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

[marciolsf]

The board he used in this video is a scrap board. The two main takeaways from his video are:

1) Use a preheater so that you can use hot air to remove the NEC TOKINs without burning them or scraping them off and potentially damaging a good board. Since it's a scrap board, he didn't care about knocking off the surrounding SMDs.
2) In order to solder the tantalum capacitors straight vs at an angle, you'll have to expose some solder mask.

That's what you get for skipping around.

You're not entirely wrong! I did skip around, but I can say I watched faithfully all the way for the first hour! and then yes, I started skipping In my defense, it was 4:30am, I had to get up extra early for IRL work. I was wondering if it was scrap, so I went back to verify, but I didn't find the reference.

I also love the idea of scratching, just because space is so tight, and installing them straight would definitely make for a cleaner work. I installed mine on an angle, and I'm pretty sure I did it correctly... I'm moving though, and I haven't had a chance to finish it, so the jury is still out. Once I'm all settled, I'm going to pull them out, scratch and try again.

 

[Naked_Snake1995]

Alright peeps, so I dug up the youtube videos Naked Snake suggested, from a channel called NSC Modz, and it was... interesting. The main takeaway, really, was where exactly to scratch away the solder mask so you have more room to install the tantalums. I'd definitely not watch the whole thing, just jump to around the 00:56:00 mark, where he shows where to remove the mask, and why, and then 1:04:00, where he removes the mask.

Things he did well:

• Explains clearly where to remove the mask

Things he did I would not recommend

• He harvested the tantalums from the top of the board, instead of sourcing new ones. That was probably the most baffling event in the video.
  
• He used a combination of electric grill and and industrial heat gun to remove the tokins. The finished job looks very neat and clean, and the tokins are intact afterwards, so kudos there! But you can see, starting around 56:11, how a number of smc caps got knocked out of place.
  
• He used a screw driver to scratch the masking. He was very careful, and seemed to not have done any further damage, so kudos there too. But it would take just a carefully placed whoopsie, and now you have a nice gouge on the board.
  
• We never did see if the repair actually worked.

I'm not trying to be overly harsh! I'm just saying that a number of things he did are definitely recommended, especially if you're new to soldering. What I'd do instead is

• Get a good grade heat gun that is meant for repair work. Just as an example, here's one that Voultar recommends -- https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MR2IWBN (~$40)
  
• Use a fiberglass pen to scratch off the masking -- they're only around $10 on amazon. I'd imagine you can also use very fine sand paper, but I haven't tried that myself. Just please don't use a screw driver.
• Don't use an electric grill! Just be patient, and use flux.
  
• Watch lots of tutorials on soldering - Voultar has a few, and just about anything out of EEVBlog is excellent
• Buy new caps. Research so far tends to show that lower voltage ones (in the 2.5v range) are cheaper than the 6.3v, at the same UF range.

Here's the link, finally. Posted at the end so people will hopefully read my ramblings before they go clicking on it

The video i suggested was purely for example purposes, the board was for scraps, and it should be taken at the viewer discretion, if you want to do it his way or not.

Personally i did it in the way i wrote the guide, of course is more difficult way, but soldering the SMDs the way NSC did by removing the soldering mask always works for instalation, its just an extended way to install it by stretching the VIAs to accommodate a vertical mounting position, the problem is, that i am not sure if that works, i did try the same for some research, stupidity of mine that i scratched a big square between the Negative VIAs, making the Tantalums to short circuit themselfs, the most important thing when mounting the Tantalums in the vertical position is to scratch only the necessary area for each Tantalum, avoid touching each other,and the surface scratched must have constant contact with the desired VIAs, kinda like NSC did.

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[Squiglemouse]

You dont need to scratch anything.
His video is to be taken with a grain of salt.
Just connect the negative sites together and in the opposite site of each token.


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@demetris not really. While it's true there's no hard requirements making you remove masking, the job will be much more professional and secure joints by removing some masking.when your placement sites the exact right size vs making it work it's a lot easier to do a high quality job.

