How likely does a for years stored away 360 still run?

Zukuu · Nov 25, 2018

I'm currently planning on what I'm gonna play for christmas holiday and decided on "Blue Dragon". I have my 360 somewhere in the attic of my parent's place and I'm wondering if it'll still run or have/get some RROD due to its notoriously bad thermal paste.
Last time I played it was around 2012 I think.

Any experiences?

Update:
I've just tried to hook it up. Didn't have the attachment cable for the power unit, but found out that a 3-female-connector cable works with the Xbox 2-male-connector port. Console booted fine and seems to still work - currently downloading OS updates.

The controller didn't work. Tried to open the battery compartment to no avail. After a good 15 minutes of forcing it open, it gave eventually in and quite a bit of white-cake-like crumbles greeted me. One of the batteries must have leaked. I cleaned it to the best of my abilities and tried to turn it on with a spare battery pack I apparently have bought at some point (was still sealed... I seem to have two of them). Hooked it up to the Xbox and it worked again.

The only thing that is a bit unfunctional is the Left shoulder Button, which seems to be almost stuck and only moves 0,01 mm when I press it. It still registers the press occasionally but depending how important that button is for Blue Dragon, I might have to open the controller and try my best to fix it. Otherwise, I will have to buy a new used one.

So yeah, if you store your 360 away, remove the batteries from the pad.

ArachosiA · Nov 25, 2018

I think it will run fine. I mean, I have a PS1 and Saturn that I just pulled out of storage from 22 years ago and both booted up just like day 1. Granted, the 360 isn't as well-engineered, but it's also a lot newer.

CanUKlehead · Nov 25, 2018

I booted up my 360 this summer that has been stored in the garage since early 2014.

Not the same time length as yours, but as an FYI, still ran fine.

Stef · Nov 25, 2018

It is a recent machine, it will run fine.

nampad · Nov 25, 2018

RROD usually happens because of the bad solder getting brittle and beeaking from constant reheating and cooling from normal usage.

Yours didn't so it might run just well.

Zukuu · Nov 25, 2018

nampad said:
RROD usually happens because of the bad solder getting brittle and beeaking from constant reheating and cooling from normal usage.

Yours didn't so it might run just well.

That's reassuring. I didn't play my 360 much, so here is hoping that everything is well. I will only know a few days before christmas, so I have to weigh the chances of it still running and order the game from ebay.

Shadow · Nov 25, 2018

Last year (and a few days ago) I booted up a packardbell computer that wasn't used since about 1999 or earlier. Works 100% perfect. It'll be fine.

Shopolic · Nov 25, 2018

Weeks ago, I played with my Dreamcast after 6,7 years and it worked great.

Xypher · Nov 25, 2018

I wanted to play some Tales of Vesperia earlier this year, and my 360 itself worked just fine, the problem was that I had batteries in the controllers and those damaged the contacts. I didn't use my 360 since 2012 before that.

Fat4all · Nov 25, 2018

hopefully it will run away and join the gaming circus

and finally be free

BocoDragon · Nov 25, 2018

When did you buy your 360 is the real question.

Slim 360s didn't really have that defect at all, and even the latter OG 360s seem to be going strong.

If you bought a 360 after ~2009 I wouldn't worry in the slightest.

superNESjoe · Nov 25, 2018

If it's manufactured after like, 2009 I think, it's fine. As long as it's a Jasper board or later.

SmartWaffles · Nov 25, 2018

A couple months ago I dusted out an Xbox 360 Slim which was stored for like 2+ years to uploading every save to the cloud, it worked fine.

Zukuu · Nov 25, 2018

Xypher said:
I wanted to play some Tales of Vesperia earlier this year, and my 360 itself worked just fine, the problem was that I had batteries in the controllers and those damaged the contacts. I didn't use my 360 since 2012 before that.

Shit. I think I left them in there too. Could you fix it? I think I only have one controller, too.

Zukuu · Nov 25, 2018

BocoDragon said:
When did you buy your 360 is the real question.

Slim 360s didn't really have that defect at all, and even the latter OG 360s seem to be going strong.

If you bought a 360 after ~2009 I wouldn't worry in the slightest.

