XBox 360 3 Red Lights - Preventative Measures

For those of you who didn't already know, your XBox 360 is most likely the most powerful computer you have in your house, more powerful than your laptop and even more powerful than your desktop. In terms of raw computing power, your XBox 360 is more like a high-end desktop on steroids. Ironically, it's that raw power that is the main cause of the XBox 360 3 Red Lights problem (aka "Red Ring of Death").

The electrons moving through the various chips in your XBox 360 create friction. That friction produces a tremendous amount of heat. It's not just the CPU that generates heat, although it is the main heat generator. The graphics chips also produce quite a bit of heat. As it turns out, the amount of heat produced is more than the XBox 360 designers anticipated. But to be fair, it not completely the hardware designer's mistake. Because a computer's CPU and the other chips only do what the software tells it to do. You see years ago, when the XBox 360 was still on the drawing board, some of today's best selling games didn't even exist. Like any technology, advancements occur at different speeds. In the case of the XBox 360, the games that are on the market now are pushing the limit of what the hardware is capable of processing (from a heat dissipation perspective). The good news is that you can be pretty sure that future generations of XBoxes (and other gaming platforms) won't have cooling problems. The lesson has been learned.

So the solution to the problem is to improve the dissipation of heat inside the XBox's main unit. Here's some low-tech options that could prevent you from experiencing the 3 red lights problem at all:

1. Be sure you put your XBox 360 in an open area, that is, not inside an entertainment console. This will maximize the dissipation of heat out of the XBox main unit.

2. Stand the XBox 360 unit vertically on its end and don't put it on carpeting (iff at all possible). Carpeting tends to clog up the cooling holes in the main unit.

3. I know, you don't want to hear this one. Limit your playing time. If you're hard core and play flat out, for hours and hours, you will probably have more problems than someone who plays less. Besides, it's not healthy to just sit on the couch drinking coke and playing games. There IS more to life ;-)

4. Install a supplemental cooling unit. This is basically an add-on fan system that improves the airflow inside the XBox 360 keeping the unit cooler. These add-on fans cost about $25 - $30, but they will save you more expensive repairs down the road.

5. Turn your XBox 360 off when you're not playing it. Give it a break and save electricity.

Take basic preventative measures for your XBox 360 and you will minimize the chances of future problems. If you already are having the 3 Red Lights Problem however, I've done a review of the top 4 fix-it guides that you can read and see if a do-it-yourself solution is right for you.