3 red rings

[huddy]

We've an Xbox for about two years that has 3 red rings which is out side the standard 1 year warranty. However, according to the MS website, warranty for 3 red rings is extended out to 3 years outside the basic 1 year.

http://support.xbox.com/en-GB/xbox-360/ ... rranty-faq

My console has three flashing red lights or an E74 error. Is this covered by warranty?

The warranty period for three flashing red lights and the E74 error is three years from the original purchase date of the console. If your console is out of the three-year warranty period, you can still receive console repair service for a fee.

When trying to raise a service ticket, it states that the box is out of warranty and is charging me the full service charge. I've tried contacting their customer services dept via the online and they're claiming that's only the year, despite their website stating otherwise..

Wasn't sure what to do next or if anyone had any advice?

[Frenzic]

Theres a shop on bramford road in ipswich called kgd electrics that will repair the red ring of death, mite be worth giving them a look. I think they charge 20 or 30 quid for the repair though and they sell them for 50-60 quid.

[pgi947]

The cheap repairs are just that, forced overheat reflow, unless they have a bga reflow table it will likely rear it's head again.

iirc the 3 year warranty was for the non hdmi variant.

[Frenzic]

The cheap repairs are just that, forced overheat reflow, unless they have a bga reflow table it will likely rear it's head again.

iirc the 3 year warranty was for the non hdmi variant.

Your right, he did mention that the repair usualy only lasts a few months if i remember, forgot to add that

[FullMetalTony]

iirc the 3 year warranty was for the non hdmi variant.

^ This ^
MS sorted their red ring and E74 (scaling chip) issues for the slim/hdmi version onwards.
If you get either on a slim/hdmi console then that's very unlucky.
I had to have a couple of consoles repaired by MS for this, every time they swapped out the motherboard.
I've done the solder reflow a couple of times on PS3's, one actually made it a year before giving up again
No DIY permanent fix is available for the Xbox though, even the X-clamp fix was never permanent, the early 360's were just poorly designed from the outset

[huddy]

That makes sence tbh. My son had 3 red rings on his but it was the none hdmi version whereas this one is.

Send of is £59 inc shipping and if it can't be fixed you get a refurb.. that might the best bet it seems.

[OverFienD]

Mine still works because it only comes out at Xmas for lips
had the same one for seven years now..

[ALXAndy]

God has done you a favour.

[jh30uk]

Towel trick as temp solution but you can buy kits on e-gay to supposedly fixes the issue.

I fitted one for a peep and have never heard back from him since it worked so assume its ok.

Basically its a bracket like you get with air cooler heatsinks that presses the IHS down tighter and you run it without the fan and let it overheat once bolted down and this reflows the solder (so long ago I forget all the details).

[pgi947]

Aye the towel trick as the quickest dirty reflow method, xclamp fix helped slightly, but ultimately it's downfall was poor board retention and lead free solder (you can thank the tree huggers for that). It was never truely fixed until the slim variants (28nm?) But was too little too late.

Tbh £59 to have it sorted by Microsoft doesn't sound like a bad deal at all. You'd be at least half that getting someone to do a half arsed repair. Worst case they put a new board in, best case (most likely) they'll ship you a refurbished unit.

[ALXAndy]

ROHC solder sucks balls. Seriously, thousands if not more GPUs have all died when there is absolutely nothing wrong with them.