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

Hello everyone! Thanks a lot to Naked_Snake1995 for making this tutorial, I've been reading this forum at lot in the last three days and I think I'll give a try to this technique, the results seem to be very good.

My friend gave me a PS3 Slim (CECH-2001A) last week. I tried it and it worked for the first hour, then it shutted down while I was playing MW3, I saw a the little red light blinking. I managed to turn it on again in safe mode and let it on idle for about an hour before I gave it another try, I was able to play around 30 minutes until it shutted down again. I read a couple of things on the internet and decided to open it and clean it with a can of compressed air. After, I turned it on after a safe boot and I've let it on idle for about an hour before I started playing. I've been able to play it for about 45 minutes before it crashed again. At that time, I didn't know what YLOD was, so I read a couple of other forum on broken PS3 to find out that it was actually the YLOD. The PlayStation turn on for about 3 seconds, I hear the fan, then three beeps, a yellow light for about 0.25 seconds and a flashing red light.

So, I ordered 16 Tantalum capacitors (those one: https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/AVX/F930J477MNCAJ6?qs=EU6FO9ffTwc6a0MbEgSMRQ==) (I know I only need 330uf for PS3 Slim, but I didn't know which ones to order and I read on this forum someone who ordered those one and it worked so I bought those one) and I will buy a Weller 25w soldering iron to install those. I never did this kind of thing before, but I'm pretty sure It will go well.

I plan on replacing only one of the RSX NEC Tokin (the one on the right on the top of the motherboard (the other side than the RSX and CPU)) for now and look how it works. I will post some feedback and pictures to show you how things have gone.

Also, I was wondering, should I replace the thermal paste on CPU and RSX or just changing the NEC token would be ok, since the system doesn't seems to heat that much except for the PSU that seems to be a little bit hot.

Thanks a lot to everyone!

Ps: Sorry for my English, I'm french.
 
Last edited:
GlisseChloris said:
Hello everyone! Thanks a lot to Naked_Snake1995 for making this tutorial, I've been reading this forum at lot in the last three days and I think I'll give a try to this technique, the results seem to be very good.

My friend gave me a PS3 Slim (CECH-2001A) last week. I tried it and it worked for the first hour, then it shutted down while I was playing MW3, I saw a the little red light blinking. I managed to turn it on again in safe mode and let it on idle for about an hour before I gave it another try, I was able to play around 30 minutes until it shutted down again. I read a couple of things on the internet and decided to open it and clean it with a can of compressed air. After, I turned it on after a safe boot and I've let it on idle for about an hour before I started playing. I've been able to play it for about 45 minutes before it crashed again. At that time, I didn't know what YLOD was, so I read a couple of other forum on broken PS3 to find out that it was actually the YLOD. The PlayStation turn on for about 3 seconds, I hear the fan, then three beeps, a yellow light for about 0.25 seconds and a flashing red light.

So, I ordered 16 Tantalum capacitors (those one: https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/AVX/F930J477MNCAJ6?qs=EU6FO9ffTwc6a0MbEgSMRQ==) (I know I only need 330uf for PS3 Slim, but I didn't know which ones to order and I read on this forum someone who ordered those one and it worked so I bought those one) and I will buy a Weller 25w soldering iron to install those. I never did this kind of thing before, but I'm pretty sure It will go well.

I plan on replacing only one of the RSX NEC Tokin (the one on the right on the top of the motherboard (the other side than the RSX and CPU)) for now and look how it works. I will post some feedback and pictures to show you how things have gone.

Also, I was wondering, should I replace the thermal paste on CPU and RSX or just changing the NEC token would be ok, since the system doesn't seems to heat that much except for the PSU that seems to be a little bit hot.

Thanks a lot to everyone!

Ps: Sorry for my English, I'm french.
Click to expand...

Salut Ami, hope all is very well at your end, if you are new to this:- soldering etc, like you mention in your post, may i suggest instead of using solder wire for soldering, use solder paste. You can get lead-free or leaded solder paste. It's cheap for like 1g or 3g syringe on eBay / Amazon, etc. You only need a small amount. It looks like silver thermal paste, and has a similar consistancy.

