Xbox 360 – Useful Maintenance Tips

by Larry Moon

Of course, as you more than likely already know, the Xbox 360 is an expensive bit of kit, and that's even before you take all the games and accessories into account. Having said that; the vast majority of people seem to forget all about the cost of their Xbox, particularly once they start becoming involved with their favorite games. At least this is the case until such time that their Xbox packs up. Of course, providing your system is still under warranty, most breakdowns can be resolved, although the time it takes for repairs to be carried out may well cost you a considerable amount of quality gaming time. As you can imagine this problem becomes even worse when you're forced to hand over money for the repairs, or even for a new system.

There is one major difference between a regular gaming desktop and the Xbox 360, in that regular gaming desktops have superior cooling systems. Irrespective of what you may have heard, excessive heat is a major contributor to breakdowns with the Xbox 360. Furthermore, if you spend several hours gaming, you'll be surprised at just how quickly excessive heat is generated. The good news is you can prolong the life of your beloved Xbox 360, simply by following the maintenance tips provided in this article.

First and foremost, you should make it a habit to regulate your gaming hours. If you are fond of playing Xbox Live Arcade games you probably don't need to worry about heating issues because those games do not take full advantage of the Xbox 360's power. But those intense 3-D high definition games can really heat up your system so it is important to take breaks. Even a 30 minute break is okay so you can still enjoy lots of gaming hours per day.

Those who simply cannot stomach taking breaks should enjoy their gaming in a cooler environment to prevent the system from overheating. Ideally, one should play in a room that has air conditioning or at the very least, make sure that you have a fan pointed towards the system.

While your system may not often be given a chance to rest, when it is switched off you still need to make sure that it won't be exposed to direct sunlight or an excessive amount of dust. If you fail to take these precautions then there's every probability that your next gaming session will be interrupted by read ring errors. Also, if the temperature of a room is high enough to affect the temperature of the system then it is pointless switching on the system in the first place.

There are a few 3rd party accessories that claim to fix the heating problems by cooling the components in a more direct fashion. While these "cooling accessories" appear to fix the problem, they also obtain their power source directly from the Xbox 360 so if you overuse these accessories, problems may arise including red ring issues. Avoid using these accessories unless you find one that is licensed by Microsoft or uses an external power source.

While you may be skeptical taking your Xbox 360 with you when you travel, you can do so providing you take suitable care of it. For example, you should always avoid carrying the Xbox 360 in an upright position unless of course you're using a dedicated Xbox 360 carry case. While these cases are certainly a safer, better option, you should still take the necessary precautions to make sure that the case is properly secured.

The good news for gamers is; red ring errors are far less common on the latest Xbox 360 consoles, largely due to updated and much improved motherboards. However, one should of course still take good care in order to ensure uninterrupted gaming sessions.

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