3 Care Tips That Every Consumer Should Know About Their Xbox 360

When I buy an exciting new electronic toy, proper care and maintenance is the last thing I worry about. I like to power it up soon as I can and start using it.

However, if we are talking about an Xbox 360, you can't afford to neglect proper care. Believe it or not, you can induce overheating in the console in a few hours if you aren't careful about where you place it. Too much heat can cause the red ring of death and lead to permanent damage.

Other oversights in proper care may take longer to affect your machine but the end result is the same: an Xbox that doesn't work anymore. This article will list care and maintenance tips that you should use immediately.

The location of your Xbox is extremely important. Your home can present numerous environmental dangers to the console. These include:

1.) Inadequate ventilation.

The console consumes a lot of power and as such, it also puts out an enormous amount of heat. The internal electronics are kept cool by fans which pull in cool air from the outside. For this reason, there must be open space around the console to allow for proper ventilation.

If you are using in an entertainment center, it should be open on all sides including the back. Don't allow clutter to build up on or around the console. It can potentially block the fan inlets and will act as an insulator if it is stacked up against the machine.

2.) An overheated environment.

A hot environment means that the console's fans will be pulling in hot air. Never place the console next to furnaces, stoves, or fireplaces.

One heat source that is not quite so obvious are other electronics in the vicinity of the console. Direct exposure to sunlight must also be avoided.

3.) Dust and cigarette smoke are a lethal combination.

Dust is harmful to the console. It does it's damage by blocking the fan inlets and by coating the internal electronics.

If it builds up on the motherboard, it will insulate and trap the heat generated by the electronics causing your Xbox to overheat. This problem is made worse in the presence of cigarette smoke which contains sticky tars that cause dust to bond to the motherboard. Once the dust has bonded into place, it is next to impossible to remove.

The red ring of death has affected millions of consumers across the globe. If you heed these tips, this need not happen to you.

Got reliability problems with your Xbox 360? Get more Xbox 360 troubleshooting advice about repairing the Xbox 360 3 Red Lights Error.