Xbox 360: Towel Trick Fixes 3 Red Lights
The “Towel Trick” is an interesting solution to the 3 red lights on the ring of light (ROL). Supposedly, a user experiencing the 3 red lights on the ROL completely wrapped his Xbox 360 in a towel, with the red lights on, and let the Xbox 360 sit for about 10 minutes. He then turned his system off, then on again, and his Xbox 360 booted without issue. He was able to play for about 3 hours before the 3 red lights came back.
Sounds like an unlikely fix, but who knows? Well, I know, because I tested lastnight. The “Towel Trick” is bunk, total crap. You’re more likely to set your Xbox 360 on fire by doing this rather than fixing it. The best advice still is to contact Microsoft support. You can call them toll-free at 1-800-4MY-XBOX. They have an excellent support department lined up there for the Xbox/Xbox 360.
UPDATE: Here’s a video of the Towel Trick on YouTube.
UPDATE 7/14/2011: Rob left some good points in his comment below. A number of people in the comments on this post have suggested putting your Xbox 360 in a microwave to fix the 3 red lights issue. I would advise against this for a number of reasons.
Rob presented a number of things users should consider prior to microwaving any electronic device:
- 95% of all hardware failures are caused by very slight board
warpage right under the G.P.U. where heat build up
occurs . this will literally cause the Chips connections to pull
away form the board. - A standered refolw @ 255c will almost always get your console
working. - Specific Microwaves frequency acts on water molecules causing
them to resonate ( absorb the energy) and then release it as heat - you have a better chance of repairing using a heat gun or
removing the xclamp and replacing it with screws and then
force the G.P.U. only to over heat ( standered x clamp mod ) - Microwaves will cause metal objects to build up charges
normally at or on sharp edges until it discharges causing sparks
kina cool looking , try a Christmas ornaments. - If you decide to stick you game console in your mw oven the ods are not in your
favor and after the attempt fails your chances of a correct repair
procedure are lost. - Just use some common sense and realize if this had a high successes rate
every one would be doing it . in fact people would be modified
micro wave oven for that purpose only and they would be fixing consoles
In volumes.
You might like these posts too::
- Xbox 360: More On 3 Red Lights
- Xbox 360: 3 Red Lights on Ring of Light
- Xbox 360 Freezing? Let Your Power Supply Breathe!
- Fix Your Xbox 360 Freeze Problems
- Real Xbox 360 Photo
I fitted a processor clamp upgrade kit which didnt fix my e74 error. I then stopped the fans thus overheating the xbox 360 and it’s worked ever since. No doubt a towel would have done the trick ;)
hmm, seems to be like 2/3 people campaigning in favour of the “microwave trick”. yeah, the trick being stupid retards frying the life out their xbox while you ring piece’s are laughing your asses off at them! my bet is you are ps3 fan(ny)boys who take delight in hoodwinking spastics into permanently frying their electrics, animals!
You guys are idiots. Every system is different. One thing may work on one and not another. Assembly is always slightly different. CPU and GPU handle different compared to the next one. And second the towel trick does work. I just did it on mine. Had red ring. Wouldn’t go to 2 but i turned it off let it sit about 10 min and works just fine. People assume because they have done or tried something on something it makes them an expert. If you were an expert you would be taking over Steve Jobs position at Apple. Or working at Microsoft. Or at least a second hand PC store.
Hello to all concerned with this unorthodox repair method
If you are desperate enough to place your game console in your
microwave oven then . maybe you should consider the following
1 95% of all hardware failures are caused by very slight board
warpage right under the G.P.U. where heat build up
occurs . this will literally cause the Chips connections to pull
away form the board
2 a standered refolw @ 255c will almost always get your console
working.
3 specific Microwaves frequency acts on water molecules causing
them to resonate ( absorb the energy) and then release it as heat
4 you have a better chance of repairing using a heat gun or
removing the xclamp and replacing it with screws and then
force the G.P.U. only to over heat ( standered x clamp mod )
5 Microwaves will cause metal objects to build up charges
normally at or on sharp edges until it discharges causing sparks
kina cool looking , try a Christmas ornaments ,
6If you decide to stick you game console in your mw oven the ods are not in your
favor and after the attempt fails your chances of a correct repair
procedure are lost .
