How to Fix Xbox 360 Red Lights Without Towels - What to Do When Your Xbox 360 Stops Working

By Dusty Thornton

Recently I've seen a story going around the internet that shows how to fix Xbox 360 red lights simply by wrapping your console in a towel. I decided to do a little research into this "towel trick" and give it a try and see what happened. You'll be interested to know what I learned. Not only how bad the towel trick is, but how to fix Xbox 360 red lights without it.

Why You Get The Red Ring of Death
The first thing I did was do a little bit a preliminary research on what causes the red ring of death. It's pretty complicated and it all has to do with a bad console design. Moral of the story...the Xbox 360 system gets too hot.

Because it gets so hot, and because some of the parts inside the system are poor quality, there is a certain heat sink clamp inside that starts to bend and warp due to the excess heat. When the clamp starts to bend it begins to put enormous tension on the motherboard. Eventually it bends it enough that something breaks--usually the solder connections on the board.

That's why you get the red ring of death.

What The Towel Trick Does
The towel trick involves wrapping your console in a towel and turning it on for about 30 minutes. Now before you try this listen up!

When you wrap your console in a towel for 30 minutes and turn it on, it traps all the hot air inside the Xbox 360. The intention of this little "trick" is to re-melt the cracked and broken solder connections. However, you are literally baking your Xbox 360, forcing the circuit boards to endure heat they weren't made to handle all for a fix that might last an hour before you start getting the red ring of death again.

Now you can imagine how bad this is for the other undamaged parts inside of the Xbox 360. Anyone who uses this runs the risk of permanently frying the internal parts of their console.
How To Fix Xbox 360 3 Red Lights Without Towels
Most people end up sending their console to Microsoft anyway. While that's a good way to fix your broken Xbox 360, it's also only available for those people who still have a warranty on their Xbox 360.

For the rest of us, having Microsoft repair our 360s would cost $140 (without a warranty).

However, I've learned about a very easy do-it-yourself fix (that doesn't involve towels) that you can use to repair your red ring of death--it's permanent too.

It's called the X-clamp fix. It involves the following basic steps:

1. Take the console apart. This can be done easily with a screwdriver and a knife to pop the case off.
2. Take the motherboard assembly out of the dissected console and take it apart. You will notice the heat sink clamps (2 X-shaped clamps)--take those apart as well.
3. Now you'll reassemble it using plastic washers between the clamps and the motherboard. This allows the clamp to flex without bending the motherboard.
4. Finally, put the console back together.

This 4 step fix is really easy and actually permanently fixes your Xbox 360. Not only that, but it also will significantly extend the life-span of your console (which makes it worthwhile to do even if your Xbox 360 isn't getting the red ring of death).

The X-clamp repair method is the only Xbox 360 repair that is permanent enough to guarantee you'll never see the RROD again.

I've just told you exactly How to Fix Xbox 360 Red Lights.

The Xbox 360 Towel Trick - Why You Mustn't Try It

By Dave Simpson

It can be devastating, as a gamer, when your beloved Xbox 360 starts to display the 3 red lights on the front, so you may be tempted to search on the internet for a free way to fix the problem.

Most of the time you will be told by these 'experts' to try the Xbox 360 towel trick. Before I go on to describe what the trick involves, and why its very dangerous, let's examine what causes the Xbox 360 red ring of death in the first place.

In a word, overheating, that's what causes the Xbox 360 3 red light error. In the early days, Microsoft sacrificed good looks for safety with the Xbox 360, and the cooling systems they put inside were not up to the job.There are 2 cooling fans at the rear but they aren't up to the job and the case is very narrow, and doesn't allow enough heat to escape. Add to this, the fact that the 2 main chips - the graphics chip and the main processor are both connected via a common heat sink and you have a recipe for disaster.The bad news is that by the time you find out about the problem its already too late.

The towel trick was devised by someone to fix this problem. If you want to try the Xbox 360 towel trick all you need is.. well, a towel. Just take a bath towel and wrap it around the console, switch the machine on and let it overheat for a few minutes. Although it seems hard to believe there is some good theory behind the madness of wrapping your Xbox 360 up in a towel. Basically, you are trying to heat it up to a point where the motherboard 'fixes itself' by allowing the solder on the bus to re-flow fixing the previous damage.

It should be obvious the problems and dangers with trying this. The very real danger of fire is present here. The only sure way to fix the 3 red light error is to get a good guide from the internet and perform the fix yourself. There are many guides available, all of them cheap, and the fix needs only a few simple tools and takes about an hour to do. Best of all its safe and permanent.


Hopefully I have convinced you not to try the Xbox 360 towel trick on your broken console. Instead, get a guide, and if you want to know what the best ones are check out my reviews HERE

Xbox 360 Red Light Fix - 3 Sure Fire Tips That Work

By Ashish K Arora

The Xbox 360 is among the most popular of all gaming devices available these days. In many instances entire families have got hooked to these games. If you are an avid gamer who just cannot leave your gaming device even for a minute, then you must be also aware of some of the repairs that you may have to deal with. The Xbox 360 red light fix is perhaps the most common repair that you may have to take care of from time to time. Even if your game console were to show the red light, you should not panic. It is quite an easy process to fix this problem, if you were to follow the top tips listed below.

