Tokin replacement repair advice

[IanB]

Hi Everyone,

I have a CECH-L where I am trying to replace the Tokin caps. I got an YLOD but when the YLOD happened the PS3 was barely heated up and I played only for like 5 minutes before it shut down. To be clear, this PS3 never had any shutdowns or YLOD, it shut down this once after 5 mins of play and basically never turned on again. Therefore I thought it may not be due to overheating on the CELL or RSX and the Tokin Caps may be the issue. This idea was further confirmed when I took the PS3 apart and noticed the thermal paste to be in relative good shape (not dried out at all).

I've replaced the 2 tokin caps under the RSX on the opposite side where the RSX is mounted with a total of 8x 6.3V 470uf caps . The YLOD is still happening, and just as fast (no delay). When I check continuity over all the new tantalum caps I get a beeb on all of them, not sure whether that's a good sign or bad (normally would be bad), what are the chances I screwed up soldering for all of them.

Any advice what should be my next step? Is there any way to determine which Tokin may be faulty (if any), are there other ways to do the fault finding? I saw the SYSCON solution, but I think that's beyond my skill set.

Help is appreciated, this particular PS3 although nothing special has been my baby since day one and is special to me

Thanks.

Ian

 

[xanadu247]

You should always start by reading the syscon for errors. Otherwise you are going in blindly and risk mucking things up worse. Unfortunately we didn't have this technology many years ago and ps3s were put through needless and sometimes damaging repairs.

I don't suggest proceeding on your own if you don't feel confident you can do so.

Best to hand it off to someone who has the necessary equipment and knowledge to read the syscon.


Sent from my CLT-L04 using Tapatalk

 

[IanB]

Thanks. I checked a little further into syscon and contrary to my earlier findings the software is actually fully developed as a program and I feel more confident I can use it. So I purchased the little readout tool and will report back with the syscon codes once read out.

Is there any way to check whether the tantalum caps I soldered below the RSX are working correctly with a multimeter? I checked the capacitance of each of them before soldering them on, but once soldered on they all seem to be shorting.

 

[RIP-Felix]

This should be in the Tokin thread. That's a better place for you (has more visibility). Please read the post I linked and the FAQ. Then feel free to ask for help in that thread or the SYSCON thread.

I'll answer your 2 questions, but then please take this discussion to the tokin thread.

Thanks. I checked a little further into syscon and contrary to my earlier findings the software is actually fully developed as a program and I feel more confident I can use it. So I purchased the little readout tool and will report back with the syscon codes once read out.

That's the core voltage, it's supposed to have low impedance. Meaning that your multimeter is supposed to buzz. The normal resistance is supposed to be in the 1-3 ohm range. Way to low for the continuity setting. Switch to resistance and touch your leads together. If it's less than 1 ohm more, you have a short or a bad CPU/GPU.

Is there any way to check whether the tantalum caps I soldered below the RSX are working correctly with a multimeter? I checked the capacitance of each of them before soldering them on, but once soldered on they all seem to be shorting.

The resistance should be 1.5-3 ohms. Sometimes more for newer models. That just checks for shorts to GND. Otherwise, no.