7 just use some common sense and realize if this had a high successes rate
every one would be doing it . in fact people would be modified
micro wave oven for that purpose only and they would be fixing consoles
In volumes .
Well those are my thoughts .
use your better judgment , gain vs lose
Rob
Rob, thank you for the well thought out, logical examples.
I am going to update this post to bring more attention to the points you provided. Hopefully it will encourage people to use at least a bit of critical thinking skills.
If your open to suggestions
let’s focus on the problem and a safe but effective
solutions , given most people don’t have a reflow workstation
And may have little if no experience .So at a reasonable cost.
This remedy may be a viable option relative to the alternate method .
If you must ( I don’t approve ) go ahead and replace the
X clamp with screws and washers and force the console
to over heat . This is a semi fix and will most likely
get their console working . But when it fail again ,It’s
DONE!
What is really need and available is new hardware
to replace the ” X ” clamp ( GPU Bracket)
This part is available and it only require’s the
user to remove the G.P.U.’s Xclamp and install
the replacement. then over heat the GPU only
and that should correct most red light errors.
I’ll follow up is there’s any interest
Rob
Please do follow-up Rob. There are a fair number of people subscribed to comments on this post who are probably interested.
And if they aren’t, I am. :)
Go away troll… YOu haven’t added anything constructive to this thread in ANY posts you’ve added. If you are going to research and say something useful then go ahead. If you want to talk about something you know NOTHING about then perhaps you should become a politician.. but seriously GTFO of this thread
No troll here. I’m just trying to keep people from destroying their hardware.
Probably shouldn’t tell me to “GTFO of this thread” either. This is my website after all.
If you cannot play nice, you will be banned.
[...] this article: Xbox 360: Towel Trick Fixes 3 Red Lights [...]
harry u fuckin cock i followed your instructions and i put in in for 15 seconds let it cool down for 30 mins and now it wont power on you fuckin dikhead your lucky your hiding behing your pc or id knock you the fuck out u pussy
Why would you find it a good idea to microwave your electronic devices because some anonymous person on the internet says you should?
Lc thug – just saw this now. Cool up with the language a second there champ!!! Theres a few things that can go wrong as i’ve stated NUMEROUS times before if you bothered to READ. Firstly – you MUST allow the xbox to be completely cool BEFORE inserting into the microwave (ie if you have tried the towel trick or have been using the xbox it needs to be at room temperature before trying this).
Secondly – IF you have tried the microwave trick once, wait AT LEAST 30 mins before trying again..
Finally – If you have only tried it once you may have only done a partial reflow which would result in the symptoms you’re experiencing. I would suggest giving it one-two more attempts before giving up.
HOpe this helps
*waits for apology!*
i put my 360 in microwave and now it won’t power on
great points altogether, you just gained a new reader. What would you recommend in regards to your post that you made some days ago? Any positive?
Honestly i am tempted to try it im 17 and living at home and my mom is worried the metal in the 360 will KILL the microwave i REALLY dont see how this will fix it i’ve been searching for a way to fix my 360 without having to pay money out my ass to do so.. and i cant stress enough at how much i miss playing my 360 can some one please help
Hi C.J.
This has all been posted before but here is a quick rundown of how it all works and why it will NOT kill your microwave.. Just be mindful, do NOT put the xbox in ur microwave for MORE THAN 30 SECONDS AT A TIME!!
Anyway OF COURSE if you put a metal spoon etc in the microwave by itself it will spark like crazy, thats because the electromagnetic radiation will be attracted to it, but what happens if you put a susceptor material in with it (google it you idiots)? All the radiation will target that INSTEAD of the spoon and you wont get a SINGLE spark.. Guess what the xbox has under the mainboard surrounding all the solder tracks? THATS RIGHT – SUSCEPTOR MATERIALS..
Anyway here is a previous post to the tools that dont know how to scroll-
Hi Arron,
Good to see the uninformed laughing at things they know nothing about. Of course if you put a spoon in the microwave it will spark like crazy!!
