Xbox 360 overheating - red light on power brick

[MeganJoanne | 365]

Okay, so playing Skyrim, well, actually just creating characters and then noticed the fan inside the brick was starting to make grinding noises and then a moment later, console shut down, red light on power brick. Well, fuck. And here for hours this morning it was actually working. But now, it was hot again. Ugh. And once again short lived joy turns to sorrow.

[a3quit4s | 4,096]

11 minutes ago, MeganJoanne said:

Okay, so playing Skyrim, well, actually just creating characters and then noticed the fan inside the brick was starting to make grinding noises and then a moment later, console shut down, red light on power brick. Well, fuck. And here for hours this morning it was actually working. But now, it was hot again. Ugh. And once again short lived joy turns to sorrow.

It had to be cheaper to buy a new power brick rather than spend hours repairing the old one

[MeganJoanne | 365]

Well, trust getting another one in shitty condition or buy a new generic which could be a piece of shit... not sure which is the more risky.

Anyway, fan exposed so I can see it, plugged it again, turned console on, fan not spinning, tapped it hard against the table a few times, it starts spinning again. Took fan completely apart, something I should have done to begin with, see more dust to be removed, cleaned it again washing the fan itself with soap and water. Reassemble once dry. Tried again. Fan not spinning, tapped it a few times, no response. Hmm. Then suddenly it started up on its own and is working again. Still, sounds like distant small airplane propeller, but at least not grinding and currently brick is only warm, not hot. Wondering if somehow there is issues with proper power getting to the fan, something else not running as it should in there.

[Jeevan | 8,910]

1 hour ago, MeganJoanne said:

Well, trust getting another one in shitty condition or buy a new generic which could be a piece of shit... not sure which is the more risky.

Anyway, fan exposed so I can see it, plugged it again, turned console on, fan not spinning, tapped it hard against the table a few times, it starts spinning again. Took fan completely apart, something I should have done to begin with, see more dust to be removed, cleaned it again washing the fan itself with soap and water. Reassemble once dry. Tried again. Fan not spinning, tapped it a few times, no response. Hmm. Then suddenly it started up on its own and is working again. Still, sounds like distant small airplane propeller, but at least not grinding and currently brick is only warm, not hot. Wondering if somehow there is issues with proper power getting to the fan, something else not running as it should in there.

Could need some lubrication.......not sure how that fan is, but could be clogged with dust, might be able to find a cheap fan somewhere and replace it totally.  

https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/XBOX+360+Power+Brick+Fan+Replacement/42127

look at that and see if that is similar to what u are experiencing.  These fans should be pretty cheap tbh so shouldn't be too bad to buy one from a vendor.  Just make sure the mount and everything matches up.  As well as the power supply, which are usually just universal plugs.

[Jeevan | 8,910]

@MeganJoanne if u have a part number google it and see.  I can't for the life of me find exactly what you need, but then again i dont have the part number either......

 

https://www.ebay.com/i/133360767560?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-117182-37290-0&mkcid=2&itemid=133360767560&targetid=940197478314&device=c&mktype=pla&googleloc=9016105&poi=&campaignid=9343999134&mkgroupid=101452701304&rlsatarget=pla-940197478314&abcId=1139336&merchantid=119251763&gclid=CjwKCAjwrcH3BRApEiwAxjdPTZFG70K23syI-5uVxFuUvviaYr0fu3D4Osj4kzOwHG4J7GkmX8G_TxoCnLkQAvD_BwE

might be the same one but not sure........sorry, i am invested in this now

 

https://www.ebay.com/i/282810248620?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-117182-37290-0&mkcid=2&itemid=282810248620&targetid=921377350772&device=c&mktype=pla&googleloc=9016105&poi=&campaignid=9344508364&mkgroupid=96003368313&rlsatarget=pla-921377350772&abcId=1139336&merchantid=113378877&gclid=CjwKCAjwrcH3BRApEiwAxjdPTRRV5cQEaE3KhDe-6kDTFSABUWpNta0CPvKAuVDLxjZvXwvjmRqFIRoCDEEQAvD_BwE

U have opened pandoras box of phil trying to help............

[MeganJoanne | 365]

Nah, fan is completely clear, disassembled, washed, and put back together. Just got to grinding then stopped working, and then sorta started working on its own randomly after I put it back together (okay, so I banged it a few times, wasn't working, what else could I do). Put brick up at an angle standing on one edge because those itty bitty feet they put on it really aren't enough to get that warm, or hot air away from it. So far, fan still going and temperature good, but then I haven't dared Skyrim again.

