Why Reflowing Playstation 3 does not work

Playstation 3 and yellow light? Why reflowing is garbage and should not be practiced by repair shops

[@wurble]

I did a reflow on my fat PS3 back in the day. I had very little experience with fixing electronics but had nothing to lose trying a repair so followed a step by step guide on youtube armed with a decorators heat gun and thermal paste. To my amazement the repair worked and I got a good few months out of my PS3. I could have got more out of it but eventually picked up a slim model because I was always worried the original would fail again at any moment.

[@delloda]

I blasted a hairdryer on high heat for 20 mins into my ylod fat ps3 60gb in 2008 and it's been working solidly to this day 2019.

[@garyorner8325]

you helped my point solder melts at around 180 degrees or a bit more. Average hair dryer gets about 140 degrees. YOur chip just did not fault again. But again I have fixed so many I am going on averages. Sure there are cars out there that go without oil changes for 20K miles and run. Then you have most of them that would break down at that point. Sure are their a few that do work. yep but again the solder did not melt at 140 degrees.

[@delloda]

@@garyorner8325 Yep, I "repaired" my machine somehow but it definitely wasn't reflowing. You can never beat the good old hairdryer trick. It's like slapping the side of a TV to get a better signal... for some reason it works!

[@Toqhy]

Reballing station could work too but no guarantees for that I fix alot of ps3s I use reballing 80% and sometime I use reflowing THE main problem is not the balls not connecting its inside cpu cell broken down when heat it up it solder back again to solid then this makes it works reballing is not a big thing

[@corybrown5583]

@@garyorner8325 The nec tokin capacitors feeding both the cpu and gpu eventually end up at a higher ESR than factory specs after enough heat cycles. When they fail you end up with the YLOD but of course the YLOD is just an indication that something is wrong and is not limited to the CPU, GPU, or Nec Token caps. I have replaced two of the 4 nec tokin caps on the gpu with tantalum caps with success but sometimes it’s a combination of bad Nec tokin caps and bad bga contact under one or both chips. When you heat the chips, even if under the melting point of solder you’re temporarily worping the chip just enough to make sufficient contact with the solder balls underneath again. Most of the time when someone does a reflow they do not preheat the entire board evenly causing a shorter fix than would normally occur. It’s temporary yes but it can last as long as a year or more if done right and a gaming console was designed with planned obsolescence at its core.

[@skurasch]

@@corybrown5583 I'd only agree with some of your points. The PS3 was not planned to fail after a few years. Even the 360 with its infamous red ring wasnt planned to fail. The red ring resulted from a critical oversight that cost them a mountain of money. The PS3 is different. Part of the issue was likely poor planning because of so many last minute changes. The RSX chip itself was not even originally planned and was such a disaster it caused Sony to never use Nvidia again. On top of making radical redesigns late in the game they also used a mountain of cutting edge technology. Blu ray, hd CD, a board containing the cell, the RSX, the emotion chip, and a bunch more chips to get every ridiculous feature working. The more complex the design the more things can fail and the harder it is to find every issue in QA testing. Sony made every new PS3 model more simple than the previous by removing complex and expensive features. Part of this was to lower cost but it was also to lower the failure rate. My PS3 slim has lasted me a decade. This isn't random luck this is because of Sony engineers putting in a ton of effort to make the PS3 as reliable as possible. I agree with everything else you said.

[@calyps0man]

There is now a way to replace the GPU with a more reliable one from slim or super slim boards.

[@sergelavallee913]

Good day sir! Now i'm a certified electronic technician and you're exactly right. And more you should NEVER EVER HEAT A CHIP RIGHT OVER THE GLASS PART OF IT. Very easy to overheat and kill that chip. You just heat the 4 corners of the chip for 30 seconds, not more keeping moving your heat gun with good flux under the chip and stop, that's it. Like you said, you just did restructured the inside of the chip temporairely but IT WON'T LAST. And with this type of Ps3 chip you can't reflow the four corners because there are four memory chip, one at each corner so the heat won't even go in properly. Can last a day, a week, a month, a year, an hour, nobody knows. So, conclusion, when your Ps3 is dead, it's dead. It is only can be good to recover your hdd saves, that's it. Just buy another Ps3, that's all. Now, please guys, stop believing everything you see on you tube from people who are not certified technicians. You want the Ps3 to last longer, clean it every 2 years or every year and change the thermal paste inside the chip too if you are qualified to open the heatspreaders. and don't play more than 4 or 5 hours with them at the time. Same with Ps4. Thank you men and nice and real video truth from you. By the way again, it is very dangerous to open heatspreaders if you are not experience and again, don't listen to bad ways from a lot of you tubers on how to open them. Most of them are not qualified, sorry to say this but i want to protect custumers. See a professionnal technician. You scratch your chip just a bit and it's dead. Thank's. Regards.