A microwave basically works by emitting electromagnetic radiation particles that are guided onto whatever object is in there via a waveguide.
Now as most people know certain objects attract these particles more than others. If you put some solids in along with liquids the liquids will heat up much more quickly than the solids.
If you put in metals with the liquids these will heat up faster as they are more attractive to the radiation.
The most highly rated attractive objects to the radiation particles are actually called ’susceptor materials’. If you put some of these in a microwave with virtually any other object you will notice the other object will remain cool to the touch UNLESS it is making direct contact with the susceptor materials.
Now what is interesting is these susceptor materials also act as an extremely effective anti static device. Due to some quality control issues involved with the manufacturing of the Xbox’s overseas (of course to save $) Microsoft made it mandatory that susceptor materials were manufactured to the underside of each and every Xbox 360 mainboard.
Why does all this matter and what does it mean?
Well, one of the main problems with the Xbox’s is due to American law (that after a certain year in the US – ANY device that could be used by children must have lead free solder – which has a higher melting point than ordinary solder.) Unfortunately this carries a higher risk when reflowing the solder used when seating the BGA chips, so Microsoft opted to be safe and reflowed the solder at a high temperature but not for a very long time – which over time can and does lead to dry joints (in the GPU and CPU!)
The towel trick gets the trick done by making your entire Xbox effectively a reflow oven, which is extremely risky as ALL the components are subject to very high operating temperatures (much higher than they’re rated to), so most likely it will temporarily fix your Xbox and over time it will fail – or it will just fail instantly!
The reason the Microwave trick is so effective is because you are virtually isolating all of the solder tracks (including the solder used for the BGA chips) from the rest of the components and devices used in the Xbox. This is because the susceptor materials attract almost ALL of the electromagnetic radiation and divert them to the solder tracks!
Now the reason why it is stated to put the Xboxs in the microwave for a MAX of 30 seconds at a time is mainly a case of ‘better to be safe than sorry’. As each microwave has different power ratings. What is recommended by most people is to put it in for around 20 seconds, let your Xbox cool down for 30mins, turn it on and try it out.. If it fails let it cool down again and repeat the process. This is because no matter how effective the susceptor materials are, there will always be a small amount of stray radiation that will slightly heat up other components, if you dont let them cool down before trying again you run the risk!
so be PATIENT!
I can almost guarantee anyone who has had a problem with this method has had issues as a direct result of not following these instructions.
put the xbox in freezer for hour.. just temporary fix.. fuck the world
If anyone needs help with the microwave trick let me know
oh hahaha id like to see the vid response on that !
I would just like to say Harry is a superstar..
My XBOX is going great since the microwave trick.
Permanently Fix Your XBOX 360 3 Red Light Problems in 1 hour
i can believe this will work, the towel trick works so why cant excessive short burst of heat? ask yourself that? what have you got to lose? 40 quid for a 2nd hand 360 thats it. good luck to you harry, i believe you and im one of the biggest sceptics of everything.
the towel trick DOES work, i tried it and im still playing red dead redemption now 3 weeks later with no green lines acrosss the screen etc. and what a game it is i must say. grand theft auto cowboy style.
Did you have to stop playing for a certain amount of time so that it doesnt overheat again or were you able to keep it running for longer?
hey man, same EXACT problem and game. got rdr love it, been playin nothin else since i got it. got the 3 red lights 2 nite. i saw the towel trick but it seemed sketch, but just to make sure, u did it, and it worked great?
AWESOME! Towel trick I used for 6 months until I thought my xbox was completely dead, RROD!! Tried the microwave trick ONCE and it’s now been just over another year the Xbox is still going strong!!
Thanks for all your research into susceptor materials etc Harry!
talk to me!
Vinny,
Why don’t you post your real name?
Can you tell me exactly how long you put your xbox 360 in the microwave for? I can guarantee it works on almost all xboxs if you do it right.. You can NOT do it for too long.. Mate did you even read the post? If you don’t believe it just google any part of it, I know its hard for some people to believe that there are people actually smarter than them… But it’s true believe it or not.. Go on, google susceptor materials..
