TechnoGravy

After my ps3 40 GB got the YLOD, I was wondering if I should do a reflow or send it to Sony, since if I attempted a reflow, Sony wouldn’t take it back for repair if anything went wrong & the Reflow isn’t a permanent fix either so I decided against it. I contacted Sony, who told me that they can’t fix the issue and that they would give me a new ps3 Slim @ 50% discount in exchange of my bricked 40GB PS3 which was out of warranty. I was a bit surprised when I heard I’d get a new one since in the US they’d send you a refurbished ps3 for 100$ with a 3 month warranty, and here Sony India is offering a brand new ps3 160GB slim with a sealed box and 1 year warranty. After confirming that it would definitely be a new ps3 slim and not refurbished I sent my YLOD Ps3 to the Sony India Service center (@Andheri, Mumbai) and within a week I got a call from them to come collect my new ps3 slim 160GB. I was very impressed with Sony’s after sales and the way they handled the issue, I would definit...

A couple of months ago my 20 month old PS3 40 GB died on me with a YLOD (Yellow Light of Death). and I didn’t have an extended warranty either!  For those unfamiliar with the YLOD issue,  it mostly occurs when the Motherboard/CPU/GPU  warps (possibly due to excessive heating) leaving CPU/GPU with insufficient contact with the motherboard also possibly due to a simple thermal paste issue, this can be temporarily fixed with a “Reflow” a process where heat is forced on the CPU/GPU with a Heat Gun to make it get back into full contact with the Motherboard after using a thermal compound on the chip.   This mostly seems to occur on the older ps3’s after about 1-1.5 years, and apparently cant be permanently fixed, I think it has something to do with manufactures unable to use lead solder irons. So a reflow can only be a temporary fix if at all, and that should last for about 3-6 months depending on how much it is used. You’ll know when you’ve been YLOD’d when you try...