Customer Reviews

Xbox 360 XCLAMP Repair Kit - 3 Red Light X-Clamp Fix w/ Official Opening Unlock Tool

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(22)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

Several months ago my XBox 360 got the dreaded 'red rings of death' but unfortunately it was outside the 3 year warranty period so I bought this kit in hopes to salvage it. First let me start of by saying that this kit DID help to fix my XBox (at least for the time being.) However I certainly wouldn't say the process was easy. Foremost, the "official opening unlock tool" is worthless in my opinion. I used the tool exactly as described in the guide to remove the XBox casing and the tool bent and almost broke so I had to resort to a small screwdriver for the rest of the repair. The two small bottles of 'cleaner' and 'purifier' did absolutely nothing in regards to removing the old thermal paste from the XBox's heatsinks, like they were intended to. I had to go and get Glue Be Gone which worked perfectly. And finally, I consider myself to be relatively knowledgeable in the tech field but I found the online guide (which consists of pictures and instructions, no video) to be confusing at times and it did not fully explain whole steps. For example when it came to removing the old thermal paste and applying the new paste (a crucial, if not the most important step) it was not pictured and the guide casually refers to what you're supposed to clean off however since there was no diagram that labeled the inner parts of the XBox, I was lost. I used supplemental information the whole time from youtube and other websites when I got stuck. So all in all I think this kit is well worth the price if you are in the same predicament as I was. Just don't expect the clearest directions or the best equipment (like I said, if you do purchase this, get some Glue Be Gone, and scrap the 'official opening unlock tool for a very small screwdriver.)Hope this helps.

EDIT: When I first got the kit the website was down and I couldn't download the instructions so I thought it was a dud and gave it 1 star. Since then the website came back up and I have been able to fix two of my Xbox360s. I now give the kit 4 stars.

So far I ordered two of these kits (yes I was a dummy and bought another Xbox360 after the first one broke down) and both worked. I fixed my own and the other for my son so now he has an Xbox360 too. This kit is relatively simple to use if you follow the instructions which you will have to download from a website that is listed on a piece of paper with the kit. The first time it took me about two hours because I didn't know how to open the Xbox360 up but after getting the disassembly and re-assembly process down I can do a repair in 30 - 45 mins.

A word of advice. Make sure you follow the instructions to the letter and use tape to hold the screws in place on the circuit board. If you did it the way I did, you will have to hold the circuit board face up (normal way) with the tape holding the screws in place and take the tape off carefully as you screw them back into the heat sink when you carefully place it on top of them. Otherwise the washers will come lose and go all over the place. You'll find out what I'm talking about when you get there. Another good thing about this kit is you do NOT have to drill any holes to fix the unit.

On one of my Xboxes the power button was stuck when I put the faceplate back on. At first I kept disassembling the unit thinking I hadn't put it back together correctly but then figured out that the plastic "springs" on the power button were warped and were pushing the button against the switch inside so that it was stuck when I put the faceplate back on. It also wouldn't let the unit power on (even though you could take the faceplate off and push in on the switch and it would work) so I did one simple thing that fixed it. I took the faceplate off and used a hair dryer and heated the plastic springs up real good then pushed down on the button and springs until they laid flat and back in their original position. The "springs" were then flat again (before they were sort of a little curved and warped looking). I put the faceplate back on and "voila"; it fired right up! I thought I'd put this last little tidbit in in case someone else ran across the same problem.

This kit worked and fixed my 360 but after 3 short gaming sessions RROD came back.I would recommend going with a more comprehensive kit that come with heat sinks, smaller head screws and a resealable package of thermal paste in case you have a "do-over" like me. I wonder how many other people wrote a good review of this kit after it was initially fixed only to later have RROD return. Opening up a 360 is a major pain in the ass and something you only want to do once. So get the best kit you can find. This is not it.

I bought this as a first-timer to fixing my xbox. I have since heat gunned it, and now it's working like a champ. After doing the x-clamp fix it lasted a week, and broke again. Going strong after a heat gun. It's a standard fix kit, nothing special. I do not believe the thermal paste is arctic silver paste, but it did work for a while. Also, from what I'm told thermal paste is thermal paste. Although the arctic silver stuff I bought later certainly looked cooler and applied easier. They send you a link with the kit to a basic disassembly and x-clamp fix. However I had too many metal washers. I had to not use a nylon and metal on the underside of the motherboard. All in all, you get what you pay for, and it's decent. I thought the opening tool for my xbox was junk. I didn't use it, and it would bend a little. But the rest is decent quality.

I must say I was very impressed with the price, but I got what I paid for. They don't give you enough washers and nylon washers to complete the job. If you were to just do the GPU or the CPU you would be fine. Because the procedure requires both you will have to take a trip to a hardware store and seek out the washers. There is enough screws but not enough metal and nylon washers. So about 40% of the stuff required to repair it was not avalible. The online help from this site was also a bust.

I ordered this kit because I was looking for a quick repair fix for my 360. The kit arrived five days after the delivery window expired. When I opened it I knew something was immediately wrong. The kit was supposed to come with 8 screws (only came with 5), it was supposed to come with 16 nylon washers (only came with 10) and it was also supposed to come with 16 metal washers (only came with13). It was also supposed to come with "Personally authored instruction guide (with pictures)"....there were no instructions, the only instructions that came with the kit was a web sight that does not exist. Thanks for wasting my time....I should have sent it to Microsoft or bought a kit from a retailer that fulfills their orders.

I love Amazon.com and purchase often without any issues, but with the convenience there is risk. Some of the third party suppliers (which this is one) can be a little risky to purchase from. Buyer Beware.

The instructions are okay, but don't think this is going to be a 30 minute ordeal. I spent several hours working on taking everything apart and doing everything as instructed. Knowing how to do it now, I could probably do the whole thing in 25 to 30 minutes. A couple of tips, get a better small star screwdriver, the one provided is too small and can strip out the bolts on the bottom. I had to use my dremel and drill the screw out a bit and then jam the big star in the hole for two screws on the bottom. For the X Clamps, I tried a smaller screwdriver and had some trouble, but my gigantor screwdriver worked great just like the instructions said. Everything in the packet did what it said it would do, but I still have the RRoD which is why this product only gets 3 stars, but I'm sure it would work for other people its just my 360 is stubborn.

Kind of wish they would have printed the instructions or included a video of it. But it works great. Highly recommend.

i bought this to try and fix my 360
it says that it will fix it for good and the like but it doesnt after i put it together and every thing it worked for 3 days then it started to go back to the three red lights then after redsoing it it worked for a few more days(2) then it stoped all together right back to square 0ne (3 red lights) and now i have to find someone to repair it that way or spend money i dont have to get a new one

Fairly simple (I'm in IT and know how to build servers, computers, etc) to do, just time consuming (took me two hours).

But this did not fix my particular RROD issue. Apparently mine is due to some issues or components other than the heating issue this solves, so I'll be looking at buying a new 360.