Can’t wait to read your apology when you realise I Was right all the way along.. Why dont you scroll down and read all the other shitloads of people who have got microwave trick to work without a problem…?
I say learn to read simply because I have proof of why everything works.. YOu on the other hand assume everything, and everone knows you shouldn’t even attempt the towel trick more than once. It’s a great recipe for disaster.. Now who is the moron?
Harry
sorry, got outta hand there
Hey john! ya fuck off m. u can suck on my nine inch cock if ur going to talk to bill like that you fucking miget. y don’t you go suck harry potters nuts you fucking homo! by the way, why are u talking like ur some kind of genius, seriously if ur on the douche that sticks xboxs in a microwave side ur pretty much the biggest retard i know. y don’t u and harry butt hole go fuck each other, probably the only action u xbox cookers will ever get! i was on ur guys side but after u talk to bill like that, u guys changed EVERYTHING, wow u know how to read congratulations dick breathe. i FUCKING hate ass clowns like u 2 who think there miracle workers cause they cook xboxs or rap them in towels.
This one is to harry cock breath! u need to learn how to read u stupid com guzzler. is that all u ever do is tell ppl to learn how to read! jesus man if ppl arn’t on ur side y do u care? its peoples opinions doesn’t mean they dont know how to read, whos ur little but buddy john? sounds like he’s a douche bag genius, hes probably a newbie that works for microsoft. he sounds like he gets in your pants every night and plays atri with ur joystick!
tried the towel trick 6 times and kept getting the rings. i’m so pissed!!!! I actually thought is was going to work. how fucking dumb am I! rap a towel around my xbox for 10 minutes, what is that really doing to get it to work?
by the way, took my xbox apart turned it into 2 rings (don’t know how) but then fixed it from there. so FUCK the towel trick, microwave trick is the dumbest thing i’ve ever herd of! I’m 100% on bust a nut on bill’s side. why don’t u stick ur self in a microwave because it looks like u need to be fixed, SPACE CHIMP! lol. what other brilliant ideas are u going to think of now, jamming it into the toilet and shitting on it? what’s the difference? who else is on bust a nut on bill an my side?
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Hey all I can confirm what Harry said IS true – I was worried about trying the microwave trick but if u dont believe it – google it for yourselves – what a susceptor material is, what a bga chip is, the laws on lead free solder etc its all true..
I ended up going for it – first time it didn’t work but after letting it cool down for 30mins and trying again my xbox is fully functional and has been for 18months now – just thought i’d update everyone for all those who don’t believe it!!
I second that Dom,
2 years actually for me if you do it right and dont overdo it microwave trick is perfect
Ok it appears there’s been a few people who don’t understand what the microwave trick actually does because they havn’t learnt to READ (try going to school sometimes u fools).
Anyway OF COURSE if you put a metal spoon etc in the microwave by itself it will spark like crazy, thats because the electromagnetic radiation will be attracted to it, but what happens if you put a susceptor material in with it (google it you idiots)? All the radiation will target that INSTEAD of the spoon and you wont get a SINGLE spark.. Guess what the xbox has under the mainboard surrounding all the solder tracks? THATS RIGHT – SUSCEPTOR MATERIALS..
Anyway here is a previous post to the tools that dont know how to scroll-
Hi Arron,
Good to see the uninformed laughing at things they know nothing about. Of course if you put a spoon in the microwave it will spark like crazy!!
A microwave basically works by emitting electromagnetic radiation particles that are guided onto whatever object is in there via a waveguide.
Now as most people know certain objects attract these particles more than others. If you put some solids in along with liquids the liquids will heat up much more quickly than the solids.
If you put in metals with the liquids these will heat up faster as they are more attractive to the radiation.
The most highly rated attractive objects to the radiation particles are actually called ’susceptor materials’. If you put some of these in a microwave with virtually any other object you will notice the other object will remain cool to the touch UNLESS it is making direct contact with the susceptor materials.
