SlowCoder Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 I borrowed a heat gun from a friend tonight, and dissected my PS3. I followed the (she's cute ) and reassembled the PS3 enough for testing. Knowing that the unit was predictably going RLOD within a couple minutes of powering it on before the procedure, I've now had the PS3 running for about 20 minutes. It's running Burnout Paradise for testing, but currently sitting idle while the kids watch Popeye. I'll let it run overnight and see if it survives until morning. If I wake in the middle of the night I might play. Then in the morning I'll let my son play a game for a while and see how it works. While I'm not yet holding my breath, I'm feeling at least a little positive about this experiment. I'll let you know what's happened in the morning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tr3vor Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 Well, if it works, then 2 PS3s for you. That would be cool if it is fixed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lendorien Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 (edited) I've read about the flowing thing and what I've gathered is that it's a temporary fix that could last days to a few months, but the rlod will likely happen again before too long. Edited February 18, 2012 by Lendorien Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlowCoder Posted February 18, 2012 Author Share Posted February 18, 2012 Well, it survived the night. Will put it to the test this evening with some good gameplay. I've read about the flowing thing and what I've gathered is that it's a temporary fix that could last days to a few months, but the rlod will likely happen again before too long. I've heard cases of it being temporary. I've also heard cases of it continuing to work. I'm obviously hoping for the latter. I'm guessing that it depends largely on how well the job was done. If the solder was only partly melted then it stands to reason it'll fail shortly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boog Posted February 20, 2012 Share Posted February 20, 2012 I sent my 60GB out for a 'professional' reflow station repair with new thermal paste and it only lasted for about 90 days of normal use after the repair. Thankfully I was able to transfer all of my save data and media files to my replacement PS3 Slim. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlowCoder Posted February 20, 2012 Author Share Posted February 20, 2012 My kid has been playing it pretty heavily over the weekend (at least 10 hours after the initial overnight burn-in), and it hasn't done anything untoward yet. But it has only been a few days. I understand the caution when approaching this fix. I'll update here as time goes on, and you can determine if it's something worth a try if yours is dead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cybercylon Posted February 21, 2012 Share Posted February 21, 2012 It doesn't look like it is too bad... might give it a try with my half dead fat system. It certainly can't be any worse than trying to replace a HD in an iBook G4... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlowCoder Posted March 3, 2012 Author Share Posted March 3, 2012 I said I'd report back, so here it is ... After so many days of working perfectly, it's now completely dead. A couple nights ago while playing ModNation Racers, it froze, and after a minute went RLOD. Even after a complete power cycle, it goes straight to RLOD when powered on, whereas before, it would at least warm up. So my experiment has failed, and my beloved PS3 is no more. I may eventually attempt to revive it again, or maybe I'll part it out for sale on the web. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tr3vor Posted March 3, 2012 Share Posted March 3, 2012 Huh. that sucks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ham Posted March 5, 2012 Share Posted March 5, 2012 Aw, man that sucks. My 60 GB PS3 YLODed about 5 days ago, I can't even get the disc out. I was gonna have it repaired, but it looks like these fixes are just temporary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlowCoder Posted March 6, 2012 Author Share Posted March 6, 2012 Aw, man that sucks. My 60 GB PS3 YLODed about 5 days ago, I can't even get the disc out. I was gonna have it repaired, but it looks like these fixes are just temporary. Unplug the system. Hold the eject button down, and plug it back in. Keep holding eject. After about 5 seconds it should spit out your disc. If not, there's always the hammer method. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ham Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 Aw, man that sucks. My 60 GB PS3 YLODed about 5 days ago, I can't even get the disc out. I was gonna have it repaired, but it looks like these fixes are just temporary. Unplug the system. Hold the eject button down, and plug it back in. Keep holding eject. After about 5 seconds it should spit out your disc. If not, there's always the hammer method. Thanks, I'll try that when I get home tonight. I think I'll pass on the hammer method. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
low_budget Posted May 28, 2012 Share Posted May 28, 2012 I've only fixed one PS3 with YLOD, as opposed to probably 10 xboxes with RROD. I've had much better luck with longevity on the PS3 fix, but they'll still fail eventually. It all depends on if you get the chips hot enough, and using just the right amount of Arctic Silver thermal paste. I pre-heat the entire board so it's warm, but not hot, first. Then cover the components except the CPU and GPU with foil (I take a large sheet of foil and cut out small squares the size of the chips.) After heating the chips for a while on the low setting, I set the heat gun on high and get them pretty hot, but keep the heat gun moving so the heat isn't concentrated on one area. If you don't get the chips hot enough, the repair won't last. It takes practice. Then I let the board cool for a good 30 minutes without moving it. When you apply the thermal paste, use a very thin layer on the chips and heatsink surface. Note that each time a PS3 or XBOX is repaired, it will not last as long. If it's been fixed more than 2 times, the board is pretty much junk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mendon Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 When my launch 60gb got the YLOD, rather than send it to Sony and pay the high repair price that comes with a short warranty, I took it to a local TV-computer repair store. They charged a very reasonable price, got it up & running, and it did well for almost a year (very limited use, though) before I got the YLOD again. I haven't fixed it a 2nd time as from everything I've read, any repair is just a short, temporary repair. Mendon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilevoix Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 I just got a 60GB PS3 Launch unit with YROD for FREE. Should I pay to have it repaired ($130 with 90 day warranty) and enjoy 100% backwards compatibility or just trade it in for a 120GB SLIM which I hope is the latest revision that has 45NM over the 60NM. But again lose PS2 backwards and be stuck using my PS2 Slim. Is the slim much more safe to use in terms of longevity? Anyone send their PS3 to Sony for a repair and have it die? I really like the 60GB design, weight, it's heaft hehe and it's PS2-PS1 HAD ability! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickHarrisMaine Posted December 24, 2012 Share Posted December 24, 2012 So my 80Gb fat PS3 YLOD'd on me Saturday afternoon. No warning at all. Just worked and then all of a sudden, it was done. Vacuumed out the system and removed and replaced the hard drive, and nothing. This is a GameStop-refurbished unit and its done very well for about a year but now it needs another repair. From what I gather here the more times you do this repair the less effective it is? Any recommendations for a repair service? Should I just say the heck with it and get a Slim? Very bummed about this whole thing..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cybercylon Posted December 24, 2012 Share Posted December 24, 2012 So my 80Gb fat PS3 YLOD'd on me Saturday afternoon. No warning at all. Just worked and then all of a sudden, it was done. Vacuumed out the system and removed and replaced the hard drive, and nothing. This is a GameStop-refurbished unit and its done very well for about a year but now it needs another repair. From what I gather here the more times you do this repair the less effective it is? Any recommendations for a repair service? Should I just say the heck with it and get a Slim? Very bummed about this whole thing..... Depends on how much time versus money you want to spend. If you have the money, I'd say just get a new slim. It seem like if you do the repair yourself, it is only matter of time before it fails again. How much will the repair be if someone else does it? If it is over $100... another argument of getting a slim and moving on. Did you have a back up of your game saves, etc? If not, you may want to consider do it yourself options if you can. Get the 80 gig working long enough to back up so you can transfer. I've had nothing but bad luck with Gamestop refurbished units. Will never go that route again :-P. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickHarrisMaine Posted December 24, 2012 Share Posted December 24, 2012 Well it sounds like I can get it repaired by a place like Gophermods for $65...and that appears to be the going rate. Or I could spend a few bucks and do it myself, but honestly I'm not sure I can. I tried to do an Xbox 360 once and failed... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilevoix Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 Got my 60GB last week from sony, works great hope it lasts! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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