I either have an Arcade or Pro - since it's white, but I'm not sure which anymore.

F34R · Nov 25, 2018

I booted up an arcade board that is 36 years old, been in storage for almost 20 years lol. Works like a charm. My Jasper 360 is still running well, and an original Xbox that was in a water leaking shed for will over a decade works fine.

Pancakes R Us · Nov 25, 2018

Shadow said:
Last year (and a few days ago) I booted up a packardbell computer that wasn't used since about 1999 or earlier. Works 100% perfect. It'll be fine.

Damn! Nice.

superNESjoe · Nov 25, 2018

People are posting a lot of "I booted up this 20+ year old thing" and it's not exactly relevant. The early 360's have notoriously high failure rates. It's nothing at all like pulling out a Sega Saturn, or a vintage arcade board. Those early 360's are a technical mess.

OP if it doesn't work, you can get a new slim for $40 bucks.

BocoDragon · Nov 25, 2018

superNESjoe said:
People are posting a lot of "I booted up this 20+ year old thing" and it's not exactly relevant. The early 360's have notoriously high failure rates. It's nothing at all like pulling out a Sega Saturn, or a vintage arcade board. Those early 360's are a technical mess.

OP if it doesn't work, you can get a new slim for $40 bucks.

Indeed. It's not really the age of any given console that is a concern. I expect many old game machines to outlive us all.

It's specific defects that are the problem, and OG 360 definitely has one.

Xypher · Nov 25, 2018

Zukuu said:
Shit. I think I left them in there too. Could you fix it? I think I only have one controller, too.

I tried several things I saw online like cleaning the contacts using vinegar but the damage was too big so I just gave up.

Hilarious_Bearious · Nov 25, 2018

I pulled my 360 out of 2 years of retirement earlier in the month to play RDR. It was loud AF but working. My 360 is from that first HW revision to add HDMI, so it's one of the shakier builds.

When electronics die in storage, it's usually from betteries or certain capacitor types leaking acid/electrolyte, causing corrosion. Modern caps are a lot more robust, but batteries cancgo bad pretty easily (I assume the 360 has a button battery in the mobo). The early 360s were also made during the capacitor plague, but have NFI if they're prone to capacitor issues (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitor_plague).

Dr Pears · Nov 25, 2018

for% likely

Zukuu · Nov 25, 2018

superNESjoe said:
People are posting a lot of "I booted up this 20+ year old thing" and it's not exactly relevant. The early 360's have notoriously high failure rates. It's nothing at all like pulling out a Sega Saturn, or a vintage arcade board. Those early 360's are a technical mess.

OP if it doesn't work, you can get a new slim for $40 bucks.

Is Blue Dragon worth it to buy a new one tho? Only other game I would be interested in is "Infinite Undiscovery" now that Vesperia will release on steam next year.

As of now, I'm optimistic it'll work tho since it's definitely not a launch 360. Only issue is with the pad, since I kept the batteries in there like the poster above. A used one would cost around 10 bucks from what I see online.

Hilarious_Bearious · Nov 25, 2018

Zukuu said:
As of now, I'm optimistic it'll work tho since it's definitely not a launch 360. Only issue is with the pad, since I kept the batteries in there like the poster above. A used one would cost around 10 bucks from what I see online.

Do you have a Dremel? I've had a lot of success with polishing the corrosion off battery contacts using a Dremel. A qtip or other soft cloth probably isn't going to be abrasive enough to clear off years of corrosion from leaked battery acid. Don't use vinegar or anything else acidic to clean the contacts, they will not only be ineffective could make things worse in the long run.

If you're able to get some clean metal exposed on the contacts, a dab of WD40, CRC, RP7 or other water dispersant probably won't hurt. Just be sure to dab it into the metal while avoiding getting it on the plastic (some plastics don't like it).

Spades · Nov 25, 2018

Blue Dragon is backwards compatible, so it's a great excuse to pick up an Xbox One in the sales, OP!

