Add another 360 to the MS graveyard...well..almost...
Discussion
WARNING - do not try what i did.You may set fire to something or have
components blow up in your face etc etc
As you may or may not know, my 360 was ripped open as soon as i got it.
I removed the heatsinks, added arctic silver thermal paste, drilled a hole
in the side, added my own fan, treated her with love and respect (mostly)
so i was curious to see how well it lasted.
It died this morning.Even using the "hidden" red light code method to see
what the error was yielded no info."unknown error" it was listed as.
It would flash 4 reds, 4 reds, 2 reds and then 4 again using the above
tactic.
However, there is a sort of happy ending because i was curious to know
whether these sugegstions of wrapping it in a towel or using a heat gun
really worked.
So, i took it all to bits, removed the heatsinks and front button panel and
lobbed it under the grill in the top oven for 10 mins
I kept checking it and opened and closed the door etc until it was really hot
to touch (had to mak sure none of the plastic bits on the mobo started to melt)
and then i took it out, cooled it with a fan and plugged it back in.
Well i never, over 2 hours later and it is still working.For how long is anyones
guess of course, but it did the trick for now.I tried all the usual methods before
this btw - dozens of times in fact, so believe me when i say it was deffo dead.
I have yet to put it back together, in fact i may not bother now and am currently
using it as the pic below shows.I spun the rear fans around and aimed a small desk fan
at it for now.
Will let you know how it goes!
components blow up in your face etc etc
As you may or may not know, my 360 was ripped open as soon as i got it.
I removed the heatsinks, added arctic silver thermal paste, drilled a hole
in the side, added my own fan, treated her with love and respect (mostly)
so i was curious to see how well it lasted.
It died this morning.Even using the "hidden" red light code method to see
what the error was yielded no info."unknown error" it was listed as.
It would flash 4 reds, 4 reds, 2 reds and then 4 again using the above
tactic.
However, there is a sort of happy ending because i was curious to know
whether these sugegstions of wrapping it in a towel or using a heat gun
really worked.
So, i took it all to bits, removed the heatsinks and front button panel and
lobbed it under the grill in the top oven for 10 mins
I kept checking it and opened and closed the door etc until it was really hot
to touch (had to mak sure none of the plastic bits on the mobo started to melt)
and then i took it out, cooled it with a fan and plugged it back in.
Well i never, over 2 hours later and it is still working.For how long is anyones
guess of course, but it did the trick for now.I tried all the usual methods before
this btw - dozens of times in fact, so believe me when i say it was deffo dead.
I have yet to put it back together, in fact i may not bother now and am currently
using it as the pic below shows.I spun the rear fans around and aimed a small desk fan
at it for now.
Will let you know how it goes!
You press and hold the controller sync button on the front (round white one) then press the eject button. If it's all 4 flashing, it's a 0, 1 is 1, 2 is 2, and 3 is 3. So the code the OP gave is 0020, which is exactly the same one mine died with, and according to the power of the interweb - 0020 is still unknown.
I took mine apart and purposely cooked it (took the airflow guide off and ran it till it shut off with the two red lights meaning "overheat" ) but it didn't work... towel trick worked twice... Roll on a new core pack with the extended warranty!!!
Edited to add - to the OP, your CPU heatsink is on the wrong way round - it's meant to be fins front to back, not left to right (although this might be deliberate due to the orientation of your fan)
I took mine apart and purposely cooked it (took the airflow guide off and ran it till it shut off with the two red lights meaning "overheat" ) but it didn't work... towel trick worked twice... Roll on a new core pack with the extended warranty!!!
Edited to add - to the OP, your CPU heatsink is on the wrong way round - it's meant to be fins front to back, not left to right (although this might be deliberate due to the orientation of your fan)
Edited by Frederick on Saturday 26th May 17:55
--==SECONDARY ERROR CODES==-
The specific type of hardware failure can be determined by a "hidden" error code
Turn the xbox 360 on, and wait till the 3 red lights are flashing.
Press and hold the sync up button (the small white one), while holding that button press the eject button.
The LEDs will now blink the first number in the code (as described below).
Release the eject button and press it again.
The LEDs will now blink the second number of the code.
Release the eject button and press it again.
The LEDs will now blink the third number of the code.
Release the eject button and press it again.
The LEDs will now blink the forth number of the code.
Release the eject button and press it again.
The LEDs will go back to the 3 red flashing lights.
You should be able to determine the difference between the 3 flashing lights and the error code lights by the rate in which they flash.
Here is how you interpret the LEDs to get the code number:
All four lights flashing - 0
One light flashing - 1
Two Lights flashing - 2
Three lights flashing - 3
0001 power supply problem
0002 Network Interface problem
0003 Power problem could be the PSU could be the GPU/CPU, somehow the console isn't getting clean power from the power supply.
0010 over heating
0011 over heating - If you are receiving this error after disassembling your console make sure to all 8 of the heatsync screws are tightened securely to the board/heatsink holes.
0012 over heating
0013 over heating
0020 (Not yet known, possibly overheating)
0021 DVD Drive Time out - Can be caused by problems with a firmware flash. This is also speculated to sometime be caused by a problem with the southbridge chipset on the motherboard.
0022 GPU Error / GPU Overheating
0023 (not yet known)
...
