Xbox 360 – ‘Aftercooler’ Modification
The problem
..
What happens when you turn off
your 360 after a 4 Hr session of Gears of War? The answer is everything turns
off including the FANS ... so what happens to your actively cooled GPU and CPU - that's right, they stopped getting cooled
and any residual heat on them has nowhere to go other than get hotter ….
L
As we all
know, the heatsinks (esp the GPU one) are stretched at the
best of times (performance vs
airflow/noise) so by turning off the fans, the heat still in the CPU/GPU and all
other components needs to be removed because leaving them to bake is not good.
If the heatsinks were a decent
size and not stretched, then I would say that the passive removal of heat would
suffice but in the 360's extreme cooling case, I think they need some
assistance...
So, the
requirement is fairly simply - I wanted the FANS to stay ON for 2-3 minutes
after I switch the Xbox360 off.
Sounds simply huh - well the obvious thing is how do I
power my fans if I've just turned the power off ... (duh!)
Half way though the project, I
found a commercial product called the Evercool ECS (Extended Cooling System) that looked
promising for an easy solution, but unfortunately it did not work with the Xbox
360 variable voltage fan controllers – and it only ran on 5v with no adjustable
time.
The build
The project is split into two sections – Part 1 is the fan
wiring modifications and 12v, 5v sources and Part 2 is the timer and trigger
circuit board.
Before we start – ensure the Xbox is all fully unplugged
from all it’s power supplies, AV cables etc.
Part 1 – Voltage sources & Fan Wiring Modifications
…
1. The Xbox360 doesn't actually fully power off - parts of it
need to stay permanently on (whilst the Power Brick is plugged in) for the
remote on facility ..
- Solder two wires 60cm onto these connections (reachable by just removing the Air ducting) – I find that uses a single twisted pair from an RJ45 patch lead is ideal as it has a suitable gauge and with the wires already twisted, keeps itself nice and neat. The point closest to the capacitor is the 0v, the one closest to the power connector is the +5v.
- CHECK that the 0v point goes to ground (use continuity on your meter) and check that the +5v point does NOT have continuity to Ground (!)
- Insulate the other ends of the wire – and label them as follows :-
+5v = C5
0v = C6
- We now need to do the same with a 12v connection (use 60cm wires) which is switched on when you turn on your 360. You may already have 12v points which you could use – but we will be drawing a 50mA current from this to charge the battery, so if you decide to use your own, then ensure this will not cause a problem for the regulator supplying the 12v …
- The points shown above are directly connected to the 12v input into the Xbox (which is why I chose them) – they are also reasonably big pads to solder to.
- Again CHECK that you have continuity from 0v to ground and double check that the 12v is not grounded !
- Insulate the ends of the wires and label them :-
+12v = C7
0v = C8
- That’s it for motherboard soldering J
- We now need to wire the fans, rather than hack up the Fan
and it’s wiring, you can use a standard ‘Pentium 4’ ATX Power Extension cable as it uses exactly
the same connectors …
- We need to wire the cable as follows (again use 60cm
wires) :-
Basically we are splitting the two positive wires going from the motherboard, directing them to the circuit board and then returning them to the fan. Remember to label the wires as follows :-
GPU Fan Input = C1
CPU Fan Input = C2
GPU Fan Output = C3
CPU Fan Output = C4
- So we get something like this …
- If you plan to use your Xbox before the build is complete – then ensure you plug your fans directly into the motherboard !
- Run the cables across the air shroud for the time being (ignore the wires going around the DVD drive in the pic below – they are for the Ethernet mod..) …
- Lastly you will need to solder some extension cables onto a 9v PP3 clip – this step is only required if you want the powerful output that you achieve from running the fans @ 9v. It’s also ‘ok’ to use the 5v standby supply to run the fans but they will take longer to cool it all down. The circuit caters for both. You may get away with not extending the wires if you locate the battery near the circuit board, but I mounted mine on top of the main power connector well out the way (see below).
- Either way, you’ll need to label the wires as follows (if doing the 9v upgrade.. J ) :-
+ve Terminal (Red Wire) = C9
-ve Terminal (Black Wire) = C10
- Tidy up all the wires and run them to the rear of the Xbox’s RF unit – that is where we will eventually mount the circuit board ..
