Yellow Light of Death Repair

This is an excellent guide! I've had the YLOD before about a year ago, and my brother shipped it off to get it fixed for me (his COD:MW2 was stuck inside). It cost him $150 to get it repaired because the warranty had run out. While it did work for an entire year after the repair (which is very surprising with most people saying theirs only worked for about a month after getting it fixed), I definitely don't think all that money was worth it. I am extremely pleased that I was able to fix it myself with absolutely no cost to me (I borrowed a heat gun and thermal paste from a friend). No cost is way better than $150 obviously. I do intend to sell my PS3 to Gamestop though and buy a new slim, which I hear is less likely to get the YLOD due to better cooling. I will most likely open it up at replace the thermal paste though, as I've heard the paste Sony uses is very cheap, along with a few modifications for better cooling.

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Long story short, this guide just saved me $150 dollars. Also, my PS3 is the 60GB backwards compatible if that is of interest to anyone.

Finished this repair today after purchasing the kit. A total success. I am hoping for many more years with my playstation. Thanks to ifixit for the incredibly clear guide on how to do this repair.

Success! Great guide with screw size and location detail that beats anything I've seen. My first gen. 60g is back in action without having to call Sony or spend $150.00 for a refurb. Thanks for the pdf. format as well, I'll be back to your site for sure. daddyed

My PS3 has been revived! It took me two tries to get it right. The first time, I didn't get it hot enough, so I heated the heck out of it the second time. And now I will be enjoying my PS3 all over again. Thanks iFixit!

Worked perfectly! Thanks iFixit!

Great step-by-step guide and MJ is pretty cute on the video! It worked perfectly for me... As mentioned in another comment, the assembly may be a little different depending on the model, but nothing to worry about. Thanks a lot!

Color me impressed. Was able to resurrect my 60Gb model in about 3 hours. I have no real expectation that it will last, but I was able to retrieve my son's favorite disc using this guide, and the system seems to be running much cooler that it did before (fan is not coming on nearly as much) since I was also able to clean out all of the accumulated dust from about 3 years of usage. Kit was worth every penny to me.

I bought the kit and followed the guide and got it back up and working in a couple hours. I'm a total novice with this stuff and it was pretty easy. I must have a different model so some screens were off but with some educated guessing I must have done the right thing(s). Came out with a couple extra screws but again, didn't seems to hurt. Have used the PS3 for a hour or two at a time for a couple sessions and still working great. Hopefully it will stick. Last time I sent it out for a repair ($80) and the tech shop fixed it then, and it lasted about 6 months before YLOD again. I sort of don't expect this to be a long term fix, but now I know what to do to fix until a cheaper PS3 arrives... thanks iFixIt!

Thank you so much for this. I suffered a YLOD on Saturday and I got all the parts together and just tackled it this evening. It was a little difficult putting it back together but I eventually go everything back into place. Re flowed the chips and added Arctic Silver Ceramique 2 and the PS3 started right up. No red lights, No YLOD, No noises!

In fact, It sounds so much quieter now. And the fan seems to be running a ##%! of alot better since it was aired out. My only suggestion is to maybe get a inter cooler to maybe extend its lifespan. Who knows?

Thank you for this guide. It was very well detailed and straightforward. It saved me alot of money and it adds a newly profitable skill under my belt. Keep your head up!

I was able to get through the guide with little issue. The process took a little longer than the 1 hour suggested but the guide did an excellent job of guiding what to do and where things were.

The issue that I have with the repair is that it lasted less than 24 hours. I know that there is no guarantee that the fix will work or even how long it will last once completed but after seeing the YLOD return the next morning I couldn't help but feel that my 180 minutes (I took my time to ensure everything was done properly) could have been better spent driving to a store to buy a new PS3.

In short-Great guide but questionable results.

I hate to be critical, but there should be some fore-warning on this guide. It voids your warranty, and any chance of Sony servicing the console. In my opinion, this is a repair that only a company with BGA rework equipment should do. Any DIY fix will last a very short amount of time. (I've experienced it myself - trust me, I've tried on many xbox 360's)

highly recommend. 6 months ago my PS3 had ylod. Ordered kit. Its been working ever since (its now July). All I can say is take your time (4hrs for me), lay out parts as you go (you'll be stripping it to bare bones). FOLLOW DIRECTIONS. They are easy to follow. Get muffin tins to put small parts & screws in and label what step they were removed so that when you put it back together its easy.

Great help and highly recommended! I'm not the most mechanical guy but these directions and images made this project easy. After a few hours, I plugged it in and heard that beautiful horn sound to indicate my PS3 was back. I must admit that putting everything back was a little harder than taking it apart (especially the Wi-Fi cable) but I thank you ifixit.com. Plus now I own a heat gun!

Hi. I have done everything that is in the guide, but the problem still retables itself. The LED doesn't change after the reparation. Somebody knows if I have to do some kind of "reset" before using PS3? Help me....

I bought the kit and everything... My PS3 only worked long enough for me to get excited about it. Updated the PSN firmware which took about 45 mins... But when I put a game in the PS3 shut down :-\ I waited a while and let it cool though. It came back on for a second but again, shut down and gave the YLOD again. Not sure what went wrong but at least I tried. Kind of seems like a waste of money now but I can't say my results are typical.

anyone using cechh version. have problem with step 15. seems to be a catch on the left hand side of rear cover (looking from the back). cant detach motherboard assembly from lowercase. pls advice

What has two thumbs and can fix a YLOD? This guy, thanks ifixit! The pictures on this guide were pretty different from the inner workings of my ps3 but helped enough. I'm going to take something else apart now -Nate

Revived a CECHE01 console to life which I believe is a 2nd Gen or 3rd Gen unit. I also did some mods to keep it running cool.