Now what is interesting is these susceptor materials also act as an extremely effective anti static device. Due to some quality control issues involved with the manufacturing of the Xbox’s overseas (of course to save $) Microsoft made it mandatory that susceptor materials were manufactured to the underside of each and every Xbox 360 mainboard.
Why does all this matter and what does it mean?
Well, one of the main problems with the Xbox’s is due to American law (that after a certain year in the US – ANY device that could be used by children must have lead free solder – which has a higher melting point than ordinary solder.) Unfortunately this carries a higher risk when reflowing the solder used when seating the BGA chips, so Microsoft opted to be safe and reflowed the solder at a high temperature but not for a very long time – which over time can and does lead to dry joints (in the GPU and CPU!)
The towel trick gets the trick done by making your entire Xbox effectively a reflow oven, which is extremely risky as ALL the components are subject to very high operating temperatures (much higher than they’re rated to), so most likely it will temporarily fix your Xbox and over time it will fail – or it will just fail instantly!
The reason the Microwave trick is so effective is because you are virtually isolating all of the solder tracks (including the solder used for the BGA chips) from the rest of the components and devices used in the Xbox. This is because the susceptor materials attract almost ALL of the electromagnetic radiation and divert them to the solder tracks!
Now the reason why it is stated to put the Xboxs in the microwave for a MAX of 30 seconds at a time is mainly a case of ‘better to be safe than sorry’. As each microwave has different power ratings. What is recommended by most people is to put it in for around 20 seconds, let your Xbox cool down for 30mins, turn it on and try it out.. If it fails let it cool down again and repeat the process. This is because no matter how effective the susceptor materials are, there will always be a small amount of stray radiation that will slightly heat up other components, if you dont let them cool down before trying again you run the risk!
so be PATIENT!
I can almost guarantee anyone who has had a problem with this method has had issues as a direct result of not following these instructions.
LoL just reading some of these things and had to tell you if your going to tell people they cant read and then try and sound intelligent yourself, get the facts right first. Something here you said and I quote, “a microwave basically works by emitting electromagnetic radiation particals that are guided onto whatever object is in there via a waveguide,” and talking about a spoon sparking. YOU clearly have no idea what you are talking about! Microwaves DO NOT produce radiation or the entire world would have major health problems from standing near it while cooking food! Through the use of an electromagnet RADIO waves are produced… nothing else. A high intensity of radio waves cause water molecules in substances to vibrate faster and faster causing friction which causes heat. A spoon sparks because the metal alloys within begin to vibrate creating sparks, much like dragging a chain on the ground behind a vehical at about 40mph.
Anyways back to the XBOX part of all this, the reason the radio trick may be plausible is due to the solder which is all over the circuit board has a low melting point which absorbs the radio waves fairly quickly causing them to soften and become reseated where they were supposed to be correcting the 3 red light error.
They error more often than not is from people playing their systems for to long causing the boards to get hot enough over time loosening up the solder which in turn becomes unset and circuit connectivity becomes disrupted.
Though this may work, I do not recommend it. Just be an adult and send it in and have some patients. Microsoft will fix the problem free of charge. And again, it could work, then again you could completly destroy your system. So tell me is a 15-30 sec bet on a $300-$400 system realy worth it. Id say send it in to be fixed and spend the 4 weeks you wait outside for once being among other people. If your playing your system that much that it overheats and causes errors… get a girlfriend, or boyfriend whatever your preference. Go get laid. Enjoy life!
Wanker “One thing that worked for my friend is using an ice pack. After the Xbox got the lights we unplugged it immediately and put an ice pack on it while fanning it. It worked perfectly when we plugged it back in 15 minutes later. It’s been about a month since then I believe and it still works”
As has been said numerous f*CKING TIMES IT ONLY WORKS FOR A WHILE THEN FAILS> LEARN TO READ U F*CKING TWAT
MICROWAVE IS THE ONLY THING THAT WORKS BUT U DONT NEED IT NOW AS MICROSOFT EXTENDED THEIR WARRANTY YOU IDIOT
I was about to do this microwave/towel trick but since i’ve read the posts here, its clearly obvious who is right and wrong. The microwave/towel trick sounds so stupid, i can’t believe i was about to attempt it.
