PS3 (Research/Experimental) - NEC/TOKIN Capacitors Replacement - YLOD

Hi, I have a PS3 slim model CECH 2001a and it had the YLOD. Following the guide, I've soldered three tantalum capacitors of 470 uF in parallel with the NEC/TOKIN capacitor on the back side of the board. Once I turned on the console, it did not give a yellow light, the light was green like if it was working normally, but the console didn't output anything.
To clarify, I could not see any video and when i tried to connect the controller to the console(wired), it just blinked the four LEDs without connecting, safe mode or not.
does anyone know what might have happened?
 
Deus said:
Haven't read the whole thread yet, just a few snippets, but looks like it's about RSX/BGA solder connections not being the problem but the Nec/Tokins causing YLOD?
I'm not saying Nec/Tokins never or can't cause a YLOD but that comment:
"A-3 - Statistically speaking, 94% of the YLOD its due to these capacitors"
Should read: "Statistically speaking, 6% or maybe even only 0.6% of the YLOD its due to these capacitors"
and "94%, most likely even 99.4%, of the YLOD its due to the RSX/BGA bad solder connections"

And it's not only PS3 RSX/BGAs suffering from this.
If something is lead free, has a BGA on it and everything else like power rails and other components look/test ok there's a big chance the BGA is causing the problem.
Anyway, you know the saying, "a picture tells you more than a thousand words".
If you look at this pic and that PS3 would've had a YLOD at a certain point (which it hadn't as it was still working fine when this RSX/BGA was ripped off, the owner wanted to replace thermal paste between IHS on both RSX and CELL) what would've been the problem you think?
Nec/Tokins?
Or the RSX/BGA?
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Have to agree that 94% statistic really needs to be removed, theres no way any one can put a % like that on these repairs yet. i do find this photo very strange seems more like a 1 off incident tho rather than something thats considered common. do u have photos of the mother board? Reason i find it very odd is that the pads on the RSX are way more prone to being ripped off than the mother board so i would have thought it would have been the reverse damage to whats in the photos but stranger things have happend before i guess. normally this is seen when the console has been dropped tho.

I have had a similar issue on a 2K slim model where a previous owner had only used AS5 to repaste the BGA's only on top (that shits crap) and i have had one of these GPUs pulled from the mother board simply just by the force of separating the heatsink from it. i couldn't believe my eyes when i saw it either.

Naked_Snake1995 said:
So a little bit of an update from my part, might be usless information of sorts, a couple of days ago, ive been treated with another PlayStation3 that ive decide it to get only because it came with two original DualShock3s for a ridiculous cheap price, the model is a CECHL04, although i dislike the L and H Models Phats, ive decided why not to try it, its a YLOD console, so ill be used as my guinea pig.

As usual, as i always do with my consoles, i gave this bad boy a good deep clean, mind you this is a fully YLOD machine, so replacing the NECs is a must, and how do i know this even without replacing it? It boots up, but as soon as i tries to output any video format, it cuts straight away, which is good news that nothing is damaged or was repaired by someone foolish enough to damage it.

For diagnostics, blew a bit of hot air from the back, had to be careful not to damage the chassis or the back exhaust vents, after a 5 min blow, we have a video feed,but only lasts for about 10 to 30 seconds upmost, until the console enters into YLOD again, so this proves my point right, about the hair-dryer, even when i first booted the PS3 without the hair-dryer,it would show a video feed for a split second, and the heat from the hair-dryer wasnt enough to touch the substrate die nor the BGA grid, so again the NECs are done for, this time on the RSX as before.

So my point of the RSX NECs dying first seems to be plausible, it was only needed to heat up the RSX NECs for the console to show a complete video feed.

For now i wont work on this console,as i dont have any spare tantalums, have to order a few, but this seems promising, one more for me to have fun with.

PS: The C04 60Gb, is still alive and kicking, for thoes wondering, sorry for destorying your dreams :)
Click to expand...

lol another late fat model added to this list, i think this really is being more plausible to these models so far than others.
 
