Don't you just hate it, you get all geared up to sit down and enjoy a few hours of playing your favorite xbox game and low and behold you are presented with the 'dreaded red ring of death' where there used to a series of nice green lights. Or what can be more frustrating is when you are part of the way through a level of your favorite game and the next segment fails to load and once again the red light ring shows it ugly face.
The good news is that this doesn't have to mean the end of your beloved console. It doesn't mean that you have to send it off for repairs and wait weeks for its return either. There are ways that we can restore the red lights back to green with a little bit of time and basic household tools, but before you go tearing the thing apart there is a couple of things that should be done first.
Soldering Supplies
The number of red lights showing indicates what type of problem that you may be having. If your machine is showing four red lights you have the easiest fix of them all. Four red lights indicates that the AV plug is disconnected from the unit and the fix, well that is pretty obvious! One red light indicates a hard drive failure and will require a bit more of a look and three red lights indicates a hardware failure which will also need a bit more of your attention. Although these last two sound bad they can be overcome.
The first thing to do is to turn the unit off and let it sit for a while to expel any built-up heat that may be causing the problem. Be sure to check that the ventilation grills of the machine have adequate ventilation and that the machine has a good supply of fresh air around it. For example, instead of leaving it in a drawer or cabinet take it out and place it on an upside down box. Having it off the floor also aids in dissipating any unwanted heat. When you are satisfied that the machine has cooled down, fire it up and see what you have.
If the problem persists and you don't want to wait for Microsoft to take their merry time fixing it and charge you a pretty penny or your machine is out of warranty there is no need to stress. A quite common cause of this type of failure is that the solder joints inside the machine become brittle and crack due to the extreme heat inside the unit. The type of solder used has also been a topic of contention as it is believed to be lead-free and prone to problems once exposed to heat over a period of time, once again this problem can be overcome.
Contrary to popular belief the 'red ring of death' does not necessarily spell the end to your gaming days and with the right information to guide you through you can expect the machine to make a full recovery from it's near death experience. Once again the smile will return to your face when you have a fully functioning console that you saved yourself time and money with by repairing it yourself!