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

[Sampsonay]

CHOOSING THE RIGHT "2.5V/330uF & 6.3V/470uF" Tantalum Capacitors
and the Importance of ESR and other factors for this method

Lmao i just got YLOD again after soldering on those exact same yellow capacitors. Got them cheap from aliexpress. I soldered 16 on the bottom side of the board where the processors are. Top side still has the Necs. Unfortunately this system only stayed alive for about two hours after revival, i never even played any games on it. Just jailbroke it. I look forward to your next results, i really hope this isnt the end of this PS3 and it just needs the correct ESR.

(BTW, Webman showed 515 days of uptime on it! This thing has lived a long life... but it must live longer!)

 

[M13k0_27]

View attachment 21838

*INTRODUCTION

Introduced in 2006, the PlayStation3 its perhaps one of the best systems to own to date, the vast of PlayStation3 software to explore, Blu-Ray and 3D Blu-Ray Movies, PlayStation and PlayStation2 Backwards Compatibility, Linux and many other features, the PlayStation3 its a swiss army knife for any PlayStation veteran and newcomers alike.

While the system its well engineered, like all Sony products, quality its always present, the system did come with its flaws, one of the most famous of the issue was the YLOD or as its known by Yellow Light Of Death, its a indication of a general hardware malfunction.

Around 2007, the very first YLOD fixes surfaced the internet, known as the Oven/Baking Method or Reflow, this fix consisted in disassembling the console, and insert the Motherboard in a oven at 300ºCs, and the by applying extreme heat, the solder-joints under the CELL Boardband Engine and RSX Graphics Chip, would
align, thus fixing the YLOD, although this method worked,it wasnt a long lasting fix, the time-frame before the console failed again was between 1 day to 1 year, perhaps even more, but thats luck.

The Second method of YLOD its called Reballing, which envolves applying extreme heat to the chips, thus replacing the Lead-Free solder BGA Grid, to a more reliable Leaded Solder, which fixed the console, but again the fix wasn´t a long lasting success, usually a console would last between a week to a few years,but eventually it would fail, some reports suggest more than that,but eventually it would fail,no matter how well the reballing work was.

*TRIVIA - Why these aren´t long time fixes?

In order to understand why these fixes would fail, we need to understand why the Lead-Free Solder isn´t the issue and whats really causing the YLOD.

On 27 January 2003, the RoHS (Restriction of Use of Hazardous Substances), imposed a rule to switch the used Lead-Solder in the past PCB fabrications, to the Lead-Free Solder, in order too meet the Safety Quality Standarts, by the time the PlayStation3 started development in 2004 with the early prototype machines, Sony was already using Lead-Free Solder in they´re PCB fabrications, and any model of the PlayStation2 past the manufacture year of 2003.

Due to this change, many users assumed, that the Lead-Free Solder would crack due to heating and cooling of the machine,thus creating cracks on the BGA Grid, dissrupting the connection between the chip and the motherboard.

Reflowing and Reballing worked, but not for the reasons that was believed,which was the Lead-Free Solder causing the issue, the PlayStation3 with the Syscon fan usually has a max tolerance temperature around 75/78ºC at almost Stage 4 Fan Speed "more on the later models", and a Thermal Protection at 90ºCs, the problem is that in order for the Lead-Free Solder to crack or dislodge from the board on average you need 217ºC to get the chip off the board, the PlayStation3 inside, its almost at 75ºC to 80ºCs at the most, which is 138ºCs less than what you need in order to damage the solder-balls, Sony used the same Lead-Free aloy in all Generations of the PlayStation3, yet only the Revisions that are known for this kind of failure its the CECHA all the way to the CECH-2000 Slim Model, and why dont any other revision from CECH-2100 and upwards get the YLOD, if the same Lead-Free aloy is used? Did Sony removed the "feature? Its because of the newer Chipset Manufacture Process "Nm"? Is because the newer consoles heat less than they´re predecessors? The answer its neither of them, the Lead-Free Solder, the Overheating or Newer Manufacture Process,but rather a few SMD Capacitors manufactured by NEC "Formerly known as "NEC/TOKIN", which are responsible for the YLOD issue caused by the early PlayStation3 revisions.

*TRIVIA - What is the NEC/TOKIN Capacitor and why does it cause the YLOD?

The NEC/TOKIN SMD Capacitor was manufactured by NEC "Formerly known as NEC/TOKIN", which its responsible for the current filtration and conversion, in order to stabalize and give the necessary current to the needed components.