[@Dylan-qj8gj]

Certified tech uses the word "glass part" troll

[@sergelavallee913]

@@Dylan-qj8gj I used this word my men because i'm french. Take care!

[@Mr.M1STER]

I have an old fully backwards compatible ps3 that I tried to reflow the chip myself on. It didn't work, but I was fairly sure that it wouldn't but I had nothing to lose. I am not going to spend the money to get it reballed because I have a working ps3 slim, a working ps2 and a working ps1 so the backwards compatibility is not a huge deal for me.

[@aegonthedragon7303]

Reflowing is only a temporary fix at most. A bandaid. PS3’s, unlike the 360 most times, fail due to multiple factors including heat, capacitors going bad, general failing, bad solder, etc.

[@AdamTheHammer]

replace the 2 nec/token capacitors on the reverse side of the board to the processor, on the side of the gpu. if your ps3 is turning off within a few seconds 9 times out of 10 its them capacitors

[@garyorner8325]

Good to know!

[@kibirigerichard6898]

Yah

[@americawalk1154]

red light of death right?

[@AdamTheHammer]

yes for the red light of death

[@lucasclaeys7474]

Its not the gpu!

[@TorutheRedFox]

My PS3 suffered from 2 YLODs, one is from it being dropped, the second one is from overheating because somebody had the marvellous idea to take the fan away from the room, and it was roasting outside.

[@luggmello]

how about an unit that stopped working after delinding the RSX? It works over again after a couple of minutes when the PS3 gets warm enough like nothing had happened. I think one or more balling cracked due to the force of getting out the lid... In this case the chip might be intact, there is just a need to resold a ball or two, right? My reflow might fix it permanently, isn't it?

[@Beregond1861]

Backwards compatibility would be worth it to most, if not all, the gamers I know. Not that I'm encouraging bad techniques while re-flowing, but if you look at this situation from a customer's point of view, they are going to want the quickest fix for this problem possible. Not everyone is going to take a great amount of care as they might should. So it shouldn't be surprising to you that people just heat the motherboard with a hair dryer or oven. You seem too critical about fixing this issue. I've looked up and found SEVERAL other videos where simply re-flowing has worked just fine.

[@kevinragsdale6256]

How long did they work?

[@Josh.Davidson]

Not very long. It provides a bandaid fix only. Maybe you can get 6 months max.

[@Beregond1861]

@@Josh.Davidson I mean yeah I wouldn't *ultimately rely* on that approach at all either, but the guy in this video just seemed like he had a personal vendetta against anyone who tried it lol.

[@Josh.Davidson]

As a technician, the problem becomes from frustrations of receiving consoles that have been damaged further by these types of janky fixes, as well as the number of systems be repaired improperly and ultimately left for a landfill rather than a proper fix. So I understand his frustration.

[@nicetry69420]

Excellent video! I'm glad someone made a video about the PS3 specifically... There's such a huge misconception the console repair/console modding community about this repair. Hell, I even believed it myself until I saw Louis's vids. Btw, do you mind if I share this video with Louis himself? I'm sure he'd appreciate hearing it from someone such as yourself as well!

[@boomslang8629]

Yes you can share with him. He is such a great person in this community I would be honored to have him see it. THANK YOU

[@boomslang8629]

Sorry this is G&L Treasure Hunters. I am just logged on my Gaming account

[@drumsenjoyment]

How do i get my data back? Dead ps3 slim. As far as i know, data will get erased if not read by anything byt the ps3 the hdd was connected to.

[@Greenchrysopsaro]

I think I have a reflow That was 10 years ago and my PlayStation 3 still works

[@Luca-sf1ty]

It's a ps3 fat that you have?

[@Greenchrysopsaro]

@@Luca-sf1ty yeah 4 USB PS2 Compatible model I play it more than my PS4

[@badash786]

Bullshit

[@Greenchrysopsaro]

@@badash786 That's kind of a severe response....... but I assure you I am telling the truth

[@doalittletrolling8896]

@@Greenchrysopsaro I believe you

[@erinsmith9556]

Reflowing works, BUT you have to do it properly, with the right tools, aiming a DIY Heat Gun at the board and hope if doesn't bugger it up more than it already is, is just playing Russian roulette with your PS3's motherboard, sometimes you get lucky, other times you kill it. You have to prepair the board, flux/SMD solder paste/etc on the legs themselves, and use a proper temperature controlled heat gun from a rework station.

