Hardware 2 red lights

[ferdi-t]

My worst nightmare just came true yesterday. Finally got around to playing Mass Effect 3, then got me two red lights (overheating). Meh.

I basically ruled out all the easy solutions, as the Xbox is placed properly without any sources of heat nearby. So I'm determined to open it up tonight to see if there's any dust. If that fails, any other things to try?

I remenber reading in the past that loose screws and/or wiring could be a solution, as well as changing the fans. Any experiences in this field?

 

[godreborn]

replace thermal paste, check if the fans r spinning, use compressed air to clean out the dust, and make sure the heatsinks r seated properly

 

[DinohScene]

^ that + wire up your fan to 12v (near the PSU connector)

It might be as loud as a jetfighter but it'll help remove a lot more air.

 

[ferdi-t]

Thanks. Most of what you two wrote is pretty clear. However:

• make sure the heatsinks r seated properly
• wire up your fan to 12v (near the PSU connector)

Do you know of any documentation which could be helpful?

 

[xephos]

Use this diagram for when you are soldering your fans to where your power supply would be connected
http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php?showtopic=613160

And making sure the heatsinks are properly seated, means that you tighten them evenly in a X shaped fashion.

 

[ferdi-t]

Okay, thanks.

Oh, and is it a good idea to leave the xbox out of the plastic case and hook it up (for testing purposes) as I rule out the possible causes one by one, or would this be a very d'oh thing to do?

 

[DinohScene]

Cutting a hole in the case will help to suck in more air (if you have a 40 mm fan on the 2nd GPU heatsink)

Spoiler: this is what it will look like

 

[nukeboy95]

Cutting a hole in the case will help to suck in more air (if you have a 40 mm fan on the 2nd GPU heatsink)

Spoiler: this is what it will look like

is that urs?

 

[DinohScene]

Yep.

It's a Falcon 360, has a 40 mm fan screwed on the 2nd GPU heatsink and the metal fanmesh in the back snipped off.
And ofcourse the hole with the fan grille.

Temperatures are a steady ~40/40/55 on FSD for CPU/GPU/RAM and under load it's around 45/45/60 ish

 

[xephos]

Cutting a hole in the case will help to suck in more air (if you have a 40 mm fan on the 2nd GPU heatsink)

Spoiler: this is what it will look like

I see some dust in someone's heatsink

 

[DinohScene]

That's no dust....

Well...
It could be a little bit of dust but I cleaned it not long ago lol.