XBOX 360 Reflow with Heat Gun Tutorial
IntroductionThis Tutorial will teach you how to reflow a xbox 360 includeing 3 Red Ring, RROD, E-74 . Will take you step by step in the what you need to do for a Proper Reflow, using a Heat gun and not damaging anything. I have used this method many times and have had great sucess.
You have to take in condsideration, that if you do not pay attention to what your are doing while doing this reflow you can cause damage to your xbox 360 and to yourself If your not careful. We don't want or need you catching your house , yourself or endangering anyone around you for this fact.
***ALWAYS CHECK THE MOBO OVER BEFORE REMOVING FROM CONSOLE OR REFLOWING LOOK IT OVER GOOD TO CHECK FOR MISSING COMPONETS BLOWN CAPS ANYTHING UNUSUAL***Parts Needed - Artic Silver 5 Thermal Paste(Radio Shack,Ebay)
- Artic Clean Cleaner and Purifier(Radio Shack , Ebay)
- NO CLEAN FLUX(Ebay)
- Eye Dropper(walmart,ebay usually comes with the No Clean Flux when bought off Ebay)
- Paint Mask so you don't have to breath the fumes
Tools Needed Difficulty rating: 4/5
Average Time to Complete: 45mins - 1 hour This includes disassembly of the xbox and back together. with 20min cool down time.
Notes: Make sure your not near anything Flameable and Please note the heat gun is not a toy and becareful when placing it or setting it down somewhere can cause things to catch on fire or melt things while it is still hot, After using it, and the griddle will remain very hot.
Do Not move the board after it has heated. Might knock off small components or damage the board if you move it.
Make sure your in good ventilation, meaning some where open and would suggest using a painters mask to keep fumes away from inhailing.
Step By Step Tutorial 1- Clean off all the thermal paste before reflowing. Also For the E-74 Error , I would use No Clean FLux On the GPU and H(ana) chip can be applied with a eye dropper usually comes with the No Clean Flux Just let it run under neath the GPU and The H(ana) chip and make sure to wipe off any excess on the mother board
2- Preparing to set up for the Reflow using the 10-32 Stainless Steel Flat head screws space them out so the board will site level on them and not wobble around while reflowing with the heat gun
[smg id=2667]Make sure you clean all the thermal paste off before Reflowing [smg id=2668][smg id=2669]
3- Now that you have the board set up as shown in the pic You can now start to pre-heat the board by turning on the griddle and setting the temperature to 400 degrees and let it sit there for about 10 Minutes, if you buy the Infrared Heat gun you can check tempatures of the Griddle and the Mother board temps as it heats up, I usually let it sit and check it , till the board gets around 220 degrees before I start my actually Reflow with the heat gun. Once its heated "DO NOT TOUCH OR MOVE THE MOBO"
4- Now that your mother board is heated up you can start the reflow process.
5- Turn on the heat gun set the setting to around 400 to 425 degrees, and working in a circular motion over the CPU and GPU you want to stay about 1 1/2 inches to 2 inches above the CPU and GPU, conitiuning to do this for 5 minutes back and forth over the CPU and GPU and while doing this you can check the tempurature with your infrared thermal gun to keep an idea of how hot your getting the mobo. I ususally get the CPU and GPU around 400 degrees.
6- Make sure you stay away from the Capacitors, they can get extremely hot and catch fire, and start to leak, which then the mobo will need them to be replaced.
7- After 5 minutes of reflowing, you want to turn off the griddle, and turn down the heat gun to its lowest setting, and slowly go over the entire board , stay about 6 inches away from the mother board now , we are just helping it cool down at this time, after about 2 or 3 minutes of this on the lowest setting you can stop turn off the heat gun and becareful where you set it down, let the mobo cool down on the griddle for 20 Minutes. and before moving check the tempurature. you want it around 90 degrees before moving or touching it.
8- Now your ready to apply your Artic Silver 5 paste, first clean the chips with the purifier, to there nice and shinny then a Very THIN COAT OF AS5 ( Artic SIlver 5 Thermal paste) then its ready for reassembly. and you should have sucessfully, Reflowed your xbox 360.
FAQ/ Troubleshooting- Careful not to apply heat in one spot at all times will warp the board.
- Stay away from capacitors and keep moving and a steady circlurlar motion when Reflowing
- Always becareful
- I have had issues where I have Reflowed it and got other errors or even the same RROD can usually Restart it and will work or may have to reflow again. depends on if it was ever done before by someone and they did something wrong
- Always Check the board over before Reflowing and After
- If the motherboard is warped before you start , Don't worry its fixable
"This Tutorial Took me longer then the whole process of doing a Reflow.