So the real take away is you don't have to remove masking, but for the best possible ease of install its best to remove the appropriate size and shape of masking.

 

[demetris]

You can use the negative line from the opposite side. Negative is negative from wherever you take it.

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[Squiglemouse]

You can use the negative line from the opposite side. Negative is negative from wherever you take it.

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Can you do that? Maybe, though it's arguably not a best practice to get in the habit of doing. Remember the closer components are the harder it will be to radiate heat. Where as the cooler they run the longer they will last. and if you installed in the way you're talking about it's likely you'll have them side to side to side with no space in between. Which again will be bad for the longevity of those parts.

It's arguably best practice to just get in the habit of making sure they fit and have proper space

 

[yarrowman1]

guys, should i remove the bios battery before the whole process?

 

[demetris]

Can you do that? Maybe, though it's arguably not a best practice to get in the habit of doing. Remember the closer components are the harder it will be to radiate heat. Where as the cooler they run the longer they will last. and if you installed in the way you're talking about it's likely you'll have them side to side to side with no space in between. Which again will be bad for the longevity of those parts.

It's arguably best practice to just get in the habit of making sure they fit and have proper space

Lol, your post is funny. There is plenty of space and if you take into account that most people cover those with tape , heat is not an issue what so ever!

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[NSC-Modz]

Hi all

The most here knows me from my YouTube Channel, my English is not the best but I'm here to say thank you.

Thank you for all your work, i visit this page as a long time and wanted just to say thank you for all your works and tutorials.

I had read here also some stuff, and maybe some people's gets really confused and scary sometimes on my YT Channel ^^

I had done some Nec/Tokin removal work on a broken PS3 Board, some people's was shocked to see how i did some stuff, but this was for a test and it's written in the description, that this board was just for testing stuff, so no panic on titanic, we got water for all ^^

Like Naked-Snake already told, don't skip to much, you maybe gonna miss some important info...

So here I've done a final video over that tantal stuff, you can do it like this without problems:

Hope you like the way i did, as i have more time I'll do some more stuff, but with 4 kids and I'm mostly alone, it's hard for me to find some time for my stuff.

Again, Thank you all for all your tutorials, Exploit's and all the rest...

let me know if i can help something.

Cheers
NSC

 

[marciolsf]

guys, should i remove the bios battery before the whole process?

If you're just going to solder the tantalums in? No, you're ok as long as it's small, localized work. If you're going to bake/grill/blow hot air/reflow or anything that heats up the entire board, then for sure you need to remove the battery.

Hi all

The most here knows me from my YouTube Channel, my English is not the best but I'm here to say thank you.

Thank you for all your work, i visit this page as a long time and wanted just to say thank you for all your works and tutorials.

I had read here also some stuff, and maybe some people's gets really confused and scary sometimes on my YT Channel ^^

I had done some Nec/Tokin removal work on a broken PS3 Board, some people's was shocked to see how i did some stuff, but this was for a test and it's written in the description, that this board was just for testing stuff, so no panic on titanic, we got water for all ^^

Like Naked-Snake already told, don't skip to much, you maybe gonna miss some important info...

So here I've done a final video over that tantal stuff, you can do it like this without problems:

Hope you like the way i did, as i have more time I'll do some more stuff, but with 4 kids and I'm mostly alone, it's hard for me to find some time for my stuff.

Again, Thank you all for all your tutorials, Exploit's and all the rest...

let me know if i can help something.

Cheers
NSC

Thanks for your work! I hope I wasn't too critical, I think the entire community can gain from everyone's efforts. This is definitely a work in progress

 

[ElGris]

@NSC-Modz Here reunites people of every part of the world that likes to help and love these systems, specially this diva called PS3 lol. So, nice to see you over here, and thanks for your great tutorials over all of these years

 

[Naked_Snake1995]

guys, should i remove the bios battery before the whole process?

If you ain't going to do reworking job such as Reflow or Reballing, then you can leave the CMOS battery as it is, although on early units it needs to be removed regardless so you can take off the EMI Sheild.

