PS3 repair

[johnpsanderson]

I know this is a bit retro, but has anyone got a current recommendation for somewhere to repair a YLoD PS3?

It’s languishing in the attic, I had best intentions of fixing it myself with a repair kit from eBay but don’t suppose I’ll ever get round to it. Would happily send it off somewhere reliable/reputable to get it going again, just for another blast on Colin McRae Rally…

[eltawater]

Retrosix.co.uk

But in all honesty, it's borderline paying for a repair Vs picking up another one from eBay / Facebook marketplace.

[johnpsanderson]

Thanks for the recommendation, they’re conveniently located for me so will probably drop it into them.

[soad]

That would be a Colin McRae Dirt! I’ve played it enough to unlock pretty much everything.

Shame about the lack of controller vibration.

[fourstardan]

I remember putting my mainboard for the PS3 in the over to get the thermal CPU paste reset, it worked for a while and I was absolutely amazed.

[Steven_RW]

The only obvious reason i can think of to repair a PS3 is if it is a backwards compatible one. So a launch version of the PS3 FAT. You can pick up a PS3 slim on gumtree for buttons if you have a good look.

I have used this guy (Matt) in Wales for a few of my PS3 needs and he always does a good job.

https://ps3deliddingservice.co.uk/

Cheers

[usn90]

Remove the casing

Put it inside a jumper, fold the jumper up and insert a hairdryer into one of the sleeves.

Blow hot air in for a couple of minutes. Just don’t set fire to the jumper

[simon_harris]

Steven_RW said:

The only obvious reason i can think of to repair a PS3 is if it is a backwards compatible one. So a launch version of the PS3 FAT. You can pick up a PS3 slim on gumtree for buttons if you have a good look.

I have used this guy (Matt) in Wales for a few of my PS3 needs and he always does a good job.

https://ps3deliddingservice.co.uk/

Cheers

I have one of those that still works fine - worth bugger all though!

[Steven_RW]

simon_harris said:

Steven_RW said:

The only obvious reason i can think of to repair a PS3 is if it is a backwards compatible one. So a launch version of the PS3 FAT. You can pick up a PS3 slim on gumtree for buttons if you have a good look.

I have used this guy (Matt) in Wales for a few of my PS3 needs and he always does a good job.

https://ps3deliddingservice.co.uk/

Cheers

I have one of those that still works fine - worth bugger all though!

A genuine UK launch model (not all PS3 fat are the same..) should have the model number starting with CECHC on the back. That is PS2 compatible and even CEX still sell them for £160. Whilst that isn't mega money, it is considerably more than the other PS3 FAT models that are not backwards compatible. You can check what part code yours has or if it has 4 USB sockets on the front as easy indicators if it is a launch model. Cheers

[eltawater]

Steven_RW said:

A genuine UK launch model (not all PS3 fat are the same..) should have the model number starting with CECHC on the back. That is PS2 compatible and even CEX still sell them for £160. Whilst that isn't mega money, it is considerably more than the other PS3 FAT models that are not backwards compatible. You can check what part code yours has or if it has 4 USB sockets on the front as easy indicators if it is a launch model. Cheers

Cor, CEX will give £139 trade in for a boxed version and £75 for an unboxed.

My one is a CECHC so it looks like I'm off to CEX at some point to do a trade in, cheers

[simon_harris]

Given that I bought it at launch, on launch day and have played many ps2 games on it I am confident that it is a launch model.

I did a quick sweep of ebay before posting and they seemed to be fetching about £50 hence my worth bugger all comment.

That said even if they are worth more I have no intention of selling as it was the first console bought for my son and we had many many happy hours sat together playing so the memories are worth more - it sits on display in my office

[Lucas Ayde]

simon_harris said:

Given that I bought it at launch, on launch day and have played many ps2 games on it I am confident that it is a launch model.

I did a quick sweep of ebay before posting and they seemed to be fetching about £50 hence my worth bugger all comment.

That said even if they are worth more I have no intention of selling as it was the first console bought for my son and we had many many happy hours sat together playing so the memories are worth more - it sits on display in my office

In addition to PS2 compatibility, the first-gen PS3s do some other good stuff too that was dropped with subsequent revisions and models - they can play SACDs and of course they have the various memory card readers built in as well as 4x USB ports.

Definitely worth repairing IMO. I have one and will seek to get it fixed when it finally YLODs. That's despite the fact that I also have a PS3 Super-Slim.

[Steven_RW]

simon_harris said:

Given that I bought it at launch, on launch day and have played many ps2 games on it I am confident that it is a launch model.