These capacitors were used by Sony until the 65nm CELL/RSX manufacture era, due to they´re size and compact mounting space required, it could easily replace 4/6 Capacitors required to give the same uF "Micro-Farat" output, in a single package, these capacitors was used by other manufactures not just Sony, in a variety on PCB appliances such as Laptops/DVD Players between others, these Capacitors are notorious for failure due to the age/use and heat, thus loosing they´re original capacitance to a point they wont provide the necessary current anymore.

Reballing/Reflowing and the Hair-Drier only worked,because by heating the area to remove/reflow the CELL/RSX, you were not fixing the BGA with heat,but the action of heating the chips, where heating the NEC/TOKINs themselfs, thus restoring they´re original capacitive properties of the NEC/TOKINs,but depending on the amount of heat used, either it could last between a day to a few years.

The NEC/TOKIN Capacitors have the serial number 0E128 - 1200uF "Phat Models" and 0E108 "Slim Models" - 1000uF Capacitance respectively.

View attachment 21839

The problem with the use of these Capacitors on the PlayStation3 is that they are 8 "Phats" and 4 "Slim", and they work in tandem to filtre and provide the necessary current to the RSX and CELL, and if one out of the four NEC/TOKIN fails on either of the chipsets, there is a current disruption,which means the Capacitence needed to feed either the CELL or RSX is below the required, thus YLOD.


In this tutorial, ill explain step by step,how to replace the NEC/TOKIN Capacitors and where to start, so dust off your old PlayStation3 from your closet and lets get to work!

DISCLAIMER - Do this repair at your own risk, i am not responsible if your PlayStation3 catches fire or blows in a Thermo - Nuclear fashion, proccede with the upmost extreme caution, read the instructions carefully, and good luck!

*TOOLS - What you will need?

*Soldering Iron - "Small/Thin tip recommended"
*Soldering Flux
*32 Tantalum Capacitors "330/470uF - 2.5V/6.3V - Rated"
*Soldering Skills
*Knife "NEC/TOKIN Removal"
*Cup of Coffee "Optional"
*Patience and steady-hands "recommended"

*Compatible Models:

*Phat Models: "470uF"

*DECR-1000 - "TMU-520"
*DECHA00A - "COK-001"
*CECHA - "COK-001"
*CECHB - "COK-001"
*CECHC - "COK-002"
*CECHE - "COK-002/W"
*CECHG - "SEM-001"
*CECHH - "DIA-001"
*CECHJ - "DIA-002"
*CECHK - "DIA-002"
*CECHL - "VER-001"
*CECHM - "DIA-001"
*CECHP - "VER-001"
*CECHQ - "VER-001"
*DECR-1400 - "DEB-001"

"Due to the DEB-001 being identical to a DYN-001 Board, only the RSX needs a capacitor repalcement, you can use either 470uF, although 330uF will work just fine"

*Slim Models: "330uF" - RSX Only

*CECH-20XX - "DYN-001

*STEP 1 - DISASSEMBLE YOUR PLAYSTATION3.

This procedure its very simple, just like replacing the thermal paste, disassemble your PlayStation3, we will only need to work on the motherboard, for the time being we only will work on the RSX, on the top layer of the board, just one capacitor its needed to replace for the console to boot, if it fails, then more its needed,but the process its the same,but for now we will just focus on one NEC/TOKIN.

View attachment 19113

*STEP 2 - REMOVE THE ORIGINAL NEC/TOKIN CAPACITOR

Once you have the motherboard in your work-bench, identify the NEC/TOKIN Capacitor, then use a Knife, and carefully remove the original NEC/TOKIN Capacitors, they have a Plastic Outer-Shell so removing them should be pretty easy, i suggest using a masking tape as there are many traces around the NEC/TOKINs, you can also use the Soldering Iron to melt, the Plastic Case, as it will be even easier to remove them, remove the capacitor until you have four solder lines "2 Positive/2 Negative", that means the capacitor its completely removed. "See the picture for reference"

View attachment 19115



*STEP 3 - SOLDER TANTALUM CAPACITORS IN THE POSITIVE/NEGATIVE POLE.