Zukuu · Nov 25, 2018

Hilarious_Bearious said:
Do you have a Dremel? I've had a lot of success with polishing the corrosion off battery contacts using a Dremel. A qtip or other soft cloth probably isn't going to be abrasive enough to clear off years of corrosion from leaked battery acid. Don't use vinegar or anything else acidic to clean the contacts, they will not only be ineffective could make things worse in the long run.

If you're able to get some clean metal exposed on the contacts, a dab of WD40, CRC, RP7 or other water dispersant probably won't hurt. Just be sure to dab it into the metal while avoiding getting it on the plastic (some plastics don't like it).

Sadly no. I don't even know if the pad is actually faulty to begin with. Here is hoping everything just works out of the (stored away) box.

This Schrödinger's 360 is killing me. I might need to switch plans to visit my parents earlier and pick it up to have ample time before the holidays.

Spades said:
Blue Dragon is backwards compatible, so it's a great excuse to pick up an Xbox One in the sales, OP!

That kinda overshoots what I'm willing to spend to play Blue Dragon. I have a PS4 and PC, so access to everything I care about that the One could offer me... (would rather buy a Switch for some more jRPG goodness).

Anthony Hopkins · Nov 25, 2018

Zukuu said:
Sadly no. I don't even know if the pad is actually faulty to begin with. Here is hoping everything just works out of the (stored away) box.

This Schrödinger's 360 is killing me. I might need to switch plans to visit my parents earlier and pick it up to have ample time before the holidays.

That kinda overshoots what I'm willing to spend to play Blue Dragon. I have a PS4 and PC, so access to everything I care about that the One could offer me... (would rather buy a Switch for some more jRPG goodness).

When will you find out OP?

Zukuu · Nov 25, 2018

Anthony Hopkins said:
When will you find out OP?

A week before christmas unless I switch plans around and by then it might be too late to order stuff.

Anthony Hopkins · Nov 25, 2018

Zukuu said:
A week before christmas unless I switch plans around and by then it might be too late to order stuff.

Maybe ask your parents or anyone at your parents house to check it out?

elektrixx · Nov 25, 2018

I got my launch unit out a few months ago and it was fine.

[edit] Actually, it's no longer a launch unit. I sent it away when it had a graphics issue (not RROD, surprisingly).

I might get it out again. I may need to hack a 360 to rip my games or something. I dunno what the process is yet.

Zukuu · Nov 25, 2018

Anthony Hopkins said:
Maybe ask your parents or anyone at your parents house to check it out?

That would require them to venture into the attic and find it, which is in itself already a daunting task and then be able to hook it up and be able to make sense out of it... that's impossible. I have to do everything remotely or do IT support whenever I visit for the most trivial things. My mother can't even change her ringtone without my help. So that's a hard no.

I'm currently in talks with my family to move my visit to the 15th, which would give me ample time to order a new controller or something.

Anthony Hopkins · Nov 25, 2018

Zukuu said:
That would require them to venture into the attic and find it, which is in itself already a daunting task and then be able to hook it up and be able to make sense out of it... that's impossible. I have to do everything remotely or do IT support whenever I visit for the most trivial things. My mother can't even change her ringtone without my help. So that's a hard no.

I'm currently in talks with my family to move my visit to the 15th, which would give me ample time to order a new controller or something.

Oh I see, lol. Thought that might be the case.

Iceman83 · Nov 25, 2018

Shoot some compressed air through it and send it. It'll be fine.

theosmeo · Nov 25, 2018

i found a 360 on the side of the road the other day, it ran great lol

Temtastic Muns · Nov 25, 2018

I pulled my 360 out of storage from four years ago. Replayed through the Gears of War trilogy via HDD with no issues.

Jasper board, by the way.

Chettlar · Nov 25, 2018

That title took me some time. Might have understood better with

How likely does a stored-away-for-years-xbox-360 still run?

R0987 · Nov 25, 2018

superNESjoe said:
If it's manufactured after like, 2009 I think, it's fine. As long as it's a Jasper board or later.

Ah 360 motherboard codenames jasper,opus,falcon,zephyr and the like takes me back to the days of flashing iextreme on the 360 disc drives for piracy (i was a scoundrel back then).

The Almighty Tria · Nov 25, 2018

Turned on my 360 Slim that I haven't used since like 2013 and it worked perfectly.

