PS3 Cleaning/Maintenance

kirbyrj

kirbyrj

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Feb 1, 2005
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I just picked up a launch PS3 60GB with a bad blu-ray drive (seems like a common problem with the lasers going bad). Is there any tips to avoiding YLOD? Has anyone reapplied thermal paste? Just blow it out?

Obviously, I'm dealing with a space heater 90nm cell chip, and I'm trying to get a decent amount of life out of it. I guess I'm about 11 years late to the game, but I figured it was better late than never for PS3. I've owned a PS1, PS2, and PS4...just never a PS3 for whatever reason.
 
kirbyrj said:
I just picked up a launch PS3 60GB with a bad blu-ray drive (seems like a common problem with the lasers going bad). Is there any tips to avoiding YLOD? Has anyone reapplied thermal paste? Just blow it out?

Obviously, I'm dealing with a space heater 90nm cell chip, and I'm trying to get a decent amount of life out of it. I guess I'm about 11 years late to the game, but I figured it was better late than never for PS3. I've owned a PS1, PS2, and PS4...just never a PS3 for whatever reason.
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The Blu-ray drive on my original fat 60GB still works, but I have gotten the YLOD. I bought a 20GB one with a bad Blu-ray drive on the cheap to take the PSU out of it and stick it in the 60GB. I honestly don't know if there is a way to prevent the YLOD because I think it is down to a hardware defect. There was nothing visibly wrong with my PSU when I pulled it out.

Honestly, I use my PS2 book (slim) for PS1 and PS2 games and my PS3 superslim for PS3 games these days. Don't know why I'm keeping the fat one around, to be honest. I just keep 2 memory cards plugged into the PS2 at all times and clean saved games out when I'm done playing something. Games that I want to archive saves for I just emulate them on my PC.
 
The only real reason I bought the backward compatible one was because of the HDMI out. I still have my PS1 and PS2 but I don't have anything with RCA jacks to plug them in any more. I suppose I could get a HDMI adapter from somewhere. I see them on Amazon.

I just have to pull the PS3 apart to change out the Blu-ray drive. I guess I'm just wondering if I should do anything else inside while I have it open.
 
Just dust it. If the drive is the only thing bad then I'd leave it alone until it does die.

Don't use aftermarket coolers, they hinder the airflow. Instead, lift up the PS3 somehow, with little rubber feet or something. There is air intake on the bottom of the unit, so give it some airflow.
 
kirbyrj said:
The only real reason I bought the backward compatible one was because of the HDMI out. I still have my PS1 and PS2 but I don't have anything with RCA jacks to plug them in any more. I suppose I could get a HDMI adapter from somewhere. I see them on Amazon.

I just have to pull the PS3 apart to change out the Blu-ray drive. I guess I'm just wondering if I should do anything else inside while I have it open.
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My 2016 model TV still has component and composite video inputs, but I see what you're saying. I have honestly not found any video source adapter that has not been complete shit.
 
Armenius said:
My 2016 model TV still has component and composite video inputs, but I see what you're saying. I have honestly not found any video source adapter that has not been complete shit.
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Right now I'm running on an Acer Freesync gaming monitor that has 2xHDMI and 1xDP. My GF needed a TV, so I gave her my 40" 4k Samsung TV/Monitor.
 
kirbyrj said:
The only real reason I bought the backward compatible one was because of the HDMI out. I still have my PS1 and PS2 but I don't have anything with RCA jacks to plug them in any more. I suppose I could get a HDMI adapter from somewhere. I see them on Amazon.

I just have to pull the PS3 apart to change out the Blu-ray drive. I guess I'm just wondering if I should do anything else inside while I have it open.
Click to expand...

Changing out the blu-ray drive has about a 1/3 chance of not working. The drives are attached to a daughter board, which is linked to your system. You have to get the correct model drive, and remove the daughter board from the old drive and attach it to the replacement. and then comes that percentage chance where sometimes it just doesn't work, even though you did everything right.

