YLOD PS3

McGarnagle92

Hi all,
have an old launch day PS3 just got the Yellow Light of Death playing Black Ops yesterday.
I'm happy it has lasted nearly 4 years but what are my options now.

Repair , a new one or contact sony?

maynooth_rules

Are you me?? Mine died two days ago, during black ops too. Damn yellow light of death:(. I did the repair that was on youtube but have had no luck with it. My disc got stuck but i was able to get inot the hard drive and open the CD drive to get the game out.
I too would like to know if it is worth while contacting Sony.
At the moment im thinking of flogging it for parts, getting a small but of money and then buying a slim.

danielmoran

Black ops seems to be causing a lot of problems.
I've read a few posts where it has caused crashes and deleted memory.
best bet is to buy a new one for the increased performance

McGarnagle92

That's exactly what I'm thinking. To get the slim, maybe after christmas there will be some better deals than now.
How exactly did you get the disc out? My black ops is still stuck in it

I'm guessing it's not worth the repair for about €100 or so, as it will probably just happen again.

How much are you playing on selling it on for out of curiosity?

Rev Hellfire

Having just fixed my own ps3 which had the ylod I would suggest you give it a go yourself.

Myrddin

McGarnagle92 wrote: »

I'm happy it has lasted nearly 4 years

That attitude baffles me to be honest. The reliability of this generation of consoles is a holy disgrace to be honest, still, it keeps the dollars rolling in I guess.

McGarnagle92

Rev Hellfire wrote: »

Having just fixed my own ps3 which had the ylod I would suggest you give it a go yourself.

How did you go about doing it? I read stuff about heat guns etc.

EnterNow wrote: »

That attitude baffles me to be honest. The reliability of this generation of consoles is a holy disgrace to be honest, still, it keeps the dollars rolling in I guess.

I completely agree with you but I was expecting this to happen at least two years ago. Of course, I think it's a disgrace that they don't have a good lifespan whatsoever, but I can't change that and apparently I'm lucky with what I got out of it. Things seem to be made to break these days.

TimeToShine

Rev Hellfire wrote: »

Having just fixed my own ps3 which had the ylod I would suggest you give it a go yourself.

I and many others were rather hoping you would furnish us with the source you used to fix your PS3 rather than just telling us it can be done. Personally I really don't have the money to go out and buy a slim so I'll take any suggestions on board.

whiterebel

McGarnagle92 wrote: »

How did you go about doing it? I read stuff about heat guns etc.



I completely agree with you but I was expecting this to happen at least two years ago. Of course, I think it's a disgrace that they don't have a good lifespan whatsoever, but I can't change that and apparently I'm lucky with what I got out of it. Things seem to be made to break these days.

People can help change it if they go the Small claims court and fight for their rights. Look at what happened with Microsoft and the XBox.

Rev Hellfire

McGarnagle92 wrote: »

How did you go about doing it? I read stuff about heat guns etc.

A fair point

Basically what I did was find a teardown for the PS3 and follow that to disassemble it. This is the one I used -> PS3 60gig Teardown. It didn't totally match my machine, for example the card readers aren't mounted on the cover.

There are a few things you'll need a good set of screwdrivers, heatgun, thermal compound and to clean the dies some isopropyl or similar cleaning fluid. you should be able to get the later two in Maplins or other store that does PC components.

The disassembly and reassembly is really no different to a build your own PC, take pictures as you take the parts off and separate the screws into separate piles.

Once you get down to step 36 where the motherboard is removed from its housing its time to clean both the cell processor and the graphics processor on the board and the pads on the heatsink using your alcohol. Remove all the old compound.

Next comes the fun part the heat gun, there are numerous videos on this for graphics cards, the PS3 is no different. Using a lower setting on the gun gently heat the board, using swirling motions. you're not looking to make it hot just so its not cold. Do that both sides.

Now its time to concentrate on the two centre processors, at this point make sure you have the board level and secure and the processor pads facing upwards. Turn the gun up to a higher level I had mine just over 500 degrees and heat the dies pad. I did about three minutes between them alternating between them, again using a circle motion.

Then leave the board to cool down, do not touch it give it a good twenty minutes, remember you've just essentially liquefied some of the solder. moving it would be very very bad.