[@garyorner8325]

Not sure you heard. I even said that you can set under the temp that solder will melt and it will fix the issue for a short time.

[@commodorecommodore955]

​@@garyorner8325mine worked for 4 years after reflow

[@eazyethan4944]

Yes a backwards compatible ps3 is worth it

[@johncribbs8382]

I would agree. I like the ps3 less bulky controllers. It would probably make a great EMU machine.

[@kevinragsdale6256]

@@johncribbs8382 im trying to find someone to fix mine right now so I can have my backwards compatible

[@exgremory3387]

@@kevinragsdale6256 geta slim hack it and your done you have backwards compatability

[@sergelavallee7331]

You are so right. i'm an electronic technician and i specialise in ps3, ps4 and others. reflow is no good at all. I refuse dead ps3, i just take ps3 or ps4 before they are rlod and i clean them once a year, change the thermal paste for MX-4 inside the chip too, fix the laser drive or power supply but if a client tell me RLOD, i refuse to work on it and if you change the chip, maybe it won't recognise the data on the hard drive. Thank's. Good video men. Keep going this way. serge.

[@benmontague8161]

Yo

[@zxbreakeralg7429]

Hey man , my ps3 had the ylod but he start on after several trys , but then shutting off just with some games , wher is the issue ?

[@sergelavallee7331]

@@zxbreakeralg7429 Try to clean it and make the thermal paste replace for new and if it does it again, YLOD.

[@Yourdaywillcome]

Lamine ALG sounds like it could be the Nec tokin capacitors are failing. Google PS3 capacitor fix. A lot o people have fixed there PS3. Hope it helps.

[@ninetailsnet]

Reballing is the Key if reflowing failed. In our country its only cost 40 dollars

[@jeremytodd00]

Guy, it’s worth a try reflowing the chip if it dies. It’s easy and is dead anyway. It fixed mine & has for quite a while now. Now I did a better and cleaner job than whoever tried it with that ps3, mine looks practically brand new inside & out again.

[@garyorner8325]

The point was a person that repairs them or paying to have it done. It will yellow light again as the chip is damaged.

[@skurasch]

@@garyorner8325 Except only a crazy person would pay a shop to repair a PS3. I've repaired maybe a dozen YLOD for my friends over the years. I always did it for free because I'm a nerd and get joy out of repairing stuff. If I didn't repair it for free they would just rightfully throw it away because the cost for a used slim is lower than the cost of a professional repair. The main reason they'd want their console fixed in the first place is for cfw which I also do for free and I assume a shop wouldn't even do. Also, there is some real benefit to the PS2 BC over just using a PS2 slim so I wouldn't say it's worthless. The OG PS3 essentially becomes a PS2 with an HDMI port when running PS2 games. Unless you're running it on a CRT the difference in picture quality will be massive. Similar to how a cfw Wii U is a much better GameCube than an actual GameCube.

[@yuumi925]

its not the cpu or gpu chips. its the NEC Tokin capacitors next to the cpu and gpu chips.

[@tytrymgamer]

Try to read SYSCON ERRLOG and if is 1001 or 1002 try to remplace the NEC/TOKIN 0E128 for tantalum capacitors

[@Big5mokE719]

"how much more are the backwards compatible ps3s really worth?" *Years later when you can buy a slim for $60, a super slim for $40 or backwards compatible for up to $200+* lol that didn't age well

[@lit2241]

Where can I take my Ps3 motherboard to be reballed?

[@Toqhy]

Hey

[@lit2241]

@@Toqhy I don't care to fix it anymore waste of time and money

[@Toqhy]

@@lit2241 hahah hah

[@lit2241]

@@Toqhy hahahahahaha

[@pjunior3692]

So how would you fix any PS3 series with ylod ? Is it worth getting fix or keep buying a new one? I know it 2019 there’s ps4 and ps5 on the way

[@jonellis2134]

im guessing it was Louis Rossmann who you were referring to at the start of the vid, but i agree with you, too much damage has been done by the point you get the ylod.

[@garyorner8325]

Yep Louis Rossmann has helped me so much over the years.

