How to fix your overheating 360

Sure, if your Xbox 360 is crashing you could call up Microsoft tech support and get your new toy repaired or replaced — or you could take design flaws matters into your own hands and source out the root of the problem. And according to one Gamespot forumsgoer, apparently what's causing these overheating Xbox 360 crashes isn't the Xbox itself, but rather that monstrous power supply. So what's a gamer to do? Increase the airflow over the thing by getting it up off the floor, and suspending it in the air with string — or if you're not feeling like making a trapeze act out out of the thing, stick it on an open box so it can better emanate heat. Apparently this has been doing some good, but hey, remember that if it can't sit on the ground as intended, it's defective, so make sure you call 'em up and get it sorted!

[Via Xbox 360 Fanboy]

[rico @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

" suspending it in the air with string" ? your gonna need more than string to lift that thing its huge. mines is working fine

[solution? @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

"suspending it in the air with string"
--> That's sooooo funny!! HAHAHA!

[Sceptre @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

It's kinda funny that _this_ is the 360 launch story -> it overheats!
It was on local radio, tv, everywhere. Not how great the games are, not how much fun, just... it's expensive and overheats. D'oh!

[Vini @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

id recommend suspending it with http://www.gripple.com

[cDub @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

use 20 lb test fishing line, that won't break under the humongus brick of the X360's.

[jon @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

Suspend it from your finger directly above the waste can and then let go.

[Wolfie @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

Looks as if the power supply problem could be do do with the Mysterons (Captain Scarlet TV) the white light ring is a dead give away

[n8 @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

"or if you�re not feeling like making a trapeze act out out of the thing, stick it on an open box so it can better emanate heat"

Yeah, if that power supply is overheating, put it on top of something flammable!

[OTAM @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

Why not skip the string and tie a rope around your neck instead for being such a jackoff by cramming it into your entertainment center and throwing the adapter into the tangled hell of wires behind your TV set.

But if you actually have it VENTILATED and it still overheats,my condolences. Mine works absolutely flawless.

[chad h @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

i dunked my power supply in a bowl of grease.

It keeps the entire thing cool and doesn�t short out

i luv my 360!!!!

[JTB @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

A dude named Jobs deemed smart to move from PowerPC to Intel. The whole explanation at the time? Better perfomance per watt...
This whole business is taking such an ironic turn.
BTW: i'm no fanboy/basher and wish the best to those who are frustrated, whether it's with buggy MSFT, DRM'ed SONY or scratched AAPL products.

[Fun @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

Why not just throw it in teh trash?

Its funny because all this time xbox people have been saying the ps3 wil overheat cause it has no ventilation... lol

Whos got teh grill now?

[splitmetal @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

Mine hasn't seriously crashed. It did freeze up once when I was in hit the dashboard button during a game and zipped through the menus real fast to tell it to quit the game, and once when I checked out the Windows wireless setting transfer information, but both times I was able to turn off and back on the system via the power button on the media remote.

However, I had noticed the thing was loud as hell when playing any 360 disc-based games. It's fairly quiet while playing arcade games, dvd movies, an old Xbox game, or just using the dashboard.

Last night I took it with me to play at my parents' house (nothing funnier than watching my parents race in PGR), and I noticed it never got loud. Fairly sure the difference was indeed the power supply. At home, I had the power supply laying behind the entertainment center. At their house, I had placed it on top of the entertainment center, out in the open. It never got loud, and we played it for hours and hours, trying 3 different disc-based games with no issues or excess noise.

[Kevin D @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

You're all kidding me right?.....

So if some kids were to take their new laptops and put them in a 'stereo' cabinet and they overheated (which they would if they were running alot of apps), its Dell's fault?....

Come on, give your heads a shake... This is a high end computing device that anyone with half a braincell knows will generate ALOT of heat so it should be in a more open environment (NOT ON CARPETING).. Put your laptop on your carpet and see how 'hot' it gets....LOL..

All I've got to say is if the 'PS3' is SOOO much more powerful, its gonna generate a TON more heat... The only way to solve this is fans, open areas OR (as desktop pc's do - A VERY LARGE TOWER CASE - which increases the volue of air surrounding the electronics)....

