Dead PS3 and Repair Time

This link should probably be in the first post of this thread:

http://forum.blu-ray.com/blu-ray-ga...icial-ps3-laser-replacement-manual-video.html

It has a ton of good info on laser replacement. It is interesting to me that a PS3 actually boots without a Blu-Ray player hooked up. After couple of times of putting the drive back together again my PS3 is up and running again. The total cost was $53, and about 4 hours of work (due to complications). A friend for work without complications got his done under an hour.

The only bad info in that thread I linked to is the failure rate of PS3s. It is hard for me to believe with the amount of Internet chatter that it is only 1% for lasers.
 
Today marks the 5 month anniversary of the "death" of my launch CECHA01 console. I have succeeded twice in reflowing/reapplying thermal compound/reheating the board after getting the YLOD, and the last repair (5 months ago) proved to be my stumbling block. I got careless and broke the two microscopically sized plastic clips that help to secure the ribbon cable from the BR drive to the motherboard. My only other solution, electrician's tape, is not effective.

Error 8002F14E.

Symptom: Can't get past a mandatory firmware update. Fails at 67%, then system prompts re-boot procedure. Wired or unwired to internet connection appears to have no effect.

Diagnosis: Connection between blu ray drive and motherboard is compromised.

Solution: Replace broken part, and in this case that means the entire motherboard itself, because the physical parts are not available separately. Attempt repair when new part is acquired, then pray to the video game gods. ;)

Any thoughts, ideas, advice, humiliation ... I'd appreciate it.
 
[quote name='eLefAdEr']Today marks the 5 month anniversary of the "death" of my launch CECHA01 console. I have succeeded twice in reflowing/reapplying thermal compound/reheating the board after getting the YLOD, and the last repair (5 months ago) proved to be my stumbling block. I got careless and broke the two microscopically sized plastic clips that help to secure the ribbon cable from the BR drive to the motherboard. My only other solution, electrician's tape, is not effective.

Error 8002F14E.

Symptom: Can't get past a mandatory firmware update. Fails at 67%, then system prompts re-boot procedure. Wired or unwired to internet connection appears to have no effect.

Diagnosis: Connection between blu ray drive and motherboard is compromised.

Solution: Replace broken part, and in this case that means the entire motherboard itself, because the physical parts are not available separately. Attempt repair when new part is acquired, then pray to the video game gods. ;)

Any thoughts, ideas, advice, humiliation ... I'd appreciate it.[/QUOTE]

If it's a flat surface-mount connector with a broken flip/latch:
Using a razor/X-acto knife, I once layered scotch tape over a tiny flat cable in a Nintendo DS with a broken connector. I layered it so that the thickness quickly "ramped up" as you moved away from the end with contacts but then layered one strip over them all so that it would slide over them without peeling. It worked great and the cable fit the broken connector with no need for latching. Do it on the side without contacts, of course.
 
Well, I started this thread and I guess it was only a matter of time before I had to come back to it. My PS3 has now suffered the YoLD. Not sure it's worth sending to Sony to repair even if it is a 60gb unit. I rarely play PS2 games on it. I guess I'll have to look around first and decide if it's worth fixing myself.

I was playing Yakuza 4, so the disc is stuck inside of it now. Any way to get it out? I heard that if you hold the eject while turning the system on from the back would do but it's still in there. Any other method? I just realise now I'll have to call up Sony and deal with them to get all my Singstar songs back from my account, my brother's account and a UK account. Also my PSN was up to the limit too since it is also on my old system, brother's system and a couple of friend's too. Well this will be a hassle now.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
do the heatgun fix. it worked for me a number of times and if you do it right youll have enough time to transfer your saves and clear out your system so you can get rid of it. the fix will last you maybe a month or so before it dies out again.
 
So I have a CECHE01 PS3 that refuses to read discs anymore. From what I've read, I have two options:

1) Open the PS3 and replace the entire blu ray drive.
2) Open the PS3, disassemble the the blu ray drive, and replace the lens.

I'm not too sure I can do option #2 without breaking something, but I'm fairly confident I can replace an entire drive. I know it'll be more expensive to replace the entire drive but I'm willing to spend the extra $20 or so. But before I do that I just want to make sure what blu ray drive is compatible. Would I need to get one ONLY from another CECHE01 or can I get anything older than that (A-D)? Thanks!
 