This its a very important step, there should be four solder lines once you remove the NEC/TOKIN Capacitor, the Tantalum Capacitors have a Positive Pole and a Negative Pole, the Grey Sign its your Positive Pole, the rest of black its the Negative Pole, the 2 Middle lines "almost together" are your Negative Poles, the other 2 from the start are your Positive, you need to solder 4 Tantalums in the correct order, solder them in a 65º Angle, in order to fit 2 Tantalum Capacitors in 2 lines "Positive/Negative", its important while soldering that the legs of the Capacitor touch they´re respective rails "Positive/Negative". "See the picture for reference"

View attachment 19116


*STEP 4 - ISOLATE THE CAPACITORS

After you done soldering all the four capacitors, grab some electical tape,and isolate the Tantalum Capacitors, this will make sure that the Solder from the Tantalums wont touch the EMI Sheild "Electro Magnetic - Sheild" thus creating a short, after that assemble the PlayStation3, and test the console.

View attachment 19117


*STEP 5 - TEST THE UNIT

If all has been done correctly, your console should boot without any problems, Congratulations you just fixed your PlayStation3, if your console refuses to boot, inspect,and make sure you solder them right, take a look carefully,and test it again, if it still refuses to boot,then more capacitors replacement its needed, replace the 2nd NEC/TOKIN with Tantalums on the RSX Area,where you replaced the NEC/TOKIN area before, the procedure its the same.

"IMPORTANT - TO MAKE SURE YOU DID IT RIGHT, AND MORE CAPACITORS NEEDS REPLACEMENT, THE YLOD MUST BE DELAYED, SOMEWHERE IN BETWEEN 3/5 SEC TIME-FRAME, IF ITS IMMEDIATE/SHORTED THAN THAT, IT MEANS THAT THE CAPACITOR ITS NOT PROPERLY SOLDERED, THAT HAPPENS WHEN A NEC ITS REMOVED,BECAUSE THERE IS NO CURRENT SUPPLY TO THE CHIP"

"NOTICE - IF YOU ARE PLANNING TO REMOVE THE NEC/TOKINS, I SUGGEST TO LEAVE THE ORIGINAL NECS UNDER THE BOARD, AS THEY HAVE AN INTERNAL BRIDGE/JUMPER ON THE POSITIVE POINT, SO IT WILL CREATE A BRIDGE FOR THE TANTALUMS, BUT IF YOU DECIDE TO REMOVE ALL THE NECS, YOULL HAVE TO BRIDGE THE TANTALUMS FROM THE POSITIVE TO POSITIVE POINTS WITH A HIGH GUAGE WIRE OR ELSE THE CURRENT WONT PASS THOUGH,SINCE THERE IS NO BRIDGE BETWEEN THE TANTALUMS! BUT THE BEST WAY TO AVOID MAKING JUMPERS IS TO LEAVE AT LEAST 1 ORIGINAL NEC ON THE MOTHERBOARD "See Picture for Reference"

View attachment 19122



*Q&A - QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Q-1 - How long does this repair last?

A-1 - Once you make this capacitor repalacement, your PlayStation3 not only will improve reliability,but it will last you years to come, and you dont have to worry about YLOD anymore.

Q-2 - My PlayStation3 doesn´t any NEC/TOKIN Capacitors,but my PS3 switches off,why?

A-2 - Sony remedied this issue on the 45/40nm starting with the CECH-2100, so they dont encounter this issue, regarding the shutdown on these models,thats a different topic, it can be either a Mosfet/Resistor or even a PWM Chip, that issue its known as BlackOut.

Q-3 - Does these capacitors are the cause for the YLOD?

A-3 - Statistically speaking, 90% of the YLOD its due to these capacitors, as long as the unit hasnt been touched, chances are that its the NEC/TOKIN Capacitors, due to they high failure rate,but if this fix didnt help,then chances are then its another component failure, like a Ceramic Capacitor "more frequent on the L/K Models", or if the Chip themselfs have suffered physical damage or corrosion,which only reballing will help you remedy this,and brand new chipsets.

Q-4 - Will this fix the Gran Turismo 6 and The Last Of Us YLOD?

A-4 - Yes, if you make a full capacitor replacement,meaning you replace all the capacitors, yes thoes titles will become playable, due to the original NEC/TOKIN Capacitors aging and capacitance loss, can´t supply the necessary to the CELL/RSX, thus the YLOD.

Q-5 - I dont want to remove the NEC/TOKINs,can i solder the Tantalum in parallel/Piggy-Back?

A-5 - The good news its yes, you can solder the Tantalums with the NEC/TOKINs in parallel, or as its commonly known, the Piggy.Back technique, this will make sure they work in tandem, you will still have to solder the positive to positive, by melting the NEC/TOKIN plastic shell, but the Negative Pole, you can solder it by finding the Ground Point on the Motherboard.

