PS3 Yellow Light of Death

gaffs

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I have just got the YLOD on my PS3 60gb. Its out of warranty, i bought it on launch day.

I didnt know there was a problem like this with PS3s until mine went.

I called Sony, they will fix it for £130. Im not happy about this at all - especially as MS are fixing the RROD problem for free. The guy said a supervisor will get back to me, but im not hopeful that they will be able to do anything.

Anyone had the same issue?
 
Yup, mine died a few months back, same thing. I got a refurbished one, can't remember how much. Fallout 3 was stuck in the console as well. I got that back about 4 weeks later.
 
I don't really know the details as I was saving up money to get it repaired when one day my dad surprised me with the refurbished one as he owed me money I'd forgotten about.
 
Sony replaced mine for Free back in February. Well i lie, it turns out they fixed mine and sent it back. I am aware they have stopped doing this.Turns out to be an overheating problem.

There is a guide on youtube how to fix it yourself and it DOES work. One of my mates got a slim ps3 last week and decided to experiment on his old one that suffered YLOD.
Something to do with heating some component. It worked instantly...apparently a very easy problem to do yourself
 
Andersonsonson said:
Sony replaced mine for Free back in February. Well i lie, it turns out they fixed mine and sent it back. I am aware they have stopped doing this.Turns out to be an overheating problem.
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A lot of the problems with this, and it applies to the XB360 as well is that they have to use lead-free solder nowadays. I'd suggest that anyone does not turn the machine off straight after using it, go back to the XMB or Dashboard and let the thing cool down first. Turning it straight off, well, turns the fans off, so it's sat there with a load of heat inside it and nothing to get it out.
 
WeasteDevil said:
The might if you have a copy of the sale of goods act with you. You can say that the product was faulty and not fit for purpose. Manufacturer warranty has nothing to do with it, it's entirely on the retailer.
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I was reading about that option here...

Faulty Playstation 3 Rights | Consumer Information

It seems im not the only one with this problem.

Sony should be taking ownership of this problem - not charging customers £130+ for a refurbed PS3.

If i do manage to get Game to repair or replace my PS3, then what will happen to my data on the HDD? I dont want to loose my save games.

I have found a guy who will "fix" it for £40. No doubt that will use the method shown on youtube - though some ppl say it may only last a few weeks. That should at least get it working again - though dont know for how long. I would then be able backup my data, buy and new PS3 and sell the "fixed" one before it breaks again.
 
Mate of mine had the same thing, he also had an original purchased at game, took it back and they gave him store credit, best thing is though they gave him the amount he paid for it at launch time, so he got miles more than the cost of a new slim.
 
R_Nick said:
Mate of mine had the same thing, he also had an original purchased at game, took it back and they gave him store credit, best thing is though they gave him the amount he paid for it at launch time, so he got miles more than the cost of a new slim.
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Nice one. Would you mind asking him exactly what he did to get that. I still have the receipt and box.

That would be the perfect solution. I would just need to work out how to get my saves off first.
 
He literally boxed it up, walked into game with his receipt and said 'its frozen up and won't do anything'.

He had to wait a few weeks, but they sorted him out eventually. He was only telling me about it two weeks ago.
 
R_Nick said:
He literally boxed it up, walked into game with his receipt and said 'its frozen up and won't do anything'.

He had to wait a few weeks, but they sorted him out eventually. He was only telling me about it two weeks ago.
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From all the consumer websites i have read, that would be twice as good as the nearest outcome that anyone has had. Most have had a free repair through Game, others a PS3 slim.

Im going to wait for Sony to come back to me. If they dont come back with anything, im going to give it a go.
 
Maybe it depends on who you deal with? I've just text him to see which branch he took it back to and how easy it was, I'll let you know when he gets back to me.
 
gaffs said:
I was reading about that option here...

Faulty Playstation 3 Rights | Consumer Information

It seems im not the only one with this problem.

Sony should be taking ownership of this problem - not charging customers £130+ for a refurbed PS3.

If i do manage to get Game to repair or replace my PS3, then what will happen to my data on the HDD? I dont want to loose my save games.