Get ready for that slow ass OS though. The most amazing part about turning on a system from last gen that you haven't used forever is realizing how SLOW the system is. Man we got it good now.

StereoVSN · Nov 25, 2018

Why wouldn't it? I have consoles from SNES on up and haven't had many issues turning a console on after a few years in the closet.

CHEROKEEE · Nov 25, 2018

..btw I stored away my good ol Commodore AMIGA 500 around 1990 (!!). Just recently I hooked it up again out of nostalgia and... Still ran as smooth as ever! Just sayin'. ;-)

Alwayscrazybacon · Nov 25, 2018

Anything after an OG model will be fine.

Chettlar · Nov 25, 2018

The Almighty Tria said:
Turned on my 360 Slim that I haven't used since like 2013 and it worked perfectly.

Get ready for that slow ass OS though. The most amazing part about turning on a system from last gen that you haven't used forever is realizing how SLOW the system is. Man we got it good now.

I feel like my 360 isn't that slow? It's a slim fully updated. Everything from downloading games to operating the OS is pretty decent. Bladess menu loads just fine.

Camoxide · Nov 25, 2018

Should be fine, I don't believe the 360 had the same issue that original Xbox had with a capacitor that is nearly guaranteed to explode acid over the motherboard.

Colossal Moo · Nov 25, 2018

Zukuu said:
I'm currently planning on what I'm gonna play for christmas holiday and decided on "Blue Dragon". I have my 360 somewhere in the attic of my parent's place and I'm wondering if it'll still run or have/get some RROD due to its notoriously bad thermal paste.
Last time I played it was around 2012 I think.

Any experiences?

If the console worked when you stored it, it will probably work when you turn it on. I have used a PS2, Xbox and SNES which were stored for years and they all worked fine.

SavoyPrime · Nov 25, 2018

I would say if it's not a launch 360 or one of the earlier ones, you should be good.

Zukuu · Dec 16, 2018

Update:

I've just tried to hook it up. Didn't have the attachment cable for the power unit, but found out that a 3-female-connector cable works with the Xbox 2-male-connector port. Console booted fine and seems to still work - currently downloading OS updates.

The controller didn't work. Tried to open the battery compartment to no avail. After a good 15 minutes of forcing it open, it gave eventually in and quite a bit of white-cake-like crumbles greeted me. One of the batteries must have leaked. I cleaned it to the best of my abilities and tried to turn it on with a spare battery pack I apparently have bought at some point (was still sealed... I seem to have two of them). Hooked it up to the Xbox and it worked again.

The only thing that is a bit unfunctional is the Left shoulder Button, which seems to be almost stuck and only moves 0,01 mm when I press it. It still registers the press occasionally but depending how important that button is for Blue Dragon, I might have to open the controller and try my best to fix it. Otherwise, I will have to buy a new used one.

So yeah, if you store your 360 away, remove the batteries from the pad.

Replicant · Dec 16, 2018

Having something sit not used isn't going to break it. The worst that could happen is capacitors leak and the chances of that happening are slim to none.

Chettlar · Dec 17, 2018

Zukuu said:
Update:

I've just tried to hook it up. Didn't have the attachment cable for the power unit, but found out that a 3-female-connector cable works with the Xbox 2-male-connector port. Console booted fine and seems to still work - currently downloading OS updates.

The controller didn't work. Tried to open the battery compartment to no avail. After a good 15 minutes of forcing it open, it gave eventually in and quite a bit of white-cake-like crumbles greeted me. One of the batteries must have leaked. I cleaned it to the best of my abilities and tried to turn it on with a spare battery pack I apparently have bought at some point (was still sealed... I seem to have two of them). Hooked it up to the Xbox and it worked again.

The only thing that is a bit unfunctional is the Left shoulder Button, which seems to be almost stuck and only moves 0,01 mm when I press it. It still registers the press occasionally but depending how important that button is for Blue Dragon, I might have to open the controller and try my best to fix it. Otherwise, I will have to buy a new used one.

So yeah, if you store your 360 away, remove the batteries from the pad.

Good tip

How likely does a for years stored away 360 still run?

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