Original Xbox Trace Corrosion Repair - How To Fix

[@possiblycrazy442]

I did it! :D Thank you so much for the walkthrough, Grok Shop! This was my first time working on a circuit board.

[@ericyoung3480]

Thanks for the video. Easy to understand and follow. My friends xbox is now turning on and off properly.

[@grokshop]

Thanks for the feedback Eric. Glad it helped!

[@Commentifuoriluogoo]

best tutorial, I looked closely and I had only one fucked up trace, the j1 so I fixed that and everything is running fine :)

[@CodeAsm]

unless your shure you have a 1.6, remove the clock cap guys and girls. I found 1 dead board with heavy corrosion thx to the clock cap and 3 others where slightly leaking. Also if you have a Sega Chihiro (wich basicly uses a Xbox motherboard) remove the clock cap.

[@GloomRaiderOfficial]

Thanks for the upload man! J1 was the bad trace on mine, I did the other's as well for preventive future maintenance. My issue was the eject button acted as power on/off, eject. The power button would not turn on the console at all but would power it off "most of the time" as well as intermittent shut offs.

[@tonivoul1971]

I have the exact same problem

[@BlindTrustProject]

I had a very hard time soldering the wire in the tiny holes we see at 18:40... (I don't have the right equipment that being said...). But I saw you writing in the comments that those holes are connection through the MB to connect the two layer of trace on the "recto" side of the MB. So I soldered J1 & J2 directly on the "recto" side of the MB, to the little electronic bits like the J3 one on the "verso" side. It was way easier. Improvise, adapt, overcome ^^ Thank you for your video, now my xbox buttons works perfectly!

[@BelowAverageGaming]

What does recto mean??

[@ricardogodinho2062]

fixed my xbox with your video thanks

[@grokshop]

Awesome. Very glad to hear it Ricardo!

[@ronaldhenson3379]

Nice job saving that original Microsoft Xbox

[@christohperflatland6884]

Fixed my box up thanks to your vid! Liked and a new sub.

[@Pikez98]

BIG THANKS! for this Video ^^ all 4 traces are disconnected (surprised it actually loads to the menu sometimes) but i dont have a small iron and no wire ... but i'll definetely get that fixed! My Xbox will turn 18 this Year, want to make it pretty for the big day! :b thx again and have a nice day. o/

[@scummings9878]

Easy to follow.....great detail!

[@grokshop]

Thanks Eloise Cummings!

[@DuckmanR10]

Cheers! About to do this to an old Xbox with a similar issue. Only one trace is visibly corroded, and the leaked clock cap hasn't murdered the system yet. Should be quick...

[@noblecyberman957]

I haven't got the hand-eye coordination to go about soldering and re-wiring, but I might try a clean up to see if it's just gunked up. I'm pretty sure there is corrosion though, there is issues with the automatic power on when plugged in, the power button doing nothing and even yesterday the eject button was causing power out. I removed the clock cap but I didn't realise I had to look on the back side of the motherboard to find the trace corrosion. Now I know what to look for I can get to checking it out. So sad that a sixth gen console can be so worn down. PS2 and GameCube systems seem to run fine aside from laser issues but the Xbox has a major flaw in the earlier components. On the bright side I'm finally learning how to get inside consoles and tinker with them. If I break something I only paid £30 for I won't be too upset.

[@wanab1082]

Got it :) Turns out it wasnt the traces but atleast there done.Turns out it was the mod chip...I jumped the mod chip terminals and it worked..ty for your help

[@realgroovy24]

Pause around 19:37, you can see a trace that runs above J3 which has some corrosion.

[@DrewFromNC]

Hi Grok: Do you happen to do this trace repair corrosion for pay or can you suggest someone who might? I'm just not confident in my soldering abilities! I'd like to repair the traces and then I think I am understanding that the flawed clock capacitor should be replaced or bypassed too to prevent a future problem? I have this exact problem on my original Xbox although I am uncertain of the version number!

[@FacialVomitTurtleFights]

Take the feet off and drill a hole through the rubber then glue it back on.

[@SuperNitroZ64]

Will this work for a 1.6 Xbox?

[@victorsegoviapalacios4710]

The electronic frequencies in an Original Xbox are not all that high, but just jumping vias/traces over such distances, with such long cables and don’t having care about calculating (or preserving) the original connections lengths is an invitation to systematic desynchronization problems between components....

[@grokshop]

Thanks you for you very thoughtful feedback Victor! An old timer once told me a little secret which I'll will share with you.... "Sonny... when you're dealing with really old & cheap stuff, its ok to take a few chances!".

[@ManiacMayhem7256]

Is there a way to avoid this happening

[@RetroPCUser]

My 1.6 does the power cycle bug (powers on, off, on, off, on, and back off) and no signs of corrosion on the board itself. Can a bad power/eject circuit board cause the issue as well? All caps are good and I did replace the 5 by the CPU since they look like they were about to leak.

