PS3 General Discussion

daus26
I'm about as screwed, if not more regarding the ps3 today. Mine just went YLOD, and GT5 is less than a month away. I've never been this shocked before.
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That's a real bugger mate.:(
 
I just finished installing some slight "upgrades" in my original BC ps3 last night, I had stumbled upon this article which was very helpful in combination with this website with a breakdown of all ps3 models and what parts they contain. I replaced the power supply with the coolest running model available, I replaced the 15 blade fan with a 19 blade unit (both parts used from ebay), and replaced the thermal grease on the two processors with arctic silver 5 and cleaned out all the dust (again). After running for several hours it was the quietest I've heard it. Hopefully this will be a worthwhile preemptive strike against future problems.
 
Hm. I never thought of replacing the PSU with the ones from the later PS3s. Your post had perfect timing, because now I will probably buy an APS231 PSU before I fix my PS3's Battle Damage.
 
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land sea air
I just finished installing some slight "upgrades" in my original BC ps3 last night, I had stumbled upon this article which was very helpful in combination with this website with a breakdown of all ps3 models and what parts they contain. I replaced the power supply with the coolest running model available, I replaced the 15 blade fan with a 19 blade unit (both parts used from ebay), and replaced the thermal grease on the two processors with arctic silver 5 and cleaned out all the dust (again). After running for several hours it was the quietest I've heard it. Hopefully this will be a worthwhile preemptive strike against future problems.
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Did you apply it with 5 drops and left it, or did you also even it out with the AS5 thermal paste?

I'm going to attempt and reflow my ps3.
 
daus26
Did you apply it with 5 drops and left it, or did you also even it out with the AS5 thermal paste?

I'm going to attempt and reflow my ps3.
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I applied the arctic silver paste in several drops and evened it out with the butt end of a plastic razorblade after removing all traces of the original paste. Once I was done the chips heatsinks were evenly coated all over with a thin coat of paste.

reflowing is a whole is a whole different ball game and I would never attempt it unless my ps3 stopped working and even then it could end up doing more damage than good. But as yours is YLOD there is probably no harm in trying. Hopefully replacing the fan, PSU and thermal paste will prevent the heat build up that can cause ylod by cracking the solder on some connections.
 
land sea air
I applied the arctic silver paste in several drops and evened it out with the butt end of a plastic razorblade after removing all traces of the original paste. Once I was done the chips heatsinks were evenly coated all over with a thin coat of paste.
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May I ask what'd you use to remove the original thermal paste? Is alcohol ok, you think?
 
Okay. This "only able to replace CECHA with CECHA" idea I was running off of looked like it was going to get real expensive real fast. My replacement PS3 arrived today, and the case on that one is shot as well. If I can get a CECHC or CECHE case instead, my life will be much easier.
 
Toronado
Does anyone know if the CECHCxx and/or CECHExx cases are the same as the CECHAxx cases?
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Which body part do you need ? I have a CECHA01 Top/Bottom in good shape Tabs broken off the part that has the Playstation 3 Logo on it.
 
I might need the top and bottom shroud. What do you mean "Tabs Broken off?" You mean the front faceplate and that stupid little plastic piece that holds the whole thing on?
 
Toronado
I might need the top and bottom shroud. What do you mean "Tabs Broken off?" You mean the front faceplate and that stupid little plastic piece that holds the whole thing on?
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The piece that the tabs are broken off is the one that people put stickers on I'll try and find a picture. Not the ones that the screws go on.

https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/album.php?albumid=435&pictureid=14588

The shinny part that's chrome in this picture. If you stand the PS3 upright it's the piece that reads 1/2 in letters Plastation 3
 
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daus26
May I ask what'd you use to remove the original thermal paste? Is alcohol ok, you think?
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I imagine alcohol would be fine, however I only used a plastic razor. They are somewhat hard to come by though but a credit card or something similar would probably also work well.
 
land sea air
I imagine alcohol would be fine, however I only used a plastic razor. They are somewhat hard to come by though but a credit card or something similar would probably also work well.
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Fingernail polish remover (acetone) will work very well. Just get a small rag wet after getting the big lumps of paste off and wipe repeat until all paste is gone being careful not to wipe the paste onto the side contacts. Change piece of rag often and remember that acetone is very flamable so no smoking! Yes alcohol would work but it's like trying to get them price stickers off.
 
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opelgt1969
The piece that the tabs are broken off is the one that people put stickers on I'll try and find a picture. Not the ones that the screws go on.]
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Yeah, the little plastic cover thing. I'm fine with that. I can replace that if need be. I'll let you know in about 10 minutes.
 
Toronado
Yeah, the little plastic cover thing. I'm fine with that. I can replace that if need be. I'll let you know in about 10 minutes.
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I've put some pictures on "My Profile" page with some comments about condition of body parts. The body does have very minor scaring where you pry them apart nothing that can't be cleaned off.
 
Well, I ended up winning the auction, but then again I won the auction for the last PS3 and that was a crapbox when I finally got it. I suppose I'll let you know. Thanks, though.
 
opelgt1969
Fingernail polish remover (acetone) will work very well. Just get a small rag wet after getting the big lumps of paste off and wipe repeat until all paste is gone being careful not to wipe the paste onto the side contacts. Change piece of rag often and remember that acetone is very flamable so no smoking! Yes alcohol would work but it's like trying to get them price stickers off.
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I decided against any sort of fluids because even though acetone and alcohol evaporate pretty well, they could transport the old paste to the board while I'm working and leave residue. Every time I've done ps3 thermal paste the old paste has come off fine with scraping only, then I use a vacuum and an air can to remove what I've scraped off. I will say that this is the only time I've had trouble separating the heatsink/fan mounting plate from the board itself, I kept thinking I had forgotten something but sure enough I just had to use a bit more force when pulling them apart.
 