Q-6 - Have you tested this fixed yourself, or any other user has made this repair,and did you/they have success?

A-6 - Yes, ive made this repair myself, preformed on a European CECHC04 - 60GB, still works till this day, already on the 8th month, one month before the thread was written, other users whom made the capacitors replacement have been successful on the repair, no failures reported so far, the rate its high.

Q-7 - Do you have plans to continue this repair on your personal consoles, or any consoles with YLOD you grab to prove this repair works?

A-7 - Yes, this repair motivates me to purchase more Phat models,since i collect PlayStation consoles,and i like my consoles in perfect working conditions, so reparing Phats should`t be a problem.

Q-8 - Will this fix my Green Light Of Death (GLOD) PlayStation3?

A-8 - Unfortunately no, GLOD its not related to the NEC/TOKIN Capacitors in anyway shape or form, summarizing GLOD its caused by a dead Graphics Chip, mostly when the Substrate has failed "little tinny solder balls under the die" due to overheating/poor maintanence or even reballing/reflowing,since extreme heat does put a strain on the GPU die, your only choice is either a RSX replacement, or using a heat-gun at 150ºC, this will restore the GPU Substrate,and your PS3 should be in working order, but if you choose the heat-gun method,be warned this isnt a long last fix, GPU replacement its advised.

Credits goes to @sandungas for helping me out, and to many other users who tested it "cant remember the names,but thank you"

Hi,
2 days ago I bought a ps3 fat with YLOD, since I didn't have any brand new tantalum caps I removed them from a ps3 super slim mothetboard (it is broken)...
Before the replacement the ps3 ylod had a delay of about one minute, after the first cap 30 seconds and then (after replacing them all, RSX only) 3 seconds...
My question is, what about the specifications of the 470 uf caps that are mounted on the super slim?? (simply because before that, there was a longer delay to YLOD) They seem to be the issue but I'm not sure at all.

Thank you for any help guys...

 

[db260179]

So, you are missing some steps.

So external mode = CXR, CXRF is internal mode

If you are doing external mode, dont connect the diag pin to GND as this will stop external mode from working!

Before using the python script, make sure the TXD and RXD are correct - verify by using a program called 'screen'

so, in a shell = 'screen /dev/ttyUSB0 57600', turn of ps3, turn on - should see the OK

Once this is established. Close the screen, kill the pid 'pgrep screen | xargs kill -9'

Then, run the python script:

'python ps3_syscon_uart.py /dev/ttyUSB0 CXR' - make sure to use python 2, 3 doesnt work due to version changes in the way python works from 2 to 3

Then you need to auth = so type 'AUTH' or 'auth'
Then you can try, 'VER' or 'ver'

If still answer length then, your leads are too thick and signal to TXD to RXD is too weak or interfence, try some AWG 30 wire, the smaller the better.

I tried to run the syscon. but all i get is "answer length"

 

[db260179]

Hi jim,

My advice to you is diagnose the actual issue first before attempting this!

These NEC tokins ideally come off easily with a IR heater or even a preheater.

You dont even need to use tantalums, get some 1000uf capacitors and solder on both sides of the nec tokins if you really want to test out the nec tokin issue.

Would this not be the ideal solution? Rather than removing the nec tokin, simply adding tantalums to piggyback onto them?

, please educate me, my knowledge on this is quite poor so it would be great to hear what someone else thinks.

 

[cuttrogue]

CHOOSING THE RIGHT "2.5V/330uF & 6.3V/470uF" Tantalum Capacitors
and the Importance of ESR and other factors for this method

Hey there! Thanks for this very important info! Have you got the chance to try the new, correct caps you ordered on your unit?

 

[MrGasS]

Hi everybody!

I'm trying to repair a CECHK04 PAL system with DIA-002 motherboard.
When this PS3 arrived it was a mixture of short and delayed YLOD, sometimes it took 4-5 second before YLOD, sometimes 10-12 second, once I booted the PS3 without HDD and I saw the "Press PS button" for 1 second, then YLOD.

On August, 11 I replaced only a NEC on both the RSX and CELL (keeping 3 original Tokins on both chips) with 4x 470uf 6.3V tantalum caps and the YLOD took 7-8 to come with the fan gradually increasing the speed, then YLOD was back, every time.

Today I replaced every NEC/TOKIN on my board with 4x 470uF 6.3V for every 0E128 (1200uF) capacitor and 4x 330uF 2.5V for every 0E108 (1000uF) capacitor, now the YLOD comes in 3-4 second, fan spins up then YLOD.