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Pitty enough I don't have the pcb from that ripped RSX. Think I do have a CELL with same symptoms too, probably from that same board. If I can find it...
Have seen other PS3 chips with weird results after lift. Like some having balls on chips leaving pads on the pcb or balls on pcb leaving pads on the bga that didn't look like ever beeing soldered. Seen it on other stuff, puters, videocards/chips etc. too. Didn't take photos back then.
Failing products without Nec/Tokins but with BGAs are also often repaired by reballing or replacing the BGA.
In this case, that photo can be seen as a 1 case incident of course but it clearly shows there was, at least on that PS3, a problem with bad soldering. Adding to that results from long lasting repairs after reballs...

Especially experience from a friend that does it for a living and has done 1000's PS3 with at least +90% if not more than 95% success rate. If you ask him he'll say 90% BGA relatedd, the other something else. He tried Nec/Tokin too as a last resort a (very) few times but never fixed it and stopped trying that.

However, thinking about Nec/Tokins are in fact electrolytic capacitors and the age they are getting by now I can agree that there might be a slightly higher chance they're causing a problem now compared to a few years ago.
My gamble however would still be the RSX/BGA being the main problem causing it.

Have no problem people saying try/replace the Nec/Tokins, that might fix it. But saying a failing PS3 is not a BGA problem but causedd by the Nec/Tokins, that I can't agree with. Well, each to his own...

Btw, heating a BGA or area around it can just as well"prove" it's the BGA as it can prob it's the Nec/Tokins. Bad solder joints can make contact again only by heating.
Remember the towel trick on Xbox360? That could get a non working 360 work again. Temporarely but I did try it once out of curiosity. It worked again for a few weeks. Reballing fixed it.

Capacitors you can revive by heating them up to/above their curie point.
 
I can believe in literally falling out BGAs in two scenarios. Bad reflow/BGA rework (that previous owners can not even knows about, or just not talks about) or incredibly bad flux been used on factory line (which i highly doubt).
In any other cases, lead or lead-free solder joints, no matter, needs a HUGE amount of force to get out, or something like lever, and pads on PCBs will be totaly destroyed.
 
Hi guys, i bought an ylod PS3 Just to try to fix It, but im trying to do a fix on budget, i'm doing with eletrolitic capacitors, First It was an instant ylod, and after i replace two nec 108 for 4 eletrolitic 470uf 16v its now 3-5 secs ylod, my question, since It dosent have Room for eletrolitic capacitors insisde de shield, can i solder wires do the board and place de capacitors in other place?
 

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Or, could i make an external pcb with 4 caps of 1000 uf, and solder Just 2 wires to de mother board? I would need Just to cut some traces on the mother board, os this possível?
 
Since i have tested the old nec tokin and compared it them to the new batch of nec tokin it does show a big difference between them as i posted the result a few post back so if anything else is causing the problem after replacing a few tan cap with nec tokin it should work straight away but it only depend on the factor of which nec tokin is at fault but then again if the previous owner attempted to repair it themselves by overheating everything at an uneven level with a heatgun is a big no. But my tip is buy ylod ps3 with the warranty sticker intact means best chances of it working with replacement tan caps. i even seen on ebay a seller sold a ps3 with ylod and warranty sticker intact to a buyer then 3 days later the ps3 was in even worse state coming back to him i felt sorry for the seller
 
Helinton Lunardi said:
Or, could i make an external pcb with 4 caps of 1000 uf, and solder Just 2 wires to de mother board? I would need Just to cut some traces on the mother board, os this possível?
Click to expand...
Well it a good idea yes it possible then you need thick gauge wire to handle the current that would mean three wires from the main pcb to the external pcb. Worth a try
 
Th3-J0k3r said:
BR drive Space is good for 4tb drive for emu roms in other things in yon space br drive was
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how can i add 4tb hard drive for that space since the hard drive is on the otherside of the board and theres no such thing to emulate the hard drive where bluray drive once was
 
Not the best looking repair but it worked like a charm, boss, pro, gem, dream, etc :congratulatory:! Im so happy again thanks to this thread and the people in there, I managed to repair a ylod PS3 CECHA01 that i got for 20 bucks. The ps3 came back to life again like brand new just by replacing 2 nec tokins on the rsx top side of the board with 4 330uf 2.5v tantalums capacitors on both. Now i really wanna get a PS3 CECHB01 for my collection :P. Thanks again to everyone and a big thanks to @Naked_Snake1995
 

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Edwired said:
how can i add 4tb hard drive for that space since the hard drive is on the otherside of the board and theres no such thing to emulate the hard drive where bluray drive once was
Click to expand...

