PS3 repair

[88MVP]

My 40GB PS3 recently started freezing in mid game and getting disk read errors and now it doesn't even recognize that a disk has been inserted.

I found a guy with a 40GB system that got a YLOD and won't turn on anymore who's willing to sell to me on the cheap. Is it safe to assume that the Blu-Ray drive in that system is probably still okay, and I'd be able to just swap the drive into my system? (i.e. Do all the 40GB consoles use the same one-laser drive?)

Thanks

 

[DaveSimmons]

Did you buy the PS3 with a credit card? Some of them double the 1-year Sony warranty.

Sony charges $149 for a guaranteed fix. How much would you be paying for the other 40GB?

(I'd also wonder why the guy doesn't just pay Sony to fix his PS3.)

 

[88MVP]

I'd be getting the new drive for $50 and I wouldn't have to wait for Sony to ship me back a console.

However, I was just been reading that the 3.0/3.01 firmware update has killed a bunch of people's blu-ray drives, so I might be completely SOL either way. I guess I'm going to wait it out and see if Sony releases another firmware firmware update to fix the problem because I don't want to pay sony 150 yet.

 

[Sadaiyappan]

My 40gb is fine. I have 3.01.

 

[Sadaiyappan]

Mine used to freeze all the time mid game, but after the later firmware updates it stopped doing that. Now it NEVER freezes in game but sometimes it freezes on the browser.

 

[onlyCOpunk]

If Sony's new firmware has caused the PS3 to malfunction they wont charge you to fix it. Call the help line and ask.

 

[Shadowknight]

Never swapped out the drive or drive assembly, but I have taken my PS3 apart multiple times (had to replace the blue-tooth card on my 40gb, replace the thermal paste, and swap the fan, on my 60gb). It's fairly easy, as long as you have a good guide. You can also hit up e-bay for parts. There is a surprising number of ps3s that die somehow and are sold in pieces.

 

[Malak]

Originally posted by: onlyCOpunk
If Sony's new firmware has caused the PS3 to malfunction they wont charge you to fix it. Call the help line and ask.

If the firmware can break a PS3, it would break all of them. It is unlikely the firmware broke anyone's PS3, and even less likely that Sony would fix it for free just because someone said it was the firmware.

 

[88MVP]

Originally posted by: Malak
If the firmware can break a PS3, it would break all of them. It is unlikely the firmware broke anyone's PS3, and even less likely that Sony would fix it for free just because someone said it was the firmware.

That's not necessarily true. They've released numerous iterations of the console with different hardware inside (for example, there have are several different blu-ray drives and lasers used since launch) so there's no reason to think that a given firmware update couldn't disable some consoles' blu-ray drives while not affecting others.

FWIW, there's a crap ton of people on the Sony forums whose perfectly fine PS3's suddenly can't read blu-rays after updating to 3.01. So far Sony is refusing to admit that there's a problem and they're going to charge $150 to send a refurb. People are submitting complaints to the FTC and BBB, hopefully this gets resolved sooner rather than later.

 

[zerogear]

The most likely failure on PS3 is blu-ray, if the guy has YLOD, then it might have a high probability that the drive also failed

 

[Childs]

I opened mine up last week to realign the blu-ray drive. As long as you have the right Torx screw, it should take less than 5 min to open it up. For $50 I would give it a shot, as I have not heard of any problems replacing the drive. Heck, people replace the laser in the drive. Then you can put your drive in the replacement PS3, then send that to Sony and get it fixed for $150, then sell it for $200 and you break even.