If the x bracket mod does work, why not do the mod then you won’t have to do the towell trick and/or microwave trick
Can someone tell me if doing the repair and getting rid of the x mount does always work?
no sometimes but most times no
this is what i did after i got the RRoD. i first took some maple syrup and poured it on my xbox, stcuk her in the microwave for 45 minutes on high. Then i sat back lit up a blunt of some premium marijuana and watched the sucker BURN!!!
I have an issue with an xbox 360 I am trying to get to work without any BS. I originally had a no video problem, by that I mean when I started it up it would be blank screen with no RROD and I could hear the audio when I put a movie in. I did the x clamp mod an followed it according to the tutorials online. I was thorough I cleaned the tops of the GPU and CPU to a nice shine and clean off the back of the heatsinks. I had to play around with the amount of washers used but to make a long story short it only works when I have only 1 nylon washer on the top so that the heatsinks are basically right on top of the microprocessors. It will play movies for hours without issue but only plays the game that I have for about 5 minutes or less but if I leave the motherboard and its components open without all the plastic casing on it will play for about a half hour or so if I’m lucky. I’ve tried 2 different dvd drives that I have and both work good but render the same game freezing result. Now heres what I am frustrated about:
1. Why will it play a movie for hours with no problem and freeze for a game in 5 minutes?
2. I only have 1 game madden 08 and I guess it has had problems with freezing. Is it just the game?
3. Is it freezing from overheating? But how can it overheat with all the casing off and it sitting in the open air?
4. I also tried the heatgun solder re-flow technique and was careful about it but there was no change in game performance. But why the F would someone stick a circuit board in a microwave? Who the F ever thought of that?
Any help or insight would be greatly appreciated as I’m frustrated and need some advice.
Iv done the towel trick twice now. The first was over a year ago and now i just did it today. Gues wat. It worked. now i don’t know how log it’l last but the last time i did it once again was over a year ago.
MICROSOFT still has not fixed the problem?
surprise surprise !! They extend the warrantee
for those Boxes that have not been opened.
So you Bite the bullet ,and send in your box
a mouth or so later you get back another box
and guess what it still has a faulty G.P.U. CLAMP
and will Fail Again.
My Advice is find out what the real problem
is ” a picture is worth 1000 words”
go to http://www.all-xboxrepair.com and read it. now you know
Who’se the idiot that brought up this “microwave trick” anyways… THATS THE MOST REDICULOUS THING I EVER HEARD OF ! Still cant stop laughing at that
Dude it works if u do it right.. Read Harrys explanation if u want.. I dont understand most of it but my xbox AND my mates both work now.. Just over 12 months for both of us so why laugh?
Okay my xbox E74 twice in one month.. I payed $40 to get it fixed by some other guys seeing i was out of my warranty. 2 months later it E74′d again… And i figured what the heck.. Lets fry the bastard.. Did the towel trick for 15 min and watched the incredibles while my xbox was burned it self to its previous status…(10 minutes cool down with a fan blowing directly on the xbox) It worked!
Now i have to wait and see for how long though…. I so need to get myself a Jasper… Manufacture date : 2006-07-27
HOW TO SAVE THE MICROSOFT 360 SEAL for reuse
take the unit out side or to a
open ventalated area
Cut a 1″x 3″ pice of a sponge.
Soak with lighter fluid. make shur its not dripping
apply to the sticker hold or tape down for
20min. Removel of the sticker should be far easyer
with little to no damage. PS dont for hevans sakes
stick your 360 in the microwave DUH .I have seen alot
of youtubs videos of clamp change but non of the
micro wave “TRICK” hmm i wonder why??
Harry,
At first I thought it would be nuts putting a Xbox 360 in a Microwave to fix the dreaded RROD. I had my doubts, but I could not believe my eyes, and ears for that matter which I will explain a little later.
RROD occurs on a daily basis for me. Ive even set my room to an icey 18 degrees just so I can get through a game of Gears Of War 2. This fails and my balls feel like ICE. Not to mention I got a Cold and missed 5 days of work.
