Most people expect things to take a while to overheat. Depending on the severity of the problem, the Xbox won't overheat until it's been used for a couple of hours or more. In more extreme cases, it may only take a few minutes. But how can it overheat within seconds of turning it on? Now I don't mean starting it back up when it is still warm from a previous gaming session. I mean starting it after it has cooled down. This is actually not that uncommon because when a lot of power is flowing through tiny electrical components, they can and do heat up very, very fast.
Many people may be inclined to disregard the 2 red light error and think that something else is at fault. But they would be wrong because rapid overheating (within seconds of startup) can be caused by bad or dried up thermal compound. Thermal compound is a paste like substance that is applied between the GPU (or CPU) and it's heat sink. What it does is allow heat to rapidly flow out of the GPU and into the heat sink which dissipates the heat with its fins.
Without thermal compound, heat won't be able to get across the gap where the heat sink mates with the GPU. Although these mating surfaces appear to be very smooth, they are still too rough for heat to get across efficiently from the GPU to its heat sink.
Because the GPU consumes a lot power, it puts out a lot of heat. This heat rapidly raises the temperature of the GPU which is a very small object. The temperature of small objects increase much more rapidly than large objects do when exposed to heat.
So it should come as no surprise that the GPU heats up rapidly when it's heat sink is unable to do it's job because of bad thermal paste. This causes the console to turn off and show a two red light error. This shutdown happens before this heat is able to spread out to the rest of the console. This is why people get confused about what is going on because to them, the Xbox still seems to be cool. They have no way of sensing the intense heat that is localized at the GPU.
If you get a two red light error signal within seconds of a cold start up then there is a good chance that bad thermal paste is at fault. Repair means that the console will have to be opened up and the paste replaced. Your options at this point are to use your warranty, get it repaired by an expert, or do it yourself.
Many people may be inclined to disregard the 2 red light error and think that something else is at fault. But they would be wrong because rapid overheating (within seconds of startup) can be caused by bad or dried up thermal compound. Thermal compound is a paste like substance that is applied between the GPU (or CPU) and it's heat sink. What it does is allow heat to rapidly flow out of the GPU and into the heat sink which dissipates the heat with its fins.
Without thermal compound, heat won't be able to get across the gap where the heat sink mates with the GPU. Although these mating surfaces appear to be very smooth, they are still too rough for heat to get across efficiently from the GPU to its heat sink.
Because the GPU consumes a lot power, it puts out a lot of heat. This heat rapidly raises the temperature of the GPU which is a very small object. The temperature of small objects increase much more rapidly than large objects do when exposed to heat.
So it should come as no surprise that the GPU heats up rapidly when it's heat sink is unable to do it's job because of bad thermal paste. This causes the console to turn off and show a two red light error. This shutdown happens before this heat is able to spread out to the rest of the console. This is why people get confused about what is going on because to them, the Xbox still seems to be cool. They have no way of sensing the intense heat that is localized at the GPU.
If you get a two red light error signal within seconds of a cold start up then there is a good chance that bad thermal paste is at fault. Repair means that the console will have to be opened up and the paste replaced. Your options at this point are to use your warranty, get it repaired by an expert, or do it yourself.
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Having issues with your Xbox 360 console? Get more troubleshooting information about repairing the 3 Red Lights Error.