[@canadiantrailatvshorts]

I’ve tried reflowing multiple times and it has never worked it’s bs

[@bnk1144]

Acoustic Destruction same man

[@canadiantrailatvshorts]

{ BlitZ } Turboz I’m just gonna end up throwing out my PS3’s motherboard and buy a new one

[@canadiantrailatvshorts]

Maybe so. I think it's just pure luck half the time

[@eborrego1997]

XX78J what is a cfw I have a original PS3 in pristine condition and really want to make it last

[@MrKon619]

@XX78J With the cfw and low temps, did your reflow process last until today? I'm thinking about doing it (the right way), but i don't really know if it will last.

[@richieb74]

You can't recover your PS3 data from your hdd. That data is encrypted and only accessible with your PS3

[@jamesowens9729]

Buddy thats why you get a ps3 sdk. I have recovered a lot of my clients hard drive data this way...

[@onyxeeveon887]

Look at the price of them now

[@xls4750]

False b/c bbc the British news station they put the broken ps3 motherboard board in a X-ray machine and the the cracks were visible in x ray

[@JoseGarcia-lg2rp]

What if you use the grill out side. Cook while you at it.😑

[@BeinZilex]

😐

[@HQA0]

what complete and utter nonsense, it was the NEC Token capacitor not the graphics chips

[@ryanlawrence8979]

Here's a question for you. When reballing a PS 3's GPU or a PS 4's APU using the air that you showed in this video and a preheating table what's a good temperature profile to use?I've got some conflicting info. Some people on you tube said to Pre heat the board for as much as an hour at 100 Celsius but my cousin told me to start at 105-115 C for 20 minutes and then start the air at 250 C or more as long as the chip heats up 3-5 degrees per second then bump the chip until it moves. Well I did what the you tubers said more than once and even when I got the chips to lift I'd lift pads. Then I did what my cousin said and again I lifted the pads off the motherboard. I've only got one board left; what do I do?

[@andrewdupuis1151]

I brought PS3 6 months ago I had no troubles until week ago. I just replace thermal paste on my PS3 80 GB plays PS2 games because my fan got very nosy .now it works fine. I hope it will last long time. I am not going brother with Reflowing or reball . I had first Xbox 360 came out it over heated I did towel trick it only lasted few times next thing my xbox 360 died. i didn't mater much i got it very cheap as it is few years ago

[@kregroenfeldt7528]

Because it is fun to try and not everyone has the tools.

[@tones1983]

Gary orner do you have the ps3 fat backwards compatible for sale ?

[@Deathrider69z]

Worked multiple times for me

[@julianarbelaez2928]

Exactly, multiple, it's not a repair for life

[@MITSI1991]

Ive got a bc 60gb that has been sitting for awhile.. the ylod is only going to get worse and worse for these old consoles… wish there was a fool proof way to actually fix these

[@DeadlyHellhound]

Search the ‘Frankenstein Mod’ for PS3s, Lets you swap the old faulty 90nm GPUs(RSX) for a better later model 65nm or 40nm GPU from Ps3 Slims and Super Slims.

[@johnnyarcade5546]

IF I wanted to get mine repaired, what method is known to work, and work well? I know value wise it's not worth it, but I want mine repaired mainly because my wife worked her ass off so we could have a PS3 back in '06. It's really a matter of principle for me.

[@garyorner8325]

If you are going to do it there are a few ways. none will be forever. 1) Just heat the chip up.... then put back together. 2) Remove chip and reball the chip. This is coming from an tech not a garage tech. I do this for a living. I have worked on hundreds of PS3s.

[@johnnyarcade5546]

@@garyorner8325 Would it be possible to replace the chip that is known working?

[@hamzadesidragonsarwar]

@@garyorner8325 I just bought another it’s way too much work and no guarantee it will last the one I have is better then my old one plus I got more space in this one the downside I lost all my data but have access to all my games

[@EntropyOfChaos]

Worth it when you do it yourself over and over again because you're stubborn. Also why I stopped buying next gen consoles and have moved to PC gaming.

[@Haloreachfenix]

j just reflowed super slim model and it works 2 months already

[@krishnachaithanyareddy8575]

does it still work, i am planing to do mine

[@abyssalreaper4470]

Did it work?

[@jasonpriest4023]

I have done a reflow that worked perfectly!!!! On three different devices. I just wonder if I was really just frying the thermal sensor inside the CPU. And u are full of s*** about ps harddisk recovery that data will only be read by the board it came with!!!