Funny that this is all being discussed as a few days ago I opened up my 60GB and also applied Arctic Silver 5 on the chips to help prevent a YLOD further down the line, although my Blu Ray Laser is already busted!

The thermal paste Sony use is pretty poor stuff, cracked, rubbery and badly applied so...

Off with the old (using Isopropyl Alcohol)...

ps3chips1.jpg


and on goes the nice AC5 (using a plastic card to spread)...

ps3chips2.jpg


So far the PS3 has been running great, theres plenty of heat coming out the back so I'm sure the paste is touching the heatsinks. Should settle down after around 200 hours of hot and cold cycles.

Robin.
 
land sea air
I decided against any sort of fluids because even though acetone and alcohol evaporate pretty well, they could transport the old paste to the board while I'm working and leave residue. Every time I've done ps3 thermal paste the old paste has come off fine with scraping only, then I use a vacuum and an air can to remove what I've scraped off. I will say that this is the only time I've had trouble separating the heatsink/fan mounting plate from the board itself, I kept thinking I had forgotten something but sure enough I just had to use a bit more force when pulling them apart.
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Ok for rookie's maybe they shouldn't use any chemicals; but for myself I used to build Missiles no really I worked at Raytheon years ago in the electical sub-assembly. So I knew how to work on small parts with care. I worked on the SM-2 (Stanard missile-2) was certified to do all repair work in my department. Mostly I worked on large Flex-cables kind of like the ones on printers.
 
land sea air
and replaced the thermal grease on the two processors with arctic silver 5
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What did you do for the curing time? I've been thinking of using Ceramique or IC 7 Diamond instead of AS5, mostly because I'm worried about the curing time and how it will apply to a console.
 
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Wouldn't it be such a cool (pun intended) idea if the top shell casing of the ps3 case was replaced with some structural frame meshed with layers of thin porous material used as filters? It'd keep the ps3 a lot cooler at the cost of looking ugly... but you know what, my ps3 sits at home and never leaves the basement so I could care less if it turned 40% uglier for wanting it to perform better and possibly last longer.
 
Toronado
What did you do for the curing time? I've been thinking of using Ceramique or IC 7 Diamond instead of AS5, mostly because I'm worried about the curing time and how it will apply to a console.
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The 200hr curing time is the total number of on and off hours. Just let it heat up and cool, heat up and cool. Also, you're still supposed to be able to see the writing on the heat spreaders when the as5 is applied, it needs to be that thin to work best though when building computers the difference between thickness of the as5 equaled to a temp difference of up to 10%.
 
Toronado
What did you do for the curing time? I've been thinking of using Ceramique or IC 7 Diamond instead of AS5, mostly because I'm worried about the curing time and how it will apply to a console.
Click to expand...

as dave mentioned, that number is just the total hours to cure. I myself considered ic7 but it's not as easy to get. I'm not exactly sure what the curing process entails but I assume the thermal conductivity is still fine when the grease is still wet, it may just be less durable.
 
dave_sz
That looks like a pretty thick coat of as5. Hope your preventative maintenance doesn't cause problems.
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dave_sz
The 200hr curing time is the total number of on and off hours. Just let it heat up and cool, heat up and cool. Also, you're still supposed to be able to see the writing on the heat spreaders when the as5 is applied, it needs to be that thin to work best though when building computers the difference between thickness of the as5 equaled to a temp difference of up to 10%.
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The reason why I have put a thicker coat of AC5 is because there is a terribly large gap between the chips and the heat sinks when secured (a couple of mm), this is some kind of manufacturing defect on the 60GB and especially the 40GB fats. Why do you think Sony applied so much of their own grease its oozing out of the sides! On PC chips there is no such issue.

Some people have applied super thin coats (slightly transparent) on the PS3 only to find the thermal paste never made contact with the heatsink. As a result the fan would scream or some had an instant YLOD. This is why if you look on the net many peoples PS3 pictures show a thick AC5 coat. I would rather be safe then sorry.

Arctic Silver doesn't really need to cure it works out of the tube, you can use the console normally straight away. It just takes 200 hours for it to get to an optimum level of operation.

Robin.
 
So I'm getting a rehashed PS3 from Sony due to mine having its disc reader burn out. $10 says the new one gets the YLOD, something my first one went 3-4yrs without. I really don't like the idea of getting someone else's old PS3 with a couple replaced parts, it will no doubt come with a heap of its own worn parts ready to break.
 
Paulie
So I'm getting a rehashed PS3 from Sony due to mine having its disc reader burn out. $10 says the new one gets the YLOD, something my first one went 3-4yrs without. I really don't like the idea of getting someone else's old PS3 with a couple replaced parts, it will no doubt come with a heap of its own worn parts ready to break.
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I think its pretty disgraceful that Sony give you a used PS3 especially considering the price you pay with them for it. You don't know what kind of condition its in or if the previous owner has treated it with care. Who cares if the refurbs exterior is new and shiny, its the innards that count!

I know there are some countries where Sony will give you your specific PS3 back after fixing but it doesn't happen in the US or EU. If your laser is the only thing thats broken you could buy one on ebay and fit it yourself. I have the same issue but havent got round to buying one.

Robin.
 

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