13 replies to this topic

[Underball]

Sort of. My Nephew had an original launch model 60gb PS3 with full backwards compatibility, etc. But it got teh dreaded YLOD back a few months ago. Over Thanksgiving I was there and they were playing a new PS3 Slim. My brother and I got to talking and he still had the YLOD PS3 fat model downstairs.

I told him I knew how to get it running, and he said "sure, you can have it."

took it home, took it apart. cleaned all the old thermal paste off the processors. baked the CPU and GPU with a heat gun for about 1:30 each. Let it cool down. re-applied a fresh layer of Thermal goop. Put it all back together and BLAM! Free PS3! (I can't believe it actually worked.)

Then I had to take it apart again to realign the gear in the Blu-Ray drive, and after some trial and error, I got it!

So anyone else have an Reflow stories, and how long did you reflow last? I'm reading stuff where some people say it's only good for a few weeks or months and then you have to do it again, but I really don't play that much or for long periods of time, So I'm thinking this isn't a problem.

[liveinabin]

Well, if it's only going to work for a few weeks, you could always trade it in to gamestop

[Underball]

liveinabin, on Wed Dec 1, 2010 11:36 AM, said:

Well, if it's only going to work for a few weeks, you could always trade it in to gamestop

and spend money to buy a crappy, non-backwards compatible Slim model?

Defeats the purpose of getting one for free.

[Galeforcerm]

It will fail again. Ive never seen one last that wasn't reflowed on a bench last very long. If it was me i would send it to one of the guys on ebay that does it. Last time I looked it cost less than 50$. I sent in my 360 a year ago and it still works. I heat gunned it myself prior to sending it and it lasted a week.

Edited by Galeforcerm, Wed Dec 1, 2010 1:30 PM.

[madmax2069]

Yeah i would spend the $50 to have someone properly reflow the GPU and CPU. doing the heat gun method will work but will fail again within a few weeks, after so many times of using the heat gun method will also start damaging the board and other parts. Its always best to do it right the first time. once it has been properly reflowed it will last as long as it did before it died (maybe longer). This is what i plan to do once my 360 dies, people that do this will use better materials then what was used when it was first made.

[HammR25]

liveinabin, on Wed Dec 1, 2010 11:36 AM, said:

Well, if it's only going to work for a few weeks, you could always trade it in to gamestop

They check to see if the warranty seal has been broken. Even if they didn't they'd end up selling it to some unsuspecting fool.

[Underball]

madmax2069, on Wed Dec 1, 2010 2:03 PM, said:

Yeah i would spend the $50 to have someone properly reflow the GPU and CPU. doing the heat gun method will work but will fail again within a few weeks, after so many times of using the heat gun method will also start damaging the board and other parts. Its always best to do it right the first time. once it has been properly reflowed it will last as long as it did before it died (maybe longer). This is what i plan to do once my 360 dies, people that do this will use better materials then what was used when it was first made.

Reflowing costs $50. That entails doing a cleaner/safer version of the heatgun method, no new parts are introduced.

ReBALLing is when the original lead-free solder is stripped from the board and the processors and replaced with a leaded solder, which does a much better job. This doesn't cost $50. More like $150, minimum.

[madmax2069]

Underball, on Thu Dec 2, 2010 10:32 AM, said:

madmax2069, on Wed Dec 1, 2010 2:03 PM, said:

Yeah i would spend the $50 to have someone properly reflow the GPU and CPU. doing the heat gun method will work but will fail again within a few weeks, after so many times of using the heat gun method will also start damaging the board and other parts. Its always best to do it right the first time. once it has been properly reflowed it will last as long as it did before it died (maybe longer). This is what i plan to do once my 360 dies, people that do this will use better materials then what was used when it was first made.

Reflowing costs $50. That entails doing a cleaner/safer version of the heatgun method, no new parts are introduced.

ReBALLing is when the original lead-free solder is stripped from the board and the processors and replaced with a leaded solder, which does a much better job. This doesn't cost $50. More like $150, minimum.

Yeah i was getting confused on reflowing and reballing. but still there is a good way of reflowing and a bad way, if done correctly reflowing can still last quite a while, but not like reballing. reballing is the way that can make the console last just as long if not longer then when it was bought new, reflowing can last a few months to a year or two if lucky.

non lead solder has a higher melting point which is why the balls crack and short out (it doesn't allow for much expansion of the parts due to heat), the lead solder is used because it has a lower melting point which will allow for heat expansion of the parts (the GPU and CPU). but that is just what i have been told.

I know the difference between reballing and reflowing, i was just tired and confused. but i have seen reballing services on ebay for $78.

Edited by madmax2069, Thu Dec 2, 2010 1:25 PM.

[Underball]

Just an update, it's running smooth as silk. I don't play much, or for long periods of time, so I have yet to hear the heat sink fan kick into high gear. I've let it run for several hours at a time while downloading demos from the PS Store, and still, all seems well.