0101 (not yet known)
0102 unknown error
though it's most likely GPU related literally means the console does not know what is wrong. possibly a short or cold solder joint somewhere. So far there is 1 major theory for what causes most of these errors is that the Ram, CPU, or GPU are not soldered properly to the mother board due either to poor manufacturing or excessive heat up and cool down cycles that stress, weaken and eventually break the soldered connection.
There are two theories to fixing this one deals with the "X" clamps that hold down the chips. The other involves re-Heating the chips. DO NOT attempt either of these if your console is still under warranty. If your console is still under warranty return it to the store where it was purchased or call MS to have it replaced. I have also heard of limited success by simply switching the AV cable from "HDTV" mode to "TV" mode.
0103 CPU Error/ CPU Overheating - see solution for error 0102
0110 Memory Error / Memory Overheating - see solution for error 0102
...
0200 (not yet known)
...
1000 (not yet known)
1001 (not yet known)
1002 (not yet known)
1003 Hard Drive Error... It could be a problem with the Hard Drive itself or a problem with the internal connection to the hard drive, Try removing the hard drive and playing without it
1010 Hard Drive Error, Can be caused buy a corrupt or missing eProm.
1011 (not yet known)
1012 (not yet known)
1013 (not yet known) possibly a dashboard update error
1020 (not yet known)
1021 (not yet known)
1022 AV cable error... There is a problem with the AV cable, try using a different AV cable. (could also be a problem with the encoder chip)
1023 DVD drive not connected, connect DVD drive to boot
1030 (not yet known)
1031 (not yet known)
1032 (not yet known)
1033 (not yet known)
...
1444 and up There is no "4" in the error codes four lights is a "0" go back and check your code again.
The specific type of hardware failure can be determined by a "hidden" error code
Turn the xbox 360 on, and wait till the 3 red lights are flashing.
Press and hold the sync up button (the small white one), while holding that button press the eject button.
The LEDs will now blink the first number in the code (as described below).
Release the eject button and press it again.
The LEDs will now blink the second number of the code.
Release the eject button and press it again.
The LEDs will now blink the third number of the code.
Release the eject button and press it again.
The LEDs will now blink the forth number of the code.
Release the eject button and press it again.
The LEDs will go back to the 3 red flashing lights.
You should be able to determine the difference between the 3 flashing lights and the error code lights by the rate in which they flash.
Here is how you interpret the LEDs to get the code number:
All four lights flashing - 0
One light flashing - 1
Two Lights flashing - 2
Three lights flashing - 3
0001 power supply problem
0002 Network Interface problem
0003 Power problem could be the PSU could be the GPU/CPU, somehow the console isn't getting clean power from the power supply.
0010 over heating
0011 over heating - If you are receiving this error after disassembling your console make sure to all 8 of the heatsync screws are tightened securely to the board/heatsink holes.
0012 over heating
0013 over heating
0020 (Not yet known, possibly overheating)
0021 DVD Drive Time out - Can be caused by problems with a firmware flash. This is also speculated to sometime be caused by a problem with the southbridge chipset on the motherboard.
0022 GPU Error / GPU Overheating
0023 (not yet known)
...
0101 (not yet known)
0102 unknown error
though it's most likely GPU related literally means the console does not know what is wrong. possibly a short or cold solder joint somewhere. So far there is 1 major theory for what causes most of these errors is that the Ram, CPU, or GPU are not soldered properly to the mother board due either to poor manufacturing or excessive heat up and cool down cycles that stress, weaken and eventually break the soldered connection.
There are two theories to fixing this one deals with the "X" clamps that hold down the chips. The other involves re-Heating the chips. DO NOT attempt either of these if your console is still under warranty. If your console is still under warranty return it to the store where it was purchased or call MS to have it replaced. I have also heard of limited success by simply switching the AV cable from "HDTV" mode to "TV" mode.
0103 CPU Error/ CPU Overheating - see solution for error 0102
0110 Memory Error / Memory Overheating - see solution for error 0102
...
0200 (not yet known)
...
1000 (not yet known)
1001 (not yet known)
1002 (not yet known)
1003 Hard Drive Error... It could be a problem with the Hard Drive itself or a problem with the internal connection to the hard drive, Try removing the hard drive and playing without it
1010 Hard Drive Error, Can be caused buy a corrupt or missing eProm.
1011 (not yet known)
1012 (not yet known)
1013 (not yet known) possibly a dashboard update error
1020 (not yet known)
1021 (not yet known)
1022 AV cable error... There is a problem with the AV cable, try using a different AV cable. (could also be a problem with the encoder chip)
1023 DVD drive not connected, connect DVD drive to boot
1030 (not yet known)
1031 (not yet known)
1032 (not yet known)
1033 (not yet known)
...
1444 and up There is no "4" in the error codes four lights is a "0" go back and check your code again.
Excellent 
Since my first died I've had a desktop fan rigged up directly behind it blowing cold air across the vent holes. Hopefully that will keep things that little bit cooler, especially as summer is here now. The fan seems quite effective at dissapating the heat I do have to say, so fingers crossed.
Phil
Since my first died I've had a desktop fan rigged up directly behind it blowing cold air across the vent holes. Hopefully that will keep things that little bit cooler, especially as summer is here now. The fan seems quite effective at dissapating the heat I do have to say, so fingers crossed.
Phil
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