The Solution

So you are faced with the dreaded 3 rings of death.

What next?

The restart

  • Try restarting the console, a simple switch off and on.
  • If this does not work, turn the console off and fully unplug all the power and AV cables from the console. Even unplug the power cord from the wall socket.
  • Leave for a good 10 - 15 minutes in an area where the air can circulate fully;
  • Firmly reconnect all the cables.
  • Turn on the console.

You should move your console if it sits inside of an entertainment center or is enclosed in a tight space. If it sits on top of other equipment, get a few squash balls, cut them in half and put the Xbox on top. Mine was enclosed in an entertainment centre. When I took it out, realized how incredibly hot it got in there!

After all, as it gets so hot, it needs to suck in the air and push out the heat.

If this doesn’t work, don’t try the towel trick (see above).

The solution is that you’ll need to open it up. 

Now don’t freak out!

When I first realized what needed to be done I freaked out, I can tell you.

I can barely change a light bulb. So take the XBox 360 apart?

What I needed was step by step guide written for idiots and technophobes like me. It was that or four to six weeks of absence.

So I decided to check out the steps.

That’s when I came across this video series. I had seen others, and freaked. But this one was very straight forward.

XBox 360 3 red light solution

That was a promising start.  I followed the advance and took the case off

Next, you take out the motherboard. Don’t freak, believe me with these step by step approaches, it is very easy, you cannot go wrong:

Xbox 360 3 red light solution

Next, you need to get to the Graphics Processor Unit and the Central Processor Unit:

Xbox 360 3 red light solution

But what is what?

Xbox 360 3 red light solution

Next, you sort out the overheating GPU as follows (It would take too long to explain, the video says it all):

Xbox 360 3 red light solution

Next, you put it together:

XBox 360 3 red light solution

Connect and anxiously check:

Xbox 360 3 Red Light Solution

Hurrah!! No red light!!

Put back together properly!

Xbox 360 3 red light solution

And you’re done.

What can I say? It is incredibly easy to do this! You sit next to your laptop or computer, watch the videos and do exactly what you are told!

Forget the towel trick and the other stuff. There are a few things you can do which will solve the issues.

And then you are back to gaming paradise!

  • Avoid the Pain and Suffering I Had!