Busted X-BOX 360...

For those of you who don't know, the Red Ring of Death (RROD) symbolizes the death of an X-BOX 360. It is happening to a lot to X-BOX 360's because of the video-game console market. The defect that causes these three red rings are four "heat sucking thermal pads" that are supposed to suck the heat out of four VERY important chips... These pads wear out after about 3 years. Microsoft used this brilliant solution to get the console out before other competitors like the PS3 and the Wii, instead of taking the time to rearrange the motherboard so that there was a fan on the otherside of the motherboard, or even put the important chips on the opposite sides which are cooler. I am extremely frustrated with Microsoft for their decision. But being somewhat of a computer geek, I decided to take my X-BOX apart (yes, I know this voids the warranty, but mine ran out in January) and see if I could solve the problem. I replaced the four heat sucking pads with four sets of two pennies wrapped in electrical tape and "glued" on with silicon-base thermal paste (which I got at Radio Shack for $2.99). After putting the X-BOX back together (correctly of course! ), I tried to start the system. EPIC FAIL. So, as a last shot, I employed one of my favorite little tricks, the towel trick (which involves intentionally overheating the console by running it while it's wrapped in towels). Success! If you have any questions about this process, there are videos on youtube, or you can ask me for help.

-Jesse