Here's what happened.

I have a launch 60GB PS3 which broke down this past weekend after 3 years of moderate use without a hitch. It shutdown after around 2-3 hours of playing a BR game and gave me a blinking red light. I was able to turn the console back on again and remove the game. Fearing this might be an overheating issue i immediately shut the console down and removed all cables. I let it sit like that for about 3 hours and then gave it another go to make sure everything was ok. Well everything wasn't ok, it shutdown after 15 minutes of playing a demo and this time i was unable to turn it back on. My console had fallen victim to the YLOD.

I am not interested in any of SONY's refurbs with 90 day warranties. I simply don't trust them. So After doing some research for 2 days i decided to perform a reflow. Ive successfully performed this procedure before with a 360 so i was fairly confident i could fix the PS3. The PS3 is still giving me the YLOD so now i'm assuming its a power supply fault but i want to be sure of this before i purchase one off ebay.

Here is what happens when i power on the console. The console goes green, the fan can be felt and is functioning properly, a click is heard from the PSU at the same time the front panel flashes a yellow light then another click can be heard from the PSU with a blinking red light.

What do you guys think? should i go ahead and purchase a new power supply?

mine did the same thing couple days ago. Its not the power supply for sure, I'm able to do the fan test.... it just doesn't start up.

nah,...get a slim. If you can reflow it again to perform a back up,..give it another try.

I tired it again, it didn't work.

Unless something else got fried on the board, its definitely not the motherboard.

Buying a slim isn't even an option, i'm better off buying a 60GB with a dead BR drive and swapping lasers. I performed this on a friends PS3 a while back and it worked like a charm. This is a last resort though.

I wish i had a way to test the PSU.

Damn, sounded like a reflow problem, but you have already tried that. I reflowed mine back in January and have had no problems since. I just went out and bought a slim though as I was unsure how long my reflow would last.

The thing is that older versions will probably Yloded with time.
Some people buy Yloded PS3 on ebay and fix them or get for parts.

My Old 20GB got the ylod too. I perform the reflow and put new thermal paste (Artic Silver) and worked perfectly,...Mine had other problems too, that is why I got a slim.

Took the power supply casing off to track down where the clicking sound is coming from exactly. Before the second click and yellow light there's a "zing" sound coming from one of the PSU fuses. I also examined the circuit board and it was clearly discolored on the backside. So maybe the PSU did kick the bucket. I saw a youtube video with a guy who had the same YLOD issue and heard 2 clicks from his PSU. He claims a new PSU fixed his YLOD. So I decided to take a chance and go ahead with buying a new PSU. Ive pretty much ruled out everything else, so unless the motherboard is completely fried a new PSU should work. If this doesn't ill move on to plan B and try to find a 60GB with a broken BR drive.

I'll keep you fellas posted, wish me luck...

Good luck!!!!!

YLOD has been going on for a couple of years now, why no better fix than reflow? It's not even a long term fix. People are lucky to get 1 yr out of it. Is there anybody thinking outside the box on how we can get a long term fix on this?

Same problem with my PS3. YLOD since one week. Reflow didn't change anything.

I guess the "clicking" sounds of your PS3 sounds like that (i just made a video) :

&fs=1" width="644" height="390">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&fs=1" />[ATTN POSTER: YouTube Insert Error: Something went wrong. Please make sure you added the video correctly. Click here to see how YouTube videos should be embedded. There could also be a technical issue that's not your fault. Click to view the video on YouTube's site. If this link doesn't work, you did something wrong.]

I'm curious to see if a new PSU will fix your system.
Maybe I will try it on my PS3 if it's work for you.

There is a long term fix for the cracked solder YLOD, its called a reball. The problem is very few people know how to do it and of those few who know how even fewer offer it as a service.


Your youtube video is not working man.

I am still wating on the PSU to arrive, it should be in tomorrow.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Try with the direct link, it's work for me :

The link works now but i can't tell for sure if we have the same issue.

The PSU is supposed to click when you power the PS3 on and when it powers down back into standby. that's all i am able to hear from the video. So if that's what you only hear, odds are you probably don't have a faulty PSU.

The click i hear which i think is the problem with my PS3 is a small click right when the yellow light flashes. That's followed by the standby click of the PSU with a blinking red light.

Click or no click, if you tried a reflow and performed it properly but still getting the YLOD then there is a reasonable chance it is the PSU. Of course i am assuming you ruled out a faulty HDD (just pull it out and see if the console starts up) and a bad fan.

Thank you. So it seems that my PSU is not faulty.

Problem with the reflow is that it's hard to tell if you done it right or not. Sometimes good reflow doesn't work because solders are too much damaged, i guess. I mean, it's not a 100% working repair. Futhermore, i'm not a professional.

So I think best thing to do for me now is to sell it for spares and replace it with a new system...

Well the new PSU came in, i put it in the PS3 and to my disappointment i still had the dreaded YLOD. The problem isn't the power supply.

I was about to give up and put the PS3 on ebay but decided to try one last reflow. I fluxed the board this time and kept the heat gun on a little longer (about 35 seconds). To my surprise the PS3 came back to life.

It's working and better than ever. The PS3 is so quiet i can't even hear the fan, i actually reopened it to make sure the fan was plugged in and working.

IMO flux should be always used