No put roms for emu onto 4tb drive and use a simple USB to connect, sure be able to solder to board USB cable or basterdise one of these for parts and place inside various ways to use space

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Festnight-...t=&hvlocphy=1006886&hvtargid=pla-843037208589

Basterdise for parts above
 
Nah i wouldn't bother about it as I used the ps3 for movies in the sitting room that was the whole idea i had for it in the first place since I ordered another cechc03 with a faulty hard drive and I use that for playing games :)
 
SiegHart93 said:
Not the best looking repair but it worked like a charm, boss, pro, gem, dream, etc :congratulatory:! Im so happy again thanks to this thread and the people in there, I managed to repair a ylod PS3 CECHA01 that i got for 20 bucks. The ps3 came back to life again like brand new just by replacing 2 nec tokins on the rsx top side of the board with 4 330uf 2.5v tantalums capacitors on both. Now i really wanna get a PS3 CECHB01 for my collection :P. Thanks again to everyone and a big thanks to @Naked_Snake1995
Click to expand...
Nice, glad we could help, have fun with that A01, to be honest i am quite jealous myself, ive been looking for a cheap A01 for ages, but thoes European Import Taxes, hoo boy [emoji23][emoji23][emoji106]

Sent from my G8141 using Tapatalk
 
I got and chechl and It worked with eletrolitic capacitors
First It was instant ylod
Changing 2 nec 108 It got 3-5 seca ylod
So, i heated the two 128, and got a 12 secs ylod
I changed more one nec 128 and It noites for a few minutes
I used 4 eletrolitic capacitores of 470uf for each nec
Or 2 of 1000, It looks a mess, but iam doing It on a budget, here the tantalum cost 3 reais and the eletrolitic of 1000uf 0.80 centavos
I am planing on make an external pcb where you can solder 2 or 4 wires to the pcb and Just cut some traces tô make It ease to repair
I manage tô take the nec Very ease, i'm gonna make a video and post here
 
Helinton Lunardi said:
I got and chechl and It worked with eletrolitic capacitors
First It was instant ylod
Changing 2 nec 108 It got 3-5 seca ylod
So, i heated the two 128, and got a 12 secs ylod
I changed more one nec 128 and It noites for a few minutes
I used 4 eletrolitic capacitores of 470uf for each nec
Or 2 of 1000, It looks a mess, but iam doing It on a budget, here the tantalum cost 3 reais and the eletrolitic of 1000uf 0.80 centavos
I am planing on make an external pcb where you can solder 2 or 4 wires to the pcb and Just cut some traces tô make It ease to repair
I manage tô take the nec Very ease, i'm gonna make a video and post here
Click to expand...
Nice, you are the first ive seen using electrolitic capacitors :)
I mentioned before that it should work, and your success report is the proof, but someone mentioned also that the electrolitic capacitors are going to overheat a lot, and imo it was a good point, im not sure but i bet is true
So you should check that... with your fingers
Play a game normally for an hour or so... then touch the electrolitic capacitors with your fingers
What i do is to consider the human body skin is at 35ºC or so... and we have a lot of sensivity for temperature, but in a small range, lol

If you touch them and you feel that are a bit hotter than your finger... thats ok... is something around 40ºC if i remember correctly
Over that it burns your finger... you cant keep your finger touching it for much time

-----------------------
Even if the electrolitic capacitors are very hot i guess is not a huge problem, if you are doing a budget repair for yourself is ok... is just that capacitors overheated are going to have a short life

Btw, if for some reason you or others repeat this... i think is better to use the smaller number of electrolitic capacitors posible... just because is going to be cheaper and easyer
 
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tip is use the top part of your finger near the nail is where it can pick up heat faster than the bottom finger dont forget that electrolitic capacitors have heat rating at either 85c or 105c that will determining it life hour but if you monitor the electrolitic capacitors with an infrared gun and if it is well below 85/105c you are pretty safe to continue using the electrolitic capacitors on the ps3
 
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