I have found a guy who will "fix" it for £40. No doubt that will use the method shown on youtube - though some ppl say it may only last a few weeks. That should at least get it working again - though dont know for how long. I would then be able backup my data, buy and new PS3 and sell the "fixed" one before it breaks again.
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Gaffs, don't go necessarily assuming that the yellow light means that it's overheating. The yellow light doesn't specifically mean that, it just points to a general hardware failure, and that could be many a thing.

As for Sony taking it up, they will not do that as long as the yellow light failure is within consumer electronics industry norms (in their opinion). Microsoft did it due to the shear scale of the problem.

As for your HDD, you have a bit of a problem there, you can't even put it into another PS3 without it wanting to format it. Maybe a lesson to make backups every now and then. ;)

Trophies are not a problem, they are stored on the Sony servers connected to your PSN ID. Downloadable content, you can download again.

Even if GAME give you a new one, I'd take down the serial number etc. of the machine and phone Sony telling them what you are doing. They should be able to deactivate your account on the machine when it gets back to them at the very least.
 
Sorry gaffs, turns out he had extended his warranty and it was the insurance company who sorted him out with a full refund rather than Game themselves.
 
WeasteDevil said:
Gaffs, don't go necessarily assuming that the yellow light means that it's overheating. The yellow light doesn't specifically mean that, it just points to a general hardware failure, and that could be many a thing.

As for Sony taking it up, they will not do that as long as the yellow light failure is within consumer electronics industry norms (in their opinion). Microsoft did it due to the shear scale of the problem.
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Cheers for the info Weaste. Your right, it could be a number of things - which is what Sony are hiding behind. Thats why there only replacing consoles, not diagnosing the issue and informing the customer what the fault is. If they did do that, they would have to admit that it was an inherant fault with the early models.

Didnt they improve the cooling system in the 80gb model? On the 80gb there have been no reports of the YLOD, to my knowledge.

Did you see the Watchdog report? All consoles were fixed by the same method. I called up a few repair places and all say thats its always due to overheating and the same fix will fix them all. The problem is though, that it wont be permanent.

From what i have read, more and more people are getting this problem.

According to Watchdog, 12,500 (12,501 inc mine) PS3s from the 2.5 mil sold in the UK have had this problem. Thats a small percentage, but i wonder how many of the 2.5mil were 20/60gb models?

WeasteDevil said:
As for your HDD, you have a bit of a problem there, you can't even put it into another PS3 without it wanting to format it. Maybe a lesson to make backups every now and then. ;)
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I have got copys of some saves luckily, but not others. Such as Dead Space, which i was 80% of the way through my impossible run through before it died. That means i have to play it all over again, just to unlock impossible.

WeasteDevil said:
Trophies are not a problem, they are stored on the Sony servers connected to your PSN ID. Downloadable content, you can download again.
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Thank god for that!!! I have just reached the 1000 mark.
 
gaffs said:
Cheers for the info Weaste. Your right, it could be a number of things - which is what Sony are hiding behind. Thats why there only replacing consoles, not diagnosing the issue and informing the customer what the fault is. If they did do that, they would have to admit that it was an inherant fault with the early models.
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40GB/80GB models had smaller Cell and RSX and no Graphics Synthesizer, so less heat, they had fan revisions also, so yes. Slim has Cell even smaller, RSX should come smaller as well in the New Year, totally different fan. I'm surprised also that it doesn't blink in a certain way to show what the issue is (1 blink full on - issue, 2 blinks - issue, 3 blinks - issue, etc.). Maybe the full-on yellow light does suggest overheating, I don't know.

I'm quite sure that mine will never overheat, as it's been stress tested to high heaven - being left on 24/7 for over a week several times, so the solder and the thermal paste work perfectly. The only thing that could blow it is the bearings on the fan going. The BD drive is always a danger also.
 
WeasteDevil said:
I'm quite sure that mine will never overheat, as it's been stress tested to high heaven - being left on 24/7 for over a week several times, so the solder and the thermal paste work perfectly. The only thing that could blow it is the bearings on the fan going. The BD drive is always a danger also.
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I hope for your sake your right. Maybe only some batches are faulty, i dont know.

