Pedaling in place, 360 complete tear down

Last night when Ali got home she asked if I could set up her new bike trainer.  She actually got it for free via some weird food points thing through work.  Ali at first said she wanted to bring her expensive tri-bike in but I told her her Dawes would work just as well for standing still.

Getting the trainer set up took a bit of trial and error.  Eventually we got the rear wheel of the bike locked in securely.  We set Ali up in front of the 73 incher so she could watch Tivo while she pedaled.

She was on the trainer for around an hour.  She said it felt good, it was nice and smooth but difficult enough that she had a good sweat going on.  You may notice the makeshift “table” I created for her out of two wash baskets to hold the remote control.

The practical side of me questioned the viability of a bike trainer.  I mean hell we live in Florida, why do you need to pedal inside?  Well I now see a few perks.

The trainer is good for getting your body used to being on a bike and using your pedaling muscles for extended periods of time.  No road/automobile dangers will present themselves while you are perched in your living room either.

Nicki was scared of the whole set up.  She kept herself out on the lanai almost the entire time Ali was on the bike.  She might not have liked the noise.

I want to move the bike computer to the rear wheel so Ali will be able to track her speed and distance while on the trainer which will be very helpful.

While Ali was pedaling in place I was working on my Xbox 360.  While I was away the $10 repair kit I ordered on Ebay arrived.  I figured I might as well rip the 360 apart and give it a go.  I had nothing to lose since I have a brand new unit on it’s way from Amazon.

This repair required a total tear down of the 360 as opposed to the partial tear down I did to fix the fan noise a couple weeks ago.  When I ripped it down to the bare system board it became obvious that this unit was already worked on for RROD issues.  The X-clamps on the bottom of the system board were removed and a HUGE aftermarket heat sink was mounted on the graphic chip.

I also was able to see the end result of the 360 heat problems, board warp.  When you looked at the board you could see a clear warp around the graphic chips. Man, what a mess.  When I saw the bad warping I had severe doubts that this kit would do much of anything for me.

Well I had the kit and the console ripped apart so I might as well throw it in.  The kit consisted of a piece of plexiglass, some bolts, washers and foam padding.  The thick plexiglass is mounted on the bottom of the system board and is bolted to the heat sink on the top.  The intended purpose is to reverse/resist the warping that occurs.

I reassembled the 360, resigned to the fact that this box would simply become a source for spare parts.  I took it back to the bedroom and hooked it back up, hitting the power button, expecting to see some combination of red lights.

Imagine my surprise when I instead I got all green lights and the box fired up. Wow.  I let the box up and running.  I walked out and told Ali of my success.  My excitement was short lived though.  When I walked back into the bedroom the 360 now had the RROD 3 flashing red led indicator, damn it!

I turned the box off for a bit and came back to it later.  I hit the power button for the heck of it.  Again the 360 surprised me and came back to life.  This time it continued to function.  I watched an episode and a half of Celebrity Rehab on it via Hulu without incident, weird.

I have no idea how reliable this repair will be long term but I’ll stress test it quite a bit over the next few days to see if it croaks.  Regardless, it’s a mini-victory.