Almost every single Xbox 360 gamer will have heard of the flashing lights on the Xbox 360 problem that affects an estimated one in three consoles. However, it is a much more worrying problem when it actually affects your own console, but don't despair, as you can fix the so-called "red ring of death" yourself. Today you are going to learn what causes the Xbox 360 3 red lights error, as well as what steps you can take to try and repair your broken Xbox 360.

The cause of the Xbox "red death" is actually overheating. Damage and eventually malfunctions are caused to your Xbox 360's hardware as heat builds up inside your console during gaming. The flashing lights on your Xbox 360 suggests that the problem is being caused by damage to the graphics processing system (quite often, the "X" clamps which retain the graphics card come loose due to expanding and contracting from the heat/cooling down that the components are exposed to)

There are other potential causes of Xbox error codes, such as faulty assembly (although this is very unlikely) or even just plain bad luck- there is always a failure rate amongst electronic devices, the only problem is that the Xbox 360 seems to have a rather high failure rate.

If you want to fix a broken Xbox 360, one method you have is to send your console back to Microsoft for them to repair the red ring of death. The benefit of doing this is that you can just sit back and relax whilst your Xbox console gets repaired. However, there are some negatives to having your Xbox 360 3 red lights problems fixed this way:

1. You will have to wait at least a couple of weeks to get your Xbox 360 returned to you. That is valuable gaming time that will be lost.

2. If your warranty has expired, you will have to pay upwards of $100 to have Microsoft fix the Xbox red death.

3. There is no guarantee that the problem won't occur again. You could get your Xbox 360 returned to you and find that in a few months the red lights problem develops again and your back to square one!

That's why the best way to fix the flashing lights on the Xbox 360 is to actually carry out the repairs yourself. You will save yourself money and time, and it isn't that hard to do. What you need are video repair instructions to enable you to have accurate enough detail to carry out the necessary repairs on your Xbox 360.

The best way to get these instructions is in an Xbox 360 red ring of death repair guide. You can download one off the Internet, and due to the fact they come in digital format, are usually quite cheap. To ensure you get the best deal, don't spend anything more than $30, and make sure the repair guide that you are looking at offers a free money-back guarantee, as well as free sample videos so you can check the quality of the video files.