 

[MeganJoanne | 365]

Thank you Phillip, but I don't really want to spend money on parts when the issue could be more, don't know for certain, could be something else in the brick causing the fan to sometimes work, sometimes not. I'd get another adapter but even that given their prices I hesitate on (and most I am seeing on ebay look dirty, and then there are those knock offs which I don't feel would be trustworthy that they wouldn't blow up), and then possibly run into the same problem and repeating. Eventually, if it persists enough I may give in and buy another. For now it is a little project for me, until my attention level and patience wears thin and I give up and move on.

[Jeevan | 8,910]

4 minutes ago, MeganJoanne said:

Thank you Phillip, but I don't really want to spend money on parts when the issue could be more, don't know for certain, could be something else in the brick causing the fan to sometimes work, sometimes not. I'd get another adapter but even that given their prices I hesitate on (and most I am seeing on ebay look dirty, and then there are those knock offs which I don't feel would be trustworthy that they wouldn't blow up), and then possibly run into the same problem and repeating. Eventually, if it persists enough I may give in and buy another. For now it is a little project for me, until my attention level and patience wears thin and I give up and move on.

fair enough haha, i will keep an eye out for a cheap one if i can for ya  

[BlackVega | 583]

I think this console should be called Xbox 360 Degree Celsius

[MeganJoanne | 365]

Always though it was dumb how everything in these game consoles or nearly all electronics lay flat, horizontally, thus heat get trapped between layers or thick casing which tend to not be vented well enough, and the silly measly little fan that is only in one place, one side of it only I don't feel is enough. And then I saw the Xbox Series X a few months ago and though, wholy shit, about damn time, they built the insides vertically with fan and vent covering the whole top of it so that rising heat would not get trapped and exit the console with the natural airflow. As for how effective it will be will also be determined on the overall performance of everything inside of it but give how it appears to be set up it shouldn't be a issue for that one. As for my 360, it worked all day yesterday, had it on for many hours, stayed at a good slightly warm temperature. But then, and probably because I lifted it up to check it, shortly after it started grinding again. Took it apart, found out that it did this when the casing around the fan was too tight, so I loosened the screws a little and it stopped grinding and worked again as normal. So it is being sensitive. Also didn't stop after I turned off the console, looked into that and from my understanding that if any downloads are going on it will continue to stay on even though I pressed power off, so I unplugged it just to be on the safe side when I was going to bed early this morning.

[MeganJoanne | 365]

So, power brick buzzing and grinding still, and it seems random, will do it for a while and then suddenly stop, be it stop spinning altogether or just make less noise. Issue maybe with power getting to it, a failing somewhere in the brick? Maybe just the wires leading to the fan or something else...?

 

[MeganJoanne | 365]

Fuck it, ordered another one. Says "Cleaned & Tested", and is official microsoft version. Was trying to avoid having to buy another one but this thing is acting up too much to trust it without me sitting right there with it to watch over it or fiddle with it just to get it to work as it should. Do hope it will be as described and that everything will be good after I get it.

[OptOut | 8,883]

Hey Meg how's the 360 holding up? You got it sorted yet?

I started to have some considerable issues with my own one, leading on from the random system crashes etc. after I updated. I started playing the Orange Box collection, and although I was able to make it through Portal basically unscathed (one random crash), when I moved on to play the Half Life 2 episodes I couldn't play for more than 10 mins without the game hard freezing on me.

I was, however, able to rectify the situation, which may also come in handy for others with similar issues. Basically, I reformatted the HDD and erased the system cache. After this was complete I was able to play through the entirety of Half Life 2 Episode 1 without a crash, so I think this is something I would suggest to other people having problems. Certainly, I have seen MANY people suggesting erasing the system cache on your storage device to prevent a wide variety of crashing problems. 

Not sure how much this will help anyone, but thought it was worth bringing up!

[MeganJoanne | 365]

Well, have had the new used adapter for over a week and so far, working out just fine. It came in condition described and everything running fine.