[quote name='shuhbonkboo']So I have a CECHE01 PS3 that refuses to read discs anymore. From what I've read, I have two options:

1) Open the PS3 and replace the entire blu ray drive.
2) Open the PS3, disassemble the the blu ray drive, and replace the lens.

I'm not too sure I can do option #2 without breaking something, but I'm fairly confident I can replace an entire drive. I know it'll be more expensive to replace the entire drive but I'm willing to spend the extra $20 or so. But before I do that I just want to make sure what blu ray drive is compatible. Would I need to get one ONLY from another CECHE01 or can I get anything older than that (A-D)? Thanks![/QUOTE]

I've got the same exact issue. Was playing LA Noire and the disc drive stopped working for good. I'm not confident enough I won't break it either, Sony is quoting $130 to repair/replace it. I'm gonna bug Microcenter all week about their $110 refurb systems. And hopefully Sony announces major price drops at E3 next week.

One question I have.. if I just get the lens or drive fixed.. will I still have the same issue with games like LA Noire? Is it just gonna break again? Or is it the result of a three year old drive finally giving up?
 
Reading through this thread.

My issue is my Playstation 3 will not recognize discs. I did some work to try to see if it was HDD issue and all, but seems like (sadly) the laser is dead/broken at this point.

So, I am looking at two options here? $130 (and lack a system for weeks in January, my traditional biggest gaming month as work is slower, weather is nasty and backlog is high thanks to Christmas) or $250 for a new system...which is nice, but kind of a kick in the nuts considering I upgraded my HDD to 500gb ($50) about 4 months ago.

C'est la vie I guess...but if anyone can offer any other solutions I'd be grateful.

On side note, I love my PS3, but this is my first system to crap out on me...heck I still dust off the Genesis or NES (I have a functioning Atari 2600!) and they still work. PS2 had way more hours logged as well (thank you Disgaea and other JRPGs...and fact was in College back then) maybe have to expect $600 system to only last 4-5 years and put down another $250 for another 4-5 years nowadays.
 
[quote name='lokizz']if your ps3 is a phat you could always buy a new bluray drive for it.[/QUOTE]

It is, will look into that.
 
also you may want to restore it to factory settings i had that happen to me once years ago with my first ps3 and that helped it never happened again just be sure you back up your saves.
 
I think Sony still gives you a refurb 120GB slim for $100 if you trade in an old broken one. But I'd try for a fix, personally. I opened mine up to replace the thermal grease and it wasn't as complicated as I'd though it'd be.

I kinda wonder what they do with the old ones.:whistle2:k
 
[quote name='Vinny']I think Sony still gives you a refurb 120GB slim for $100 if you trade in an old broken one. But I'd try for a fix, personally. I opened mine up to replace the thermal grease and it wasn't as complicated as I'd though it'd be.

I kinda wonder what they do with the old ones.:whistle2:k[/QUOTE]

Repair guy looked at it, said parts and labor be $170, which I balked at.

$100 could work, is that valid if it has been opened and looked at by repair guy or did I just shoot myself in the foot and need to buy a need one?
 
[quote name='ck76']Repair guy looked at it, said parts and labor be $170, which I balked at.

$100 could work, is that valid if it has been opened and looked at by repair guy or did I just shoot myself in the foot and need to buy a need one?[/QUOTE]
Yup. As long as it doesn't look like your pet had intimate relations with it or use it as target practice, they'll take it.
 
So I was playing InFamous: Festival of Blood last night and I reach the ending and then the PS3 shuts off by itself and gives me the blinking red light. I waited about 5 minutes, restarted the system and it worked for about 5 seconds before shutting off again.

I let the PS3 cool down after 30 minutes but now it won't turn on at all and its giving me the YLOD. This is a 40GB PS3. What are my best options at this point?

I looked around and this place will fix it for $60.
http://www.chicagogamerepair.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=5:yellow-light&Itemid=90

Is it worth fixing an older model though or should I just upgrade to a slim? Do the slim models have heating issues as well?

I was thinking of getting my old model repaired for $60, getting my info off of it, and then trading it in and upgrading to a slim.
 