Would you tell everyone if it did though? If i were the Cafs Number 1 PS3 Supporter, (sorry, Cell Processor Supporter) i wouldn’t want to admit that my console had bust and Sony wouldn’t fix it for free.

Anyway, i got onto Game's customer services and quoted the Sale of Goods Act - thanks to you Weaste for pointing me in the right direction. They have agreed to a repair my PS3 for free.

Thank feck i bought it from Game. People from this site Faulty Playstation 3 Rights | Consumer Information have had all kinds of problems with other retailers.
 
As for other retailers, then you'd still win, but have to go through the bother of taking them to court. All that's going to happen is that GAME sends it back to Sony and Sony will fix it for a tenner or twenty quid. :lol:

Glad to see that they have done that for you. Do you know if you will get the same one back? If not, still ring up Sony and tell them the serial number and instruct them to deactivate the PSNID on it. Note the serial number down just in case, and keep a copy of the receipt.

If my PS3 breaks, then yes, I'll say so. I take very great care of it though. ;)
 
They just dont make em like they used to.

I remember my old NES when I was a lad, got dropped on the floor a load of times and was generally treated like shit but it simply never broke.
 
WeasteDevil said:
As for other retailers, then you'd still win, but have to go through the bother of taking them to court. All that's going to happen is that GAME sends it back to Sony and Sony will fix it for a tenner or twenty quid. :lol:

Glad to see that they have done that for you. Do you know if you will get the same one back? If not, still ring up Sony and tell them the serial number and instruct them to deactivate the PSNID on it. Note the serial number down just in case, and keep a copy of the receipt.

If my PS3 breaks, then yes, I'll say so. I take very great care of it though. ;)
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Its not going to Sony, its going to an independent console repair company. It must be costing Game a fair bit to send all these consoles away for repair. Fair play to them for sortning it out though. If i were them, i would be pretty pissed off with Sony for not doing anything.

I will get the same one back, unless they cant fix it. In that case, Game will supply me with a replacement.
 
Randall Flagg said:
They just dont make em like they used to.

I remember my old NES when I was a lad, got dropped on the floor a load of times and was generally treated like shit but it simply never broke.
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You talk as if the NES never had its share of problems. It did.

Of course, it didn't have a CPU at 3.2GHz and a GPU at 550MHz, nor an optical drive. 5Mhz system clock more like. Something like the Amiga had a 28Mhz system clock.
 
gaffs said:
Its not going to Sony, its going to an independent console repair company. It must be costing Game a fair bit to send all these consoles away for repair. Fair play to them for sortning it out though. If i were them, i would be pretty pissed off with Sony for not doing anything.

I will get the same one back, unless they cant fix it. In that case, Game will supply me with a replacement.
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The trouble is with game consoles for the retailer is that there is very little margin on the hardware, yet they make quite a bit on software, especially with the resale of software second-hand. They take that risk, and why some electronics retailers will not stock them. Electronics retailers mark up the price of the hardware (be it an amp, a receiver, a TV, etc.) and make their margin there, because there is no software.

I doubt that GAME are taking much of a hit, as they will take insurance out over these things, even just to comply with the sale of goods act.
 
VivaRonaldo7 said:
Faulty PS3's hey.
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All electronics have faulty units, even the Wii, even a digital watch, no matter how simple. The difference here is that there is no underlying hardware design fault, it's a manufacturing one.

PS3 and XB360 and PCs are complex things, all sorts of things can go wrong. For example, PS3s Cell had 1 SPU removed from use because of yield purposes. If there was a mistake in the manufacture of the chip, effecting 1 SPU, they didn't have to throw the whole chip in the bin. You could have units where all 8 of them work, but it can't be used. The thing was expensive enough to make in the first place.
 
Just go to Argos and buy a new console and take it home and a week later return your broken one back in the box and they will give you your money back.