Putting the 360 in the Microwave at first for 20 seconds, letting it rest for 30 minutes failed. Thinking its totally screwed I Microwaved it for 20 seconds on high, then let it cool down for 30 minutes, repeated the process for 10 hours straight as ive got nothing to lose. Behold after the last cooling period I had a Gears Of War 2 Session that lasted 8 straight hours and finally finished the game. I could barely get past 1 previously. Xbox Live works flawlessly also.
Another thing I noticed is that my drive has quiet’nd down also. Instead of a streaming jet engine I get a nice low pitched whiring sound. FANTASTIC! I can now play my games at low volume at night.
My next email will be to Microsoft. With this I have no idea why they havent given you a job investigating this issue.
Thanks Klaus,
I have a feeling they won’t be listening. A number of users have been posting on this forum that I strongly suspect are affiliated with Microsoft stating things such as ‘the microwave trick doesnt work it will explode your house’ etc. when its been proven time and time again it is the only safe solution that will not void your warranty and only takes 20 seconds!
Seeing as how there is metal in the xbox, I don’t really trust putting it in a microwave, even if only for twenty seconds. I’ve done the towel trick, and so far, it has been working
Ha! Microwave trick eh? Sounds dafter than WWE wrestling. Put a spoon in the mocrowave for 10 seconds and watch sparks flying off it, put a spoon in for a minute and say goodbye to your microwave.
I have tried the towel trick and it did work for a short while. Turned the x box off and on again and whoa! 3 red lights again.
Open it up, remove all the old thermal paste and re-apply. If you’ve still got warranty left then send it back.
Hi Arron,
Good to see the uninformed laughing at things they know nothing about. Of course if you put a spoon in the microwave it will spark like crazy!!
A microwave basically works by emitting electromagnetic radiation particles that are guided onto whatever object is in there via a waveguide.
Now as most people know certain objects attract these particles more than others. If you put some solids in along with liquids the liquids will heat up much more quickly than the solids.
If you put in metals with the liquids these will heat up faster as they are more attractive to the radiation.
The most highly rated attractive objects to the radiation particles are actually called ‘susceptor materials’. If you put some of these in a microwave with virtually any other object you will notice the other object will remain cool to the touch UNLESS it is making direct contact with the susceptor materials.
Now what is interesting is these susceptor materials also act as an extremely effective anti static device. Due to some quality control issues involved with the manufacturing of the Xbox’s overseas (of course to save $) Microsoft made it mandatory that susceptor materials were manufactured to the underside of each and every Xbox 360 mainboard.
Why does all this matter and what does it mean?
Well, one of the main problems with the Xbox’s is due to American law (that after a certain year in the US – ANY device that could be used by children must have lead free solder – which has a higher melting point than ordinary solder.) Unfortunately this carries a higher risk when reflowing the solder used when seating the BGA chips, so Microsoft opted to be safe and reflowed the solder at a high temperature but not for a very long time – which over time can and does lead to dry joints (in the GPU and CPU!)
The towel trick gets the trick done by making your entire Xbox effectively a reflow oven, which is extremely risky as ALL the components are subject to very high operating temperatures (much higher than they’re rated to), so most likely it will temporarily fix your Xbox and over time it will fail – or it will just fail instantly!
The reason the Microwave trick is so effective is because you are virtually isolating all of the solder tracks (including the solder used for the BGA chips) from the rest of the components and devices used in the Xbox. This is because the susceptor materials attract almost ALL of the electromagnetic radiation and divert them to the solder tracks!
Now the reason why it is stated to put the Xboxs in the microwave for a MAX of 30 seconds at a time is mainly a case of ‘better to be safe than sorry’. As each microwave has different power ratings. What is recommended by most people is to put it in for around 20 seconds, let your Xbox cool down for 30mins, turn it on and try it out.. If it fails let it cool down again and repeat the process. This is because no matter how effective the susceptor materials are, there will always be a small amount of stray radiation that will slightly heat up other components, if you dont let them cool down before trying again you run the risk!
so be PATIENT!
