Why The Xbox 360 Towel Fix Is A Very Bad Idea
Marc Sandford
August 26, 2010
Do you have the red ring of death? Then perhaps you've also heard of the towel fix or towel trick. Although the ring of death is upsetting, there's no reason to panic. Don't let desperation cause you to try it.
The towel trick entails covering up the console with some towels, then running it for a prescribed amount of time. This causes the internal soldering to heat up which makes it soft enough to fix any broken connections. In any case, that's the explanation for it. It's certainly an easy thing to do but does it work and is it a good thing to do to your Xbox?
Although there are tons of videos on YouTube explaining this method, most are authored by kids. They aren't terribly concerned about whether their fix causes any lasting damage. Better solutions exist.
All too often, people do permanent damage while the lucky ones get a temporary fix. Ongoing application of this fix causes additional damage to the electronics. At some point the towel trick won't work anymore.
This technique is flawed because the problem isn't fixed in a permanent way. It is guaranteed to make your console even more prone to overheating. This is because the chips on the motherboard are sensitive to extreme heat which is why cooling systems are employed to begin with. If heat is the problem and heat is also used to fix the problem, then this should raise some red flags about the correctness of the method.
The towel fix is simply the wrong approach. Many people haven't had any success at all with it. Don't do this to your console. Send your Xbox to Microsoft if your warranty is still intact. If not, do the repair yourself or hire a professional.
If you opt to do your own repair, get a guide. Of course this means opening up the console. It is possible that you may cause further harm to your Xbox if you get careless. But if you're able to use some basic tools and can follow the directions in the guide, you'll be alright.
Try these simple red ring of death fix tips before spending time or money on Xbox repair. These Xbox troubleshooting tips will cost you nothing.
The towel trick entails covering up the console with some towels, then running it for a prescribed amount of time. This causes the internal soldering to heat up which makes it soft enough to fix any broken connections. In any case, that's the explanation for it. It's certainly an easy thing to do but does it work and is it a good thing to do to your Xbox?
Although there are tons of videos on YouTube explaining this method, most are authored by kids. They aren't terribly concerned about whether their fix causes any lasting damage. Better solutions exist.
All too often, people do permanent damage while the lucky ones get a temporary fix. Ongoing application of this fix causes additional damage to the electronics. At some point the towel trick won't work anymore.
This technique is flawed because the problem isn't fixed in a permanent way. It is guaranteed to make your console even more prone to overheating. This is because the chips on the motherboard are sensitive to extreme heat which is why cooling systems are employed to begin with. If heat is the problem and heat is also used to fix the problem, then this should raise some red flags about the correctness of the method.
The towel fix is simply the wrong approach. Many people haven't had any success at all with it. Don't do this to your console. Send your Xbox to Microsoft if your warranty is still intact. If not, do the repair yourself or hire a professional.
If you opt to do your own repair, get a guide. Of course this means opening up the console. It is possible that you may cause further harm to your Xbox if you get careless. But if you're able to use some basic tools and can follow the directions in the guide, you'll be alright.
Try these simple red ring of death fix tips before spending time or money on Xbox repair. These Xbox troubleshooting tips will cost you nothing.
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