That’s it for Part 1 – Now for the hard part – making the circuit that controls the Aftercooler …
Part 2 – The Timer & Trigger Circuitboard
- “Veroboard” or Stripboard is used to create the circuit – not the worlds greatest Veroboard design by any means but it’s reasonably neat and compact…
- A list of components as follows :-
|
Ref |
Description |
Qty |
Cost Each
(Total) |
Vero Grid
Ref |
Hyperlink |
|
|
IC1 |
NE556 Timer |
1 |
£0.69 |
Q11–T17 |
||
|
IC2 |
14 Pin DIL Socket |
1 |
£0.19 |
Q11–T17 |
||
|
IC3 |
BC549C |
1 |
£0.17 |
O2(C), O3(B), O4 (E) |
||
|
R1 |
1K Resistor |
2 |
£0.13 (£0.26) |
J7-J18, N3-N15 |
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Search.aspx?criteria=M1K&doy=17m1&source=15 | |
|
R2 |
10K Resistor |
3 |
£0.13 (£0.39) |
N1-N2, S1-S6, Q8-Q10 |
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Search.aspx?criteria=M10K&doy=17m1&source=15 | |
|
R3 |
18 Ohm Resistor |
1 |
£0.13 |
K3-K12 |
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Search.aspx?criteria=M18R&doy=17m1&source=15 | |
|
VR1 |
1 MOhm |
1 |
TBC |
V8,X8,W12 |
| |
|
D1 |
1N4001 |
3 |
£0.12 (£0.24) |
I1(+)-I5, L5(+)-L12,
U16(+)-U18 |
||
|
D2 |
1N4148 |
1 |
£0.16 |
H12(+)-H18 |
http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?TabID=1&criteria=1n4148&ModuleNo=46386&doy=17m1 | |
|
L1 |
3mm LED |
1 |
£0.17 |
U7(+)-U4 |
http://www.maplin.co.uk/module.aspx?TabID=1&criteria=3mm%20led&ModuleNo=35702&doy=17m1 | |
|
RL1 |
5v(6v) DPDT Miniature Relay |
1 |
£1.91 |
C5-F12 |
||
|
X1 |
0.1uF Capacitor |
1 |
£0.20 |
Q2-Q6 |
||
|
X2 |
470uF Capacitor |
1 |
TBC |
W2-W4 |
| |
|
Links |
n/a |
16 |
n/a |
A11-A12 D2-D4 G4-G6 G7-G8 G9-G10 G11-G18 I6-I12 M6-M17 O12-O16 P10-P14 T1-T10 U10-U11 U12-U13 Y2-Y12 Z6-Z17 |
| |
|
Vero Breaks |
n/a |
21 |
|
D7,D9,D12,H2,H7-H11,J12,L3,P6,R11-R17,U2,W8 |
| |
|
- |
Veroboard (min 19 rows x 28 holes) |
1 |
TBC |
|
||
|
Optional |
10 Way PCB Socket |
1 |
£0.33 |
A1-A10 |
||
|
Optional |
10 terminals for above |
1 |
£0.71 |
A1-A10 |
||
|
Optional |
10 Way Plug |
1 |
£0.71 |
A1-A10 |
||
|
Optional |
PP3 9v Rechargeable (170mAh) |
1 |
TBC |
|
| |
- .. and the Vero board layout :-
- Note the labels (should..) match the above parts list …
- The only component which may be difficult in sourcing, is RL1 which is a 5v DPDT relay. Now although I haven’t tested this – a 6v relay (much more common) with the same pinout should be ok. 5v should be enough power to energize the 6v coil – but I’m not 100% on this.
- Building the Vero board – Sequence :-
- Label the board with the grid reference if possible – it will make building it easier ..
- Cut the tracks in the board where X marks the spot – the easiest way to do this is with a 5mm drill bit twisted in your fingers to remove the track ..
- Solder in all the links using wire small gauge ( stripped from an RJ45 again …)
- Solder in the flat mounted resistors …
- Solder in the flat mounted diodes … (polarity is important here – make sure you get the stripe at the right end ..)
- Solder in the 14Pin DIL Socket for the chip ..
- Solder in the variable resistor – set it fully anti-clockwise to start with…
- Solder in the transistor (identify the Collector, Base and Emitter legs) …
- Solder in the Capacitors …
- Solder in the Relay (make sure it’s pins match the required output) ...
- Solder in the wires directly, or use a 10 way PCB socket for easy removal of the circuit / wires at a later date …
- If you use the PCB socket, then you’ll need to also solder all the wires onto the correct plus – but of a pain tbh, so if you don’t intend on removing it – then I’d solder directly into the PCB … J
- CHECK all the connections – you especially need to check the 12v and 5v connections to make sure there are no solder bridges or shorts.
- Finally put in the NE556 chip into it’s socket …
- Insulate the back of the circuit board (temp) or leave it hanging outside the Xbox – we first need to check that the timer and normally closed relay contacts work.
- When you first plug in the power connector or switch on the PSU, the circuit should trigger (a one off event) – you should hear the relay click, the led should go on, the fans should both spin up and then briefly off again (assuming you set the variable resistor correctly). If it doesn’t go off, then turn the variable resistor the other way until it does …
- If it goes off – then great, the timer circuit and relay circuit is all working as it should.
- Now turn on the Xbox 360, totally normal fan operation should be happening – if there is no fan activity then turn it off again immediately ….
- Assuming all is well with the fans, then turn off the 360 – the relay should click and the fans power up for the timer period ..
- Adjust the timer to suit ( ¼ turn is about 5 minutes) – it doesn’t need anymore than this tbh …
- Insulate the case on the back of the RF board here (I used some cardboard and insulating tape but a thin bit of plexi would be excellent) :-
PS – Capacitor and LED have now moved from the picture above to make way for the front Fan Header on the mobo… J
- Tidy up all the wires….
- You’re done
!!
If brand new, the 9v battery will take some time to charge – with the resistor I chose, it’s charging at about 50mA – which equates to about 4hrs to fully charge the battery (with the Xbox 360 on obviously..). Once charged, the Xbox will keep the battery topped up and the battery should never go flat … In the unlikely event that it does or you don’t want to use the battery, then the Aftercooler fans will always run at 5v minimum anyway (from the standby supply).
Usual disclaimer applies – I am not responsible for
anything that goes wrong with either the Xbox 360 connections or the circuit
during this tutorial.
Help is available via the Xbox-Scene.com hardware forums …
J
For those interested in making a proper PCB – schematic here :-
All the best – RBJTech – 22/01/07