I think my nephew was just a slob with it. Didn't clean it, ran it vertical as opposed to horizontal. ((Horizontal is actually cooler, and less prone to GPU and CPU solder separation, because the CPU and GPU aren't hanging at a vertical angle fighting against gravity, but are laying flat.) And he had it in a an enclosed TV cabinet.

From everything I've read, the people who get the YLOD more often are just plain abusing their systems. Run them for days on end "folding", no ventilation, never clean out the dust bunnies, constantly turning them on and off so the hot parts heat and cool too rapidly and too often. And after 3-4 years the thermal compound needs to be replaced, just like any high performance PC, but most never do. Plus Sony cheaped out and used shitty ceramic compound as opposed to a good silver-based one. I can understand why this happens. Poor design + dumb kids with bad habits = YLOD.

[SlowCoder]

Underball, on Sat Dec 4, 2010 10:27 AM, said:

From everything I've read, the people who get the YLOD more often are just plain abusing their systems. Run them for days on end "folding", no ventilation, never clean out the dust bunnies, constantly turning them on and off so the hot parts heat and cool too rapidly and too often. And after 3-4 years the thermal compound needs to be replaced, just like any high performance PC, but most never do. Plus Sony cheaped out and used shitty ceramic compound as opposed to a good silver-based one. I can understand why this happens. Poor design + dumb kids with bad habits = YLOD.

Abuse is specifically going against what the manual recommends. For instance, I'm sure the manual states owners should provide adequate ventilation. Closing the vents with game boxes or books would constitute abuse.

While it would seem to be common sense to a techie owner to keep the vents free of dust, many owners won't understand this. And when they do remove the dust, they may actually shove the dust into the vent holes, rather than removing them completely, which simply adds to the heat problems inside the case. Most owners will not know, or will not take time to open the case to clean all of the dust from the fans and components. And indeed, most of them shouldn't, as they have no business working with electronics due to lack of knowledge and tools. This is not abuse, just lack of maintenance.

Also, it should be considered that electronics built these days are designed with obsolescence in mind. Not the "my machine is slower than you" obsolescence, but the "it's a time bomb waiting to die after 5 years so they'll buy another one" engineered obsolescence. If this wasn't the case, they'd have better cooling components than the cheap fans they install, and CD drives.

[Underball]

SlowCoder, on Wed Dec 29, 2010 1:50 PM, said:

Underball, on Sat Dec 4, 2010 10:27 AM, said:

From everything I've read, the people who get the YLOD more often are just plain abusing their systems. Run them for days on end "folding", no ventilation, never clean out the dust bunnies, constantly turning them on and off so the hot parts heat and cool too rapidly and too often. And after 3-4 years the thermal compound needs to be replaced, just like any high performance PC, but most never do. Plus Sony cheaped out and used shitty ceramic compound as opposed to a good silver-based one. I can understand why this happens. Poor design + dumb kids with bad habits = YLOD.

Abuse is specifically going against what the manual recommends. For instance, I'm sure the manual states owners should provide adequate ventilation. Closing the vents with game boxes or books would constitute abuse.

While it would seem to be common sense to a techie owner to keep the vents free of dust, many owners won't understand this. And when they do remove the dust, they may actually shove the dust into the vent holes, rather than removing them completely, which simply adds to the heat problems inside the case. Most owners will not know, or will not take time to open the case to clean all of the dust from the fans and components. And indeed, most of them shouldn't, as they have no business working with electronics due to lack of knowledge and tools. This is not abuse, just lack of maintenance.

Also, it should be considered that electronics built these days are designed with obsolescence in mind. Not the "my machine is slower than you" obsolescence, but the "it's a time bomb waiting to die after 5 years so they'll buy another one" engineered obsolescence. If this wasn't the case, they'd have better cooling components than the cheap fans they install, and CD drives.

oh, absolutely. 100% agreed on all counts.

This is the cross users bear, in demanding super high performance HD gaming in a cheaply produced set top console box. there will always be a casualty rate, and that rate gets higher and higher, the more intricate and sophisticated these boxes get, while still trying to keep them relatively affordable.

Proud to say I'm just about a month into my reincarnated YLOD PS3, and it's still running smooth. (kock on simulated wood grain)

[svenski]

I went with a friend to drop in and see a pal of his over Christmas. Turns out he had a PS3 on the living room floor, disconnected, against the wall. I asked about it and he said it was faulty and had bought another one.

Turns out he'd already given it to my friend a few weeks before who'd fixed the YLOD problem but then it went again. Anyway, when the guy was out the room my friend told me to have a look at the back of the PS3. The case had melted because the guy had left it up against a wall with no ventilation when playing it!

[SlowCoder]

Underball, on Wed Dec 29, 2010 2:46 PM, said:

(kock on simulated wood grain)

Careful, you'll get simulated wood splinters!

[Underball]

SlowCoder, on Wed Dec 29, 2010 3:08 PM, said:

Underball, on Wed Dec 29, 2010 2:46 PM, said:

(kock on simulated wood grain)

Careful, you'll get simulated wood splinters!

oof. bad typo and a Freudian slip.

I like my PS3, but not THAT much.