Then its back to reversing the process you used to disassemble it.

Remember to put fresh thermal compound on, you're looking for a thin film of it. Again tons of stuff on the web showing this for PC processors.

As to how long you'll get out of your machine, your guess is as good as mine, but you should hopefully get enough to get your data and sure everything after that is a plus which brings you into the sales


Update, one thing step 22 is slightly wrong. Do not remove the cable the way they show. The clip on the green pcb will unclip if you gently lever the dark grey section upwards from the edge. the same is true for all the other ribbon cables, you can then remove the unsecured ribbon.

McGarnagle92

whiterebel wrote: »

People can help change it if they go the Small claims court and fight for their rights. Look at what happened with Microsoft and the XBox.

I haven't heard anybody having any success with that. But I will surely look into it if the machine is completely kaput.

Rev Hellfire wrote: »

A fair point

Basically what I did was find a teardown for the PS3 and follow that to disassemble it. This is the one I used -> PS3 60gig Teardown. It didn't totally match my machine, for example the card readers aren't mounted on the cover.

There are a few things you'll need a good set of screwdrivers, heatgun, thermal compound and to clean the dies some isopropyl or similar cleaning fluid. you should be able to get the later two in Maplins or other store that does PC components.

The disassembly and reassembly is really no different to a build your own PC, take pictures as you take the parts off and separate the screws into separate piles.

Once you get down to step 36 where the motherboard is removed from its housing its time to clean both the cell processor and the graphics processor on the board and the pads on the heatsink using your alcohol. Remove all the old compound.

Next comes the fun part the heat gun, there are numerous videos on this for graphics cards, the PS3 is no different. Using a lower setting on the gun gently heat the board, using swirling motions. you're not looking to make it hot just so its not cold. Do that both sides.

Now its time to concentrate on the two centre processors, at this point make sure you have the board level and secure and the processor pads facing upwards. Turn the gun up to a higher level I had mine just over 500 degrees and heat the dies pad. I did about three minutes between them alternating between them, again using a circle motion.

Then leave the board to cool down, do not touch it give it a good twenty minutes, remember you've just essentially liquefied some of the solder. moving it would be very very bad.

Then its back to reversing the process you used to disassemble it.

Remember to put fresh thermal compound on, you're looking for a thin film of it. Again tons of stuff on the web showing this for PC processors.

As to how long you'll get out of your machine, your guess is as good as mine, but you should hopefully get enough to get your data and sure everything after that is a plus which brings you into the sales


Update, one thing step 22 is slightly wrong. Do not remove the cable the way they show. The clip on the green pcb will unclip if you gently lever the dark grey section upwards from the edge. the same is true for all the other ribbon cables, you can then remove the unsecured ribbon.

Thanks so much for that. Will give it a go today or tomorrow hopefully:)

Rev Hellfire

McGarnagle92 wrote: »

Thanks so much for that. Will give it a go today or tomorrow hopefully:)

No worries, tell us how you get on.

whiterebel

McGarnagle92 wrote: »

I haven't heard anybody having any success with that. But I will surely look into it if the machine is completely kaput.

Theres a huge thread on here about with some success already i.e. Smyths ordered to hand over brand new slims.

F1ngers

McGarnagle92 wrote: »

I haven't heard anybody having any success with that. But I will surely look into it if the machine is completely kaput.

Here's a thread about some sucesses by going to the small claims court: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055795516

Sam Fisher

If you contact Sony, they will ask you to forward €160(not sure has this been changed) for a refurbished console. The other pain in the a** is that you would lose everything on the hard-drive. Their number is 0818365065 or try their Dublin office number 01 7073840. Oh, if you want to <Mod edit: send them a letter> they are based 1st Floor, 110 Amiens Street, Dublin 1

McGarnagle92

Rev Hellfire wrote: »

No worries, tell us how you get on.

Only got around to doing your instructions the other day.