So All in All I used

-Compressed Air

-19 Bladed Fan for Heatsink

-APS 231 Power Supply

-Artic MX-4 Thermal Paste

-Ifixit Kit which includes Pads etc

-Added a 19 Bladed Fan to the Heatsink and tossed the original 15 bladed Fan

(These can be found on Ebay for under $30)

-I replaced the original APS-226 Power Supply for the more efficient APS-231 Unit which runs cooler and draws less amps and is compatible with my unit and the 1st and 2nd gen PS3's (These can also be found on Ebay for under $30 but if you have the Slim model disregard because these have a much better power supply already)

Identification Chart can be found here: http://www.edepot.com/playstation3.html#...

-Used Artic MX-4 instead of the pasted that comes with this kit because the curing time is instant and has much better properties

This install is rather simple but the hardest part is keeping the screws organized and remembering where they go for the reassembly. The install time is listed as 1 hour plan for about 2-3 hours if this is your first time doing this. The Ps3 fan has 5 different speeds and is loudest in playing Blu-Ray Movies. If this fix doesn't work go to a professional who has reballing equipment.

Having experience fixing laptops this project was a new challenge for me when my ps3 shown the YLOD and this guide helped me understand and accomplished the task. But it is worth noticing that the pictures don't apply to the original PS3 which has the memory cards reader and extra usb ports on the front. But is easy to figure out what to do having all those self describing pics. Thanks!!!

Thanks for the clear guide! This did work for me and my PS3's YLOD problem. After reading many comments here, I was not shy with the heat-gun step. The amount of dust inside of this almost six-year old console was amazing (no doubt contributing to heat issues)! It did take me all of 3 hours, but I took my time, kept screws organized into separate compartments based on steps in the guide (recommended). I was quite happy to see the normal start-up sequence happen after the repair was complete. I feel that I saved myself some serious cash and learned something in the process - a win-win! If I have to do it again, I probably will be able to do it in half of the time. XBOX 360 RROD fix next!

Thanks. Perfect guide and it worked, only issue could be the temperature and time of the heatgun. I tried on several scrap harddrives before doing it to the PS3 board to verify the right temperature and time- by testing you can check when the chips gets unsoldered. It may be a good suggestion for people that does not have long lasting success with this repair. It may be that you do not get the temperature high enough to get the solder to float underneath the chip. Frank.

My buddy's ps3 got the ylod and he got a new one. Gave me his old one and said if I could get it working to save his data I could have the ps3. Got the kit, saved his data, and scooped myself up a ps3 on the cheap. Thanks for the guide!

THANK YOU!!!!!! I’m really happy with your guide. I rescue my PS3 from YLOD with the help of your spectacular fix guide. It’s very accurate and precise. It was a flawless step-by-step fix! Thank you again ifixit, keep up the good work!

Our PS3 suffered an apparent YLOD attack after about five years. Figuring it was a goner anyway, decided to take a flyer on the iFixit repair kit after watching Fixit videos and guides--and it worked! :) Guide was extremely clear--even down to the number, size/type, and location of fasteners. Took about four hours, but not on all repair, mainly just because we were curious about what was inside and how it was put together. Very rewarding!

Another advantage over just buying a new one was that it allowed us the opportunity to back up saved-game data, as hadn't been done recently at the time the YLOD struck.

One suggestion: The video is good for an overview, but as the video says, when you're actually working, follow the GUIDE and not the video.

THANKS, iFixit!

I have to admit I was skeptical about this working, but it did. Who knows how long it will last, I have heard 2 days to 2 years. I was only concerned about it being online long enough to transfer my saved data to a new PS3 and it was. Well worth the $50.

Great guide and easy fix

fixed....didnt take long either. thanks

I am VERY DISAPPOINTED! I have bought the ylod fix kit, followed all of the instructions, yet my PlayStation 3 still has the yellow light of death wtf man, just a waste of time and money!

Great kit and repair guide. One suggestion though: Instead of just a red triangle w/ bang to mark critical steps, make the text red too. I was zoomed in on the repair guide, missed the red marker, and pulled off the PRAM socket:(

Thank you, Brett & MJ for the excellent guide and video!

My 1st gen PS3 had succumb to the YLoD after 6 years of virtually daily use, and I was able to get it up and running with the help of your instructions!

This was the first time I've taken apart my PS3 and it had accumulated a very significant amount of dust, which certainly contributed to it overheating thus causing the YLoD. I thoroughly cleaned the entire system, and used Arctic Silver 5 along with ArctiClean on the CPU, GPU and heat sinks to improve dissipation.

Since I already had all of the necessary tools, my only expense was $15 for the thermal pads (bought separately on Amazon), thus saving 80-90% of what it would have cost to send it in to get fixed professionally + I got the pads delivered next day and installed in under 2 hours, as opposed to waiting for roundtrip shipping and the repair turnaround time (1-2 weeks).

I had no expectations going into this, especially considering the age of my console, so I'm extremely happy with the results!!

Just tried this and my ps3 is alive again... thank you. Will be transferring to a new slim as soon as possible just in case the repair doesnt last....

Worked like a charm, my PS3 is back alive and kicking (even though it's been only two days). Was able to back everything up which was my main concern, money well spent. Thanks a lot iFixit!

just finished and the ps3 started to work. i hope it lasts at least a coup of weeks

This worked great for me and I'm glad that I bought the tool kit because it really came in handy. My 1st Gen PS3 has been down since 2011 and now I can play those games that I held on to.

Thanks iFixit

Excellent guide! I was able to bring back my PS3 Phat back to life!

I would just like to say thank you. Guide was fairly easy to follow and the video assited. My Son and I did this in about two hours with a few breaks. Now a day later and a few hours of play and this guide and the kit did indeed fix our YLOD. Thank you very much.

Jim and Joseph

East Stroudsburg, PA

PS3 CECHH01 Time to complete ~45 minutes. - Well, I have to admit that I am actually surprised that it worked. It didn't seem like 25 seconds per chip was actually enough time to melt the solder. Since the picture guide doesn't address my model of PS3 I just went to town and took it apart. This model is very straight forward to take apart with no surprises or special tools needed. So far everything seems to be working as it should. I guess we'll see if the repair lasts a reasonable amount of time. Thanks!

WAHOOOOOOO!!! iT TOTALY WORKED!!!

