An Xbox Oven Reflow Tutorial

Preparing the Motherboard

• 1

  Determine whether your Xbox 360 can be fixed by oven reflow. Check the Xbox's primary and secondary error codes. Primary code 1RLOD with a secondary error code E68, E69, E71, E73, E74, E75, or E79 indicate error codes that can be fixed by reflow. Primary code 2RLOD with secondary code 0013 also can be fixed by reflow, as can primary code 3RLOD with secondary codes 0000, 0002, 0010, 0020, 0021, 0022, 0102, 0110, and any generic error with primary code 4RLOD. If your error codes do not match those listed here, do not attempt to perform an oven reflow.

• 2

  Remove the motherboard from the Xbox case. Unplug the PSU and any other plugs that hold the motherboard to the external outlets. Look closely at the motherboard. You should see six main sections that contain large components protruding from the motherboard: the ports/buttons, the SATA port, the Ethernet and AV port, the PSU plug and USB ports, and two bundles of capacitors.

• 3

  Wrap each section in at least three layers of cellophane tape, closely wrapped without any gaps. Wrap the section containing the buttons with at least five layers of cellophane tape, as the buttons are prone to melting under high temperatures.

• 4

  Wrap each section with two layers of electrical tape, taking care to close any gaps and avoid loose seams.

• 5

  Wrap each section with a final two layers of aluminum foil. Wrap the foil very tightly, and make sure it will not peel back or fall free during reflow. Pins or needles can be used to hold the foil in place.

• 6

  Remove any residual thermal compound from the motherboard using rubbing alcohol and cotton swabs.

Performing the Oven Reflow

• 7

  Apply soldering flux to the motherboard, and allow it to flow beneath the CPU chips, capacitors, buses and other important connections. Once the flux has flowed beneath the chips, allow it to dry for about five minutes before performing reflow.

• 8

  Mount the motherboard to a cookie sheet, oven grill or similar large piece of metal using x-clamps. Another alternative is to create a small stand onto which the motherboard can be mounted.

• 9

  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Carefully place the motherboard and its mount in the oven, and set the temperature to 450 F. Once the oven has reached this temperature, set a timer for 3.5 to 4 minutes, and take the motherboard out after the timer has expired. Do not allow the motherboard to stay in the oven for more than 10 minutes.

• 10

  Allow the motherboard to cool. Once the board has cooled and the soldering connections are firm once again, carefully remove the layers of insulation (aluminum, electrical tape, cellophane tape). Take care not to wiggle the components too much or bend the board, as this may break off the solder balls. Re-mount the motherboard in the case, plugging in all extra components, and close the case.