At first it was still YLOD but I left it overnight and next morning it worked

I got my Black Ops out and turned it off... I went to see if it still worked and unfortunately its back to the YLOD so thanks for getting my game out at least

McGarnagle92

F1ngers wrote: »

Here's a thread about some sucesses by going to the small claims court: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055795516

I will have a read through that soon.
I'm trying to decide what to do and will over the next few days.
I'm not sure because I have opened it up and all that.

baldymac

well my fat 1 got the YLOD yesterday, around 4.45, i was playing a game
and it just froooze on the tv ..turned off the PS an started it again, an seen the yellow light. so its fecked, game still in there any sugg how to get it out, im willing to use a hammer,

well the good news is i bought a new slim 320gb at 5.45

happy days

for now.

r3nu4l

McGarnagle92 wrote: »

Hi all,
have an old launch day PS3 just got the Yellow Light of Death playing Black Ops yesterday.
I'm happy it has lasted nearly 4 years but what are my options now.

Repair , a new one or contact sony?

maynooth_rules wrote: »

Are you me?? Mine died two days ago, during black ops too. Damn yellow light of death:(. I did the repair that was on youtube but have had no luck with it. My disc got stuck but i was able to get inot the hard drive and open the CD drive to get the game out.
I too would like to know if it is worth while contacting Sony.
At the moment im thinking of flogging it for parts, getting a small but of money and then buying a slim.

Snap, mine went on 28th December, launch day PS3, I was watching BBC iPlayer, paused it, went out to deal with the washing machine, came back and saw the red light flashing ominously. Started it again, saw the yellow light and my heart sank.

I managed to get my (Drake Uncharted (The first one)) disc out by starting the machine and hitting eject instantly

Bought a new slim model (160GB) the same day

EnterNow wrote: »

That attitude baffles me to be honest. The reliability of this generation of consoles is a holy disgrace to be honest, still, it keeps the dollars rolling in I guess.

Yep, it's an absolute shambles and disgrace, however I'm surprised mine lasted as long too. Don't forget that a lot of companies employ materials scientists whose sole job it is to ensure that certain components don't last too long. That's not just in the console industry either. If a part goes too soon it might have to be fixed under warranty, if it goes too soon after the warranty expires the customer feels cheated and complains online but if it seems like you got a decent lifespan from it then you'll bend over and buy another one...like I did

ryansrock

Hi,
I got YLOD of death a couple of weeks ago and I went down to this place in Bray who fixed it for €50 and gave me a 3 months warranty. It took them a week to fix the console, which I thought was fairly decent.
Here's the website

baldymac

was playing BO it was only game i played over xmas. then yesterday i played a diff game for about hour, an it crashed thats when i go ylod,
was it cause i was playing that game or if i was playin BO still it would still of crashed no matter what. thank god it wasnt BO.

F1ngers

McGarnagle92 wrote: »

I'm not sure because I have opened it up and all that.

I'm no expert, but since you opened the console they could claim that you introduced the fault.
You have no way of proving otherwise.
I think you're chances of winning by going through the courts are nil.:(

am i bovvered

Just fixed YLOD on a 60g fat It took me 5 hrs
Sony wanted €170 for a refurbished model !!!
I followed this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_Ic1_TY-GU hopefully it will last.

F1ngers

am i bovvered wrote: »

Just fixed YLOD on a 60g fat It took me 5 hrs.
hopefully it will last.

Nice job, but from what I've read it doesn't usually last.
Back up regularly, just in case.

Rev Hellfire

F1ngers wrote: »

Nice job, but from what I've read it doesn't usually last.
Back up regularly, just in case.

Yeah you're buying time, but that said I've had no issues with mine since I did the reflow and its run by the nipper pretty much continuously. And sure if it goes again it'll just give it another go.

noodler

r3nu4l wrote: »

Snap, mine went on 28th December, launch day PS3, I was watching BBC iPlayer, paused it, went out to deal with the washing machine, came back and saw the red light flashing ominously. Started it again, saw the yellow light and my heart sank.

I managed to get my (Drake Uncharted (The first one)) disc out by starting the machine and hitting eject instantly

Bought a new slim model (160GB) the same day

On an unrelated note, some one with more technical expertise could probably inform better here but why have a PS3 disc in the machine if you are on iPlayer? I mean, surely that would require some degree of laser acticvity (even if minimal) or even a degree of extra heat etc?