Tip#1: This error usually means that your gaming device is having a hardware problem. One effective and simple Xbox 360 red light fix is to re-connect everything and then try turning on the unit.

Tip#2: If re-connecting the game console does not work, then you should try to open the console up. You can easily do it using some common household tools such as a screwdriver and a wrench. Once you open the console up, inspect the soldering connections on the main board. If your Xbox is not able to read disks, then you should make sure that your disks are absolutely clean. In many instances, you may even need to replace the DVD drive in your game console. This is one of the Xbox 360 red light fix that you can try on your own.

Tip#3: In most of the cases the Xbox 360 red lights problem occurs due to overheating of the unit. In such instances too you will need to open up the console. You will need to remove the two 'heatsinks' from inside the unit, clean them and then apply thermal paste on them. This is a very effective Xbox 360 red light fix.

Xbox 360 red light fix is something that you can do yourself, with some help from online DIY Video Guide. There is a complete online Video guide, using which you can fix the error easily and get back to having fun, within no time. Click Here

Xbox 360 Red Lights Fix Made EASY - Your 1 Hour Xbox 360 Red Lights Fix Guide

By Anthony Uccello

This is an Xbox 360 red lights fix article and it will show you the:

-the cause of Xbox 360 red lights

-what Xbox 360 red light fix will NOT work

-how to perform a safe and permanent Xbox 360 red light fix

The cause of Xbox 360 red lights

Heat! The cause of Xbox 360 red lights is heat!

As the motherboard heats up, it begins to flex. This flexing action causes a loosening of the GPU (graphics processing unit). Once the GPU comes loose, your Xbox 360 freezes and you have the red ring of death.

What Xbox 360 red light fix will NOT work

There is a rumor on the internet. This rumor says you can fix Xbox 360 red light errors by wrapping your system in a towel (while it's on). It is supposed to overheat your system.

To be fair, this technique works...for a little while. Each time you do it however your system will get worse and worse, and you make turn a temporary problem into a permanent one. Know this: 94% of the Xbox 360s with the red ring of death don't need new parts --- they just need a little tweak to get them up and running.

If you use heat on your system inappropriately (i.e. by wrapping your system in a towel) you risk permanent damage!

How to perform a safe and permanent Xbox 360 red lights fix

Yes, it is extremely frustrating to have red light errors. Your system freezes at the worst times, and you can't enjoy your games!

This Xbox 360 red lights fix is permanent and safe, but it is HIGHLY suggested that you get a professional Xbox 360 repair guide as it will have videos. Step by step videos will make the following process a lot easier.

The materials you will need are: screw drivers, arctic silver thermal compound (found at any computer store for only $1 or so), rubbing alcohol, and some nylon washers.

Here is how you do a permanent Xbox 360 red lights fix:

1. Take off the faceplate and cover

2. Remove the motherboard

3. Unscrew the X-clamp, add 2 nylon washers to the screws, put the screws back

4. Unscrew the heat sink and add 2 nylon washers under each hole. Also, put 2 nylon washers on the screws and screw the heat sink back on

5. Clean the GPU and CPU with rubbing alcohol and a q-tip (till it shines)

6. Apply arctic thermal compound over the CPU and GPU

7. Apply heat to the CPU and GPU for 30 seconds

8. Power it on and wait 15 minutes then power it off

9. Put it back together

After that you have permanently fixed your red light errors and your system will stop freezing on. In the extremely off chance it ever happens again, just repeat this process (and add a washer or 2).


Now you know the cause of the Xbox 360 red ring of death and you know how to fix it. You should check out a professional Xbox 360 repair guide as it will walk you through the whole process step by step.


The best thing about an at home Xbox 360 red lights fix is that you save about $100 and you can get it done in an hour or less (once you have the tools and arctic silver thermal compound).


Don't be held prisoner by Xbox 360 red lights anymore! Get back to care free gaming! Best of luck with your Xbox 360 red lights fix!

Here is your EASY step by step Xbox 360 repair guide so you can permanently fix your Xbox 360 red light errors! Click here to get back to gaming today, and fix your red lights problem once and for all. Don't pay a $140 repair bill and wait months to get it back---don't let your Xbox live membership go to waste!

Home repairs are safe and easy, and this guide is going to show you everything you need to do to, step by step, to fix red lights. Get back to "freezing-free" gaming today! Click here to gain access to your EASY Xbox 360 repair guide that will help you get your Xbox 360 up and running in under 1 hour---GUARANTEED. Remember: 94% of red light error Xbox 360s don't need new parts! Click here to gain access to the only Xbox 360 repair guide you will ever need to get your system up and running today!

Anthony is an avid gamer and bought his Xbox 360 the day it launched. Sadly his Xbox 360 needed repairs.