How To Change The Ring Of Light LED's On Your Xbox 360
View Original
_____________________________________________________
Guide Provided By: Gaming Generations Estimated Time: 15min - 1hour Experience Level: Expert Items Needed: 15w-30w soldering iron (recommended), T10 torx screwdriver, T8 torx screwdriver, Xbox 360 Opening Tool (Optional but recommended), Small knife (optional).
_____________________________________________________
IMPORTANT NOTE: Please read through this guide before attempting.
If you need to learn how to dissemble your Xbox 360 in order to get the ring of light PCB board, CLICK HERE
1)If you ordered LED's through us, you will receive them like shown below. Very gently pull back the plastic to remove the LED's. Note that the LED's sometimes try and jump out when pulling off the plastic so make sure to be careful. View Original
2)Once your LED's are out they look like below. View Original
3)If you turn the LED over, you will notice it has a green line on it shaped like the letter "T". This is important and we will go more into what this means further into this tutorial. View Original
4)Get your ring of light PCB board ready. Notice there are 5 total LED's we need to change, 4 on the outside and 1 in the middle. View Original
5)I will show you the basics on how to change the outside LED's first. View Original
6)The first thing we will do is remove the original LED's. Start applying solder around the LED like shown below. (See where we are going with this in the next step before starting this step!) View Original
7)Your goal is to create a blob of solder that connects all 3 solder points on the LED. I like to call this the "blobbing" method. View Original
8)Now with your soldering iron, wipe away the LED like shown below and it will remove easily. View Original
9)Use your de-soldering braid to clean up the 3 points. View Original
10)Put a small blob of solder on the middle point only. View Original
DIAGRAM #1
Now we will jump into what that "T" means on the bottom of the LED. Below is a diagram showing the direction the LED needs to be soldered to the PCB board.
11)The easiest way to solder these LED's to the board is to use your T8 screwdriver or something similar with a flat magnetic bottom. Below we are using an XCM T8 screwdriver. View Original
12)Put the LED down to the board and solder to the middle first (this is why we put solder on the middle point). Once it is connected to the middle point, you can pull away your T8 screwdriver (or whatever you are using) and simply solder the other side on. Be sure not to hold your soldering iron on the LED for longer than a second or two as these LED's are very fragile and burn easily. View Original
13)This is how it should look once your finished. Notice the LED is pointing inward. Finish the other 3 LED's on the outside. The bottom of the "T" on the LED always points towards the middle point. View Original
14)Now onto the middle LED. Make sure to remove the original LED using the "blobbing" method we used above. Clean the pads w/ your de-soldering braid. Put a small blob of solder on the right side (shown below). Now with your pliers put the LED down to the blob of solder and touch it with the soldering iron. Make sure you solder the LED in the correct direction (refer to diagram #1 above). View Original
15)Once the LED is attached to the right side, grab your T8 screwdriver (or whatever you are using) and gently push down on the right side. Tap the solder holding the LED and the LED will push down all the way to the board. Now solder the other side of the LED. View Original
16)Make sure both sides are 100% connected like shown below. View Original
17)After you have finished soldering all 5 LED's it's time to test your PCB board. Plug it in and fire up your 360 (Remember to wait to make sure player 1, 2, 3 & 4 LED's fire up). If a light does not work, you most likely either burned out the LED while installing it or you installed it the incorrect direction (refer to diagram #1 above). View Original
18)The end result is absolutely amazing. View Original
It's really hard to show the entire installation in detail, so I apologize if you are a bit confused by anything above. You really need to be handy with a soldering iron in order to complete this install. Having an extra hand to hold things while the other solders is a plus as well, but not necessary. Good luck!