Anyways, Love my 360 and it works F'n Awesome... BLOWS anything else out of the water....LOL

Just needs to NOT be sitting in a confined space... Sheeesh....LOL..

[bc @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

notice how everything from MSFT never works... you always have to do something else to get things from this company to work. I really dont see how they are soo successful...

[Christopher @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

@ Kevin D: well, a laptop isn't designed for use on the rug or in a TV cabinet, is it? But just about every game console is going in the living room, right next to the best TV in the house, which in many cases is going to be in some sort of cabinet. And who is going to put their power supply anywhere other than the floor? And if the floor in the room containing the best TV in the house has carpeting...what are people supposed to do? Move the whole entertainment system to the porch to take advantage of a nice fall breeze?

[The1 @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

XBOX 360 Fanboy, is this a true reader or you guys trying to be funny?

[Scott @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

"notice how everything from MSFT never works... you always have to do something else to get things from this company to work. I really dont see how they are soo successful..."

Ignorance is really bliss, isnt it?

[Juggaloking21 @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

My xbox 360 hasn't over heated, but then again my power supply is stretched halfway across the room to reach the plug, so it's just kind of hanging there.

[golgoj4 @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

So, now that I have spent $400 bucks plus i need to buy a special enclosure for this pos too? And people wonder why I stick to pc games. Just another example of m$ lack of design skills. I mean, if i wanted to build and extra piece of furniture so that my 360 wouldnt overheat, but why bother? And the sad part is...i was kinda hopin the 360 wouldnt suck...so uch for that.

[LSSLAVE @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

You guys are goddamn ridiculous..

Seriously.. "Well you shouldnt put it in an enclosed entertainment stand"

They have said its an entertainment device. Guess what every console I have ever had I put in my entertainment stand. Next year I will be putting the Revolution in my entertainment stand without worry that this will happen.

If you design something and charge 500 Canadian for it then you better have shit like this dealt with. It isnt up to ME to find some special altar for something, it is up to them to DESIGN it properly.

Dont try and pawn the design error off on people. Besides, what about the discs being ruined by the system? Faulty drive there.

When you rush something instead of doing something right you open yourself up to being flamebait. Sony screwed up with the PS2 with that (I still am pissed mine broke and I needed to buy a new one) and MS screwed up the first time with Xbox. Who remembers when it skipped entire games?

Dont call people morons for putting their Xbox in their entertainment stand or on the carpet, because that just goes to show how foolish you truly are. Maybe we need to find a place it belongs. "When playing your XBox 360, put it in the garbage can" or "When you buy a XBox 360 put it in the fireplace and light it up, you wont notice it overheating on its own that way" would seem more appropriate to you?

[Mark @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

It's expensive, it crashes, and it overheats. Oh, and people were getting into fights to be the first ones to buy a unit, and police had to be called in.

Good Lord -- this is not good at all for the 360.

And putting the power brick across an open cardboard box to ventilate it -- clever fix, but I would think one would rather use a milk crate, instead of a cardboard box, which is likely flammable.

[Franklin @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

Hmmm, I see a possible market for 360 power brick cradles/cooling platforms made by third-party accessory companies...

[Peter @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

I tried to suspend mine with a crane, but this is what happened...

http://www.bassfiles.net/LostMyJobToday2.jpg

[Cho @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

Disregard Kevin D.
Dont waste your time on him.
He totally flames people if they dont like the xbox and makes no sense. Ever.

Obviously the xbox360's design should allow it to be put in an entertainment center. To say anything else is simply retarded.

I have a stereo/amplifier in my cabinet and it gets hot as hell. It never crashes and the dvd player and tivo sitting on top of it never crash either. All are fairly expensive name brand electronics that were properly designed. Any idiot knows that a console will probably end up in an entertainment center (or on the carpet in front of the TV), particularly one shaped like the 360 which totally lends itself to being stacked just like a dvd player. Get real fools. If the 360 is overheating, it has a problem. Period. Lets just hope MS gets it sorted out by christmas.