[@jamesowens9729]

Actually jason before calling bullshit please check out a ps3 sdk for hdd recovery.

[@krishnachaithanyareddy8575]

how long did it last, im planing to do mine

[@Mr_ToR]

1:56 Louis Rossman has a couple of comments about this on the iFixit reflow video kzbin.info/www/bejne/q36qXmmol8ahors

[@giorgostexnikos6976]

amazing video

[@timpeachey9394]

Could have been a 30 second video. Not interested in your gun tip or the other irrelevant stuff.

[@chrisholland1979]

Frying Pan

[@kevincummins5798]

Is there anyway to convert a p3 to make it backwards comparable

[@TapesNstuffS]

I used to think BC ps3 systems were great systems but in 2018 it's really not. By now, the used ones are probably on their last legs and you will pay a big amount just to have one. A more reliable slim or even super slim ps3 and a ps2 on the side will not only cost you less but will last you a lot longer and yes I know, having 2 in one is more convenient but honestly, how much space does a ps2 slim take up? It's slightly bigger than a game case.

[@bookshelffury]

idk man, my cecha01 ps3 ROCKS in 2018. It can read games my ps2 phat and ps2 slim cannot. Games that skip on my ps2 play without skips on my ps3. It's on 2.76 official firmware and plays ps2 all day over hdmi. Great for streaming ps1 and ps2 to youtube. I use a non-BC ps3 for ps3 games tho.

[@TapesNstuffS]

That's fantastic. I just hope it lasts as long as you need it. I know someone else with a cecha01 that still works and it was never even opened for cleaning.

[@jmreviews3734]

You do realize that the BC PS3 is the best way to play ps2 games because, if you play the ps2 using component cables, it doesn't look really good. If you use the BC PS3, it cleans the ps2 games very well.

[@yvryxxplanespotting3534]

The ps3 can be reflowed and last much longer then a xbox 360. The ps3 has higher quality parts inside so it lasts longer after a while though you should probably reball the chips on the ps3. The xbox 360 you can only reflow it like 4 times and it's pretty much dead until you reball the chips. My 360 is garbage until I reball it. But my ps3s I reflowed them and they are running much better than the 360.

[@yvryxxplanespotting3534]

I'm just saying that reflowing does work but it always doesn't work. Just to an extent

[@garyorner8325]

it does not work. if it did it would not break the same way again. can it turn the system back on sure. It will fail again. as a tech that is not fixing that is a band aid

[@yvryxxplanespotting3534]

Gary Orner that's what I mean but the thing is that you're saying that it doesn't work it does but it's not permanent

[@yvryxxplanespotting3534]

Gary Orner reflowing is not the ideal way

[@yvryxxplanespotting3534]

Gary Orner I would reball my ps3s but I don't have the right equipment to do it

[@tamungas]

Uh um uh um uh um uh um uh um.

[@sexdrugsrocknroll420]

Yo I just took my gpu heatspeader off to repaste and when I put it back together I have a green light but no video on the screen but if I let the ps3 set there and get warm and restart it it will boot up and screen will work it like the gpu graphics chip will only work if the ps3 is warm

[@grahamshek88]

Joshua King d

[@shozitv4842]

search up the glod its very rare but its something to do with the gpu chip on the ps3 either being faulty or there may be a solder bridge, however try turning it off and then turning it on and hold the power button until its beeps twice and see if it shows any signs of life then

[@jamesowens9729]

Smart idea @Tacx never heard of this problem as a tech lol

[@yassinexxenvy3523]

i have same problem my ps3 work only if it warm up hhhhh

[@angelmpofu1425]

Blaah blaa blaa

[@andrewdupuis1151]

its not worth it getting fixed then does it again after so meany times it wont work anymore like doing towel on Xbox 360 my very first Xbox 360 I had it had over heating thank goodness i got it used at low price I have PS3 fat it cant play PS2 cds. so for I am lucky I haven't no over heating

[@blockchainbusinessupdate9004]

This machine was such garbage. I rarely used mine, and just stopped working. Never another Sony anything.

[@zackwolf1173]

wait.. SUPER SLIM GET YLOD?!

[@zackwolf1173]

oh wait..oops.. xD

[@jeremytodd00]

ZACK WOLF Super Slim models are CHEAP PILES OF GARBAGE!! Get a used Slim model.

[@jmreviews3734]

Slim models are too simple. The original fat and super slim PS3's are way better looking.