Xbox 360 - Be Mindful Of These Hazards Before Attempting Self Repair

Electricity can be a dangerous thing to not only your Xbox, but you as well. For people, the problem is the 110 AC power that you plug your Xbox into that's potentially lethal. For your Xbox, it's static electricity that's lethal.

Part 1 - Keep yourself safe.

People often mistakenly believe that you need thousands of volts to get electrocuted. However, it isn't the voltage, it's the amps (the actual flow rate of electricity through your body) that kills. People have been electrocuted by everyday electrical appliances powered by 110 volts AC.

How does this happen? If the current finds a path of low resistance going through your heart, a 110 volt power supply can kill. Dry, thick calloused skin provides a greater resistance to electrical current flow than wet skin such as a raw bleeding wound, your tongue, or sweaty skin. A large area of skin contact with an electrical source has less resistance than skin contact over a small area.

Electrical current flowing into your hand and out of the shoulder may be very painful. But the same current going into one hand and out the other hand can kill. The reason for this is that your heart is located on a path between your left hand and right hand.

The same is true for current that flows into your hand and out a foot. Sometimes an electrician will keep one of his hands behind his back while standing on insulation (or wearing insulated boots) to prevent this sort of thing from happening.

So what does this mean to you? Before you open the console, always, always disconnect the power supply.

Part 2 - Keep your Xbox safe.

Most of us have been sparked by a doorknob when the air is very dry. We may have been shuffling our feet across a carpeted room before touching the knob. This spark is a discharge of static electricity that built up within our body when we crossed the carpet. Static electricity can potentially destroy electrical devices containing micro electronics.

It's not the buildup of static charge that does the damage, it's the flow of current when the charge gets discharged. If a static discharge happens after touching your Xbox's motherboard, don't be surprised if it behaves oddly or if it doesn't work at all.

Some conditions conducive to static electricity are wearing polyester clothing, very low humidity, and carpeting. When disassembling your Xbox, wear cotton based clothing. Work in a small, uncarpeted room with a working humidifier. The room's relative humidity should be better than 35%.

By: Marc Sandford

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