Wah! Had mine about five years, maybe more. Always thought I had a good un, but tonight after my boy switched it on I got the dreaded three red quarters..
Can I do anything? Is it fixable and is it expensive?
I’m having enough trouble justifying a £20 set of matchmakers for my bike at the mo so doubt I’ll be allowed to buy a new one!!
Help!
(edit: it’s an xbox btw..)

Search the interweb, plenty of guides on how to fix the ring of death, you will need to be comfortable opening the xbox up and you will need some bits n bobs but most of the guides are quite straightforward and easy to follow.
Fixed my lads one a couple of years ago and it’s still working.

from what i understand, the fault is a theromstat that has gone wiggy.
it is designed to turn it off when it gets too hot, but the theromstat fails and it is just “off” all the time.

Main fix i have seen on the internet is wrap it in a towel, block up its vents, and leave it on for a few hours.
it gets SO hot it ruins the thermostat completley, and comes back on, without thermal protection.

strikes me this is a gash idea, and you would be better off looking up the specific failed part, and cutting it out or replacing it (crack out the soldering iron and maplins catalogue)

fwiw, the new ones dont have the problem. (it was recognised and fixed)

little research

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_360_technical_problems

look up (somehow) which generation box it is.
even though all the same shape, there were many versions of it apparently.
if its a few years old it could well be an early version?

http://www.instructables.com/id/Fix-the-Red-Ring-of-Deathwithout-towels/

maybe the towels trick is supposed to soften the solder and reconnect brittle joints?

my ps3 got yellow light of death. so opened it up, put it under towels, and put the hair-dryer on the cpu( you are meant to use a hot air gun) . it gets really hot and then you wait until it is cold (about 30 mins) before you touch it. i put it back together and it worked!!! so i flogged it before it happened again!
when you get it to turn on you feel so satisfied so you boast about it for half an hour…

Mate, that happened to mine last year. Contact Microsoft, they give you an address, ship it off, 3-6 weeks later fully working xbox is back. All free, including I think, the postage. Excellent customer service.

It’s out of warranty so I don’t think Microsoft will honour it. I’ve repaired a few using guides on the Internet. Once you open it the warranty seals will read as void, so check your warranty first. Once it’s been opened you won’t be able to trade it in or anything.

Good luck.

My boys fixed a couple by covering with towels and overheating them. If your not 12 I reckon you should put it in the bin.

Had two that I fixed using the online guides/videos. Both worked ok for a while but died within 2 months of the fixes. That was after trying to send the first one back to Microsoft. Was in warranty but they refused to take it and wanted to charge £60.

Ended up buying a new one. Saved allot of hassle.

I fixed mine following a guide off tinternet. It was fairly easy and you can buy the kits off eBay. The problem is the heat and cooling of the gpu means that the solder joints crack slightly and give you the rrod. The x clamp fix as it’s called basically clamps the heat shrink down harder onto the board and reconnects the solder joints. Did my box and it’s been working for about 18 months now

http://www.llamma.com/xbox360/repair/ring_of_light_x-clamp_fix.htm

http://item.mobileweb.ebay.co.uk/viewitem?itemId=120616162426

Hmm, fair play to those that fixed theirs! Mine died back in Jan, literally 1 week outside of warranty! I checked out all the stuff on the web, but in the end bottled it and sent off for ‘official’ repair. Cost about 70 quid if I remember right, they sent packaging and then mailed it back about 2 weeks later.

It’s worth contacting MS in the first instance, see what they say.

There’s a lot of ‘fixes’ on the Internet, some better than others.