is because they have little surface area for cooling into the surrounding air. Their small size also means that internal heat is concentrated in a small mass so their temperature can rise very rapidly. That is why cooling systems are always used with these devices.
Your Xbox 360 is no different in this respect. To make matters worse, the cooling system within the console was poorly designed. This makes the machine prone to overheating. Micro chips exposed to high temperatures will degrade over time. So lots of play time with CPU intensive games can reduce the useful life of your Xbox. Other factors can aggravate the situation further such as using the console in an environment with little or no ventilation.
Another issue with heat is how it causes warpage of the motherboard. Repeated warpage stresses and weakens the solder joints. When one or more of these joints break, your Xbox ceases to function.
An obvious but important rule for keeping heat exposure to a minimum is to avoid heat in the first place. Keep your game play down to a couple of hours at a time especially if the game is CPU intensive or the room is hot. Another rule that many people are unaware of is to keep the console idling for 20 minutes at the Xbox dashboard before shutting down the power. This lets the fans remove left over heat from your machine. The temperature can be brought down to a much lower level in idle mode because no new heat is being generated.
When you shut down your Xbox without allowing it to idle, leftover heat gets trapped, taking hours to dissipate without the fans on. This increases the exposure time of the motherboard and its chips to heat.
If you make a habit of using the two tips discussed here, the useful lifetime of your Xbox 360 will be extended. You will also see fewer occurrences of the two red light error. Another benefit is that you will reduce the risk of getting the red ring of death.
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Does your Xbox 360 tend to overheat? Get more troubleshooting advice about repairing the 3 Red Lights Error.
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