The YLOD on my Fat PS3 - model# CECHE01

Mijn probleem

The wife called me up on a Friday and said that the Playstation is not turning on (!?!). When I got home to take a look at it - if the power button is pressed unit turns on for a second, drive spins up - then a few beeps and a flashing red light as the unit powers off. Powered unit off/on to the same results : (

My PS3 is an old 'fat' backwards compatible model (CECHE01), so I definitely wanted to keep it going for as long as I can! I looked online and found out about the YLOD and looked for repair guides.

Mijn oplossing

The repair went smoothly - No issues what so ever. What was VERY useful was the ifixit Android app, nice to be able to page through the repair guide on my tablet instead of lugging my laptop out. There are a couple of steps that either are missing or need some claification ...

Mijn advies

Very helpful to use an icecube tray or some other means to keep the various screws organized. I used notebook paper, a marker and scotch tape to hold screws.

Step 28 - a bit tricky, I had to work getting the heat sink/fan off of the motherbaord - that old thermal paste did not want to give up!

Step 35 - I removed the PS3 hard drive 1st thing, before starting repair.

Step 43 (second pic) - the small rectangle thermal pads do not go on chips, but on the MB itself, look for the rectangles printed on it for placement.

Steps 46 & 47 - don't really state on how long to heat the chips up in total, just @ 25 seconds each in a zig-zag pattern. I probably did this for 2 minutes total?

Take your time - don't rush it, keep track of your parts.

EDIT: Repair lasted about 6 weeks. Again got the beeping and flashing red light. This time I took a chance and did not order the full repair kit - instead I bought a tube of Artic Silver and a USB fan http://www.amazon.com/Thermaltake-Mobile... from Amazon to help with circulation. Took PS3 apart again and removed and re-applied thermal paste. This repair worked ... I took off the stand from the fan and set it up the fan behind the PS3 to help draw out some of the hot air. We will see how long this repair lasts ...