And WTF? Who would put a dell laptop in an entertainment center? Thats the dumbest thing I've ever heard.

[Johnny @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

Mine was fine the first couple days but then it started locking up last night. I have a mini fridge next to my TV that I keep soda in(er I mean beer) so I just stuck the power supply in there. The door on the fridge still closes and now it hasn't locked up once. Been jamming on PGR3 ever since. Screw you xbox haters, the faithful will find a way!

[Franklin @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

Regarding the putting of the 360 into one's entertainment system:

There are rumors that setting the 360 on its side, horizontally, may damage game discs. The drives in some of the units are bad.

With its software products, Microsoft can simply issue a patch for download. I wonder how they are going to deal with the growing number of hardware issues with the 360.

[bob @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

Remember when the pictures of the adapter first surfaced and everyone was saying that it doesn�t matter how big it is, it's just going behind the entertainment center. Now people are saying, why would you put it behind your entertainment center. Rationalization at its best.

[Mark in Austin @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

I heard a report on the radio about these hardward malfunctions. Last night, I saw another report on TV about them.

Whether these issues are large or not, MS' PR has its work cut-out for them. We geeks in online gaming forums might know better, but the average person out there could very well get their initial impression from these reports.

Still, it warms my heart to see their precious launch fumbling. Arrogant bastards..

[Nelson]HAA-Ha![/Nelson]

[Mark @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

Be sure to pick up one of these also when you buy your 360. This model should match most entertainment centers.

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=2625036

[Chu Chu @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

While we are all sitting around the campfire giving anecdotal "evidence", I thought I would add that none of the guys I know here at work (as in: know for real, not random people on some internet message board) have had any problems whatsoever with their 360s. Based on board warrior logic employed by the flamers here I guess that means there are no problems whatsoever with the 360.

[Liam @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

this is exactly the kind of stuff thats was bound to happen. new tech. almost always has problems.

[Brian @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

thank you engadget, you always find solutions.

[Clint @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

I've found that hanging the adapter from the ceiling fan and turning it on keeps it very cool. Just stand out of the way!

M$ suckered you fools into buying this rushed piece of crap. It's not even next generation...Next generation starts next year with the PS3. This is just Xbox 1.5. Didn't you guys get the memo?

[Mr. Sparkler @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

Franklin, if the 360 is standing on it's side it is positioned vertically not horizontal.

[helo @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

Yes Clint and next year when you buy your PS3 (and since i'm not a fanboy like you I'm buying one also) I can GUARANTEE you they're also be some defects on those first boxes so STFU. Or did you happen to forget all the things that went WRONG with the PS2? FACT: These are new boxes. They'll be defects and kinks to work out. You'll hear disproportionately MORE about the boxes that aren't working then the boxes that are working fine. Deal with it and stop the bashing dumba**. I'll laugh my head off next year if you get a PS3 and it the things overheats, skips, has a drive defect or what not. Won't that be rich?

[n8 @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

Chu: you're right. But I think Austen Mark's got a good point - whether or not it's true, or just a few isolated cases, the media loves to hate and this story is going to be bad for Microsoft.

Johnny (28): if that's true, that's f****in hilarious! And I don't doubt that just about everybody who lined up to buy an Xbox 360 will be following suit if they're having problems. Dedicated gamers find solutions!

[JohnnyCashAK @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

What's amusing to me is how much people are jumping on MS for being inept and saying the 360 is rushed and not next gen. Ok let's break down both of these myths shall we?

1. I'm guessing some of you aren't old enough to remember the early days of the PS2, but as one of the many who went through hell to get theirs at launch, let me tell you this overheating issue is nothing. After being delayed 3 times, when the PS2 finally did ship mine arrived DOA. The power light came on, but nothing else happened. When I tried to take it back to the store the guy said I was better off shipping it back to sony since he had no clue when he'd get more. So I did, and 3 weeks later my replacement arrive... broken. It would play games for about 5 minutes before shutting itself off. So after swearing up and down at the tech guy, once again I was advised to return it to them for replacement. This time it took 1 day short of a month to arrive, but when it did it was everything the ads promised. I recently relived this experience when I turned on my shiny new PSP, only to find 1/3 of the screen dead, like a piece of $250 black swiss cheese. Moral of the story is obviously MS isn't the only company to have problems launching an brand new system, and yes Sony fanboys, it is BRAND NEW and not Xbox 1.5. This thing is completely different from the ground up, and you have to have really played one to understand.

