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Staude said:
greenmedic88 said:

The YLoD is a general hardware failure that is typically either fatal MoBo damage due to thermal cycling through repeated use (solder joint failure) or PSU failure (power supplies do die as well). If it's the latter, you have an easy and permanent fix. If it's the former, you get a temporary fix at best.

I've been through three YLoDs on three separate consoles, so I am familiar with the repair process.

The heat gun reflow repair does work, but it is and should be treated as a temporary fix. If you can successfully repair a PS3 this way, IMMEDIATELY copy and back up your data and treat anything on the repaired PS3 as disposable information.

I've had repairs last anywhere from a couple months to a couple weeks to a couple days to give you an idea of how unreliable repaired consoles can be.

Using higher quality TIM (thermal interface material) won't magically ward off future harware failures as even the best ones are only good for single digit temp drops. What they will do is provide the same level of thermal tranferance (or slightly better) as when the console rolled off the assembly lines. Over time, the stock TIM SCE used dries out, losing its effectiveness, leading to overheating.


I figure that if it's the powersupply it wont have any light at all when powered on right ? Like a pc.. If that's not the case, i would presume the failure would be that the transformer has become unable to send enough power through the system.. and if that is the case, is a way to determine if it's the powersupply ?.. (Presuming it would somehow magically show the led lights with a malfunctioning powersupply)

Not necessarily.

If the supply has blown out catastrophically (you would have heard a "pop" and smelled burnt insulation, maybe even seen smoke) then the unit would produce no power at all.

But PSUs also degrade over time, depending on quality of components and duration of use over time.

Even though the earlier PS3s has PSUs that were overengineered for normal use, it is still possible for them to degrade enough over time that they no longer pass the initial hardware check on boot up, at which point the unit would power down to avoid potential damage to the circuitry.

As far as I know, the PS3 doesn't indicate *what* the hardware failure is via the amber light/red blinking lights, only that it is in a terminal condition and will not boot up.

You'd have to talk to someone who specifically had power related problems with the PS3; all of mine were MoBo related.