Now to back it up to a new ps3...

I was a little nervous about trying this on my own (with help from my son), but I made it through. I bought the iFixit kit, followed (most) of the directions, and my PS3 is up and running. My particular unit is slightly different in some areas than in the guide, so there was a little guess work in spots (esp the heat sync/fan was connected differently to the CPU. At first, I thought the (RSX) cover came off when I removed the heat sync, but I found out that was how it was supposed to be... weird but I handled it. I have an older unit), but it worked out. Thanks iFixit!!

This guide is extremely helpful. I did the reflow twice, and it finally worked on the 2nd try.

Make sure you heat the board components well to get the solder flowing. Also, make sure you let the board cool for 15-20 mins afterward.

Also, be careful to attach all the wires correctly, making sure they're all properly seated. If you mess up one connection, you'll have to do this time consuming process twice.

I also took the hard drive out, put it in a Ziploc bag, and placed it in the freezer the second time I did the reflow. The old "Freezer trick" is one I've seen save many hard drives, especially those of the Seagate variety in the PS3.

I'm not sure what made it work the second time, but be patient. It's worth trying more than once, so make sure to save some thermal paste.

I have the 80GB launch version of the PS3, btw, which is notorious for YLOD. My son plays his PS3 pretty hard, so I'm surprised it didn't break sooner.

Just be patient and take your time. It will work.

Unless you have other serious problems, this guide works. i had a different model than the one here (CECHG01) but, follow the guide and it will serve you well. Took a gamble buying my PS3 at a Goodwill for $50, had the YLOD but, with help from this site, i brought it back from the dead. It currently cant find the HDD but i think that's mostly due to my ignorance trying to reconnect the blu ray to MB ribbon wire and bent it horribly plus, i mildly injured the infamous clip. Avoid those mistakes, and you'll have a working PS3. Thank you Ifixit.com.

Did it twice now on two different PS3 Worked beautifully both times great guide.

EDIT: Forgot to mention, 60 gig release version. Canada.

Got the kit, ripped her apart, did the stuff, and no dice. Turned on long enough to eject the blue ray disk and yellow light again. However, the cable for the blue ray (where it connects to the motherboard) on the motherboard side of the connection, the fastener broke. I figured if I put the cable in place, held down the fastener and crazy glued it, would stay put, ensuring a tight connection. that part at least seemed to work, but after several unsuccessful attempts at start up, I started ripping it apart and troubleshooting all my connections. No luck so far. Would the glue have wrecked the whole thing? Or is it possible there is another issue? Anyone got any ideas?

Again, what happens when I start up: Everything seems normal. Blue light comes on. sounds like it's starting up. Fan kicks in fast, Yellow light.

When I first had the yellow light, the fan didn't even kick in, nor did the blue light.

Thoughts? Suggestions? I really want to finish gta5 ._.

can u fix mine

Though the internals are quite different - especially the way the heatsink (fan unit) joins to the mobo, no card reader, no separate control board - following this guide as closely as I could seems to have fixed a YLOD on a CECHG03 PS3 - at least it has fired up and is now updating.

Many thanks.

About a month ago my PS3 took a turn for the worse and after seven years finally fell to the YLOD. I researched and found this website with high hopes of being able to repair my system. After reading all of the reviews, I came to the notion that it is literally a 50/50 chance of resurrecting my system. I bought the repair kit and received it within a few days. Today I performed the operation that was needed to potentially bring my system back to life.

After two 1/2 hours of taking apart my system, I finally was able to plug it back in. I turned the switch and the red light came on! Success! Well...up to this point it was. I turned on the PS3 and waited. It started and prompted me to reset the date/time. I was happy to assist with this matter. After two minutes of running, the fan started to get loud and the system shut off again and with an unwelcome sight, the yellow light ventured back into my life. I tried this two more times before I came to the conclusion that it was never coming back.

Unfortunately, it didn't work for me. Still with a YLOD :(

IT'S ALIVE!!! That is all I got to say. The heat gun actually worked though I was extremely skeptical if it would do anything. Currently my formerly YLOD PS3 is working. It has lasted long enought to do a 10 hour backup and I watched some Netflix too. Used another guide to take it apart and used this guide to put it back together. This one is much better.

This guide would be better if it had pictures of the screws and not just tech specs for the screws. Sometime you forget what goes where after a few days. I fixed it!! Thank you :-)

Why did my USB ports stop working after this fix?

Followed directions exactly, no more YLOD, but system says system is too hot within a minute of booting. Took 5 1/2 hours, waited over 20 minutes after heating. Unfortunately a waste of money :-(

i got one to repair from my kid, after taking it apart, it appears someone already tried this method and failed. the reason? the burned in one spot too long, and actually blew the tiny capacitors off their pads about an inch in which they settled and cooled. plus you can see the solder pools under one of the processor, another indication they stayed in one spot too long.

I was getting ready to pack up my games and belongings after getting ylod; thanks to ifixit (totally love this whole site), not only am I playing my ps3 again with all my saves and everything, but I'm bragging to my friends how I epicly fixed it!

Terrific guide. I used this guide and the toolkit sold by ifixit and everything worked for my 60GB CECHA01 model. My PS3 died while watching a Blu-ray, so my Blu-ray was stuck inside and I hadn't backed up any of my game saves or anything. I bought a new slim PS3 and was able to fix the fat guy (thanks to this guide!) and got my Blu-ray disc and transferred all my data to the slim. Plus, the fat guy's still working. It's only been a day, but still. Thanks for this guide, Brett and thanks for the helpful video, MJ.

The fix worked but didn't last. I could get my disc out and update the firmware. Then I left it 6 days (because of a vacation) but it YLOD again now. I didn't change the thermal pads but they seemed fine. My PS3 is about 6 years old.

I found it quite nice that she added the step of heating up the entire board to this process. I have found that taking a hair dryer and heating up the entire board keeps the board from curving due to uneven heating. Most of the videos on youtube don't mention this, and this woman does. This video is right on and will work 100% of the time.

