Ps3 YLoD Attempted fix's. Any more ideas?

Interesting thread guys.

Just about to embark on a 3rd reflow and looking for some new insight.

Story of my 60GB PS3 is for 2 years it worked brilliantly. Quiet on light tasks and only getting loud occasionally when at a testing part of a game. The fan would always slow down after quitting the game etc. I would often leave it running for days, most other times I'd play GT5p for an hour, leaving it running and come back a few hours later.

Just after two years (NOV 2009, bought in OCT 07) I noticed the fan coming in sooner and staying on longer. I'm quite familiar with building PC's, stripping down various equipment from CD players, video recorders, DIY soldering PCB's from 80s and 90's way back to Amiga 500 so I thought I should take the PS3 apart and clean it, apply new paste before YLOD happens. Also seen YLOD threads and Gilksys videos on other forums.

Between Jan-March it would often get loud (not full fan speed) just on the XMB and would pretty much stay like that. I plan to strip it on Sunday but the damn thing YLOD's on Friday, early March.

So I did the reflow as per Gilksys guide and it lasted 2 weeks (probably 1 month normal usage), operation of the fans was acceptable but not good as new that I was expecting after removing some dust as well (although it wasn't that bad). Once the fans came in it wouldn't drop lower than 2-3speed.

Started looking into reballing the BGA's or adding flux and found Gilksys Flux video. I was sure this was going to do it and bought the Flux Pen from Maplin half a mile away. 2 weeks of similar usage it YLOD's again. It happened on the XMB.

The fan operation after the flux reflow would always be the same. Very quiet for 25 mins on the XMB or using the browser, then it would kick in at 2-3 fan speed and stay like that for hours until turning it off. Playing a game would increase it sometimes but would often go back to 2-3 speed. So it would lower back to say medium speed but never any lower, even left on the XMB.

I used MX-2 paste and everything is back in place like new and operational.

The PSU side of my PS3 has never been that warm. From brand new to now, the heat is dispersing from the back and right side vents like you'd expect and the right side of the unit is warm. Not convinced the PSU is adding causing YLOD but maybe for others.

So I'll check how the Heat-sink is sitting, alignment, mobo framework. Try some washers on the clamps.

With gilksys guide, its all in one go. Maybe re-flowing one thing at a time could at least narrow it down for people down the line. A common starting point would be better. You could weaken the solder joints in a perfectly good CPU or GPU for example. Also with the IC's quite close, in the video it seems one side of the GPU and CPU end up getting heated up twice. Anyway, not saying I know more as I don't and Gilksy has helped many people get their data back and more.

I'll be fluxing just the GPU and CPU for now, if there's next time I'll chose one, but obviously it would be better to do this 1st time if attempting to narrow down.

Here is a spanish tut for reballing
http://translate.google.co.uk/trans...luz-amarilla_1296312&sl=es&tl=en&hl=&ie=UTF-8

RSX. Interesting to see where your flux should get to.



Here's a thread about the Sales of Goods act

http://whatconsumer.co.uk/faulty-playstation-3/#comment-2660

If more people follow this then retailers will get pissed and call on Sony to do something. Many in the thread have had success.

I wonder how Sony collect their YLOD data. Is it only after a refurb/repair has completed. Charging that much means people may not even bother phoning Sony now. We'll never know the true extent. I think its not far behind RROD but mostly happens 2-3 years in and Sony get away with it. I doubt they added my YLOD when I phoned up. Unfortunately the Shop I bought my PS3 from shut down a year later.

With hearing how long these Sony repairs have lasted, and reading various posts, it could be hard to nail down a cause or just a accumulation of contributing factors. My PS3 acted like it was bomb proof for two years.

Just to note when first taking the PS3 apart. The original paste from manufacturing had hardened up considerably, and very patchy on the gpu/cpu surface. They used a lot of it as all sides of the heatsink plates had large amounts of overhanging paste.

On PC's six years old, full of dust, running most of the day and pushed to the limit, the paste is still soft. Paste on the PS3 was like plastic/rubber all the way through. Also the heatsink clamp screws where only nipped up.