It makes the job so much easier, for soldering pros & for soldering beginners.

Basically, you add just a tiny drop of solder paste where you want to solder, then touch it with your soldering iron for like 2 - 3 seconds and it's done. Also, solder paste has its own flux inside so you don't add flux before soldering, it's great, makes everything so much easier, especially in tight spaces.

See link (below) for an idea of what it looks like, this is for a 15g syringe, it's much cheaper in smaller syringes on eBay / Amazon. For PS3 it would need to be lead-free solder paste to match the board ;)

https://www.mouser.co.uk/ProductDet...GAEpiMZZMve4/bfQkoj%2BKu9wZkGPLxWnVZuZ3MngWc=
 
Workz_777 said:
Salut Ami, hope all is very well at your end, if you are new to this:- soldering etc, like you mention in your post, may i suggest instead of using solder wire for soldering, use solder paste. You can get lead-free or leaded solder paste. It's cheap for like 1g or 3g syringe on eBay / Amazon, etc. You only need a small amount. It looks like silver thermal paste, and has a similar consistancy.

It makes the job so much easier, for soldering pros & for soldering beginners.

Basically, you add just a tiny drop of solder paste where you want to solder, then touch it with your soldering iron for like 2 - 3 seconds and it's done. Also, solder paste has its own flux inside so you don't add flux before soldering, it's great, makes everything so much easier, especially in tight spaces.

See link (below) for an idea of what it looks like, this is for a 15g syringe, it's much cheaper in smaller syringes on eBay / Amazon. For PS3 it would need to be lead-free solder paste to match the board ;)

https://www.mouser.co.uk/ProductDetail/Chip-Quik/TS391AX?qs=sGAEpiMZZMve4/bfQkoj%2BKu9wZkGPLxWnVZuZ3MngWc=
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot! I'm looking to buy this, I'll give you some feedback regarding how things go.

Also, do you think I should replace the thermal paste?
 
Workz_777 said:
Salut Ami, hope all is very well at your end, if you are new to this:- soldering etc, like you mention in your post, may i suggest instead of using solder wire for soldering, use solder paste. You can get lead-free or leaded solder paste. It's cheap for like 1g or 3g syringe on eBay / Amazon, etc. You only need a small amount. It looks like silver thermal paste, and has a similar consistancy.

It makes the job so much easier, for soldering pros & for soldering beginners.

Basically, you add just a tiny drop of solder paste where you want to solder, then touch it with your soldering iron for like 2 - 3 seconds and it's done. Also, solder paste has its own flux inside so you don't add flux before soldering, it's great, makes everything so much easier, especially in tight spaces.

See link (below) for an idea of what it looks like, this is for a 15g syringe, it's much cheaper in smaller syringes on eBay / Amazon. For PS3 it would need to be lead-free solder paste to match the board ;)

https://www.mouser.co.uk/ProductDetail/Chip-Quik/TS391AX?qs=sGAEpiMZZMve4/bfQkoj%2BKu9wZkGPLxWnVZuZ3MngWc=
Click to expand...

I guess I should be good with this one?

Solder Paste no Clean Lead-Free in 5cc Syringe 15g (T3) https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07F8Z4ZHW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_K2nMEb231NS98

Thanks for helping me!
 
GlisseChloris said:
Thanks a lot! I'm looking to buy this, I'll give you some feedback regarding how things go.

Also, do you think I should replace the thermal paste?
Click to expand...

:D great, yeah any questions regarding how to use the solder paste just ask, will aim to help if you get stuck, or you're not sure about something.

Regarding if you should replace the thermal paste, if you mean just on top of the RSX & CELL, then for sure yes, however if you mean de-lidding them, then many comrades here have experience and can give you some good advice on that topic.