I had little doubt that this would work. Considering all the positive feed back I have read in the comments on the site. I have a launch 60G and it had been going strong until about a month ago. I figured I would give ifixit a try. If the stories are true about the going rate of $150 to send it to Sony to fix. Why do that when brand new system will cost you $200! The guide was great and tear down was easy. The only step that I left out was 34 detaching the pram battery. I could not get it to turn and did not seem to be a necessary risk to force it and break it. Reassembled it and fired it up this morning (with the eject button! in case it did not work. I might at least get the disc back) and I am enjoying the fruits of my labor. One concern I do have is, in the hour that it was running the fan did seem to kick in to the higher speed more often then I remember. It did not feel hot though! Not sure if that is good or bad. Thx ifixit for the fun experience and bringing my ps3 back to life for the time being.

i did it but after the fix my ps3 did'n work at all T^T, what can i do naw

I first found the video on YouTube and it helped me through the disassembly, coming down to the end the video skipped over some minor but necessary steps though, so I came to this guide to be sure and to assist in the re-assembly.

I got a lot of trouble to fit the Blu-ray cable back into the motherboard, but a friend helped me out there. Instead of the heat gun I put the board in the oven at 200 degrees for 10 minutes as some recommended.

In the end the PS3 worked! But with all my troubles to get the Blu-ray cable back in I smudged the thermal paste on one of the chips a few times and noe it looks like my PS3 is overheating after a few minutes of use.

I'm going to get more thermal paste and redo this guide, but just to replace the thermal paste.

My PS3 model was slightly different but I followed the guide and now it's working like new. I'm crossing my fingers hoping it will last a good while!

Just went trhough the process go it up and running.... i have the 40 gb fatty... it started up i did the update. i played GTA5 and the back up fan kicked in... which it always did, as ive sent it to playstaion twice to be fixed i figured i'd try to fix it my self this time and so far so good, if it YLOD again can u do this process again?

This was an experience of overcoming the fact that there are variations of the motherboard, drives, etc... but continued on. Wondered if the board was cooking until read that some had to heat it twice - time to cook that sucker (also an old motherboard, found in the trash, served as a test subject)! Worked like a charm.

The pads are rather expensive but figured IFIXIT has helped me so I foot the bill; but the video is somewhat deceptive, though, as MJ repaired her playstation in under five minutes and it took me waaaaaaaaaaaaay longer.

=;8-)

Hello all. This is a great guide but as someone else posted above, putting the board in the oven at 200c for 7 min works perfectly (i've done many boards over the years like this, not just ps3's). But id suggest turning the oven to 215c then then when you open it to put board in turn down to 200c, this will keep the elements from going red and maybe causing localized heat damage.

LOVE THIS SITE!

Easy as PIE!. Although I didn't use the heat gun. As someone posted above putting the board in the oven, after removing thermal pads, works wonders. I've been doing this trick with boards for a long time. Turn oven to 215c, place board on ceramic backing disk with no chips touching the ceramic. Place in oven and turn oven down to 200c, this will keep the elements from coming on and maybe causing localized heat damage. Turn oven off a 6 min, again to help ensure elements do not come on. Pull board out of oven at 7 min very, very gently. You don't want to move it around much as the solder needs to set. Remove board from ceramic and place on a metal backing dish, to help remove heat from board. Then reinstall.

Love the site, ifixit ROCKS!

I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS WORKED! My PS3 YLODed about 3-4 weeks ago. I was pretty desperate to get my save data off the hard drive and onto a new PS3. Here are some tips:

Watch the video and print out the guide

There are A LOT of parts, make sure you have a lot of table space or an extra table to put parts on

Keep track of screws by putting them in cups and label them in order. This will help with reassembly

Don't be afraid to yank out the ribbons. Some smaller ones have release hatches so look out

PRAM battery is difficult to remove. I pulled the socket when the guide told me to be careful and it still came out okay

Have duster and a coffee filter to clean off the massive amounts of dust

Heat the board up for at the very least 20 min ON LOW

Thermal paste is VERY sticky and tough to push around. The card works the best to get it thin and flat

I dropped my board after heating and it still worked out okay. Be careful and be aware that the board can get VERY hot while heating.

GOOD LUCK!

I did this repair this morning and it appears to be working fine. It was fairly straight forward. I watched a few different YouTube videos first and found it easy. Remember that the screw length quoted includes the head. I mixed up a few screws but then got them sorted out.

I had success following the steps. I didn't use the iFixit kit, so no new thermal pads and I used Best Buy Dynex thermal paste. I has two issues. 1) as predicted by the guide I did remove the battery plug from the motherboard. 2) Only the color XMB icons were "folded" at the lower right hand corner. My fix was to do a complete format which took over 3 hours for a 60GB drive. Rebuilding the database/file system would not do a long lasting fix.

Martin

This was a great and relatively easy to understand guide.

Hi to everyone.

I did all of these things in the video, but now there is no light in my Ps3. I dont know why .

There is no electric . I tried it with different cable, but nothing happened. There is no red, yellow or green light.

Could someone help me please ??

Thx for answering

Hi to everyone

I did all of these at the video, but there is no light on my ps3 now. I tried it with different cable, but still no electric . I dont know why. There is no red, yellow or green light. I am ready to try everything now.

Could someone pls help me ???

Great video! Kit has everything you will need. Mine was a tad dusty (60GB launch model) so I got some compressed air and a shop vac. Was very skeptical if it would work but it sure as !@#$ did ^^b

Thanks again to the ifixit.com staff and community!

I think I will still do a backup and replace this one though. It is over 7 years old...

Are the pads necessary? And for how long is this gonna work?

Did this yesterday and my PS3 is working again! The annoying thing is that of course I have a single screw left over!

I tried this with the heatgun and it ruined my PS3. The CPU and GPU are NOW RUINED!!! It did not work for and made things worst!!! I sent it to a place to get reballed and they said the HEATGUN had overheated my processor and killed them!!! So think twice about doing this. Just because it is already broken, DON'T THINK YOU CAN'T MAKE IT WORST!