Obviously I'm doing something really, really wrong, but I can't figure out what's the problem, maybe the 330uF capacitors? I don't know.

There's also continuity between negative and positive, also when there were no Tokins on the board.

I'll attach some photos about my board

Thank you for the help!

 

[AAces_Wild]

First, I want to thank everyone for contributing to this thread. Over the weekend I repaired a fat CEBH model with the piggyback method, but it went from YLOD to red lights only. So, I just tried replacing the 4 bottom NEC Tokins with Tantalums, but I'm back to getting the YLOD. Should I order more tantalums and replace the tops as well?

 

[DoublesAdvocate]

Jesus christ what a mess.

Is there a reasonable total of "consoles fixed" vs "consoles mangled beyond repair" to call this magic NEC/TOKIN fix a big red herring yet?

 

[cuttrogue]

Is there a reasonable total of "consoles fixed" vs "consoles mangled beyond repair" to call this magic NEC/TOKIN fix a big red herring yet?

There is nothing "magic" about this fix, we know for a fact that the Nec/Tokin capacitors fail and cause YLOD. Now the quality of repair by some people have nothing to do with the concept of the fix.

I bet there were many more consoles destroyed by delidding the IHS. Will you call delidding "a big red herring" too?

 

[Stry8993]

Does anyone know of a Shop, or Reliable Modder in Canada that could do this fix for me?

 

[DoublesAdvocate]

There is nothing "magic" about this fix, we know for a fact that the Nec/Tokin capacitors fail and cause YLOD. Now the quality of repair by some people have nothing to do with the concept of the fix.

I bet there were many more consoles destroyed by delidding the IHS. Will you call delidding "a big red herring" too?

Delidding isn't a fix, the two can't be compared. I wouldn't suggest people delid their consoles if they don't know how either.
I still see people attempting this fix with no soldering skills and without even checking what their error code is using the syscon method.

 

[ElGris]

@AAces_Wild Remove everything and use proper tools to do the job, use flux, and watch videos about how to solder properly. Clean that tin with soldering wig. You need more tantalums to revive a BC PS3, but that doesn't look good.

"fan spins up then YLOD"

The fan goes in full speed at that moment before the YLOD?

Delidding isn't a fix, the two can't be compared. I wouldn't suggest people delid their consoles if they don't know how either.
I still see people attempting this fix with no soldering skills and without even checking what their error code is using the syscon method.

I'd consider both a "fix", in both cases you can get a YLOD, and in both cases you can kill the mobo when trying to fix it too. Syscon method is the best way of getting rich info, but considering the knowledge of most people that want to fix their old consoles, and the fact that there's a high percentage of consoles that has a delayed YLOD, going directly to the NECs is the main path to follow for me.

YLOD can be anything, but you can discard directly a critical fault by just hearing/watching how the console behaves.

 

[DoublesAdvocate]

@AAces_Wild Remove everything and use proper tools to do the job, use flux, and watch videos about how to solder properly. Clean that tin with soldering wig. You need more tantalums to revive a BC PS3, but that doesn't look good.



The fan goes in full speed at that moment before the YLOD?



I'd consider both a "fix", in both cases you can get a YLOD, and in both cases you can kill the mobo when trying to fix it too. Syscon method is the best way of getting rich info, but considering the knowledge of most people that want to fix their old consoles, and the fact that there's a high percentage of consoles that has a delayed YLOD, going directly to the NECs is the main path to follow for me.

YLOD can be anything, but you can discard directly a critical fault by just hearing/watching how the console behaves.

You can also directly diagnose the problem without hacking the board to pieces... with less soldering and less financial investment.

 

[nCadeRegal]

So being the know all end all on this subject double, how many boards have you fixed using the syscon method you so tout?

I dont understand with all the knowledge this thread has gained over its 135 pages that there are still people trying to argue the fix. It was put here for people who like to learn and tinker. Not for so called "experts" to come and bash it any time they disagree with an outcome or an opinion.

 

[Astray]

CHOOSING THE RIGHT "2.5V/330uF & 6.3V/470uF" Tantalum Capacitors
and the Importance of ESR and other factors for this method,
MY RECOMMENDATIONS!

I will be sharing a site which you can use as a reference if you ordered the right caps for your unit.