Personally, if you haven't done de-lidding before, then i would suggest to practise with an old PC CPU first, or an old GFX card's GPU first before you try with your PS3, because the 1st pancake (crepe) is not always as good as the 2nd pancake :onthego::rolleyes::D

Also, for de-lidding the RSX & Cell you will need tools to remove the lids, some people use a painter's knife, see link:-
https://www.amazon.co.uk/5-Piece-Painting-GoFriend-Stainless-Accessories/dp/B06WWRFKL2

...or some people use an ultra thin special metal wire to separate between the RSX / Cell lid and the thermal glue.

Maybe, try changing the Tokin capacitors first then come back to de-lidding after, once you have tested the PS3 with new capacitors.
 
...sorry i forgot to add, if it's the cutting wire you want to use, for de-lidding the RSX/CELL, then search for a "0.08mm cutting wire" for separating mobile phone screens from the digitizer.

Here is a link just to get an idea of what it looks like, i'm not suggesting getting it from this seller, but look anyway on eBay / Amazon, etc, etc and you will find it easy...
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Kaisi-10...717884?hash=item1cc5bf123c:g:JnAAAOSwsO5cLcw1

It's very strong and won't break, even though it's only 0.08mm thick. Also, it cuts better through the thermal glue and the RSX / CELL lid, than the painter's knife i mentioned above, it works like using dental floss, you kind of do a zig-zag motion holding the wire at both ends, but wear thick gloves!! ...else it can cut through a person's fingers.
 
Alright everyone i have a few updates.
So my CECHB01 that i replaced all NEC/TOKINs has officially died from a reflow that I mistakenly messed up on, oh well im just glad that that system died i was tired of dealing with it. Since then i have ordered a few CECHA01 models and they have been flawless, I ordered a CECHE01 that was listed as crashing in PS1/2/3 games. Ordered it up and got it and sure enough i played TLoU and i was in the house and it crashed with YLOD. So i got my capacitors and I decided to "piggyback" them onto the GPU/CPU and i DID NOT remove any NEC capacitors. After doing so the system crashed in GT6 with YLOD so i added more to both the GPU/CPU and now it plays GT6 flawlessly without issues since my half hour or so testing.
Now the photo i have as my work i did remove a few Tantalums since it was giving a instant YLOD idk if it was bridging other parts of the board or not or if it was too much capacitance so i removed a few on the outside edges and put her back together and ever since its been working great!
I don't plan on removing any NECs unless I absolutely have too.
Anyways cheers everyone and good luck i wish you all the best in your repair efforts

Here is my Work (again the outter caps got removed)
 

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Revak3115 said:
Alright everyone i have a few updates.
So my CECHB01 that i replaced all NEC/TOKINs has officially died from a reflow that I mistakenly messed up on, oh well im just glad that that system died i was tired of dealing with it. Since then i have ordered a few CECHA01 models and they have been flawless, I ordered a CECHE01 that was listed as crashing in PS1/2/3 games. Ordered it up and got it and sure enough i played TLoU and i was in the house and it crashed with YLOD. So i got my capacitors and I decided to "piggyback" them onto the GPU/CPU and i DID NOT remove any NEC capacitors. After doing so the system crashed in GT6 with YLOD so i added more to both the GPU/CPU and now it plays GT6 flawlessly without issues since my half hour or so testing.
Now the photo i have as my work i did remove a few Tantalums since it was giving a instant YLOD idk if it was bridging other parts of the board or not or if it was too much capacitance so i removed a few on the outside edges and put her back together and ever since its been working great!
I don't plan on removing any NECs unless I absolutely have too.
Anyways cheers everyone and good luck i wish you all the best in your repair efforts

Here is my Work (again the outter caps got removed)
Click to expand...
That's a lot of... Piggies [emoji201] [emoji23]

