Xbox360.wmv

ELECTRICAL HAZARD..UNPLUG FROM WALL BEFORE YOU DO THIS! So my Xbox 360 isn't even one year old yet and the power brick has begun to make a loud grinding whirring noise. There is only one moving part inside of the brick that can make noise and that is the fan. The case of the power brick is so jammed packed full of electronics there is very little room for air to circulate inside the case. The fan itself is a squirrel cage type fan that is designed with very tight tolerances. So when the fan gets even a small amount of dust inside of it. The fan will begin to make noise and spin slower until the fan is moving no air at all. The power brick will then overheat and you will get a red light.

To solve this problem I decided to move the fan to the outside of the power brick case. I was able to totally remove the fan and the air box that the fan sits inside of. This left much more room inside of the case for air to circulate freely. I then cut a 1 1/2 inch diameter hole in the top of the case and used some silicone sealant to glue the fan on top of the case over the hole.

My results were excellent! There is now much more room inside of the case for air to circulate. The fan is now moving so much air that the case feels cool to the touch. It never even gets warm any more. Because the case never gets warm the fan always runs on low and is very quiet. I've left my Xbox running for two days straight and the brick has never warmed up enough for the fan to kick on high speed.

I also chose not to replace the four bottom screws that hold the case together. I know I will need to clean the box out at least once a year so I opted to hold the case closed with electrical tape. So when it comes time to clean the fan out again. I was simply removed the tape, remove the lid and blow the fan out with some canned air. It shouldn't take me any more than five minutes to do so. This was a totally cost free solution that saved me from having to buy another power brick.

Category:

Gaming

Tags:

• Xbox
• Xbox360
• Power
• AC
• Brick
• Noise
• Loud
• Hot