[@Fletchtower]

Great video that once again proves this repair is beyond my capabilities. I've been looking for someone to do this for my Xbox for years without success. I don't suppose you'd be in the market, would you?

[@grokshop]

Thanks. Well its a bit challenging, but if you have the time & patience, its not out of reach. The problem with getting it fixed is very few repair guys figure its worth the effort, so they don't even want to get into a cost discussion as they know most won't pay. I am not really in the biz, but feel free to contact me on the email in the about area & we could discuss more.

[@that1weeb453]

OMG my Xbox has litteraly all of the above and in so scared to open up my Xbox but this was so useful

[@grokshop]

Right on... Don't be scared - just take your time & walk away for a bit if you get frustrated. Totally worth it :O)

[@that1weeb453]

I’m finally doing it but three of the capacitors are leaking

[@daevildriller]

Hi The Grok Shop , I have one question: how do you find out how long your jumper wires should be?

[@aboundingpassions2430]

My og xbox second port doesn't work I've even switched and replaced the ports any help?

[@SebPlaysAnything]

Do you think just removing the clock capacitor and cleaning up the junk would at least semi fix the power button issue? I'm fine with the button not working, I just don't want the issue with it only turning on if it's unplugged and plugged back in. I don't have the equipment or skill to do the second half of your video unfortunately :(

[@grokshop]

I would go ahead and take the cap out & clean it up regardless, because you want to arrest the corrosion & that will do it. However, it's unlikely that it will help the power issues. There is another way you can fix the traces if you can't solder... you can try a conductive ink pen like this: geni.us/U71ELR Trick there would be to practice getting the thickness right. You can also try to find one that is already repaired; there's a lot of them for cheap, but ther's a good chance they will have the same problem. Last resort would be to pay for the repair. Maybe you can find someone local to you. If not, I've repaired a few of these for folks, so if you want PM me and I will quote you.

[@ronaldhenson3379]

The Clock capacitor

[@lowell1648]

Is there a way to prevent them from corroding?

[@magnus00125]

A conSOUL was saved that day.

[@kobebonhomme7037]

Do you think it’s necessary to connect all points? I found corrosion on one trace but I’m not sure.

[@that1weeb453]

I finally open up my Xbox and have it stripped down to the motherboard but three of the capacitors are done for

[@poliut2001]

You don't use tin, what do you use to weld?

[@Hoodville13]

I need help please so my xbox does everything you listed but i did not find any corrosion nor any bad capacitors etc, if i do the same steps you did on my motherboard will it work?

[@ronaldhenson3379]

I removed the clock capacitor off my original Microsoft Xbox every original Microsoft Xbox I clean fix inspect refurbish repair restore reapply fresh thermal paste on the central processing unit and graphics processing unit sanitizing I remove the clock capacitor I don't trust the clock capacitor it leaks electrolytic acid on the motherboard eats away traces and eventually kills the xbox

[@victorg7036]

I have a version 1.6 Xbox and after I replace the caps that needed to be replaced, it turns on fine if I don't have the AV cable in. If I have the AV cable in the turns on then it shuts off after about 10 seconds.

[@grokshop]

Looks like KZbin lost the reply I sent a few days ago. Not the first time I've seen that. Anyway, what I was saying was that you should be sure you have the HDD as master. Its set to CS (cable select) by default, so you can force that with the right jumper setting on the HDD, or if you leave it as CS, make sure you are using the right port on the IDE cable.

[@CAPITANxMARVEL]

Thank you I flix my Xbox

[@TRYTOKPUP]

Any idea what the circuit does on the short trace repair you did? I finally got around to digging my old Xbox out to remove the clock capacitor... The top surface damage was limited to just solder corrosion. The bottom has that exact trace destroyed in about a 5mm section. I cleaned everything and plugged it in, everything seems to work perfectly fine. So I'm wondering if I should bother to repair it?

[@TRYTOKPUP]

Great video BTW!

[@grokshop]

@@TRYTOKPUP Thanks. I have no idea what the impact of that particular trace you are referring to - being open - is. I suppose if its related to the clock cap, it may not matter with the clock cap out, huh. lol. But If you leave it open & notice anything funky & decide to jump it & the funkyness goes away, do tell!

[@TRYTOKPUP]

@@grokshop Thanks for the quick reply! I was worried after I put it back together that it wouldn't work... But to my surprise, everything works. Ended up playing it for a bit after I repinned my "advanced av pack" to work as a HD pack (as they are crazy expensive these days.)

[@heogemini8484]

Note pumpkin with her husband to no sir !

[@kylejohnson5585]

Awesome threw a brandy song in there!

[@wanab1082]

Awesome video ! Only wish this was a 1.6 version because I have this issue but I dont know where to put the wires to jump the traces for power :( You wouldnt happen to know would you? I have spent hours looking to no avail. :( Ty in advance

[@grokshop]

Thanks mystic. I couldn't tell you with a lot of confidence what to do on the 1.6, sorry. The traces were similar from pre-1.4 to the 1.4 rev with only slight variations, really. That may or may not be true going from the 1.4 to the 1.6. Good luck!

