By Alex Villafania
INQUIRER.net
IF there’s one thing that Xbox 360 owners don’t like to see on their beloved game consoles, it’s the dreaded 3RL, the three red lights that indicate there is a major hardware malfunction. The 3RL has been around since the first batch of the Xbox 360 came out. The most common thread with the 3RL is that the unit, particularly its graphics processing unit (GPU), overheats and would not work until repairs are made. The 3RL is such a big issue that it may be the main reason why wannabe buyers of Microsoft’s gaming machine are holding on to their money, perhaps until better manufacturing processes are put in place so that new batches of Xbox 360s are less prone to hardware failure.
In the Philippines, Xbox 360s outnumbered the PlayStation 3 and the Nintendo Wii but owners often complained about the 3RL. Some early users of the Xbox 360s experienced this mishap with a few sometimes buying a new Xbox 360 just to replace the dead one.
However, a few enterprising electricians have learned of a potentially huge market for Xbox 360 repairs and have taken it upon themselves learn the innards of the game console and see if they can resurrect a dead and expensive device. Ronald Caleb San Pedro is but one of them and so far, he’s making some positive rounds among the community of Xbox 360 owners, especially with members of the local forum PinoyXbox.com. San Pedro, who is just barely out of his teens, said the Xbox 360 repair business was huge enough to convince him to provide repair services — even if he has never opened any game console before.
A PC building enthusiast, San Pedro already had advanced computer hardware knowledge by the time he opened an Xbox 360. He and his friends have years of experience testing different motherboards, processors, graphic cards and other components. Often, he would overclock computers, which meant pushing a computer’s processing limits outside its normal threshold. And so he moved from tweaking and fixing computers to trying to salvage lost Xbox 360s.
“I started doing this after seeing that there were people who lost their investment in the hardware. It was scary at first but then I learned a lot from information I gathered from the Internet,” San Pedro said.
San Pedro said that he repairs an average of three units per day. Once a unit is repaired, which takes only a day, he tests it for another day to make sure it works well. However, the sheer volume of damaged Xbox 360s pouring into his shop pushes back the return of the units by at least two weeks.
Of course, as in all first attempts at everything, he experienced false starts. San Pedro said he “ruined” three Xbox 360s. It was on the fourth attempt that he first resurrected an Xbox 360. From there, he tested around a bit to find the optimal operational capacity of the Xbox 360 and then make appropriate changes, particularly to the hardware’s cooling system.
He notes that the Xbox 360 is an efficient machine on its own, being able to beat the latest PC gaming rig at the time of its launch. It had the latest processor, an integrated graphics that was ahead of its time, and wireless connectivity making it more convenient to play with than using wired peripherals. He likened it to a personal computer but only without a traditional operating system.
San Pedro gave hackenslash a glimpse of what he does with an overheated Xbox 360. While he claims his process is a “trade secret,” he did say that the main component that burns out is the GPU. By cleaning the GPU, then increasing the revolutions per minute of some of the Xbox 360’s fans, the unit comes back to live. “The main enemy of the Xbox 360 is heat. Remove the heat and you reduce the chances of hardware failure.”
Fixing Xbox 360s is no mean feat, according to San Pedro, though it is somewhat like fiddling around with a computer, as the layout would be familiar to PC builders. With only some knowledge of the hardware, one could start fixing an Xbox 360, though it would come with risks. Because all pertinent components are integrated into a single motherboard, the risk of damaging the entire hardware is much greater. A single mistake could render an Xbox 360 useless. But San Pedro said he is confident that the majority of his repairs were successful and very few have returned for further repairs.
“Besides, I give a six-month warranty,” he said.
For now, San Pedro said he is comfortable with his business fixing Xbox 360s. Even fresh manufacturing processes by Microsoft intended to produce more stable Xbox 360s does not worry him.
“I think I have a few more years in this business as long as there are people wanting to repair their consoles.”
13 Feedbacks on "He resurrects dead Xbox 360s"
rocky
Are you kidding? XBOX 360 an efficient machine? This is the only console that makes you pray everytime you play it! And for Pete’s sake, who wants to limit their playing time for an hour and then rest the console and then play again and so on… duh!
Erwin Oliva
yes the dreaded 3RL. my 360 was also a victim. good thing it is still covered by the 3-year warranty….
rocky
I also forgot to mention that there’s a 33% failure rate in XBOX 360. Before, MS wont admit it, but during mid 2007, they admitted it and extended the warranty from 90 days to 1 year and now to 3 years. Look at Wii and PS3, failure rate is below 1%! Now that’s efficiency!
pao
Can you email me the contact details of this guy? I want to have my friend’s xbox 360 fixed here instead of shipping it to Singapore
scytherage
Hi,
If you guys want to contact Ronald, visit his messageboard thread on http://www.pinoyxbox.com . You can also read testimonials there from people who did have their 360s successfully repaired.