Yes, you absolutely should replace the thermal grease on anything which uses it. I did my PS3 after 4 years of use, and the grease was mostly dried out on both the Cell CPU and the RSX GPU. My system was always pretty quiet. But it stayed it dead silent mode, more often/for longer, after the thermal grease change. I used Arctic Silver Ceramique, because it is designed to last a few years and PS3 aren't meant to be opened up often, like a PC.

be extra careful with the small ribbon cables. The lock down clamps are made from soft plastic and can break really easily. I ended up deactivating the card readers in my system, because of that.
 
chameleoneel said:
Changing out the blu-ray drive has about a 1/3 chance of not working. The drives are attached to a daughter board, which is linked to your system. You have to get the correct model drive, and remove the daughter board from the old drive and attach it to the replacement. and then comes that percentage chance where sometimes it just doesn't work, even though you did everything right.

Yes, you absolutely should replace the thermal grease on anything which uses it. I did my PS3 after 4 years of use, and the grease was mostly dried out on both the Cell CPU and the RSX GPU. My system was always pretty quiet. But it stayed it dead silent mode, more often/for longer, after the thermal grease change. I used Arctic Silver Ceramique, because it is designed to last a few years and PS3 aren't meant to be opened up often, like a PC.

be extra careful with the small ribbon cables. The lock down clamps are made from soft plastic and can break really easily. I ended up deactivating the card readers in my system, because of that.
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The one good thing about disassembling the fat PS3 is everything fits back together properly if you keep track of the process. The Xbox 360, on the other hand, will never go back together cleanly in my experience.
 
Well here's hoping the new Blu-ray drive works without issue. I've taken apart laptops and replaced those motherboards before so I can deal with small ribbon cables. I replace the battery in my OG Pixel so it has to be easier than that.

I have the drive. I just need to find a t10 security torx screwdriver. I have regular torx just not the security one.
 
I keep all my AV equipment on a metal racks with wheels, so I can wheel it in/out of place while changing cables/cleaning. Plus there is so much breathing room all around the equipment and shelves are almost infinitely adjustable.
 
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Well, no luck with the new blu-ray drive. Same problem as the last one. It was advertised as being a new laser, so I'm guessing the drive isn't the problem. I swapped in a different HDD also, but that didn't work either.

Same issue as before. Nothing blu-ray works at all. Everything DVD works fine. I can play PS1 and PS2 games perfectly. I can play anything I download from the PS Store. PS3 games give me a 80010514 error or it just won't recognize the disc in the drive.

I tried reformatting the drive, restoring system files, a bunch of different things that the internet says fixes that error...no luck.
 
Hmm best of luck. I have a 60gb launch model which went YLOD a long time ago. Been meaning to attempt to fix it for a long time. Such a neat console when it works.
 
Well, I'm just going to sell this one and then find something else. Kind of sucks because I want it to work, but I'm not going to sit around for hours swapping blu-ray drives until it works.

Interestingly enough, when I first use it (not warmed up) it will read sort of. After about 3 minutes, it doesn't read anymore. Wonder if it's a heat related issue somewhere in the system.
 
Ok...well, I figured out the problem. The thermal pad on the blu-ray control panel was slightly off center so when the drive sat on the chassis it wasn't making good contact. So I just pulled off the thermal pad, applied it directly to the chip so it was centered and then reinstalled the blu-ray drive. Works like a charm now. Go figure. PS3 games play without problems as do PS1 / PS2 games.
 
kirbyrj said:
Ok...well, I figured out the problem. The thermal pad on the blu-ray control panel was slightly off center so when the drive sat on the chassis it wasn't making good contact. So I just pulled off the thermal pad, applied it directly to the chip so it was centered and then reinstalled the blu-ray drive. Works like a charm now. Go figure. PS3 games play without problems as do PS1 / PS2 games.
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Congratulations!
 
kirbyrj said:
Ok...well, I figured out the problem. The thermal pad on the blu-ray control panel was slightly off center so when the drive sat on the chassis it wasn't making good contact. So I just pulled off the thermal pad, applied it directly to the chip so it was centered and then reinstalled the blu-ray drive. Works like a charm now. Go figure. PS3 games play without problems as do PS1 / PS2 games.
Click to expand...
!!!
 
Well, I guess my excitement was short lived. Really all this does is do a better job at dispersing heat, but after about an hour (instead of 3 minutes) it won't work anymore. I guess I have to find a different thermal pad.

I may just take the whole thing apart, clean it all out, and then rebuild it.
 
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