I just did this whole process. Took me about three hours. And it didn't work. The PlayStation acted just like it did before I did any of this. Is there something I did wrong? I did exactly what the guide said. Could I have used too much thermal paste? Not enough? Maybe hooked something back up incorrectly? Help!!!

I finished, hooked up my system, turned it on, and everything worked... For about 5 minutes. My system was able to stay on for a few seconds to a few minutes before getting another YLOD. I listened to the system and never heard the fan kick on. I know I connected it. I took my system back apart looked at it and was very close to just tossing it in the trash. I was so !@#$%^ that I was going to loose all my data. I wiped everything down and put it back together. There must not have been a clear connection the first time because after I tried a second time, everything was fine. The fan kicked on and I was able to save all my data and transfer it to a new system. I don't know for how long this fix will hold, but it did what I needed it to do.

So my ps3 got the ylod about a year ago and it's been sitting since. I just did the repair and the ps3 seems to be running right again. I can turn it on and put in and take out games without it crashing. But whatever I do I can't get the audio/visual to work. I have regular component cords, infrared cord, and an hdmi cord plugged in to see if any of them work and nothing shows up on my tv. I was hoping someone could shed some light on this problem

I just tried this and it didn't work. The PS3 wasn't working anyway so it wasn't a loss and didn't hurt anything. Just bummed - I was hoping it would be an easy fix! :(

I am attempting to fix my MB after YLOD, I am also very intent on doing it RIGHT.

My concerns are longevity and cost. My local game store offers YLOD fix for $40, but says results very from 3 days to 3 months... not worth it.

From what I have been researching, it seams that most tech repair shops "reflow" MB's as its time and cost effective for them, but results are temp at best. I do not believe re-ball is something one can do with out the right equipment.

I believe a reflow will be my first try, with a few considerations; What is the best method for getting the best results: Gun vs. oven?, What are the most heat sensitive components on the bored and what is there max temp?, What are the Spec. requirements for the thermal pads?, PSU swap or no?

My PS3 is model # CECHH01, PSU # EADP-300AB, I am swapping 15 blades for 19 for sure. Any known reason to swap the PSU? If so, for what?

I am still researching how to get the best "reflow".

no more room to type :-(

I bought the kit. I followed the instructions. PlayStation works again... at least for now.

Took 3 hours, including dust removal from ALL parts, with 1" paint brush.

Thanks for guide and kit.

Awesome but my ps3 did not recover on the first go around.

tried it yesterday, it took me less than 2 hours and it worked like a charm

did some stress test and no problems at all it ran all day long

the interior of my PS3 was very different than the guide though

hopefully I can enjoy my ps3 for a long time more now

Follow thru all the directions, except for using a heat gun to warm up the mother board, insted I set the mothe rboard in the oven for 5 minutes at 200 degress, and continue with the rest of the directions to fix the Yellow Light of Death Repair and I am back with my PS3 working as new. Thanks for all your information, it was great.

Did this repair last night and my first gen PS3 is back up and running, plus i got my friend's game out that's been in there for almost a year! The toughest parts for me were the top cover (step 6) and removing the PRAM battery (step 34). Those two things did NOT want to budge!! I kept feeling like i was going to break them. Removing/re-applying the paste took a while too, as i was extra paranoid about getting the layer of thermal paste just right. All in all, it was a good experience. Easy to follow guide and great tools. Hope my repair will last!

Followed guide. Used heat gun to warm entire motherboard and made circular motions over the 4 chips in the directed zig zag fashion. I read that some people did not heat it enough and had to do it over again, so I heated each chip for roughly 35 seconds each on low heat then went back and did them all again for 35 seconds each while still making sure the entire board was warm. Put it all back together and still the same YLOD. :/ I guess I'll try again in a week when I have more time. Maybe I will heat each chip for a minute instead.

can you guys please go on this website it shows how to do it. http://ca6aaaynu7luht39wuvf1v8x6o.hop.cl...

Finally was able to sit down after a year of in-operability and found this guide. Had the same problem previously and paid $150 to have playstation fix it and problem returned after few months, was apprehensive about spending the money again so let it sit. Took only couple hours and system is back up and running again!!! Wish I had looked into this sooner.

Just finished this, and so far so good. Thanks for the easy to follow instructions. Time will only tell if it holds up.

Really a good guide by iFixit. Clear and descriptive as it can be though mine is a different ps3(CECHP12). I was wondering instead of a heat gun is there other ways to resolder the chips properly? Several other comments mentioned placing the board into an oven at 200c for 10 minutes. Is that correct and can it work? Just a precaution :/

Followed this method in tandem with a Wikihow (for the disassembly procedure -- I discovered this guide after I'de started taking it part). When I plugged the PS3 in again I had a solid red light and touching the power switch at the front wouldn't allow me to turn the machine on. Fortunately, partially inserting a disc into the tray caused the machine to spring into life. Seems I've broken the front power button somewhow, but the good news is that the PS3 is usable and stable again. I can power on and off with the controller and the eject button is still responsive to input. Been using for a few hours now without issue.

Hi,

Just did it, and the PS3 is back, hoping for a long time...

Just bought the repair kit + followed the procedure. Great guide. Thanks,

Thierry

Hi Again,

I have also followed the following video, giving an other way of applying the ceramic thermal paste, and the video was exactly the PS3 that I have(same chips on the board) .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?x-yt-ts=14...

Regards,

Thierry

May not have been the safest thing to do for my PS3, but it worked like a champ! Breathed new life into my baby. Very easy to follow instructions.

I followed the instructions to the T and my ps3 turned on for 10sec then off stating that it became too hot and shut down.the fans turned on super loud to try and cool it down but to no avail. Any help I Fix it?!

Great guide, but worked for one game of NHL 14 and back to YLOD...

The best guide ever. Many thanks for creating it. I followed it and was able to repair my console.

This is just about the best and clearest step by step guide i have ever seen.

Just finished repairing my son's 60gb PS3.

Turns on and runs perfectly.

