By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close
greenmedic88 said:
IllegalPaladin said:

I've heard that even if you do that, it could only be a temporary fix. Though it probably depends on how you reflow it and put everything back together.

I'd say once you repair a PS3 like this, it's likely running on borrowed time.

How neatly you disassembled and reassembled everything without breaking or bending anything unnecessarily, how evenly you applied the heat to the chip components, how you applied the TIM and generally, how damaged the motherboard was before being repaired would all factor in how long the repair lasts I'd imagine.

Listening to the fan should tell you whether the console is overheating again. I'm kind of hoping using better TIM than the factory paste will help (maybe springing for a syringe of MX-3 would be a good idea), but I do know that some people who have successfully resurrected a console in this way, end up having to do the repair again down the line.

If you reflowed the solder joints more than once, you'd definitely want to use non corrosive flux to keep the joints from getting too dry and brittle.

But the important thing for this fix is that I was able to pull the game saves and video clips that were on the console. A console, sad to say, is pretty much replaceable compared to your data, depending on what you keep on it. Backing up data is always a good idea, but... face it; not too many people do this religiously for a console.


If you used a heatgun to reflow it will likely fail inside of 3 months.  The only way to get PS3 reheats to last generally is using non corrosive flux with a progressive heating profile, preferably with a preheater.  Reflowing the GPU fixes most issues, generally the CPU isn't as much of an issue but on occasion it can be to blame.  Best of luck with your fix, with any luck you may have one that only needed the mildest of reflows, if you used flux then your chances are already better!