Here’s a link: http://www.pinoyxbox.com/phpnuke/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=10883&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=1005
Matt
There is a 3 year warranty, why pay some kid to screw about with your console when MS do it for free?
Oh yer because you’ve chipped it to play copied games.
scytherage
To Matt:
Do not generalize. You do not understand the situation that Filipino gamers are in when it comes to console gaming on the Xbox 360.
The person referred to in this article does a great service for the Xbox community in the Philippines. He repairs Xbox 360 consoles for a small fee and protects the system from 3RL with a better cooling system. Why don’t we simply send our system to Microsoft? Because the fact of the matter is, xbox 360s in the Philippines are NOT OFFICIALLY SUPPORTED by Microsoft. Microsoft will not accept requests for repair sent from our country because the XBOX 360 IS NOT OFFICIALLY SOLD BY MICROSOFT in the Philippines. The 3 Year Warranty does NOT apply to Xbox 360s for users residing in the Philippines. So to us, a guy like Ronald is practically a hero….we’re very grateful for the help that he has given to many Xbox 360 users.
Also, regarding your sweeping generalization that Filipino gamers only use chipped Xbox 360s to play copied games…You are wrong. Not everyone in the Philippines uses ‘chipped’ Xbox 360s. In fact, the Xbox community I posted, http://www.pinoyxbox.com , strongly discourages anyone from using ‘chipped’/modded/flashed consoles. Majority of the gamers in the Pinoyxbox community buy original games and unmodified systems. That’s why many of us are able to get on Xbox Live without getting banned. We strongly support and endorse the use of unmodified Xbox 360 hardware and original software. As much as possible we encourage people to ‘go legit’. Losing the ability to play online is another major factor which discourages many gamers in our community to buy modified/flashed systems.
We on Pinoyxbox strongly discourage modification because it increases the risk of getting the 3 red lights of death, or 3RL. We’ve seen it happen time and again on our forum. A new member goes in with a newly purchased modified Xbox 360 and then a week or two later, his console gets stricken by 3RL. Why? Because some unscrupulous vendors are reselling broken Xbox 360s “good as new” after applying temporary fixes like the famed towel trick. Also, no one really knows or trusts the creators of these firmware modifications for XBox 360s. It’s entirely possible for flashing to destroy some internal mechanism of the console and trigger 3RL. The mere fact that buying a modified Xbox 360 is practically having some stranger (whose technical know-how is uncertain) open up your system before giving it to you is a HUGE risk already. What if the technician makes a mistake in opening the console or in flashing it? The reality of 3RL makes it extremely risky to even bother with modified Xbox 360s. We tell this to all our members, and we know that the ones lurking on our site are informed about this as well.
Matt
Ok i didn’t realize your situation in the Philippines, please disregard my earlier comment as it no longer applies to you, it’s just that in my country there are a few companies trying to decieve people into paying for repairs when MS fix them free of charge, sorry for the misunderstanding.
Mike
I got an even better idea: get a PS3. It doesn’t brick, it has more features out of the box, and you save more money in the long run.
Fewer games you say? Have you been paying attention to the news? 2008 is loaded with PS3 exclusives and multiplatforms.
As of this writing, I’m up to my ears in games to play, and more are coming out soon.
The multiplayer is free too, by the way.
scytherage
The PS3 has its own hardware issues in the form of the blu-ray laser lens breaking in as short as two months. I don’t know why it gets less press, but the problem does exist. Pinoyxbox users who have PS3s have reported the issue here.
http://www.pinoyxbox.com/phpnuke/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=15522&start=0
You could think that’s propaganda on my part, but it isn’t. Look up the error 80010514 and 80029906 on google. Of course there’s more links on 3RL on google compared to the ‘BDL’ issue of the PS3, but that’s only because the installed base of the Xbox 360 is far larger worldwide.
The common problem for both PS3 and Xbox 360 owners in the Philippines is the lack of official support from either Sony or Microsoft for these game consoles. In other countries its a simple matter of replacement, but here you have to have your system fixed for a fee.
Patrick
How can we contact Mr. San Pedro for repairs?
edmond
Hi, where can i contact Mr. San Pedro, my xbox suffered RROD
jeffren delos reyes
um nag ka 2 red lights po ang xbox 360 ko ayaw po nito umandar. panu ko ba po ma cocontact c mr san pedro? pls reply po agad
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