[quote name='SoulEdgeVII']I was thinking of getting my old model repaired for $60, getting my info off of it, and then trading it in and upgrading to a slim.[/QUOTE]

After my PS3 got the YLoD for the second time, I decided I didn't want to deal with losing my data and getting my PS3 repaired every 2-3 years, so I upgraded to a slim.

I used the hairblower trick to get it working so that I could eject the game disk and backup the hard drive (which took 4 hours). Then I traded it in to GameStop for $150 (during a special trade in deal) so I was able to get a slim for $100. I would try the hairblower trick if you don't want to keep it... why spend more $ on a system you're going to get rid of?

I prefer my old fat PS3... the slim just seems cheap after having the old tank model but I hate losing my data, so I upgraded to the slim.

Note: I was disappointed with the restore process to the slim. None of the game install files, patches or copyprotected save files were restored. What took 4 hours to backup only took 2 minutes top restore because it restored so little. Every game that I palyed I had to reinstall and patch and I lost some save games (Tiger Woods 12, Dragon Age) but was able to restore most the saves.
 
Bumping this thread, since I've been trying to do the hair dryer trick (thrice) and it's still won't work :(

I just wanna transfer some of my saves over to the cloud and update my trophies too. Any help would be awesome...
 
[quote name='newtype06']Bumping this thread, since I've been trying to do the hair dryer trick (thrice) and it's still won't work :(

I just wanna transfer some of my saves over to the cloud and update my trophies too. Any help would be awesome...[/QUOTE]
Hair dryers don't get hot enough to reflow solder. Get a heat gun or leave it alone.
 
Mad39er is right- blowdryer won't do the trick.

I've reflowed 2 systems. The first lasted for 4 days afterwards, and the 2nd is still running 8 months later.

If there is one thing i learned it is that I was too cautious with the heat the first time and the 2nd time I just went to town on the thing. Seems to have made a huge difference.
 
[quote name='newtype06']Leaving it alone for a few hours will make it work temporarily then?[/QUOTE]No, leaving it alone will not do anything. Either use a heat gun or don't bother. It takes more heat to reflow solder than it does to get it to flow initially for the first time. If you don't understand how to solder, leave it alone. If you don't understand how to reflow solder correctly, leave it alone.

Soldering is something experience makes you better at, having no experience means you're going to screw it up initially. At least if you leave it alone you can send it to somebody who can fix it for you rather than botch the job yourself.

[quote name='nbballard']Mad39er is right- blowdryer won't do the trick.

I've reflowed 2 systems. The first lasted for 4 days afterwards, and the 2nd is still running 8 months later.

If there is one thing i learned it is that I was too cautious with the heat the first time and the 2nd time I just went to town on the thing. Seems to have made a huge difference.[/QUOTE]
Reflowing requires more heat but you have to be judicious and know when to stop. Heating too much might spill/splash and heating too little is going to leave voids. It's a stupid balancing act requiring much more actual skill than should be necessary and I favor reballing because it's the right thing to do versus reflowing.
 
Hey guys im having problems with my 7 month old PS3 slim ejecting discs. Sometimes it doesn't eject them specialy greatest hits disc. Im still under the 1 year warrinty but I heard it could take 2 months for them to fix it and it's a realy simple issue. Im pretty sure it just needs tightning and I could just take it to get it fixed for around 50 dollars for a few hours.

Anyone got any idea what to do?
 
[quote name='Kikyou1']Hey guys im having problems with my 7 month old PS3 slim ejecting discs. Sometimes it doesn't eject them specialy greatest hits disc. Im still under the 1 year warrinty but I heard it could take 2 months for them to fix it and it's a realy simple issue. Im pretty sure it just needs tightning and I could just take it to get it fixed for around 50 dollars for a few hours.

Anyone got any idea what to do?[/QUOTE]
2 months? They'll ship you a refurb long before that.
 
[quote name='dohdough']2 months? They'll ship you a refurb long before that.[/QUOTE]

I realy don't want a refurb which is another reason why I haven't sent in my PS3 yet.
 
So after six years of faithful operation my PS3 (a fat CECHA01) as of this morning has the red blinking light (I left it on overnight to download Skullgirls, and it's never had a problem with staying on overnight--it's in a well ventilated area) and from googling around I understand this is something that usually requires messing around under the hood to fix. I don't really have the time to do any kind of repairs myself--and even if I did I'd probably goof it up--so I'm wondering if anyone has any recent experience with sending an older PS3 to Sony for repairs, especially in terms of cost. I know my data will be lost, and I can accept that, it's my own fault for not backing up more often. But I would really love to get this actual unit back instead of a refurbished one, and also there's a disk trapped inside (a movie) that I don't want to lose either. I'm sure they'll send my trapped disk back to me no matter what, but as far as getting back this actual unit--is it a question of what's actually broken inside? Thanks.
 
