PS3 Defibrillator

Mijn probleem

Yellow Light of Death. Had it professionally repaired once already but it burned out again, so I figured I'd teach myself to do it this time in case it became a habit. Unfortunately, it did.

Mijn oplossing

The repair was fun. It took about as long as advertised (1 hour) and all the tools worked well. Unfortunately, it only lasted a couple months before the PS3 YLoD'd again. I ordered the extra parts kit and repeated the repair. This time it lasted about a month before dying. It's probably just the machine being on the end of its life, but I might have done something wrong during the process.

The photos in the guide didn't match my machine's guts exactly—there were some pieces that were attached differently so I got to the step telling me to remove X and I couldn't find X to remove it because it was attached to the piece I removed 5 steps ago. There were also a handful of screws missing, which I'm guessing happened when it was repaired before in the shop. Ultimately though, the guide got me where I needed to be quite handily.

Mijn advies

Two parts they don't include in the kit that you might find useful: solvent for the thermal paste and a good cloth to wipe it off. Make sure you don't skimp on the cooldown time after re-flowing the solder. If my subsequent troubles had anything to do with the repair, it's probably that I was impatient the first time and moved the board before it was completely cool.