Water Damage & Flooded Basement Restoration Services

Repairing a Water Damaged Xbox 360

By the RestorationSOS Educational Staff

Gaming consoles like the ever-popular XboX 360 bring hours of enjoyment and recreation into the lives of families across the country, but that enjoyment may be short-lived if the unit is exposed to water through a spill, flood, or submersion. The problem is made even worse by the fact that the Xbox 360 are one of the more expensive gaming consoles meaning that they may be expensive to repair or replace.

If you do end up with a water damaged XboX 360, here are tips you can use to try to repair the issue:

Clean up the area around the XboX 360.
Unplug the unit as soon as possible and dry any water off of the surface of the unit. While some units may be gently shaken to remove water through vents, the XboX 360 is not one of them. Shaking the unit may actually cause further damage. Instead, simply tilt the unit to allow as much water to flow out of the vents as possible.

Do not turn the unit on.
Too many people let their curiosity get the best of them and they try to see if the unit will operate following water damage. This is not advised since any electrical current will fry the XboX if it is still waterlogged. Allow the unit to dry out for at least a week before attempting to power it on.

Open the unit to dry it.
Only do this if you are technically proficient enough to examine and dry the components that are damaged. Use isopropyl alcohol and a soft cloth to gently dry and clean the components. Of course, make sure you are grounded before poking around any electrical systems or touching any circuit boards. Opening the unit will void the warranty, but typically water damage alone will void a warranty anyway.

Allow the unit to dry for a period of several days.
If you wish, you can place it in front of or near an air conditioning unit or heating vent to help the process along. Three to five days should be allotted for this purpose and even then the unit should be thoroughly checked before operation. Once the unit is dried out, plug it back in and turn it on to see if it will power on. If it does not, that does not mean that the repair process was not performed correctly, but rather that the level of damage was just too much.

If all else fails, look for an XboX 360 repair technician in your area by asking for recommendations from friends, checking Google, or even video game stores. Get at least two or three quotes and pick one that isn’t the most expensive or the cheapest. If all else fails, scrap the unit and sell it for parts. You’d be surprised at how much these parts go for on eBay. The funds raised can go toward the purchase of a new unit.

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Clean, Dry, Repair and Disinfect Electronic Media
Repairing a Water Damaged Playstation 3