All machines will break down if they aren't given some minimal care. With the Xbox 360, this is especially true. The slim is a fairly stable machine but if your Xbox is an earlier model, then it will overheat and even get the ring of death if it isn't treated right. But there are a number of measures you can take that will add years of life to your console. Two of these will be discussed here.
The number one enemy of micro electronics is heat. The smallness of these devices means they are very poor at dissipating heat. This is because they have little surface area for cooling into the surrounding air. Their small size also means that internal heat is concentrated in a small mass so their temperature can rise very rapidly. That is why cooling systems are always used with these devices.
Since the motherboard inside the Xbox 360 is made up of micro components, it has the same vulnerability to heat. Because the cooling system is barely adequate, your console can easily overheat or run on the hot side. This prolonged exposure to heat over time will "wear down" the micro chips inside the console and reduce it's useful life. This slow "breakdown" can be further accelerated if your Xbox is used in dusty or poorly ventilated areas.
Burning out the motherboard components isn't the only problem caused by heat. The motherboard itself gets warped repeatedly over time which weakens the solder joints. If they develop cracks, then the console won't work.
An obvious but important rule for keeping heat exposure to a minimum is to avoid heat in the first place. Keep your game play down to a couple of hours at a time especially if the game is CPU intensive or the room is hot. Another rule that many people are unaware of is to keep the console idling for 20 minutes at the Xbox dashboard before shutting down the power. This lets the fans remove left over heat from your machine. The temperature can be brought down to a much lower level in idle mode because no new heat is being generated.
Failure to do this means that a lot of left over heat from your gaming session gets trapped inside the console. This heat eventually dissipates but takes longer to do so which increases the exposure time of your console to heat. This additional time does add up over the life of your Xbox.
Less exposure to heat means a longer life for your Xbox. That's simply the way micro components behave. This means you will be less likely to have overheating problems that bring on the two red light error and will make it less likely that you will ever see the red ring of death.
The number one enemy of micro electronics is heat. The smallness of these devices means they are very poor at dissipating heat. This is because they have little surface area for cooling into the surrounding air. Their small size also means that internal heat is concentrated in a small mass so their temperature can rise very rapidly. That is why cooling systems are always used with these devices.
Since the motherboard inside the Xbox 360 is made up of micro components, it has the same vulnerability to heat. Because the cooling system is barely adequate, your console can easily overheat or run on the hot side. This prolonged exposure to heat over time will "wear down" the micro chips inside the console and reduce it's useful life. This slow "breakdown" can be further accelerated if your Xbox is used in dusty or poorly ventilated areas.
Burning out the motherboard components isn't the only problem caused by heat. The motherboard itself gets warped repeatedly over time which weakens the solder joints. If they develop cracks, then the console won't work.
An obvious but important rule for keeping heat exposure to a minimum is to avoid heat in the first place. Keep your game play down to a couple of hours at a time especially if the game is CPU intensive or the room is hot. Another rule that many people are unaware of is to keep the console idling for 20 minutes at the Xbox dashboard before shutting down the power. This lets the fans remove left over heat from your machine. The temperature can be brought down to a much lower level in idle mode because no new heat is being generated.
Failure to do this means that a lot of left over heat from your gaming session gets trapped inside the console. This heat eventually dissipates but takes longer to do so which increases the exposure time of your console to heat. This additional time does add up over the life of your Xbox.
Less exposure to heat means a longer life for your Xbox. That's simply the way micro components behave. This means you will be less likely to have overheating problems that bring on the two red light error and will make it less likely that you will ever see the red ring of death.
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Having problems with your Xbox 360? Get Xbox trouble shooting advice about fixing the 3 Red Lights Error.
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