Many many thanks for your superb guide.

I don't understand how anything is re-soldering? A heat gun won't melt solder will it?

I follow the direction and got system to work but it went back and repeat the YLOD. This did help for a moment but it is not a permanent process. How do I make it a permanent fix??

I had success on the first try. It took me a long time though. Thank you ifixit.com

My son and I sat patiently and took apart the PS3 following the instruction in the ifixit guide in a couple of hours SUCCESS!!!! It is priceless to see my son overjoyed and back to his "Ratch it and Clank" game. Thank you ifixit. Customer for life!!!

Cant fix my ps3 2nd generatin it went blue light green light and wnt again to yellow can you help me anyone

well the guide and kit were very easy to follow and I was able to do it with relative ease. I actually got the console to boot up to the dashboard again, however, the fan is louder than a jet engine. just when I think it cant get any louder, the rpm jacks up. the system gives me a message saying its too hot.

can anybody help me here?

The guide was great, but I did watch an additional video showing the heat gun time. I didn't want to burn the chips, this was my brothers 1st gen PS3 and I wanted to fix it for him. The only thing that I also had to do was reset the video by holding the power button. Doesn't help I'm a Microsoft fan and not that of Sony. I hope that everyone else has an easy time like I did.

If u wanna make it last longer I would recommend the ps3ez chill mod that hooks up to the fan and then you can control the fan speed

For now it started working, but lets see how long does it take...

Hope it lasts forever..

timer starts now....

very excellent guide, easy to execute. I didn't even do the entire thing:

I disassembled the ps3 until I had the mainboard out, and removed the metal shield from the bottom. with the rest of the components intact, I used my hot air station to reflow the CPU/GPU.

with the processors facing down, and some tin foil with square holes cut (to better shield the rest from the heat), this whole job took me less than 30min.

I used the GeForce GPU reflow profile that I use for macbooks, and it worked like a charm.

I followed these instructions, adapted slightly for my 3rd generation ps3. Unfortunately I ripped out the fan connection while trying to disconnect and ended up having to solder the connection. (I had a soldering iron but this was actually my first soldering project-- whew.) I think the soldering worked (I heard the fan start-- much quieter now) but sadly the YLOD greeted me once again. Did I mess up the thermal paste? I think I used too much because I ran out. I guess this is worth a final shot once I acquire some more thermal paste.

Epic repair guide & video. My PS3 was clearly a different model than the one referenced in the guide, but the repair still worked like a champ - so stoked about that - THANK U IFIXIT!

I did two separate 30 second rounds of heating on each of the four referenced areas on the motherboard. Notable differences - [Step 5] the top cover was not as easy to remove as the guide assumed, there was a fastening clip towards the left rear of the cover that had to be unhooked. [Step 10] This control board assembly did not exist. [Step 12] Step 27 is required during this step in order for Step 15 to work. [Step 13] The control board bracket did not exist. [Step 15] Motherboard assembly came out with heat sinks, fan, and plastic frame detached. [Step 22 - 23] Memory card reader did not exist. [Step 43] Motherboard is a bit different, with thermal pads in different places. Just note where they are, and replace the ones you remove.

How do I use the pad and paste is there a video that could show me how to do it?

I found plenty of videos regarding how to use the paste but not the thermal pads ?!

Thnx for the great guide! works for me! :-)

My PS3 seems to be a really, really old model, it was tricky to get open, but I did the same thing with the heat gun, only that after applying heat and letting it cool down on the upper side, I turned the board upside-down and repeated the same exact process, it's working now!

So is this guide saying thermal paste OR thermal pad. Using both is apparently bad

I just tried this and I really, really hope it works. It's cooling now from the heatgunning I gave it.

No way. It worked. I've been prepping for a few weeks, but I had 0 confidence in my repair skills. I did the heatgun method following this guide and a bunch of videos on Youtube and BAM. It's on with the green light right now. Wish I had controllers to test it, but we'll see how long it lives.

This guide is FANTASTIC! I had pretty much written off my 2 YLOD PS3s. I had replaced them already with a 3rd PS3, but now I have brought my original (1st lot) PS3 back to life! I have been playing it for several hours at a time to see if it will hold up and everything is great so far. I will be buying another kit to revive my other one very soon. Thank you ifixit!

This guideline is awesomme. It worked. I did it exactly as described in the steps, except from the fact I have the PS3 slim, so the disassembling is different, but the part with the heat gun followed preciselz and the Playstation is just working as new!!!!!!!!!!!! thanks guys

Hi, Im new to the iFixIt Community. I myself had the YLOD on my PS3 CECH-A01. I didn't use this guide, but its similar to what I did. Heres a few tips. MOD YOUR CASE!!! Cut a hole using any can and heat it up on the stove. When hot place it on the center of the area where the fan is and let it melt on threw... Provides airflow into your system to keep it cool.. To cover the hole, use a 6 and a half inch car speaker cover to make it look nice. UPGRADE YOUR POWER SUPPLY! The 231 unit runs much cooler than the factory installed one. Also, cut 4 holes with a drill on the side where the warranty sticker is to allow the hot air to escape more freely. You can cover with a screen that you can buy at a smoke shop... UPGRADE YOUR FAN TO A 19 BLADE FAN! Provides max airflow throughout the system. Get some 1.5 inch rubber pegs and Crazy Glue them to the corners on the bottom case to allow air into the fan hole. I heated my board in the oven at 300 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes. It works!!! Good Luck...

Where can you buy the CPU pads??

Quick question, why wouldn't you also remove the CPU chip and re-apply solder for that? Since it was that causing one of the main issues? The solder would be dry and dusty underneath surely?

I bought the YLOD repair kit from ifixit and followed this guide step by step. The only thing I did differently was that I didn't apply thermal paste to the fan as well as the CPU and GPU, I only applied to the CPU and GPU directly. Everything works now with my PS3 and I am so happy that I could back up my saved game of The Last of Us and keep playing too :) Let's hope it lasts!

