PS3 blu-ray drive dead

Im talking about the actual laser, not the blue LED on the front of the console!

If the lazer lights to read the disc and the disc spins briefly it can't be the laser but some other optical problem within the laser assembly (such as the focusing mirrors, glass etc). I have already tested all the motors.

I have been to the Sony centre 4 times over this to get whats wrong out of them and they for the most part they skirt the issue.

 

hey again, I had posted my problem back in october about my laser having some issues, and well here's the update. I got my new laser deck in and put it in, but after two days it went out, so after dealing with the seller, they allowed me to return that one and sent me another, and well it didnt last much longer. I put it in, without putting any screws back or that hard metal cover, i placed a disc in and it played no problem, so then I went ahead and put all screws in and metal cover, but before i placed the whole case back together i tried the disc again and this time no spin, no read, nothing. I was as delicate as I could have possibly been through the whole process, so if anyone has any thoughts as to what happened please feel free to let me know, otherwise I believe ima just have to dish out the 150 bucks and let sony deal with it. thanks

 

Unfortunately your experience sounds like most that people have when replacing the laser themselves. Most user replaced lasers last a maxium of a couple of weeks before they break which leads me to believe Sony replaces more than just this part and the problem lies elsewhere in the system.

I actually believe that its not the lasers fault at all, something is causing too much power to go to the laser causing them to fail. This could either be a fault in the Blu Ray system board or firmware.

I would probably recommend you try one of your replacement lasers again with the metal cover off, if it works leave it off and see how long it lasts. It likely that in the end you will have to send it to Sony be even then their repair job will only last again and it WILL break within another year or 2.

So much for a 10 year console!

 

i agree on you that for a 10 years cnosole it pretty suck alot, however, as i said alot, you better dish the 150$ and last 2 years than replace god-i-dont-know-how-many-units-at-70$-each.

but i have to disagree with you on what they replace. when they ship the console back to you, they include a list of parts they changed. the only thing they changed on mine was the Blu-Ray Player (full unit) & the hard drive (i dont know why). and i had the same symptom as yours.

 

Usually they give you a refurb which is not even your original console because their policy is first console fixed is the first one sent out (of the same type). So everything might be entirely different in the console they give you back, which does suck for the price but is likely to mean the console lasts a least a couple of years.

If they are changing the whole Blu Ray drive and not just the laser I believe the system board (the small board under the BR drive) is to blame. If home done laser replacements cured the problem they would last as long as a Sony fix and not a week! Something else in the system is frying the lasers.

I was going to open up the actual laser block today (where all the mirrors and glass lenses are located) to see if anything is out of place but I a defeated by the last super tiny screw that holds the sheet metal back! This is the 4th time I opened the console!

 

nope they repaired mine. i took the time to wrote down the serial number and check it when it came back. when it came back. it was downgraded to 2.76 instead of the 3.0 firmware i had previously installed. so it might be the sisterboard the actual problem. i dunno.

 

thanks to those who replied, I will def. do what cabanon did and write down my numbers, as well as take some pics, just in case. I like my unit too much to just let em take it lol, I dont know why they stopped making them like mine, i got the backwards compatibility on all games for ps 1 and 2 and i have the 4 usb ports and media reader stuff.

 

I think they just change all the innards and give you back the cover so the serial number on the back will match. Unless you write down the serial numbers of all the internal components it could be a totally different machine in your PS3's clothing!

There might be occasions that they give you back your unit (including the innards minus whats fixed) if its a rare console (like the 60GB) that they no longer have plenty of. A 'refurb' unit is standard practice in the UK and US which sucks because in Asia they will always give you back what you sent in.

With my console I just managed to open up the laser housing, all the mirrors look clean and the focusing solenoid moves freely (not jammed) so it might be the Blu Ray controller board thats at fault.

 

yeah i asked if i would get back 60gb model, and when you call, they ask your model number. i asked if i would get back a 60gb unit because i had one and they said yes. the only time they send you a refurbish is when there's nothing left to do to repair it. unless this particular occasion (YLOD), they just repair yours.

 

GOOD to know thanks spec23 and cabanon

 

Guys,

I'm hoping someone out there can help me. I've followed this thread, and used the info to repair a YLOD PS3 I picked up on Ebay. I fixed the YLOD issue, only to find the laser wouldn't read discs, nor spin the disc spindle. I picked up a replacement laser and inserted it yesterday, and now I get the red and blue lasers, with disc reads, spins, etc.

But the problem I have now comes from stress testing the newly functioning drive. Blu rays seem to play fine all the way through, but red laser discs play only until the layer jump, then seem to have lots of issues continuing to read the disc. Eventually it does seem to jump layers, but will stutter and stick in one place, and the laser can be heard working back and forth trying to read. Skipping ahead a few minutes seems to help out and on some movies gets on fine until the end.

