Care and maintenance is the least of my concerns when I purchase a new electronic toy. The only thing that matters to me is finding the start button and enjoying myself.
However, if we are talking about an Xbox 360, you can’t afford to neglect proper care. Believe it or not, you can induce overheating in the console in a few hours if you aren’t careful about where you place it. Too much heat can cause the red ring of death and lead to permanent damage.
Other types of mistakes may take more time before you experience problems but these mistakes can still damage your machine. This article will show you how to minimize your risk of getting the ring death through proper care and maintenance of your console.
Take great care in your choice of where to keep and use your Xbox. There are a number of environmental hazards to be aware of. These are:
1.) Inadequate ventilation.
The console is a powerful electronic machine that generates a lot of waste heat. To cope with this, it has a number of fans that draw in air to keep the electronics cool. Therefore, there must be plenty of open space to allow these fans to draw in enough air.
If you are using in an entertainment center, it should be open on all sides including the back. Don’t allow clutter to build up on or around the console. It can potentially block the fan inlets and will act as an insulator if it is stacked up against the machine.
2.) An overheated environment.
Placing your Xbox in a wide open space won’t help if the environment itself is too hot. Sources of heat such as a furnace or wood stove must be avoided.
Less obvious sources of heat are other electronics placed next to or on top of your Xbox. Beware of direct sunlight coming in through the window.
3.) Dust and cigarette smoke.
Dust is a kind of silent killer that gets worse over time if you don’t stay on top of it. It can block the fan intakes or get sucked into the console.
If it builds up on the motherboard, it will insulate and trap the heat generated by the electronics causing your Xbox to overheat. This problem is made worse in the presence of cigarette smoke which contains sticky tars that cause dust to bond to the motherboard. Once the dust has bonded into place, it is next to impossible to remove.
Millions of people around the world are needlessly suffering from the red ring of death because of poor care and maintenance. Follow the above suggestions so that you don’t become one of these statistics.
Do you have an Xbox 360 which operates too hot? Get Xbox troubleshooting advice about repairing the Xbox 360 3 Red Lights Error.