Hi everyone. Please be aware of your PS3 model before going about this. This model is different from the earlier ones, and as such the process of dismantling is different. Please google your PS3 model and look up the disassembly. I did not and attempted to do this all following iFixit's guide, and almost ended up giving up before making some searches. It would have saved me a lot of time and effort had I considered this.

I've done this 6 times! I can't figure it out. could the bluray drive be a reason!?

I had the same problem. First i get Yellow, then three beeps then flashing red.I followed the guide. The fan runs quietly and air that comes out of the back is not too hot . It worked wonderfully, for about an hour. Then it bricked. I let it cool then run it again, same thing, it YLODed . After cooling it for The 3rd time it was a minute or running then YLOD.

My model is CECHG01.

Any suggestions?

I cant believe this worked... but it did. I don't know for how long.. but THANK YOU!!!

It worked! Struggled a bit with disassembly because my model is different than the guide, and I wasn't sure how long to keep the heat gun on the chips. But it fired right up, and I was able to eject the Blue Ray from the public library, so that was good. Then I played Ratchet & Clank from the HD for about an hour, and all seemed well. Will see if I can play from a disc tonight. Hope it lasts. I'm not averse to buying a PS4, but I have all these PS3 games — it would be a shame to never get to play them again.

I'm sorry to say that this guide didn't work for me. First, my PlayStation is different from the one they show. It is not slim, but it is different. I think mine is older. I has to watch different videos on how to dismantle the console. I did all the thermal paste and pads as this guide said. Put it together and....it actually got worse. Now, when I press the button to start it gets green then immediately it turns red with just one beep and turns off... I won't try it again. I wasted $40 and a couple of hours of my time. Next time I'll just get another used console...

I'd never even heard of a PS3 YLOD until I got one the other day. Bought the repair kit (I'd been wanting a heat gun anyway so woot), followed the guide, and now I have a 100% working PS3. Can't complain.

Had Trouble and did not work for me

1st gen PS3, got the YLOD for the first time a few days ago and followed this guide. Took me about 3 hours but now the PS3 is back up and running beautifully again. I was totally skeptical about taking a heat gun directly to a CPU/GPU but thought I had nothing to lose and it worked! Kids can watch Netflix and play games, everyone’s happy. To apply the thermal paste I used the guide mentioned in this article, using a plastic bag to spread it evenly with my hand. Instead of buying the kit, I just bought some thermal paste (with remover and primer) and thermal pads on amazon, cost about $20.

Blasting a chip with a heat gun or sticking a board in the oven is not a “fix,” it doesn’t fix the problem (which is a bad graphics chip). By heating the chip up, you’re only temporarily reviving the system and it’s anyone’s guess as to how long it lasts (anywhere from an hour to months).

This is also why you don’t buy used chips off ebay or pay for services that claim to repair boards with this problem, because reflowing a crap chip doesn’t magically fix the fact that the chip is crap. That’s why you’ll never see a warranty for these greater than 90 days, because the person who “repaired” it knows that they didn’t actually repair it and that it will probably fail after 3 months if not before then.

Also, blasting/baking is not “reflowing,” actual reflowing involves an expensive machine that you use to remove the chip, replace the solder, and then resolder it in place. But since the solder balls under the chip are not the problem here, reflowing a crap chip won’t magically fix the crap chip, either.

my PS 3 is old thats

probably why —___—

i miss my old PS 3 Pls There Can Be A Fix Pls

I can’t believe this worked so well. YLOD is gone, PS3 works, AND I was able to clean 1/4” of accumulated dust inside (fixed the overworked fan). I’d certainly not classify this as easy and it took a solid 2 hours (I’ve repaired/upgraded a lot of iphones, androids, tablets, and laptops but not a PS3). Lots of bits to keep track of and re-building the motherboard sandwich with all the sticky pads and paste isn’t trivial. I think the hardest part was removing the “peel off” backings from the 3M thermal pads without taking the adhesive film. Use a razor blade to scrape the adhesive film off the peel off back if it feels like you’re splitting the pads in half. Also, when you’re re-attaching the top motherboard cover dont’ forget to insert the tabs at the back into the slots of the bottom MB cover. It’s an easy detail to miss and your case won’t line up when putting it all back. Not sure if people are still repairing these in 2018 but if so, there are a couple tips. Thanks for the guide!

Best solution to this https://bit.ly/2kRuEMY

Thank you so much for this guide! This helped me to revive a YLOD PS3 (CECHH 01) I bought at a thrift store! Instructions are easy to follow, seemed very straight forward. I would recommend if anyone has a YLOD PS3 to use this guide as it helped me to revive my PS3. So far, running great. Will update if anything happens. Thanks again!

My PS3 stopped working, so I completed this repair with heat, heat-conducting paste & all. The PS3 started working again, but NetFlix stopped working. I deleted the app & the Game Data associated with it and reinstalled NetFlix. No go…The screen goes blank, the HD light flashes a few times, then stops. The WiFi light pulses. The System utilities tell me I’m connected to our network, and the clock’s set. If anyone has any ideas, I’d appreciate some help.

Also did this repair 2 times. It was a pretty interesting and enjoyable repair. Time consuming but straight-forward compared to some of the others I’ve done. But, as I’ve seen in many other comments, it didn’t last. I got another 6weeks max out of the system before it started up again with the YLOD. It’s too bad because it seems like the repair is hitting on the right problem, it’s just not producing a durable solution.

Did not work. &&^&^$^ $@$*!

You need to reball the chip for complete fix. This method can only extend your PS3’s life just for a while, after a certain period of time YLOD relapses again. Maybe this is appropriate for people who just want to rescue data inside HDD.

When i power on my ps3 it shows green …yellow… then red light blinking ……can it be repaired? Please help

Hello please my console is having a ylod fault pls where is the nearest place around. Nigeria lagos state, ajah ,majek second gate ibeju lekki epe Express way…

There is another guide with 40 steps to follow where you just replace the thermal paste. I did this one, not knowing this guide existed, and my ps3 died the next morning. The other guide left me with a lot of leftover parts. Please remove it so no one else makes this mistake.