I am in the process of sending my CEHA01 in trade for a refurb slim. The cost is $99. For a repair rather than the trade in it would have been $129. Add tax to either.
 
[quote name='justinslot']So after six years of faithful operation my PS3 (a fat CECHA01) as of this morning has the red blinking light (I left it on overnight to download Skullgirls, and it's never had a problem with staying on overnight--it's in a well ventilated area) and from googling around I understand this is something that usually requires messing around under the hood to fix. I don't really have the time to do any kind of repairs myself--and even if I did I'd probably goof it up--so I'm wondering if anyone has any recent experience with sending an older PS3 to Sony for repairs, especially in terms of cost. I know my data will be lost, and I can accept that, it's my own fault for not backing up more often. But I would really love to get this actual unit back instead of a refurbished one, and also there's a disk trapped inside (a movie) that I don't want to lose either. I'm sure they'll send my trapped disk back to me no matter what, but as far as getting back this actual unit--is it a question of what's actually broken inside? Thanks.[/QUOTE]
At this point, they're just sending out refurbs regardless of the problem. If it was something like the BR drive, you could leave a note for the tech and ask nicely if you could have the same system back which worked for me in 2008, but there's no guarantee. Since you have a dead system, that kinda kills that option for you.
 
[quote name='justinslot']So after six years of faithful operation my PS3 (a fat CECHA01) as of this morning has the red blinking light (I left it on overnight to download Skullgirls, and it's never had a problem with staying on overnight--it's in a well ventilated area) and from googling around I understand this is something that usually requires messing around under the hood to fix. I don't really have the time to do any kind of repairs myself--and even if I did I'd probably goof it up--so I'm wondering if anyone has any recent experience with sending an older PS3 to Sony for repairs, especially in terms of cost. I know my data will be lost, and I can accept that, it's my own fault for not backing up more often. But I would really love to get this actual unit back instead of a refurbished one, and also there's a disk trapped inside (a movie) that I don't want to lose either. I'm sure they'll send my trapped disk back to me no matter what, but as far as getting back this actual unit--is it a question of what's actually broken inside? Thanks.[/QUOTE]

Nope. They specifically tell you to send in only the machine. You will be sent a refurbished unit regardless of you pleads. And the chances of getting your disk/movie are practically zero, as well.
 
[quote name='dragonjud']Nope. They specifically tell you to send in only the machine. You will be sent a refurbished unit regardless of you pleads. And the chances of getting your disk/movie are practically zero, as well.[/QUOTE]

I sent in a PS3 with a disk stuck in the drive a couple years ago and got my game back.
 
I had to send my system in a couple weeks ago cause the bluray drive went out it just came back today I was happy to see that they sent my original system back (with all the stickers I got on it it's easy to identify) blu ray drive running perfect best $45 I've spent on the playstation ever.
 
So I picked up a cech-2001a 120gb slim ps3 at a pawn shop for a decent price a few days ago. When I turned it on at first it told me the file system was corrupt so I figured it was from sitting around and I restored it. Played on it for a bit and then turned it on again today and it did the same thing. So far as I can tell it seems the hdd is going south. There is a 30 return policy so I am planning on returning it. I was just curious if anyone thinks it might be hdd too.
 
[quote name='Monoxide1986']So I picked up a cech-2001a 120gb slim ps3 at a pawn shop for a decent price a few days ago. When I turned it on at first it told me the file system was corrupt so I figured it was from sitting around and I restored it. Played on it for a bit and then turned it on again today and it did the same thing. So far as I can tell it seems the hdd is going south. There is a 30 return policy so I am planning on returning it. I was just curious if anyone thinks it might be hdd too.[/QUOTE]


did you try to rebuild the database?Hold the power button it beeps once continue holding the power button until you hear 3 more beeps and then release a menu screen should then pop up go down to where it says rebuild database and continue if this doesnt fix the problem IDK what will
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
bread's done
Back
Top