Easy fix for Yellow light of death...

Super Sidious

Ok so saturday my PS3 gets the yellow light of death... did everything to try get it working but Its 6 months out of warranty and beside from not wanting to spend 160euro to get a refurb I dont want to lose all my save files... oblivion/fallout3/uncharted2 etc...

I did a bit of searching on the net and a couple of guides there involving a heat gun and a complicated opening of PS3... which isnt exactly something I wanted to do either as heat guns cost money and the fact it might not work!

I did more searching and came across a guy and read what he said... and this is what I did...

*Warning* Obviously dont do this if your PS3 is still in warranty as it will void it... This is for people with no hope of getting it back working without spending €100 on a possible fix or €160 on a refurb from sony...


I used my original PS3 box, (The box is used to create a type of heat trap), and placed my PS3 in it with the back of the PS3 facing up towards me... (I removed my hard drive first)

I then used a hair dryer (240v) and began to blow it on high power at the back of the playstation where the heat sinks are... I just blew it back and forth to each vent...

I did this for about 10-12 minutes...

*WARNING* The playstation gets extremely hot... and I recommend you be very careful... my vents at the back of the PS3 became a lil warped possibly because I was holding the hairdryer a lil close...

Anyway as I was blowing on the vents I reguarly checked the heat of the PS3 all over... it got Hotter and Hotter...

When I stopped I took the PS3 out of the box with a towel as it was still hot...

I placed it by the window for 20-25 minutes and then used a small fan on it for 5 more minutes... then when I felt it was cool enough to use I put the hard drive back in...

I crossed my fingers and plugged it on and hey presto... it worked!

My PS3 which had died from the YLOD is now working...

I got all of my save files off it and other stuff I wanted...

As far as I know this may only be a temporary fix... but all the same, it means I got my save files back which is 18months of hard work!

This may not work for everyone but It worked for me and it was still working 2 hours after I fixed it...

Just be careful at the distance you put the hair dryer... maybe keep it 3-4inches away... keep moving it back and forth between vents every 30 seconds or so... if you notice any burning smells or the plastic is starting to melt reduce the power on the hairdryer...

I hope this helps other people as I know the YLOD is a pain and Sony arent helpful about it!

Cheers!

*I dont take any responibilty if something goes wrong... this is just how I fixed it...

johnny_adidas

well done on the diy fix. hope it stays working

AnCapaillMor

Heard a few dudes on gamefaqs about fixing the YLOD with a heat gun. Most only get a week or 2 extra out of it. 1 guy got 6 months. My advise backup ASAP.

Notorious

I've also heard that wrapping your ps3 up in a blanket and leaving it turned on for a while then leaving it to cool after its really hot, can help fix that problem. Supposedly though, it results in a reoccuring problem. I've been told that its something to do with the heat sink. The guy I know who did it ended up having to do it weekly until the console packed up!

Best of luck OP!