EDIT

Reball vids

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysV66a1-2pE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJng-3NpH7w

 

This site has a do it yourself video on how to repair the PS3 YLOD issue. I just did it last night with mine and so far so good. It seems to have done the trick! Ultra Technology Solutions

 

Just done a third reflow and its up and running again at least. I only heated up the GPU this time.

Looking at the heat-sink, it seems the GPU side gets the raw deal and doesn't quite sit right. I guess once the caked on poor quality paste starts to harden and lose best contact, it gets quite hot and then you're left YLOD.

I believe the newer PS3's have separate heat-sinks.

 

Well either that's Gilksy's web site, or someone is ripping off / linking to his video.

Thats the gilksy guide ya nub

 

I've got the no sound or picture problem. Screen stays black at startup, green light and blue light works normally. Tried the reset tricks wich can be found all over the Internet.

I've tried to bake the motherboard, to no avail besides getting some smoke coming from it. 15 minutes at 200C. Board isn't warped, still the same error. I've tried shimming GPU and CPU. Still no picture, fan got really loud after a minute. Like an airplane taking off in my livingroom.

Removed those shims, put some washers on the clamps on top. Still nothing.

I'm at a real loss now. I really don't know what tricks to pull out of my hat besides letting some expert look at it. It's a 60 GB by the way.

Someone any ideas??

 

Hi guys, I have been reading on this website for awhile now and i have read throught all the pages 2 times. This is the same setup as the 360 just about. How come this fix is only lasting a couple months? I have my 360 working for 2 years with the x clamp fix. I have fixed a ps3 but it is still going. Have we tried to reflow these things with some weight on the gpu to FORCE pressure down? There has got to be a way guys

 

Been awhile since I've posted but you may have read some of the other stuff I posted on heat issues awhile back. I'm still certain with my particular PS3 that it's a heat issue caused by the power supply. I run it now with the top plastic case off and the power supply and blu-ray drive exposed. I run a small fan beside it. Fan is a 120v AC 60Hz 0.25A.

When I run the fan everything works perfectly. Even with very graphic intense games such as Battlefield Bad Company 2 that I've currently been playing. If I don't run that fan, the power supply gets so hot you could cook something on it after about 15-20 minutes. When the fan is running the power supply stays warm. My guess is that it gets so hot, it melts the solder on that chip directly underneath the right hand side of the power supply. I don't think it causes a problem every time that chip gets hot, but allows the solder to melt and harden again causing the cold solder joints eventually with that process repeating. This may be different for others but I'm pretty sure I've nailed it down to this with my particular system. Even had like a 7 hour gaming marathon one weekend with Madden 09 and it never broke a sweat.

Here's a link to some information on the type of thermal compound I used on my heatsinks. Haven't had an issue yet. This stuff is real difficult to work with but the self spreading method seems to have worked really well. The application section of the site is really interesting too. http://www.innovationcooling.com/overview.htm

 

Just took the cover of mine, PSU and BD Drive exposed and it hasn't performed any different or cooler. I'll try a fan next to it but after an hour I can rest my hand on top of the PSU no problem. My PSU doesn't seem hot.

The PSU is directly above the CPU which is not ideal. There's an inch gap from the right hand side of the PSU to the GPU but any heat added expansion and cooling down over time could affect either.

With the cover off, mine is running medium fan speed after 20 mins resting on the XMB, warm on the lower right side coming from the base. I tried putting it on blocks so most of the base is clear and more air flow but it didn't change anything, just too much heat coming from the base vent which could be both from CPU/GPU.

I've tried the self spreading method as its what I prefer to do on PC's but difference is very little in temps. I still prefer that way to avoid air bubbles though. Its an optimal thing to do.

This video is good showing how compound methods spread.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyXLu1Ms-q4

Did a bit searching about reballing. I think I could do a small chip on a phone or something DIY style but the PS3 chip is quite big and has around a 1000 solder balls. Tricky part is lifting it from the board with out tearing some of the pads. Very hard to get consistent heat over that area size for a nice removal and not subjecting the chips to too much prolonged heat. Then you've got to refit it, getting even heat all round without the board warping. The chip is too large and reckon cooing down flat again puts stress on the solders. The cleaning/desoldering and reballing is the easy bit.

