Xbox 360 caps keep failing

[MaxRocker247]

Re: Xbox 360 caps keep failing

Ok I guess I can only just use it as is I suppose. I’m not even sure where I could get it reballed anyway. I’m also assuming that the lead free to leaded conversion of the solder doesn’t help any either? I’ve heard that the Pb free failed easier or something. But thanks for all the responses and help on here. I really have learned a lot and I understand that the original 360s REALLY are as unreliable as they were fabled to be. I really believed I could beat the odds though. I’ve always had a fascination with the original 360’s because of the styling, marketing, and the age I was when it came out as well as the memories I have playing them. So when I found this launch 2005 Xbox that was brand new that I won for a pretty good price in an auction, I was very excited. Little did I know that this thing would give me such a headache over the past 2 years, having to tear it open every few months, changing a few caps here and there and so on... but thanks to you all I have made 110% more progress with it than I would have on my own, so thank you very much. I’m not sure if my problem was unique for my xbox, or if all old systems just sitting in a box should just be avoided because components go bad without periodic use. I guess I’ll just take it how it is and hopefully it will last a while. It would just have been cool to say I had an original 2005 Xbox 360 that is still working properly!

[momaka]

Re: Xbox 360 caps keep failing

Ok I guess I can only just use it as is I suppose. I'm not even sure where I could get it reballed anyway.

You might still find places that do reballing/reflowing. Most likely you'll have to send it to someone/somewhere for that service though, as I'm not sure if you'd find one around you or not. But the places still exist and will for as long as there are laptops.

I'm also assuming that the lead free to leaded conversion of the solder doesn't help any either? I've heard that the Pb free failed easier or something.

Lead-Free is more prone to cracking and developing Tin whiskers, though the latter has more to do with very fine chip interconnects and chip die-to-substrate connection (which no one can really fix).

However, leaded BGA solder does allow the chip to be soldered at lower temperatures (around 200C vs. 225-230C for LF), so that alone can help with prolonging the chip's life after manufacturing. But yes, the conversion itself doesn't really do much other than make the chip go through several heat cycles, which also a lot of times tends to revive these dead GPU chips.

So just use it as is, and when the time comes, either do a reflow or replace the chip with a "new" one from eBay or wherever else online you can find one for your Xbox.

... and I understand that the original 360s REALLY are as unreliable as they were fabled to be. I really believed I could beat the odds though. I've always had a fascination with the original 360's because of the styling, marketing, and the age I was when it came out as well as the memories I have playing them. So when I found this launch 2005 Xbox that was brand new that I won for a pretty good price in an auction, I was very excited.

Yes, the launch Xbox 360's are probably the worst when it comes to reliability (and in general, all non-HDMI models). With later revisions of the boards (and GPU itself), Microsoft/ATI made some improvements to their chips, so the later models tend to do a lot better. The Xbox 360 "slim" is what the Xbox 360 should have had as its cooling right from the start: a large single fan directly over the CPU/GPU heatsink, exhausting the heat directly.

I'm not sure if my problem was unique for my xbox, or if all old systems just sitting in a box should just be avoided because components go bad without periodic use.

Unfortunately (or fortunately?) your case is not unique at all. Nichicon HZ caps with H05xx (year 2005) datecodes are well known to fail often with or without use. Same goes for Chemicon KZJ and Sanyo WF, though they certainly fail a lot less with normal and/or occasional use.

And I think ATI GPU chips in general have problems, weather used or not, it appears.

I guess I'll just take it how it is and hopefully it will last a while. It would just have been cool to say I had an original 2005 Xbox 360 that is still working properly!

Oh, you can certainly keep that thing working for a while. The used market is and has been saturated with parts for the Xbox 360's for quite some time now (though that's starting to change a bit, now that the Xbox One has been out for a while and many people are moving away from the 360).

[MaxRocker247]

Re: Xbox 360 caps keep failing

I’ve honestly been considering picking up an opus motherboard and doing a replacement as well. Maybe just keeping my original MB and doing the swap like Microsoft would have done anyway. I know the opus MB are an improvement over the original but I know they aren’t bullet proof. And they are also kind of rare I believe. Considering I could swap MB more cheaply then getting the console repaired, and possibly getting continued reliability with an improved revision that fits in the original chassis, I may decide to look into this option.

[stj]

Re: Xbox 360 caps keep failing

remember the motherboard flash contains the dvd drive model, serial and key.