Sent from my G8141 using Tapatalk

Hi all

The most here knows me from my YouTube Channel, my English is not the best but I'm here to say thank you.

Thank you for all your work, i visit this page as a long time and wanted just to say thank you for all your works and tutorials.

I had read here also some stuff, and maybe some people's gets really confused and scary sometimes on my YT Channel ^^

I had done some Nec/Tokin removal work on a broken PS3 Board, some people's was shocked to see how i did some stuff, but this was for a test and it's written in the description, that this board was just for testing stuff, so no panic on titanic, we got water for all ^^

Like Naked-Snake already told, don't skip to much, you maybe gonna miss some important info...

So here I've done a final video over that tantal stuff, you can do it like this without problems:

Hope you like the way i did, as i have more time I'll do some more stuff, but with 4 kids and I'm mostly alone, it's hard for me to find some time for my stuff.

Again, Thank you all for all your tutorials, Exploit's and all the rest...

let me know if i can help something.

Cheers
NSC

NSC in the place to be, greetings and welcome on-board [emoji106]

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[NSC-Modz]

@NSC-Modz Here reunites people of every part of the world that likes to help and love these systems, specially this diva called PS3 lol. So, nice to see you over here, and thanks for your great tutorials over all of these years

Thank you so much to, it's so nice to be welcomed like this, thank you for all.

NSC in the place to be, greetings and welcome on-board [emoji106]

Sent from my G8141 using Tapatalk

Thank you soo much, i feel so glad to be here.

If i can do or test something for you guys, then just let me know.

Thanks for your work! I hope I wasn't too critical, I think the entire community can gain from everyone's efforts. This is definitely a work in progress

Thank you to so much, please let me know if you guys need something, I'll try to help where i can as i got time

 

[Yugonibblit]

Thank you so much to, it's so nice to be welcomed like this, thank you for all.


Thank you soo much, i feel so glad to be here.

If i can do or test something for you guys, then just let me know.


Thank you to so much, please let me know if you guys need something, I'll try to help where i can as i got time

Always enjoy your videos NSC the place to be!!!

 

[nCadeRegal]

Welcome to the site nsc. I am glad you are now apart of our community. I find your videos to be very informative and well though out. Enjoy the site and don't be a stranger round here.

 

[NSC-Modz]

OMG i can not thank you all enough, it feels so good to be welcome like this, I'm so glad to have you around me, i feel really like at home, I'm so thank full and i respect all of you so much.

Can't say thank you enough, i really love u all for that.

This is the first site in my life, where i really feel not like a stranger, and this is just all because you great people's.

I can not thank you enough, i really respect you all for that, normally i just came around here to post you my video and help you guys with, but now i feel like to stay here for ever.

Thank you soooo much...

 

[oliver76]

OK just an update and a few questions.. I cured the ylod on my replacing the Tokins on the top side for the gpu but was still getting shutdowns after playing games for about 45 minutes so I decided to replace the Tokins on the top side for the cpu.. nothing but instant ylod at power on. Removed all the tantiums checked and replaced them.. same thing. So I put it up. Well 2 days ago I came across another Cecha model at a thrift store. Owner claimed it was his.. got it new before leaving for military and and it had been sitting at parents house ever since. So I went back today with TLOU in hand and tested it for like and hour and a half.. no issues. So I bought it brought it home opened it up and it was spottless inside.. the factory thermal compound was still sticky. So anyways my question is this.. I have a rebuged 1tb slim as my daily driver and was wanting to use this purely for ps2 playback.. should the console last longer if its strictly used for that purpose and secondly would it be beneficial to do cfw on this one so as to be able to control the fan curve a bit more.. Thanks in advance for any feedback.