Anyone have any suggestions on what I can try now? I've used a variety of discs, brands, and have used discs that play perfectly fine in my personal PS3 which was not bricked, so I know the media cannot be the issue here. Is there some extra calibration/alignment step that needs to be done to the laser once it's installed on the deck? I should add that the YLOD PS3 is a 60GB model, with a KES-400A laser and KEM-400AAA deck. My other unit is a 40GB PS3 which has never been opened.

Thanks!

 

I see what your problem is, you installed the wrong model lens! So the broken modle is KEM-400AAA I am assuming?
I had the same problem, my Ps3 I fixed with this problem before I got it right was that I bought a KEM-400AAA lens and installed it on my ps3 which model it used was KES-400a. I only was able to watch DVd's on it and not blu rays or play games. I ended up buying another lens and it was the KES-400A ps3 and it now works like a charm and plays everything and I did this earlier this year, over six months and still works. But I just didn't buy a lens but the whole lens deck is what I bought. I took a chance at buying it on ebay and it not working at all but it was brand new.So my PS3 has a new motor and lens well not new anymore but newer and it is still working.
I was kind of peeved it only read dvds only but yeah my mistake was getting the wrong model and it sounds like that in this case.
Hope this helps? Later

 

Gryphon,

I guess I don't follow. How could I have put the wrong laser in? The deck model # is KEM-400AAA, and the laser # is KES-400A. Those are the model #s from the existing unit. I went on Ebay and bought a KES-400A lens, and placed it into the deck. I didn't buy a 410ACA or anything like that, so how is it the wrong part? Also, this laser does read all kinds of discs, but like I said, the blu discs read fine and the red has issues about mid-point, at the layer jump.

Not trying to be argumentative, but I read the part #s off the parts I took out and replaced with the same. That's what got me so confused.

Thanks

 

Oh yeah, I misinterpreted your post. Its all good, yeah it is just the model numbers are crappy, just wish they were all universal. It may be your motor not running perfectly as well. but it could also be the miniboard underneath the blu ray drive?

 

If I had to guess I'd say maybe the controller board as well, but I doubt the motor is to blame, only because the blu rays are working like a charm. Unless the different discs spin at different rates?

 

Yeah for sure, only if you had another ps3 that a friend that doesn't want because it has the same problem. Use it for parts, preferrably the same model ps3. Or if you have one that is still working and same model to swap and see what is wrong, process of elimination. so you know what parts to buy! LoL but i dont' think anyone would want that, I'd do it just to see what hell is wrong with my ps3. If I had one broken one and one working.

 

Hey.. yesterday I replaced my laser and was just testing it with the shell and everything still open, the new laser fixed the issue of not reaidng discs but then I accidently bumped the system/drive pretty hard and the PS3 shutdown and the power light turned red and started blinking. I turned it off at the back and back on again, everything was working fine still except the drive will no longer pull/take in discs. Doesn't make any noise at all. The blue light flashes as if the PS3 thinks one is being inserted but the drive just doesn't react at all.

Any ideas on a fix for this?

 

Sounds like the plastic bar on the left side (as you're staring at the front of the unit) has come off the gear roller that controls the mechanism that raises and lowers the laser. If that's off the track, the system will blink blue constantly and never load anything. To check, remove the screw that holds in the wing attachment at the front of the drive (with the rollers that feed the disc in - careful with the plastic attachments on top! they have tiny springs that are hard to find/replace) and lift the wing off. Then you can see where the gear fits in with the bar on the side.

What I do to get it back on line is push the bar against the gear, then with a tiny screwdriver, roll the gear counter-clockwise until you see the grey bars in the front lift up (to keep new discs from coming in). Just do it until they stop lifting, then power on the PS3. It should recognize it's in disc loaded state and move the laser to read a disc. At that point, you can place the wing back on, positioning the rollers almost all the way to the outside. Put the screw back in, and press eject. You should see the rollers drop all the way back down, and then you can put the drive back together.

Let us know how it goes - remember it's tough to put pieces like this back in place without risking losing a tiny piece or spring, so be careful. Also, I do the steps this way because it's almost impossible to put the top cover on the BD drive unless it's in the ejected state, but the rollers all have to be in the correct place.

 

I'm having the usual won't spin problem. Just bought COD-MW2 and played for a few hours. Game froze and now no spin. I had just installed the latest updates.

I've had freezing in the past, but always came back up. The system runs super hot just sitting there.

I'd like to try to replace just the motor, but can't find any repair info. Any help?