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[FIXED!] PS3 died. iSad

SandEagle

SandEagle

Lifer
so my ps3 decides to crap out while i was in the middle of one of my best game on COD MW3......14 kills, 0 deaths.....

its the dreaded blinking red light and i cant get it come come back on. i bought my 60gb PS3 at launch. 🙁 did anyone have the same issue and try the fix using thermal paste and a heat gun? i think ill have to give this a shot
 
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You could probably part it out online for at least a little bit of cash (be honest about the problem of course, sell 'as-is', and have a video showing the problem). There are people out there that use the parts to repair other units with different problems.

PS3's have come down a lot, keep your eyes peeled for specials.
 
SandEagle said:
so my ps3 decides to crap out while i was in the middle of one of my best game on COD MW3......14 kills, 0 deaths.....

its the dreaded blinking red light and i cant get it come come back on. i bought my 60gb PS3 at launch. 🙁 did anyone have the same issue and try the fix using thermal paste and a heat gun? i think ill have to give this a shot
Click to expand...

I know it can leave a gamer feeling inadequate but it happens to the best of us. I'm here for you buddy. I'm here for you. Tomorrow, we'll go to the pound (or Gamestop) to get you a new PS3.

The heat gun fix (Gilksy method) does work but it's not a permanent fix. I found it lasts about a month tops before it yellow lights again. They only way to permanently fix it is to re-ball the CPU and GPU. It's not a DIY thing unless you're really good at soldering. There are people who will do it for you.

The problem with 90nm CPUs is they put out A LOT of heat. The PS3's YLOD is the same thing as the RROD. The systems are basically using laptop cooling to chill high performance desktop grade components. Over time, the tin solder (which has a lower melting point than lead) becomes brittle from repeated warm ups and cool downs. The CPU actually dislodges from the ball grid, causing the system to fail.

If PS2 backwards compatibility means a lot to you, you could try to fix it. The 60gb is still the Cadillac model, and has quite a few features the others don't. I'm tempted to get mine re-balled, and modded with water cooling. Just something I had in mind.

If PS2 means little to you, a PS3 Slim is a very good replacement. They run much cooler and quieter, and use less electricity.
 
mmntech said:
I know it can leave a gamer feeling inadequate but it happens to the best of us. I'm here for you buddy. I'm here for you. Tomorrow, we'll go to the pound (or Gamestop) to get you a new PS3.

The heat gun fix (Gilksy method) does work but it's not a permanent fix. I found it lasts about a month tops before it yellow lights again. They only way to permanently fix it is to re-ball the CPU and GPU. It's not a DIY thing unless you're really good at soldering. There are people who will do it for you.

The problem with 90nm CPUs is they put out A LOT of heat. The PS3's YLOD is the same thing as the RROD. The systems are basically using laptop cooling to chill high performance desktop grade components. Over time, the tin solder (which has a lower melting point than lead) becomes brittle from repeated warm ups and cool downs. The CPU actually dislodges from the ball grid, causing the system to fail.

If PS2 backwards compatibility means a lot to you, you could try to fix it. The 60gb is still the Cadillac model, and has quite a few features the others don't. I'm tempted to get mine re-balled, and modded with water cooling. Just something I had in mind.

If PS2 means little to you, a PS3 Slim is a very good replacement. They run much cooler and quieter, and use less electricity.
Click to expand...

:tear:

i dont care about the backwards compatibility, so if the heat mod doesnt work then ill just go pick up a slim. got the thermal paste, torx screwdriver on order and just picked up a heat gun. i guess we'll find out in 4-5 days
 
Currently Sony has an 'exchange' program specifically for the 60 GB (and maybe 20 GB?) 'fat' models: for $99, you send in your broken unit and they will give you a factory recertified slim 160 GB model
 
bolomite said:
Currently Sony has an 'exchange' program specifically for the 60 GB (and maybe 20 GB?) 'fat' models: for $99, you send in your broken unit and they will give you a factory recertified slim 160 GB model
Click to expand...

i removed the sticker that voids warranty. they probably wont take it now.....wish i knew that earlier... oh well
 
if you give me 50 bucks plus shipping you can have my ps3 that wont load disc. There is nothing else wrong with the unit. I watch netflix and hulu plus on it now in the living room.


No sales outside of FS/FT
AT Mod
Gillbot
 
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SandEagle said:
i removed the sticker that voids warranty. they probably wont take it now.....wish i knew that earlier... oh well
Click to expand...