I have done this twice with my lads X Box and his 360 and both times they never even looked into the box(could have been a brick for all they knew)

I know this doesn't solve your data storage issues but it will get you a brand new console :)
 
WeasteDevil said:
All electronics have faulty units, even the Wii, even a digital watch, no matter how simple. The difference here is that there is no underlying hardware design fault, it's a manufacturing one.
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Sony wont admit that though.

I have just spent half an hour on the phone to one of their customer services managers.

All he did was hide behind the low failure rate and that they yellow light could be a number of issues.

I kept asking him why the solution, that you can see on youtube, on any PS3 forum, on Watchdog or have done for you at numerous console repair places, fixes the issue in the vast majority of cases.

The fact that that one fix will almost certainly fix the console tells me its one problem alone. For that reason, Sony should be accepting responsibility.
 
Cheltenham Red said:
Just go to Argos and buy a new console and take it home and a week later return your broken one back in the box and they will give you your money back.

I have done this twice with my lads X Box and his 360 and both times they never even looked into the box(could have been a brick for all they knew)

I know this doesn't solve your data storage issues but it will get you a brand new console :)
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Problem is, they only sell the PS3 slim now at Argos. I wouldnt even be able to get the old one in the box.
 
I read on a forum that some people have managed to get their PS3s working by blowing through the vents with a hair dryer.

In for a penny, in for a fecking pound.

I blew through the vents for 10 mins with the hairdryer on full blast - i was careful not to get too close as i didnt want to melt the plastic case. Left it to cool by an open window for 20 mins.

Turn it back on and blow me, its is working.
 
yep, the old consoles were almost unbreakable but their pads and sticks were made of paper
I've lost count how many of them I've thrown away (tried to repair)
 
gaffs said:
Sony should be accepting responsibility.
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Only if it's outside industry norms in terms of failure rate, if it were a TV they wouldn't, if it were a car, Ford wouldn't do it outside of warranty. As long as the failure rate was within industry norms. Trying to use the Microsoft case as a backup here is ridiculous, if that had been within 10%, they wouldn't have done jot either.
 
gaffs said:
I read on a forum that some people have managed to get their PS3s working by blowing through the vents with a hair dryer.

In for a penny, in for a fecking pound.

I blew through the vents for 10 mins with the hairdryer on full blast - i was careful not to get too close as i didnt want to melt the plastic case. Left it to cool by an open window for 20 mins.

Turn it back on and blow me, its is working.
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:lol:

I doubt that you've reset any solder or arctic silver like that. You should have used a vacuum cleaner. It's called dust. Now, as it's out of warranty, open it up (be careful, you need a special screwdriver for this), and give the innards a damn good cleaning.

Back up your shit first.
 
WeasteDevil said:
:lol:

I doubt that you've reset any solder or arctic silver like that. You should have used a vacuum cleaner. It's called dust. Now, as it's out of warranty, open it up (be careful, you need a special screwdriver for this), and give the innards a damn good cleaning.

Back up your shit first.
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Err, first thing i did was vacuum it which did nothing. I always vacuumed it when im doing my house - which it quite often.

I hair dried it for a couple of mins - no change. Tried it again for 5 mins – no change.

I went away, read up some more, then gave it another go, this time for 10 mins.

After 10 mins, i turned it on - but it wouldn’t turn on at all. It must have been too hot.

After 20 mins of cooling, it was working.

Riddle me that.
 
WeasteDevil said:
Only if it's outside industry norms in terms of failure rate, if it were a TV they wouldn't, if it were a car, Ford wouldn't do it outside of warranty. As long as the failure rate was within industry norms. Trying to use the Microsoft case as a backup here is ridiculous, if that had been within 10%, they wouldn't have done jot either.
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Thats what there hiding behind - im sure they know what the problem is. But as long as it remains a low percentage of consoles that are affected, then they will just quote industry norms.
 
There is no way that the heat of a hairdryer has done a thing, seriously, absolutely none. It's blown away some dust. The yellow light was probably because it couldn't crank the fan up.

Do you have any flux handy? Stick it in front of your hairdryer and tell me how long it takes to melt at 10cm distance.
 
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