 

[Squiglemouse]

OK just an update and a few questions.. I cured the ylod on my replacing the Tokins on the top side for the gpu but was still getting shutdowns after playing games for about 45 minutes so I decided to replace the Tokins on the top side for the cpu.. nothing but instant ylod at power on. Removed all the tantiums checked and replaced them.. same thing. So I put it up. Well 2 days ago I came across another Cecha model at a thrift store. Owner claimed it was his.. got it new before leaving for military and and it had been sitting at parents house ever since. So I went back today with TLOU in hand and tested it for like and hour and a half.. no issues. So I bought it brought it home opened it up and it was spottless inside.. the factory thermal compound was still sticky. So anyways my question is this.. I have a rebuged 1tb slim as my daily driver and was wanting to use this purely for ps2 playback.. should the console last longer if its strictly used for that purpose and secondly would it be beneficial to do cfw on this one so as to be able to control the fan curve a bit more.. Thanks in advance for any feedback.

It's always in the best interest to put cfw on even if only so you can find out what temperature the unit is truly running at. It's the only way to know when you reach the point thatva delid is needed. Further it enables you backing up your legit discs to protect them from wear and tear.

You may also want to consider replacing the old thermal pads.but if the pastes in good shape it's probably still mostly good as well. Even if you use the cecha only for ps2 I can't see that making it last longer outside of just making sure its thermal profile is good and temperatures aren't allowed to be in the high 70s.

 

[Meuporg]

First of all I'd like to thank @Naked_Snake1995 for this surprising tuto and everyone here for helping "strangers from the same Family": PS3 Lovers.

As you can see on my pic, all NEC/Tokin capacitors from that side were replaced by tantalums. Verified they were connected. All NEC/Tokin from CPU/GPU side were left untouched. Thermal paste and pads were replaced. RSX GPU was easy to delid. PSU is APS-226 and like new. Same for the 19 blades fan. CECH-A01 fully cleaned (there was barely dust). Warranty sticker was never unsealed. PS3 never reflowed/reballed.

Problem is I still have YLOD (after like 3sec and normal fan noise). So no instant shutdown. Did I miss something?

• Do I need to add a high gauge wire to bridge positive to positive in my specific case?
  (from my understanding of your guide here, I don't need to do that but others claim I do need it even in my case...)

• If each chip has 4 NEC/Tokin caps, is it two on each side of the board or RSX-caps on bottom and CELL-caps on top?

• I did not use electrical tape on top of the tantalums so can this be the reason for YLOD?
  (assuming replacement was properly done)
  
  Any suggestion is welcome. Thank you!

 

[demetris]

Those tantalums look unbranded. Did you measure them before using?
Also the + sides of a few look like they touches the - of the motherboard.
I would recommend you to remove them, flip them over and put solder on the bottom side then clean the motherboard +/- parallel lines and place them carefully back after you measure if they check out ok(add up the uf to reach 1200)

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[NSC-Modz]

First of all I'd like to thank @Naked_Snake1995 for this surprising tuto and everyone here for helping "strangers from the same Family": PS3 Lovers.

As you can see on my pic, all NEC/Tokin capacitors from that side were replaced by tantalums. Verified they were connected. All NEC/Tokin from CPU/GPU side were left untouched. Thermal paste and pads were replaced. RSX GPU was easy to delid. PSU is APS-226 and like new. Same for the 19 blades fan. CECH-A01 fully cleaned (there was barely dust). Warranty sticker was never unsealed. PS3 never reflowed/reballed.

Problem is I still have YLOD (after like 3sec and normal fan noise). So no instant shutdown. Did I miss something?

• Do I need to add a high gauge wire to bridge positive to positive in my specific case?
  (from my understanding of your guide here, I don't need to do that but others claim I do need it even in my case...)

• If each chip has 4 NEC/Tokin caps, is it two on each side of the board or RSX-caps on bottom and CELL-caps on top?

• I did not use electrical tape on top of the tantalums so can this be the reason for YLOD?
  (assuming replacement was properly done)
  
  Any suggestion is welcome. Thank you!

Hello

I just have not much time, but here i just show you some critical points that could cause a short.

The problem is also, as it really shorted, you gonna need to check the fuses, if just one fuse is broken, then your ps3 will not start as long this fuse was also fixed.

Greetings
NSC