[@SinH3]

I have 1.6 and all traces are good. The tray is ejected whenever plug-in. Any solution?

[@grokshop]

If you are confident your traces are good, the next thing I would try is a replacement drive. Just borrow a friends old XBox to test it & if that is the issue, just pick up another OXBox on ebay - preferably another 1.6 since that is what you have & one with a known good DVD drive - to harvest parts from. Is yours a Samsung drive by chance? I have heard they can start not wanting to close or something like that...

[@SinH3]

DVD is Philips

[@grokshop]

OK. Other then drive replacement, its also possible the eject button itself is failing, or has become sticky or that the logic circuit for handling the button presses has failed. There is a facebook group called "ogxbox" or something like that - you can try asking on there too. Don't give up & post up your solution...

[@ronaldhenson3379]

Those photos Thomson drives are unreliable the best reliable drives are the Philips Hitachi and Samsung

[@TimothyKingenglandexpat]

I'm trying to get wire to go inside via. Is Kynar single strand? Via is a hole?

[@grokshop]

Yep Kynar is single strand and via is a hole where a trace on one level connects to a trace on another layer & looks like a tiny hole. To make it easier to solder you can gently scuff the via with some sandpaper and /or use some rosin flux. Check out my Amazon page for some parts & tools I can vouch for: www.amazon.com/shop/grokshop

[@TimothyKingenglandexpat]

Checking all traces with multimeter I found only "A" to be faulty. I was experiencing power on upon plugging in and power button not working. I also experienced random shutdown after a few minutes. Power supply maybe? Haven't reassembled yet. Just wondering.

[@grokshop]

Yeah the outer trace ("j1" in my video) seems to be involved in the power control & that is the one that usually goes first, in my experience. If you have cleaned up all the corrosion & muck from the cap & only one is open, then no need to do the rest. Sometimes one of them can be partially corroded & in that case I would jump it to save possible future extra diss./reassembly work.

[@TimothyKingenglandexpat]

Well that sucked... not for the impatient

[@TimothyKingenglandexpat]

Does the wire need to be small enough to stick inside the Via hole? Also on the other end of J-1 is that also a via? Mine appears to be tinned over if that is the case. I think my wire must have been too large although it was very small. It did not however go inside the Via hole. Thanks so much for all your help.

[@RickaLocious]

8:45

[@SiliconPower74]

fucking capacitor.

[@grokshop]

Parts & tools: www.amazon.com/shop/grokshop Don't forget to scuff the vias and/or use flux if your solder isn't sticking! Good luck!

[@daviddennen7479]

Not hating on the repair but this ruins the whole look of the motherboard tho.

[@kvmods]

Thanks, this fixes my xbox :)

[@makedaevilmage]

10:00 to skip the disassembly ...

[@francksailleau2758]

Thank You, traces succefully repaired with our guide. Be blessed.

[@RedHorseAdventures]

I would love to know how you got these wires to attach to the board, I have tried unsuccessfully MULTIPLE TIMES and am really beside myself trying to figure this out.

[@grokshop]

There's an insulative layer over the contacts. In the video I basically burned it off with a high-heat setting on the iron. What you can do is carefully sand off the coating on the contacts & then apply a drop of liquid flux to the contact & it will work much better. But if you use rosin-core solder, that may work ok too (without the additional liquid flux).

[@ashleygggytttttu5888]

looks easy enough i need to do this for my mod chipped & soft mod xbox its serverly suffering from this issue thanks for sharing

[@hamrich871]

Great video. I opened by Xbox and saw that a different capacitor seemed to be leaking next to the time capacitor and there is a lot of corrosion on a black square on the motherboard labeled U5G1. Any idea what that black square is? You can see it at 17:42 on the right.

[@grokshop]

I believe that is a logic level mosfet transistor. This part should be pretty resistant to the corrosion , but you def want to check the traces around it; clean and jump any traces that you think may be completely or nearly open due to the corrosion.

[@Hoodville13]

Do i use positive or negative wire? All i have are thin black -negative & red - positive wires

[@mdmyer]

you can use any color you want as long as the gauge isn't too thin for the current. The colors are just the wrapping and there to help people identify quickly which wires is which.

[@TAGMedia7]

Is there still a chance that the corrosion could continue to spread?

[@grokshop]

This corrosion is thought to mainly stem from the clock cap leak. Removing the old cap should stop it. FWIW, mine is still going strong.

[@ricardogodinho2062]

wd40 on the board

[@joe241able]

what if i just replace the cap

[@grokshop]

Replacing the cap will allow you to bridge most short power outages so that the clock is maintained. If you run unmodded without a network agent to fetch the time, its more worthwhile. These caps work: geni.us/kci7