Not a big deal or anything.

am i bovvered

Just fixed YLOD on a 60g fat It took me 5 hrs
Sony wanted €170 for a refurbished model !!!
I followed this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_Ic1_TY-GU hopefully it will last.
Yesterday 21:18

AHHHH !

Last night I just turned the machine on, registered the controller but did not check the disc drive.
When I had the machine dismantled I took the blu ray drive apart to remove the disc that was stuck inside.
Now it won't read any discs, it will accept, eject and spin the disc but it won't play.

Any ideas ?
Thanks

r3nu4l

noodler wrote: »

On an unrelated note, some one with more technical expertise could probably inform better here but why have a PS3 disc in the machine if you are on iPlayer? I mean, surely that would require some degree of laser acticvity (even if minimal) or even a degree of extra heat etc?

Not a big deal or anything.

The iPlayer should not involve ANY laser activity, iPlayer is accessed through the PS3 browser, not the Blu-Ray drive. The disc was in the machine but I wasn't using it. I always leave my discs in the machine so that the next time I want to play my 'game of the moment', I can just click on it straight away. Do you mean that the disc would be accessed occasionally by the PS3 even though it wasn't in use? Why?

(just curious)

am i bovvered wrote: »

AHHHH !

Last night I just turned the machine on, registered the controller but did not check the disc drive.
When I had the machine dismantled I took the blu ray drive apart to remove the disc that was stuck inside.
Now it won't read any discs, it will accept, eject and spin the disc but it won't play.

Any ideas ?
Thanks

Oh dear! Ouch! Sounds like you moved the laser out of alignment when you dismantled the drive.

am i bovvered

Oh dear! Ouch! Sounds like you moved the laser out of alignment when you dismantled the drive.

Is there any fix for this
Thanks

r3nu4l

am i bovvered wrote: »

Is there any fix for this
Thanks

I'm in work so haven't watched this video and can't vouch for it but it might be worth looking at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxSmF__s7-o

There's other related videos in the sidebar on the youtube page if you watch the video there.

hearny

You could try to take it apart and make sure the blu ray connection is fitted properly on both ends, I assume you did not take the drive apart so it may be easier than you think to fix.

I have fixed a few of them over the last 6 months and they haven't died yet (fingers crossed).

I'm based in Waterford and I charge 50 if anyone is interested.

am i bovvered

hearny wrote: »

You could try to take it apart and make sure the blu ray connection is fitted properly on both ends, I assume you did not take the drive apart so it may be easier than you think to fix.

I have fixed a few of them over the last 6 months and they haven't died yet (fingers crossed).

I'm based in Waterford and I charge 50 if anyone is interested.

Thanks
If I was near Waterford I would take you up on that offer but Mayo is a little too far away.
I did not take the drive apart, that is whats frustrating I felt I had done the reflow successfully, and should not have attempted to remove the disc at all :mad:
Like I say the disc is spinning, I will recheck the connections, any other ideas apprieciated.

am i bovvered

Thanks

Just took it apart and put together again 3 more times rechecking the connections and its working !!!

see how long it lasts now.

VenomIreland

Just tried it there myself. Front power button doesn't work, so I started with a force eject and 100% fan speed, thought it was working as the blue light started flashing, about 5 seconds later it started with the 3 beeps and flashing red light again T_T

shuyin1

VenomIreland wrote: »

Just tried it there myself. Front power button doesn't work, so I started with a force eject and 100% fan speed, thought it was working as the blue light started flashing, about 5 seconds later it started with the 3 beeps and flashing red light again T_T

Theres a z-shaped metal piece directly where the power button is, bend it back up. You prob bent it down too much and is not making contact. Its attached to the pcb.

VenomIreland

shuyin1 wrote: »

Theres a z-shaped metal piece directly where the power button is, bend it back up. You prob bent it down too much and is not making contact. Its attached to the pcb.

Well I hope that works, I'll try it now.

VenomIreland

F**K YES. Works! Thank you very much shuyin!

