ATTENTION ALL OWNERS OF THE PHAT PLAYSTATION 3 (PS3)


The new Uprising build seems to push the PS3 hardware near its limits, which puts a strong stress on the hardware material, and thus your old machine is at high risk of getting the infamous Yellow light of death (YLOD).

Look here to find out exactly wich machine you have (and other nice secrets about the PS3).
If you have any of the backwards compatible machines you are at most risk, and to a little less degree if you have the CECHG or CECHH. If you have any later you are mostly safe, but all fatties are prone to break.


The YLOD is the result of a combination of insufficient cooling and weak solder.

Both the Xbox360 and PS3 were rushed. The 360 because MS was dead sure that the PS3 was to be released early 2006 (which was the plan for long, but the development of the Cell BE was delayed and became full of problems near the end and basically screwed the PS3, among Ken Kutaragis hybris, but that's another story), and they wanted to be first in the next gen. The PS3 because they didn't wanna be too late (they didn't really need to by themselves, the PS2 still sold good, but they had already triggered the competition to go next gen, so they had no choise).
So they stuffed in hotter components than what was suitable, and hoped for the best. But it was also very expensive, which lead them to be parsimonious in regards to some details. Airflow wasn't sufficient. The fan was later changed to a model which is believed to be faulty in design and rotate hot air. The thermal paste and pads are of bad quality and does transfer heat very well, and morevoer tends to dry out after about 3 years and severely limits the cooling ability. This is why most phat PS3s have died not so long after their third birthday.
The second part is weak soldering. At the time, a new European union directive took effect, which restricted the use of lead among other materials, in electronic devices. This only applies to EU of course, but to save costs of having two different manufacturing processes, the manufacturers implemented it worldwide. This was nowhere near any surprise for the industry, but despite this, the industry struggled against, and waited for the longest to implement it. This meant that the electronics manufacturers had little to no experience of making lead-free solders. This lead (hehu) to solders made in this time were not so sturdy and durable as they used to be. This haden't had to be the case if the industry took action earlier, and perhaps if Sony and MS gave the manufacturers a few more cents to try to make better ones.
All this is most likely a calculated risk Sony and Microsoft took to get their machines on the market. If they break after 3 years, when most warranties have ended, it is a later problem and somewhat easier to fix. And most of all, not so much of their problem.

Insufficient cooling and weak solder...

The faulty cooling means the machine reaches excessive temperatures almost everytime it is switched on. Repeatedly heating the material to excessive temperatures, and then cooling after switch off, stresses the material and causes the solder to crack eventually, thus loosing electrical connection. Even just one faulty solder of the many hundred solders are enough to make it go. Sometimes it causes a break in a non-essential part and makes the machine glitch and hang, and/or the screen to show blurred colors in raster patterns.


To prevent this, and keep your beloved machine alive, read this comprehensive guide to help prevent the YLOD. It's very good, complete with videos and handy tips.


TL;DR : just check this link mentioned just above.


And could the OP perhaps edit his OP and refer to this and the CCP dudes post? Thus peeps don't have to look near and far for the juicy parts.




Edit: can any of the fatboy owners out there give a word on if your problems were solved after changing harddrive? Preferably to a 7200rpm, but I don't think it really matters. Larger drives are faster. Perhaps it really just is that. Thank you.