Though have had issues with my controller, took that apart, found that the squishy pieces that lay under the buttons that have contact things on the bottoms of them to register the button presses, they were falling apart, one which stopped working had completely come off and caved in where it wouldn't fit back in place so I had another controller, a generic SNES one and used the rubber under button things, cut those into pieces to fit in place for the 360 controller buttons and those ones have been perfect since. Was still having trouble with the shoulder buttons, removed the springs in them that cause them to spring back in place because they are pointless and one would not stay and kept popping out thus misaligning the button, but since removing those springs they have worked fine. Now the analog sticks, they drift a lot and the left one grinds a little (maybe it needs oil, speaking of which, the whole inside was a mess, black specks of oil all over everything in there, cleaned all that up), character suddenly starts moving on their own or ways I don't want them to, not too much a problem so long as you pay attention, but what is a problem are the button press of each stick, left one sometimes responsive sometimes not, right I really have to press on that one hard, reserving both of these towards things noncombat. Problem with these things is that they are made cheap and pressing in on something that should be very precision only damages it over time, always thought this to be a shit ass design flaw, yet they all still continue to do it. I would love to be able to design a controller to my own liking, there would be buttons on the back, underside just on the inside of the grips for those ones that you use the sticks for, thus still in perfectly easy access and natural feeling and less stress on the analog sticks with all that constant pressing in on them that they get with so many of these games. Shoulder buttons, though not so much the trigger ones, need to be made better too because they are flimsy.

My little do-it-myself button repair below.

 

[OptOut | 8,883]

Oh cool, ha ha ha! That is definitely one square-ass damn PCB, lol!

I also have never been much of a fan of the whole "click stick" style buttons under analogue sticks. They're OK if you just need to press 'em once to like crouch or whatever, but if they expect you to MOVE the stick and click it at the same time that always feels super janky... I'm also not a fan of the LB and RB buttons either, I prefer the black and white buttons on the original XBOX pad.

Oh well, very happy to hear you've got your power adaptor sorted! And I feel as though I've got a good handle on my 360 right now too, but I'm ALWAYS ready for the next time it fucks up, lol!

[OptOut | 8,883]

OKAY, like 12 hours later, it's already fucked up again, lol, goddamn it!!!

So here's the thing I've managed to figure out. For some reason, whenever I open up the wifi settings, it causes some sort of internal system fuck up that leads on to random system and game freezing.

Now, ordinarily I don't even bother with any online stuff, I tried previously to connect my 360 to my home wifi but there must be something wrong with it because although I could connect it to my mobile hotspot on my cell phone, it would never go through on the wifi. However, EVERY time you select your profile to sign in it gives you a little option for going to turn on the internet settings. You can select NO and then it's fine, but the default option is YES. I accidentally pressed YES, and wouldn't you know it, the system started randomly crashing again from that point onwards.

I cleared the cache and it seemed to do the trick for a while, but then the crashes started again... Then I found out there are actually TWO caches you can delete, so I deleted BOTH of them and reformatted the HDD AGAIN! So far, that seems to have worked.

 

Anyway, so I am just gonna have to be extra careful not to open up my wifi settings accidentally on sign in, and I should be good. But GODDAMN if 360's aren't the fuckiest systems around lololol, you search for 360 issues online, and it's just an endless list of WILDLY varying ways they fuck up, overheating, crashing, red ring, scratching discs, disc read errors, HDD errors, the list goes on, MAN!!! 

 

[MeganJoanne | 365]

If it weren't for games that I already have for it, I would have gone for the more recent console. I thought it would be cheaper to go with another 360, and is, but is costing me more than I anticipated but still much less than an xbox one would with having to get several games over again because they want you to get the versions for that thus making the 360 ones not backward compatible. Jerks. I had to order another controller, the one I have, the analog sticks have been fussy since a month after I got the thing last year and so with not being able to get my character to respond or with it constantly drifting, I open it up to attempt to fix it, but no good, the parts are damaged, one of those little pieces works when it put it back after cleaning it, the other doesn't, so either I can only move side to side, or forward and backwards, not both. But doesn't matter, having to push so hard just to open a fucking menu screen got to be too much frustration. I did learn a little how they work though, second pic, the black rings inside the yellow side casings, that is where the movement sensoring is, and found that sliding something metal, aluminium across it caused my character to move. I could have ordered new ones of those little parts I removed in the third pic, but why bother when the stick buttons (on left side of analog stick housing) are such a pain to respond. One thing I can say about this, it has been an adventure, one of those puzzle solving kind, not sure how much I like that though. Anyway, my solution after failing to fix it, get another. I still wonder, there has got to be a better way to design these controllers, because what is here is so fragile and just too many extra little parts.