A preheater underneath would be needed but really think infra-red removal and refit and following the proper heat profile for refit. It could be done DIY style. I see how the chip can align itself if its slightly out to the pads at a certain temp but is it really worth it with the cost of the Slim and selling your old PS3 for parts. It may not last and probably still not found the source of the problem. Reading some posts of qualified people it may just be launch console chips run hot and is just too much for the design and heatsinks. I'm actually thinking the original BGA joints do a good job holding on for 2 years. Any infra reflow/reball won't be as good and only last a year less unless you mod the case and cooling minimize expansion and flex for the large BGA joints.

 

So what you are thinking about is shimming both processors, as this puts some extra force on them. Add the heatsink back, put both springclamps on, disconnect the fan and turn it on. Like baking the living daylight out of it. A little bit dangerous, because we don't know what the effects will be on the rest of the board. Let alone the chance you can heavily damage both CPU and GPU chips.

 

wow! glad to see this thread is still goin almost 1yr 11 months! helpd alot of people out id imagen now i dont shit myself when my ps3 gets the yellow light of death haha First gilksy fusks sony with his guide to repairing the YLOD, then geohot fusk sony by making his own 'custom firmware' dubbed '3.21OO' witch re-enables the other os feature! sony got fucked not once...but twice up the arse! Whos goin third? maybe dark_alex? who knows great works guys! keep this thread alive.

 

That's the main problem. Everything inside the PS3 gets very hot when you run it for a couple of hours, or sometimes whole days as we can read on these boards. I just don't understand those decisions Sony made.

I've got a launch European PS2 wich still goes strong. Never had a problem with it yet.

So why cram everything in a designer unit wich overheats this simple? Why not make the unit a littlebit bigger, with enough room for appropriate fans and cooling devices. Now us people with an older unit got these problems, and Sony laughs last because many people send theirs in for repairs, or just plain and simple buy a slim.

 

Well now I'm really at a loss for what to do.. My PS3 died again lol I was firing up some 09 Madden Head Coach and everything was fine. I played it for just a little while and then exited the game. I was pretty tired and forgot I had left it on. My fan was still on it and it was only sitting on the main interface so I didn't think it was that big of a deal that it stayed on overnight.

It was only warm when I was done with it. YLOD the next morning. That was only about 5 or 6 hours? I played a crazy full out Madden 09 season for longer than that straight through and nothing blew up on me. Has me a bit puzzled.

I really don't think this was a heat related issue again this time either. I could potentially see this being an actual failure of something internal in that power supply since it was getting so hot without the fan on it to begin with. Something with that wasn't right so I'm going to start there. I might hook my tester PC power supply back up to it and see if i still get the YLOD with that hooked up instead.

Any suggestions are welcome.

 

Don't know if anyone else has isolated the PS3 power supply and run from a PC one, maybe they have, but I am very keen to hear how you go with that!

I'm kind of glad now that I decided to bite the bullet and get a Slim after fixing my YLOD the first time round. I figured it would only be a temporary fix, but still had the hope that it wouldn't be. I couldn't face another night without a functioning PS3 though .. haha!

 

Beginning to think maybe some transistors or things on the motherboard are faulty/of less quality.

I know for sure the old Sega Game Gear handset from back of the days had such problems. When you open up a non-working unit it's full of blown transistors wich you have to replace to get the system up and running.

Those are fun things to repair, not as small and difficult as modern day electronics. Need to get me a non-working one just to fix up and have fun with.

 

I actually had it hooked up that way once before when I was trying to diagnose the original problem with it giving the YLOD. It did power it up fine but it was kind of ugly and wires hanging all over the place lol I really wanted to find a mini atx power supply with a built in fan that I could mod up and mount in the system. It's really hard to find one that could be small enough to fit inside the original case.

A computer power supply runs so much cooler it's rediculous. I'm betting this would resolve nearly all of the issues with the system. Getting it all hooked up and put back together would be a bit tricky though. They literally molded the case right around that power supply, which is pretty stupid considering the heat it puts off doesn't have much place to go. At the very least they should have slotted the top of the case above the power supply for venting.

I also have a theory that the YLOD won't reset as soon as the system has been repaired of whatever problem that actually caused the YLOD in the first place. Mine kicked out of the YLOD the very first time I ever got it after probing it a bit with a multimeter while trying to turn it on. During the reflow process you generally disconnect the battery, much like a PC CMOS battery. I would guess that disconnecting / reconnecting that battery would also "reset" the error code. Food for thought I guess, still a lot of testing to do. There's going to be a PS4 before I get done i think haha.