Sent from my G8141 using Tapatalk
 
Revak3115 said:
Alright everyone i have a few updates.
So my CECHB01 that i replaced all NEC/TOKINs has officially died from a reflow that I mistakenly messed up on, oh well im just glad that that system died i was tired of dealing with it. Since then i have ordered a few CECHA01 models and they have been flawless, I ordered a CECHE01 that was listed as crashing in PS1/2/3 games. Ordered it up and got it and sure enough i played TLoU and i was in the house and it crashed with YLOD. So i got my capacitors and I decided to "piggyback" them onto the GPU/CPU and i DID NOT remove any NEC capacitors. After doing so the system crashed in GT6 with YLOD so i added more to both the GPU/CPU and now it plays GT6 flawlessly without issues since my half hour or so testing.
Now the photo i have as my work i did remove a few Tantalums since it was giving a instant YLOD idk if it was bridging other parts of the board or not or if it was too much capacitance so i removed a few on the outside edges and put her back together and ever since its been working great!
I don't plan on removing any NECs unless I absolutely have too.
Anyways cheers everyone and good luck i wish you all the best in your repair efforts

Here is my Work (again the outter caps got removed)
Click to expand...
I saw your post on reddit!

What are the advantages (or otherwise) of using the piggyback method?
 
PS3FatRIP said:
I saw your post on reddit!

What are the advantages (or otherwise) of using the piggyback method?
Click to expand...
Hey thats awesome. so yeah i replaced every NEC on my CECHB01 back in July and ever since last month it had givin me nothing but troubles like artifacting (check early pages on this forum) i knew the tantalums gave me issues and was a HUGE headache since it worked fine when i had only replaced 2 of the 8 NECs. so after all that i decided i wont remove ANY NECs unless absolutely required. the PiggyBack method imo is better since if you have Dying NECs you dont have to remove any and it adds more uF to the system and keeps the remaining capacity on the actual NECs & internal bridge, i fear i will have to Remove the bottom side (or top whatever way you look at it) NECs eventually as they wear out, i will never touch the NECs on the underside by the CPU/GPU ever again on any system it made it a massive pain. but thats the reason for my piggyback method, it can also be alot better if you dont have a steady hand when removing the NECs since you only have to cut the varnish off with a sharp object. and you can just keep adding which probably isnt the best idea tbh Xq

Also this is not my CECHB01, this is my recent CECHE01.. My B01 is fully dead now
 
Traace said:
Thanks for the guide. Finally a proper YLOD fix.
I got a hot air station. 50x Tantalum Caps 470uF and two big boxes full of untouched YLOD PS3 FAT units. (nearly every fat model included)

Lets GO!!!
Click to expand...
Good Luck!!! share your success or failure (if any) stories : )
 
PS3FatRIP said:
a) the balls in the RSX chip heated up enough to get a better connection for a while whilst the board was still hot. or.
b) the heat helped the NEC/TOKIN's regain enough conductivity to allow the board to function (either by getting better internal connections themselves or through whatever function allows them to have capacitance)

Except the board is hypothetically 'saveable'.
Click to expand...

Just replace 2 NECs on the RSX. It will be enough, if playing heavy games like Uncharted 2 or TLoU doesn't give you a YLOD, then you're good to go. I only had to do that on my "G" and it still runs with no issues.
 
Revak3115 said:
and you only replaced 3 NECs?
Click to expand...

Yep, the underside of the board act as an internal bridge,as i didnt want to solder any wires,and they are actively cooled by the fan itself,so no worries there, now i mainly focused on the top ones,as thoes are the most problematic due to the heat of the EMI Sheild and the PSU all together, remember the CECHC04, i replaced a week ago, it had bad burn marks from the NECs themselfs into the EMI Sheild, which is the area of focus.
 
Naked_Snake1995 said:
Yep, the underside of the board act as an internal bridge,as i didnt want to solder any wires,and they are actively cooled by the fan itself,so no worries there, now i mainly focused on the top ones,as thoes are the most problematic due to the heat of the EMI Sheild and the PSU all together, remember the CECHC04, i replaced a week ago, it had bad burn marks from the NECs themselfs into the EMI Sheild, which is the area of focus.
Click to expand...
Ah, every system i take apart now has burn marks mostly on the top shield and the bottom one has slight burn marks, no biggie you can always just add more caps to the top side to count for the bottom ones right if they go bad?
 
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