VenomIreland

B*****ks, stopped working again >: (

padraig91

If u look on youtube u should see some heatgun fixes, i have seen people try use hairdryers and ovens to fix the problem but i personally would only use a heat gun as a hairdryer dosnt get hot enough, and although it might fix it for a while it will be very temporary, and the oven will heat up components that u dont wont getting heat, where as u can aim the heat gun at the gpu/cpu and put a bit of tinfoil around the processor to reflect heat from the rest of the board, also be sure to use some high quality thermal paste, and while u have the ps3 open clean out any dust u see inside it (its probably what caused it to die in the first place)

BoB_DoG

Hi,
My Ps3 ylod in September this year during a late night MW2 session (preparing for Blops). Found this great series of videos on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_Ic1_TY-GU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vr1zyAGwnuU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHgCa3XEPic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gc48x-LXcKE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D86snH4ADpg

He goes through disassembly, re-flow, reassembly and also tips. I bought a heat gun in argos for €30 (challenge extreme I think, 350 and 500 deg C). I got the flux he mentioned on ebay and I used thermal paste from a CPU my uncle got although the guy in the video recommends artic silver 5 (I think thats its name)? its on ebay but was dearer than the free stuff I got off my uncle! I used the tinfoil tip he gave but not the jig, although it looks good.

I would say be patient when disassembling. The reflow is easy and take your time again reassembling. The little clips for the ribbon cables are delicate and if your not used to working on computer parts then you may break something which may be impossible to replace. Also, use the correct sized screwdrivers, especially for the blue screw holding the HDD in place, cant remember if its plastic or what but its apparently easy to strip the head.

The guy in the video disassembled on his carpet (!) which is not a good idea, even though he says it doesn't matter. Get some anti-static bags if you can, a Pc store should have them or they usually come with new computer parts. Sit the parts on the bags as you disassemble and keep the screws together, use sticky notes if needs be.

Mine worked fine (although the bluetooth didnt work at first go, ribbon cable wasnt in right!) and havn't had any problems since September (3.5 months). This fix usually lasts 6 months so I'll be doing it again soon.

Best of luck with it!

VenomIreland

Right, gonna start the re-reflow process.

VenomIreland

Well, it's working again, I just hope it stays that way for at least a month.

F1ngers

VenomIreland wrote: »

Well, it's working again, I just hope it stays that way for at least a month.

Nice job.
Don't forget to back everything up regularly.

VenomIreland

F1ngers wrote: »

Nice job.
Don't forget to back everything up regularly.

We've been doing that every two weeks since our first PS3 died. (Well, my brothers have been doing that, I only play on the PS3 for the odd few races in GT5, other than that I only play exclusives now and then)

eosirl08.

Hey guys my ps3 yellow lighted a few weeks ago and i did the thing with the hairdryer which fixed it for about 5-6 days. then it went again. So since then i get about 3-4 days out of it before it flashes again. but the interesting thing is it will only last 5 mins when i use the ps move. Anybody got any idea why it happens so frequently with the move and not with other games? p.s have to wait till end of month payday to get a new one

VenomIreland

eosirl08. wrote: »

Hey guys my ps3 yellow lighted a few weeks ago and i did the thing with the hairdryer which fixed it for about 5-6 days. then it went again. So since then i get about 3-4 days out of it before it flashes again. but the interesting thing is it will only last 5 mins when i use the ps move. Anybody got any idea why it happens so frequently with the move and not with other games? p.s have to wait till end of month payday to get a new one

Try using a heatgun instead of a hairdryer.

Pryor

My 40GB fat went YLOD yesterday, seems everyones is going in such a short space of time. Any way here is a video for anyone who doesn't know how to do force eject to retrieve their game.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_nCkK5ciSo

Mike Litoris

Mine feckin went too yesterday. 40gig Fat.:mad:

Beefy78

Mine went last night

I'll be picking up a new one at the weekend. Now I know that you can't transfer a profile from one PS3 to another but obviously I will be able to log into my PSN account from the new machine.

Now my question is... recently a lot of games have been coming with access codes so that you can use the games online. Does that access code link to the machine, the profile of to the PSN name? So on my new machine will I need to pay for a new online pass to play things like FIFA and SvR2011 online?

Thrill

Got the ylod on my 40gig ps3 yesterday.:mad:

witnessrenegade

Mine just died this morning, what are the usual prices of a new one or second hand one? Anyone know somewhere in the West that repairs them? Have little to no money for a new one