My ps3 is working perfectly except no sound and the video output settings buttons is not working either…. any help please

Grazie per la splendida guida.lo seguita passo a passo e il risultato e fantastico la mia Play3 funziona che e una meraviglia grazie alla vostra guida spero duri nel tempo almeno un paio di anni ma cmq vada siete dei grandi.consiglio questa guida a tutti colora che hanno avuto questo problema perché sicuramente alla fine funzionerà ancora grazie.

The steps are clearly laid out but not for my model. Not all PS3’s are the same so I could only use this as a general guideline and took lots of pictures along the disassembly route. After all that my PS3 still won’t work. It’s a shame to have over 50 great games that I can’t use and even if I bought another used one another failure would sooner or later hit it. I’d buy a brand new PS3 if they still made them since none of the newer models are backwards compatible.

There’s a new guide out there that points out that the culprit might be the “chips“ (aka NEC/TOKIN capacitors) next to the RSX/CELL. I guess it makes sense to look back and notice how the guid also tells us to heat up those “chips” which apparently restores some of the capacitance. But the best seems to be to just replace them by new tantalum capacitors (470uF - 6.3V). The idea is to replace each of the NEC/TOKIN capacitors by 4 tantalum capacitors. You don’t need to replace them all, and can start by replacing only one and see if it works. Some people say to replace only the 4 on the rear side of the board, assuming that the side that contains the CELL/RSX is the front. Note that you’ll be getting 1880uF per replaced capacitor, which if they are in parallel and the ones on the front don’t have any issue other than lower capacitance, their capacitance could be reduced down to 520uF and it would still work. Guide here:

https://www.psx-place.com/threads/tutori...

I tried doing this to my ps3 but I have a completely different motherboard inside mine. None of the chips look like or match with the one in the diagram. What chips am I supposed to put the pads on?

awesome I just managed to bring an old system back to life thanks to this guide and i feel like a million dollars for it. thx ifixit great stuff

Thank you. I appreciate the pictures and written instructions to complement the quick video overview. The illustrations helped give me confidence to complete the work. The system is working again!

Be sure to check out my guide if you really want your PS3 to work. The true cause is the failing Nec Tokin capacitors. If you have soldering skills this guide should come in handy. https://www.reddit.com/r/PS3/comments/hx...

Gutted, all that work and still red flashing light. Good guide though

first attempt of repairing this . Was getting red light not yellow but seams to have worked . I am a tech for a devise repair company thanks for the guide

Hi, incidentally think the problem with some YLOD is actually not the same. To check, always try the console without the HDD AND memory reader fitted. This typically forces it into recovery mode and will usually result in some sort of display permitting further diagnostics.

Also useful, I found that many old graphics cards have iron containing pads on the memory chips and to a lesser degree GPU, potentially allowing things like induction reflow. It still needs preheating but has potential as a less invasive repair technique as can be controlled more precisely than the heat gun, and often the pads that are bad can be reflowed with some knowledge of where they are without doing them all.

Might need an induction shunt or special mu metal shield on the inductors or simply use a different frequency than usual.

I “invented” this method as a way to get a DL machine on the cheap by repairing broken 1080 Ti’s but it turned out the faults on these are different and harder to repair.

I followed the manual today and my PS3 works again!

I used 150 to 200 °C to warm up the board. Then used 300°C for 30 sec, let it cool down and again 45 sec after that.

PS3 starts up now! I will test it following weeks and see for how long this helps ^^)

Thank you for the clear manual!

This is no doubt the most BS solution out there. Ifixit essentially trying to scam people out of their money by selling them a bunch of things that won’t repair their ps3s. All this does is heat up the faulty flip chip enough that it will work for a short time.

A few cables were in different places and the older models have some quirks, but this guide worked for me and unbricked my backwards compatible 60gb model from 07.

I was able to do this without too many issues. Only comment I would make is to have a well lit area while working. Makes finding those screws a little easier. At the very least, a good flashlight.

My playstation 3 got this error probably 7 or more years ago and sat. I finally looked up a possible fix for this error and came across this. Mine is a CECHH so it was a little different from the one in this guide, but I bought the repair kit and followed it and now in 2021 my ps3 is updating. My controllers also work after not being charged all this time. Some things I did different:

-I had pretty much the same heat gun so I didn’t order that kit. It is a 2-setting heat gun from Harbor Freight and the lowest setting for it is 572 F (300 C). I heated the board like you said and followed the same pattern per chip. Only I did it for 35 seconds each and held it probably 1-2 inches off the board. (The board was hot after this, but that is why the preheat step is so crucial.)

-Only the 4 small black chips and the big one above the processors had thermal pads. I replaced new ones on those and added 4 to the gray chips above the small black chips. I also put the rectangular pads on the back.

Thank you!

Would a package of 85×45 thermal pad be enough for this?

Didn't work did exactly everything but it's the same as it was before, I mean worst because it would boot sometimes now it doesn't boot

This is not the recommended way to fix it anymore. It is now known that the 90nm RSX is defective due to issues in the materials used in its assembly. The only real, permanent fix for the YLOD is to use an Orbis modchip and replace the 90nm RSX with a 65nm or 40nm RSX.

It helped but it keep on turnin ydol every month please help chinokothomson@gmail.com

This is still like magic to me, but it worked!
thank you !

The fact that a simple (paint striping) heat gun can pull off this trick is a very underrated use case of this tool.

This is a bad guide. The console needs to have syscon error codes read before doing anything else. Blindly adding heat is a temporary solution at best. In cases of 90nm RSX consoles it's a bumgate death anyway.

تصليح مؤقت ويرجع

DO NOT and I repeat DO NOT follow this guide.
The only thing you will achieve is a temporary fix that will last a couple of weeks at best or causing delamination of the heated up parts at worst, killing the motherboard completely. Because the YLOD hints at ANY kind of fatal hardware issue, only someone experienced enough with the console can find the issue. There is no easy fix. The most common issue, which is a bad GPU, is impossible to fix without the right equipment and skills.