I did a quick sweep of ebay before posting and they seemed to be fetching about £50 hence my worth bugger all comment.

That said even if they are worth more I have no intention of selling as it was the first console bought for my son and we had many many happy hours sat together playing so the memories are worth more - it sits on display in my office

Great stuff. I wasn't brave enough to buy mine at PS3 launch and held off till a PS3 slim a few years later.

Nice little surprise that it is worth considerably more than the similar looking other PS3 fat models you saw on ebay. If you search for CECHC003 models (thats yours) you see its about £150 to £200 depending on box and all the bits/conditon etc. I bought one a year ago so I could park my PS2 away to make some space. I then sent it down to get the thermal paste all replaced as in the long run this particular model has a real risk of overheating (which is where this whole post came from in the first place Yellow Light of Death). Cheers

[simon_harris]

I've do have the box for the launch model and I have a PS3 slim as well, at one point we had 3 total, one got given away a few years ago. I've still got 3 PS4's (2 standards and a pro) and a PS5.

Oddly I've never had a console with an issue despite some of them being really heavily used! Even the xbox 360 was working when it went into the loft...

[Steven_RW]

Nice. I can relate . This house has PS2, 3xPS3 3xPS4, 3xPS4 Pro, Ps5 and then there are the other non PlayStation consoles. Right now I'm messing around playing lots of my PS3 game collection and seeing what holds up well over time.

[horseshoecrab]

I was toying with just buying a replacement PS3 as the bluray drive hasn't worked for years.

Anyway I had a go a fixing it this weekend and after watching a load of youtube videos I finally got stuck in.
To my delight I found an plastic Early Learning Centre 2p coin that one of my kids pushed in it years ago.
It was the easiest fix I've ever had and everything plays perfectly now

[Lucas Ayde]

Steven_RW said:

Nice. I can relate . This house has PS2, 3xPS3 3xPS4, 3xPS4 Pro, Ps5 and then there are the other non PlayStation consoles. Right now I'm messing around playing lots of my PS3 game collection and seeing what holds up well over time.

One of the reasons I haven't gone for a PS5 is that Sony have basically given up on backward compatibility with it (other than PS4). It has enough raw power that they could easily emulate PS1/PS2/PS3 on the PS5, but they refuse to put the effort in. Evidently they prefer to resell you remasters or ports of select old titles rather than let you run originals that you may own.

I currently have 2x PS3s (1 is OG, the other a Super-Slim) and a PS4 Pro. I kept the OG PS3 around for the excellent backwards compatibility and my library of PS3 games - but still got a PS4 Pro because doing PS3 on PS4 would have been a challenge, so fair enough that it didn't happen. But I was pretty miffed when I got the PS4 to find that Sony didn't even bother to offer PS1 and PS2 on it. It would have been easy to do for them.

There's no excuse for any of that on PS5 .. it could and should be the 'Universal' Playstation. I'm not going to get one and then hand out large amounts of cash for PS5 games and then be locked into that ecosystem where future console compatibility might be in doubt ... I have moved over to PC gaming (principally from Steam). Games are way cheaper, much larger library including almost everything on Playstation 5, will pretty much always be compatible with future PC tech and most games actually benefit straight away from any hardware upgrades I make.

Sony worked hard with the PS3 to make it a success and delivered good value for gamers but since then, they have been milking their dominance of the console market.

[Steven_RW]

I can understand your position. All I'd say is a PS5 coupled with a launch PS3 Fat can play PS 1 2 3 4 &5 games between them. That's a serious amount of games across two physical boxes.

It does appear that a PS3 is the tricky one to emulate. I e read and watches videos on the complex CPU structure and how it made it very hard for the game Devs back in the day.

Anyway - long live the PS3, it's a great console and has a mega library. A treasured launch version has so much going for it too. Cheers

RW

[Lynchie999]

I found my launch PS3 Phat in the loft last week, I remember fixing the thermal paste issue several times but in the end the disc drive I think is broken... its currently in a few bits, maybe I should get it working again...

[Lucas Ayde]

The BD in my Phat was starting to get flaky which was why I bought the Super-Slim ... I was using the PS3 as my only BD and DVD player as well as for games.

Helped that it used much less power too, but the feel of the product was shockingly cheap. You could really tell that Sony were cost reducing the PS3 as much as possible by that stage of its life. Would have preferred the original 'Slim' but those were no longer available new.

The 'Phat' was really a very nice bit of kit, clearly a play by Sony for a multimedia box but doomed to fail at that just like MSes later attempt to make the Xbox One a multimedia box.