 

So that would be the power supply of a barebone PC. Casing is roughly half the size of a normal PC casing, everything is smaller than normal to fit inside. I've got one. But that barebone, although stripped down, still works. It's become my backup pc, just in case I get a meltdown in systems.

 

I sent my system to GameSmith and they did fix it, I've had it back for over a month and it works good. I do want to tell you that I had a hell of a time getting them on the phone. They responded to my emails ok, usually in a couple of hours but I tried and tried for over a day until I finally got them on the phone. I emailed then at status@gamesmithrepairs.com. i tried the customerservice@gamesmithrepairs.com address but that one took over a day and the response came from the status address. Once I started emailing them there they got right back to me all the time.

I think they are a bunch of tech geeks (not an insult, i am too) but need someone who understands customer service better. Still, they fixed it, no one else could, I got it when they said I would, and it works good.

Megan

 

Update on my PS3 problem. Send it to some gameshop for repairs. Just got a phonecall they can't get it to work, first one in their history. Only Sony can repair it according to them. It was a no cure no pay deal, so I'm not out of my money. Although I have a heavy stylish paperweight I don't need.

Someone any bright idea's??

 

little update on my 3rd reflow.

I wasn't happy how the fan would kick in after 25 mins with only leaving it on the XMB. It did this a few months before I got YLOD and after each reflow. First 2 years of using it wouldn't. I expected that cleaning out the system and adding new compound would improve it.

I noticed when first taking the PS3 apart that the heatsink wasn't sitting correctly on the GPU side. I've tried different methods of applying the paste, bending the clapm plates but nothing much changes.
I added some washers to the gpu side on my third reflow but still same results. Everything is tightened up evenly.

I stripped it down yesterday. The clamping force was far greater on the gpu and actually had an adverse effect on the seating of the CPU side.

So I removed the mobo framework and offered up the heatsink to the underneath metal frame and tried to shape it better so its much clean fit without working against the framework. I also put the heatsink screws in and can see how the corners without mounting points can pivot away with flexing. 2 small screws are not ideal for each heatsink. I'd prefer 4 screw points in an xclamp to pull the heatsink down and also separate. With the screw shoulder very high it bottoms out and its not enough force to pull the whole lot straight with even force distributed on all corners.

So with a better formed framework and washers on all screws I believe the heatsink is tight flush with the CPU/GPU and really doing its job. I leave the ps3 on for 6 hours on the XMB and its very quiet, barely hear it and most times seems silent. Total turn around to medium fan speed coming in and not stopping after 25 mins. I also bent out those tiny metal clips that seat around the heatsink blocks to maybe lol help spread some heat to the metal framework.

I'm sure the caked on paste that Sony put on fills in the bigger gap of poor fitment but after 2years or depending on environment, the paste deteriorates/hardens and you're left with a partially fitted heatsink, then it will run hot continuously thus YLOD. Before my YLOD, there was not let up for the system. It was roaring away on the XMB quite soon. But the first 1-2years it ran as it is now, silent.

Anyway, it will probably go again as my heat gun reflow wont be as good as the manufacture but it performs completely different now. I believe the original BGA solder is a good job but dual heatsink not fitting flush, framework, expansion and paste that stops doing its job doesn't give the mobo side a chance.

 

First of all I managed to fix my YLOD by using Colins guide earlier on in this thread, so thanks for that.

Problem now is I'm stuck in a constant loop of installing firmware to 70% then the playstation restarts and does the same again. I have tried everything that I know to fix it:

- re downloaded firmware
- tried every option in system menu
- formatted harddrive in laptop then replaced in ps3

None of these work.

I read somewhere that maybe at 70% it is trying to install drivers for something that isn't there (maybe I have broken one of the chips). Also when I took it apart I accidentally snapped off what looks like a black plastic cap that joins a few points of the wireless board, so I just pushed it back on.

Could this be the problem??
Does it need soldering on?
What does it do?

Thanks.

TBH I have tried the lot and will soon resort to shooting the playstation (or maybe putting it on eBay)