2. The 360 is next gen in more ways then the format it plays and the quality of the graphics. Graphics wise, this thing is just sick. From PDZ to PGR3, this thing rivals my overclocked pc running two nvidia 7800's in SLI, and that's saying something. More then that though, it's next gen in concept. From it's online integration to it's ability to stream music, photos, and even video from any networked computer, it truly makes one excited at the new possibilities on the horizon. I feel that if Sony doesn't bring something equally as exciting and interesting to the party, the PS3 is going to feel like a let down. For people who hate on the 360 in comparison to the PS3, let me remind you that so far all the video they have shown from PS3 games was pre-rendered. MS made a point of running all of their videos directly off the dev kits or the systems themselves, and even then they looked pretty damn impressive.

My 360 has run flawlessly since the day I opened it, and right now it is streaming my stones greatest hits over my surround sound system as I write this. Everyone I know that has one has had a similar experience with theirs. Personally I am wondering how many people who have flamed on it here were standing up for apple when people started bitching about their Nano's.

[syukton @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

This isn't a "fix" -- People aren't reading their instruction manuals. The "fix" would be to shoot all the stupid people in the face.
---
From http://www.xbox.com/en-US/support/getstarted/system/xbox360/connect-positionconsole.htm
Prevent the Console from Overheating

Do not block any ventilation openings on the console or power supply. Do not place the console or power supply on a bed, sofa, or other soft surface that may block ventilation openings. Do not place the console or power supply in a confined space, such as a bookcase, rack, or stereo cabinet, unless the space is well ventilated.

Do not place the console or power supply near any heat sources, such as radiators, heat registers, stoves, or amplifiers.
---

If people would read their manual they wouldn't have this "problem" with their 360s. They aren't designed to be put on plush carpets or enclosed spaces, period.

This reminds me of the Powermac Cube which had a ventilation hole on the top of the computer that, if covered for more than a minute, would cause the computer to shutdown.

[rico @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

" suspending it in the air with string" ? your gonna need more than string to lift that thing its huge. mines is working fine

[solution? @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

"suspending it in the air with string"
--> That's sooooo funny!! HAHAHA!

[Sceptre @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

It's kinda funny that _this_ is the 360 launch story -> it overheats!
It was on local radio, tv, everywhere. Not how great the games are, not how much fun, just... it's expensive and overheats. D'oh!

[Vini @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

id recommend suspending it with http://www.gripple.com

[cDub @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

use 20 lb test fishing line, that won't break under the humongus brick of the X360's.

[jon @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

Suspend it from your finger directly above the waste can and then let go.

[Wolfie @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

Looks as if the power supply problem could be do do with the Mysterons (Captain Scarlet TV) the white light ring is a dead give away

[n8 @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

"or if you�re not feeling like making a trapeze act out out of the thing, stick it on an open box so it can better emanate heat"

Yeah, if that power supply is overheating, put it on top of something flammable!

[OTAM @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

Why not skip the string and tie a rope around your neck instead for being such a jackoff by cramming it into your entertainment center and throwing the adapter into the tangled hell of wires behind your TV set.

But if you actually have it VENTILATED and it still overheats,my condolences. Mine works absolutely flawless.

[chad h @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

i dunked my power supply in a bowl of grease.

It keeps the entire thing cool and doesn�t short out

i luv my 360!!!!

[JTB @ Dec 19th 2005 12:55AM]

A dude named Jobs deemed smart to move from PowerPC to Intel. The whole explanation at the time? Better perfomance per watt...
This whole business is taking such an ironic turn.
BTW: i'm no fanboy/basher and wish the best to those who are frustrated, whether it's with buggy MSFT, DRM'ed SONY or scratched AAPL products.