If you have an Xbox 360 console, then there is one thing that you will fear or try to avoid more than any other and that is the red ring of death.
The red ring of death basically means that when you turn on the console and the red light in the lower right corner is flashing, which means there is a hardware failure. Since the launch of the consoles, there have been major issues with the red lights being displayed and it is rumored that about one in five consoles will end up with this error.
Before you rush out and call Microsoft customer service, it’s important to know that a different combination of red lights can mean different things. If you look at the power button, you will see four different dials and depending on the combination of dials that are flashing, it can mean different things.
For example, if you see the two red lights on the left side flashing, then your console is overheating and you can correct this error simply by turning off the console and leaving it for a good few hours. Another thing you can do about this error is to get a vacuum cleaner and suck all the dust out of the side and rear vents, as the accumulation of dust can contribute to the overheating problem.
Another problem that is easily solved is the 4 red lights flashing and this is not the red ring of death. All you need to do is check that your AV cable is firmly plugged in and also check that it is firmly plugged into the TV, then it should be up and running.
The main issue you should be aware of is when 3 red lights are flashing as this means you have a general hardware failure and more specifically it means that the main chips inside your console have burned out. There are many different speculations as to why the 3 red lights occur, but one of the most plausible is that the two main chips, the CPU and the GPU, are simply burned out and shut down to prevent motherboard damage.
So what can you do if you have the red ring of death on your Xbox 360?
One thing you can do if you still have your console under warranty is simply take it to the store you bought it from and ask for a replacement or refund. If your warranty has been exhausted, you really only have a few options to fix the problem.
The first thing you can do is buy a new console, however you may have the same problems again and it is a lot of money to spend every time this happens. You can also call Microsoft customer service and they will take care of picking up your broken console and repairing it for you. The cost for this is about $ 140 and it normally takes around six weeks to return the console to you.
Probably the most aggravating part of this is the amount of time it takes for the Xbox to fix itself and if I have seen stories of people arriving on the Xbox mixed with someone else’s and even lost in posting. There are also cases of people having the same problem again and having to send the Xbox back up to four or five times!
In my opinion, the best option to get rid of the red ring of death as soon as possible is to fix it yourself. Some people would argue that this is not possible and that it is too complicated, however there are step-by-step instructional videos and guides that can be found online that will provide you with all the information you need to repair your Xbox 360 at home.
Having reviewed many of these guides, I can safely say that most of them do not require any technical skills or special abilities and provide an easy way to fix the red ring of death.