They will still accept it. A friend of mine called in to do this exchange, he told the CS rep that he had opened up the PS3 b/c it had died with a disc still inside, and that he attempted to get it out. They said they would still take it as long as it had the original hard drive (in this case 60 GB).
 
SandEagle said:
so my ps3 decides to crap out while i was in the middle of one of my best game on COD MW3......14 kills, 0 deaths.....

its the dreaded blinking red light and i cant get it come come back on. i bought my 60gb PS3 at launch. 🙁 did anyone have the same issue and try the fix using thermal paste and a heat gun? i think ill have to give this a shot
Click to expand...




Why don't you try Chuck-E-Cheese? They have plenty of great games to play ... great HOT pizza ...

Oh wait ...

Well I do love games, and I do love pizza. The animatronic mouse is a bit creepy though...

Anyhow, this is a technical forum. Leave your smartass OT comments in OT.

-ViRGE
 
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SUCCESS! I tried the heat gun reflow process outlined in the link below and the PS3 powered back up, yay! been playing MW3 for an hour no issues, let's see how long it lasts now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_Ic1_TY-GU

Took about an hour to disassemble everything since i was following the video and pausing along the way. reapplied the thermal paste and took another hour to put it together again. i'm left with six screws and i cant remember where i took them off from lol. oh well.

spent $30 to fix:
-$23 for a heat gun
-$6 for the thermal paste (recommend Arctic Silver A5)
-$1 for a torx screw driver
 
yah good job fixing it, but it will come back at some point. that is why i gave up and just bought a new 360 at one point so i wouldn't have to deal w/fixing it everytime.
 
purbeast0 said:
yah good job fixing it, but it will come back at some point. that is why i gave up and just bought a new 360 at one point so i wouldn't have to deal w/fixing it everytime.
Click to expand...

fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu. it died again. what a waste. guess im heading out to get a PS3
 
SandEagle said:
fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu. it died again. what a waste. guess im heading out to get a PS3
Click to expand...

At least you have a good reason to get a slim. I'm waiting on mine to die so I can do the same with the PS3 and 360 but I evidently don't play enough as they both keep kicking.
 
SandEagle said:
fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu. it died again. what a waste. guess im heading out to get a PS3
Click to expand...

Hate to say I told you so, but... I told you so. :sneaky:

This is why I hate ROHS, because lead truly is a superior solder to tin. As I said, tin is a more brittle material and softens at a lower temperature. It also tends to whisker, a metallurgical phenomenon that can cause shorts. I'm not sure why reflowing doesn't seem to hold for very long. I just know it's only a temp fix.

Reballing seems to have mixed results. I'm not a fan of ball-grid array processor sockets because they seem to have the most problems. Especially in high heat conditions. Of course combine that with the compact size of the case, which limits airflow. The PS3 Fats were better than the Xbox 360 for that, as they had a much larger cooler, but only to the point where it delays the inevitable.

The Slim will be a big downgrade but it runs a lot cooler and it's a lot quieter. You can't even tell it's on when it's idling. It's a slightly better Blu-ray player as well, as it supports bit-streaming HD audio over HDMI.
 
mmntech said:
Hate to say I told you so, but... I told you so. :sneaky:

This is why I hate ROHS, because lead truly is a superior solder to tin. As I said, tin is a more brittle material and softens at a lower temperature. It also tends to whisker, a metallurgical phenomenon that can cause shorts. I'm not sure why reflowing doesn't seem to hold for very long. I just know it's only a temp fix.

Reballing seems to have mixed results. I'm not a fan of ball-grid array processor sockets because they seem to have the most problems. Especially in high heat conditions. Of course combine that with the compact size of the case, which limits airflow. The PS3 Fats were better than the Xbox 360 for that, as they had a much larger cooler, but only to the point where it delays the inevitable.

The Slim will be a big downgrade but it runs a lot cooler and it's a lot quieter. You can't even tell it's on when it's idling. It's a slightly better Blu-ray player as well, as it supports bit-streaming HD audio over HDMI.
Click to expand...

The slim is mainly a downgrade based on PS2 compat, right? What else would someone notice going from a fat to a slim if they just played PS3 games and BDs?
 
Arkaign said:
The slim is mainly a downgrade based on PS2 compat, right? What else would someone notice going from a fat to a slim if they just played PS3 games and BDs?
Click to expand...

build quality?/solder quality?
not sure, but physically it looks cheaper to me. didn't they also remove the "cool touch" and replaced with actual plastic buttons on the system?

Meanwhile the new black 360 looks like they updated quality.
 
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