Link: https://www.mouser.ph/Passive-Compo...ors/Tantalum-Capacitors-Polymer-SMD/_/N-75hr2

(Note: It's up to the user to either order a "6.3V 470uF or a 2.5V 330uF", as long as the ESR is up to 9-10mOhms each)

Apologies for the long post, I wanted to share this to help people avoid ordering the wrong caps, since there are a lot of other factors of choosing the right one. Hope this helps!

im open for corrections if I said something wrong on this post!

This is an excellent post, curious to know your results. I would usually always suggest trying to stay as close to spec as the original component as possible when doing these types of repairs, but it might be worthwhile to go with the 470 uF over 330 uF in this situation because any degradation would take quite some time before lowering the capacitance to a point that another repair would be needed. This is assuming the capacitance wouldn't be too high by using the higher rated caps, which seems to be case by others doing this repair.

I do not recommend going with caps that are rated for higher voltage (6.3V) under any situation. If something happens and the caps are fed voltage that is too high, that voltage limit would save your chips. If it's too high then those caps will allow that voltage through and it could fry your chips. Too high a voltage on a chip is an excellent way to kill it for good so always make sure to match the rating with the rail it's supplying, in this case 2.5V.

I'm trying to find more information on this particular capacitor because it's smaller than the others that are being suggested so far, but its ESR is 9 mΩ at 300kHz instead of the usual 100kHz, which means its ESR at 100 kHz is going to be slightly higher than 9mΩ, but who knows by how much. It's difficult to know what the exact upper limit for the ESR would be for these the cell and rsx chips as well.

Likely any of these (470 uF) would work for the phats and these should work for the slims (330 uF). I suspect the lower ESRs would allow the 330uF to work for the phats as well but bigger is probably better here to delay on future repairs if/when the caps do eventually fall again

 

[cuttrogue]

Delidding isn't a fix, the two can't be compared. I wouldn't suggest people delid their consoles if they don't know how either.
I still see people attempting this fix with no soldering skills and without even checking what their error code is using the syscon method.

Delidding is absolutely a fix, it fixes the overheating of chips together with other measures like custom fan control.
The issue is you trying to paint the Nec/Tokin failure issue as "a red herring" and "a magic fix" for some reason.

 

[DoublesAdvocate]

So being the know all end all on this subject double, how many boards have you fixed using the syscon method you so tout?

I dont understand with all the knowledge this thread has gained over its 135 pages that there are still people trying to argue the fix. It was put here for people who like to learn and tinker. Not for so called "experts" to come and bash it any time they disagree with an outcome or an opinion.

When did I say I was an expert? 135 pages is meaningless if it's just page after page of people saying either "hey I tried it and it worked for a week before dying again" or "hey I replaced them and it still doesn't work"

Delidding is absolutely a fix, it fixes the overheating of chips together with other measures like custom fan control.
The issue is you trying to paint the Nec/Tokin failure issue as "a red herring" and "a magic fix" for some reason.

It literally doesn't, it's a preventative measure at best.

 

[db260179]

So I started as no expert with this ps3 issues, and started trying to fix from this thread.

Butchered three motherboards and made things worse. So thought to myself, why not find out what exactly is wrong with these ps3 motherboards?

The syscon thread came around, and thought great! something that will give a clue on the actual issue of these boards.

So then i started the whole syscon thread and logged and created a guide for others to follow.

Now have fixed 10 ps3 motherboards and growing - so i would say the syscon diag method has been proven, for me anyway.

Of those 10 boards, two had NEC failed tokens, the rest where RSX data errors (just needed a reball/reflow).

So just wanted to share my experience and not to bang on!

So being the know all end all on this subject double, how many boards have you fixed using the syscon method you so tout?

I dont understand with all the knowledge this thread has gained over its 135 pages that there are still people trying to argue the fix. It was put here for people who like to learn and tinker. Not for so called "experts" to come and bash it any time they disagree with an outcome or an opinion.

 

[cuttrogue]

When did I say I was an expert? 135 pages is meaningless if it's just page after page of people saying either "hey I tried it and it worked for a week before dying again" or "hey I replaced them and it still doesn't work"

It literally doesn't, it's a preventative measure at best.

How is delidding and changing a dried up TP that causes Cell and RSX overheating not a fix to overheating? Lmao are you some kind of a troll?

 

[Squiglemouse]

How is delidding and changing a dried up TP that causes Cell and RSX overheating not a fix to overheating? Lmao are you some kind of a troll?

Pretty sure his meaning to that is that any heat associated damage will already be done. Not that it won't help protect it going forward. So conceptually it's the equivalent of a prophylactic like a vaccine, most effective if applied before exposure.