How To Keep Your Xbox 360 Cool

by Marc SandfordThe Xbox 360 is certainly one of the more popular game systems to hit the market over the last few years. This crowd pleaser of a product has one very dark downside: "the red ring of death".

The red ring of death is a flashing three quarter ring of light that signals the failure of a chip on the motherboard. This flaw has its origin in Microsoft's decision to get the product to market before a number of design and manufacturing issues could be resolved. A significant design mistake is a very weak cooling system that is barely able to keep the internal chips cool.

This frequent overheating inter-reacts with the design faults and bugs to produce the red ring of death failure mode. Therefore it is in your best interest to keep your Xbox 360 as cool as possible. How this is done is the subject of this article. Don't give up on your xbox if this happens to you. Many times the owners will give up and put a 'discount xbox for sale' classified in the paper or put it up on ebay for sale to keep from repairing the unit.

How To Keep A Xbox 360 Cool

The first order of business is to make sure that the cooling vents are kept unobstructed. This is probably very obvious to most people, but what is less obvious are the unintentional ways that the vents can be blocked. This frequently happens whenever the Xbox is placed on soft surfaces such as pillows, sofas, rugs, and beds.

The practice of placing the Xbox in an area that is closed in with no ventilation is yet another way in which people accidentally overheat their Xboxes. These areas include bookcases, racks, cabinets or being placed in a corner among a lot of other objects. This is a common type of oversight since this is how we arrange things to save space.

More of the Xbox's surface can be exposed to the air by tipping it on its side. You can also try pointing a small fan at it for more cooling.

Keep the Xbox away from all sources of heat. These are usually items such as radiators, heaters, stoves, and furnaces. Use the air conditioner when the weather is hot and humid. Try to avoid exposing your Xbox to direct sunlight.

The power brick needs to be kept cool as well. The power brick has it's own fan to vent out excess heat. However, placing the power brick in closed off areas with no ventilation is quite common. This is to be avoided. Keep it away from shaggy carpets and try to place it in elevated locations with plenty of exposure to the air.

The above suggestions are mostly preventative measures to be taken when your Xbox is new. However, if you've already experienced a "screen freeze", this is characteristic of excessive heat which has caused a chip to automatically shut down. Take this as a warning that greater effort is required to keep your Xbox 360 cool. Ignore this at your own peril since the "red ring of death" is sure to follow.

About the Author:

Marc Sandford is a gaming enthusiast and writer. Get Xbox 360 trouble shooting advice about fixing the Red Ring of Death.

how to keep your xbox 360 cool