Xbox Towel Trick

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Posted on 2008-04-11

Last week my Xbox 360 got the dreaded rings of death when I was really looking forward to finishing Condemned 2. I switched it on, started playing and it locked up mid-game. I turned it off, back on again and I got the three red lights which basically means your Xbox is FUBARed - a hardware malfunction thanks to a design fault.

I’d heard rumours that if you can’t be bothered to send it back to Microsoft, you can try to fix it yourself by wrapping your machine in towels for 20 minutes.

The theory is you cover the air vents and make it overheat, thus making it somehow solder the loose connection back together. So, I went to the bathroom, laid my Xbox on the floor and wrapped it up nice and snug. 10 minutes later I checked back and there were only 2 red lights - a promising sign. I waited another 10 minutes, unwrapped the Xbox and held my breath. Would it work? Surely it can’t. I turned it back on and - the green lights rotated and the Xbox logo came on my telly. It was back from the dead! Unfortunately a week later it’s died again so I’m toasting it one more time before sending it back to Microsoft!

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Comments

  1. On April 12, 2008 mcuttle said: -
    Got a new one now (new model with HDMI it seems) so hopefully this won't happen again!
  2. On October 1, 2008 Kelly said: -
    Tried the towel fix guide and only worked for 15 min.

    this guy had the same problem and tried the guide he recommended. now it works.

    http://howtofixyourxbox.blogspot.com/
  3. On December 23, 2008 italic BIG AL said: -
    the best thing to do i would say....is to send it in to microsoft. it happened to me twice. i wish i could get my 600$ back...thats what i paid for mine when they first came out.i really enjoy this system....but man that damn ring of death,sure can mess ant ones day up. the towel might work...but like every one said maybe for a few hours or so. then you have a great chance of screwing some-thing else up. well im sending mine in,
    it only took about 3 weeks last time this happened. and yes im going to extend my warrenty for 24$.......its alot better paying 24 than....142$
    well good luck to all of you. ill find a better answer to fixing this ring of death in the future.,im throwing in the towel....im shiping my 360 elite.
  4. On January 7, 2009 Ruckusd said: -
    The towel trick causes permanent damage, and also i have an Elite, the Hdmi with 65nm chip and mine died too. no one is invulnerable. i thought so, but no one is invulnerable!
  5. On April 4, 2009 Person said: -
    So the towel trick isnt a good option if you want to try to fix your xbox? Just send it back in microsoft?
  6. On August 11, 2009 kaylie said: -
    I just tried this with my xbox 360 and it doesn't work at all and it screws up your xbox!!!!

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