I can almost guarantee anyone who has had a problem with this method has had issues as a direct result of not following these instructions.
Harry,
I’m not sure why you seem to think this is a smart idea considering how easy it is to fry your 360 by sticking it in a microwave, nice wiki fats there but at the end of the day the fact remains it has bricked hundreds of boxes so far and an Xclamp replacement hasn’t and pretty much can’t brick it.
Tucker how do you know its bricked them?
I know 2 people that have used the microwave to permanently (so far) fix RROD. As long as u do it when it completely cold I dont think its too risky, just dont do it for like 5 mins like the noobs do and it should be ok. I did it for 15seconds on mine and that got it.
Xclamp sounds good I kno lotsa people have done it but from what I understand a fair few still fail after a while (u can see on ebay the amount of RROD consoles that have had xclamp replacements, notice none mention microwave damage tho?)
thats just my 2c!
Petesy
Just google it and you’ll see how many its ruined, just because its worked on 2 consoles doesnt mean it works mass scale and lets be honest is ether going to brick your xbox or the microwave.
The “noobs” you refer to are not noobs at all but people who are following the instructions on so called fixes on the internet, lts face it if 20 seconds in the mocrowave is long enough to reflow your CPU and GPU surely thats long enough for it to reflow the whole board… wait.. thats not a good idea at all is it!?
As for the xclap I have fixed more than I can keep count of not one has come back to me since and I have 3 of my own the main one I use has been repaired for over 12 months now and i’ve not had a single issue with it.
Xclamp requires you to be patient and stress test the console as much as possible afterwards before shipping it back to the owner and yeah after 5-6 hours of being turned on some do go RROD again so you tweak the bolta and try again, people who just whack 8 bolta in the console and expect it to work are the ones reporting it not working, people with no patience are the ones saying its a joke.
Ask anyone who repairs them for a living you ether reball the chips (correctly, not with a microwave but with a reballer) or do the xclamp replacement, or both.
Towels and microwaves are no way to repair any xbox, ever.
Oh and they wont mention microwave damage on ebay because noone will go anywhere near it, they usually just say “I tried to fix this but to no avail..” or some other BS when they know exactly what they have done to it.
Hi I cant reply to tucker for some reason..
But I had a look on google and cant find any xboxs the microwave has ruined except people who have put them in for 12 MINUTES lol!
Reflowing the entire board isn’t really a problem unless its overdone, its just going to melt the solder, then it will cool down and dry again.. If theres any other poor quality solder joints it will only fix them also.
Xclamp is probably fine for you then, but the microwave is ideal for those who don’t wish to open their xbox, or simply have one under warranty but don’t wanna go for 3-5 weeks without one! If they’re worried about damage they can always start low (around the 10 second mark) then work their way up.
Alright, I put the 360 in the microwave, 1 second later it was shooting sparks. Scared I pulled it out after 2 seconds, great reaction timing I know, is it normal for the 360 to shoot off sparks after such a little time in the microwave, and will the little red light ever leave when I plug it in?
Mate u must have left it still hot from the towel trick or something… I’ve seen the microwave trick fix 2 xboxs so far. As long as they’re cold when u put them in it will be fine. I did mine for 23seconds my mate was around 15 both worked..
I have done the towel trick a couple of times and it worked but recently ive been doing it and it hasnt worked wich kind of annoys me. I have taken it back to Microsoft and its worked for a while
( 1 year ) and just last night it fouled up again whilst I was playing C.O.D. 5 I got a reefund for C.O.D. from gamestation but my xbox 360 ran out of warranty and I am sort of giving up hope on the towel trick so is there any other ways i can fix it?
Yes. Try reading.
Have a look at one my thousands of other posts….
I don’t know why so many people are looking at thermal fatigue for this problem. I checked Microsoft and contacted support and they told me it was a power supply issue. My X Box had been sitting overnight with the power off and when I turned it on the first time in the day, I had the three red lights. However, before you contact support and they tell you to send in your console, check your connections. My power supply was showing green, leading the support tech to condemn my console, but I unplugged and plugged it back in and it works like a champ.