I bought a second hand PS3 that had a dead laser for very cheap from someone at work. Luckily for me I had one spare so I promptly installed it and the PS3 reads discs again. YAY!
But, this PS3 has other problems. Heating issues to be precise. The fan will spin up to max within 5 to 10 minutes of gamesplay which is obviously annoying as hell, so I decided to change the thermal paste which I've done, a few times now :@, but it hasn't helped at all.
I have also removed the heatspreader on the RSX chip and replaced the paste under there with AS5 but that didn't help either.
All of this leads me to believe that either the paste on the cell need replacing or I have a faulty temp sensor. The problem is that the heatspreader on the cell will not just pop off like the cap on the RSX did.
If anyone knows of a safe-ish way to remove this thing I'd appreciate it. So far I've been able to find nothing at all online regarding the removal of the cell heatspreader.
It is soldered on...no way to remove it without removing chunks of the cell with it afaik.
Are you sure that the heatsinks are secure? Sometimes you need to add washers.
Did you remember all the thermal pads for the other parts? If you forget that rubbery pad for the 'chipset' you will have similar issues.
Are you sure it is getting hot? Heatgun fixes can damage the thermistors that control the fan...cauing the fan to spin faster or slower than it normally would.
Are the caps ok? Check that they are not burned, leaking, or bulging.
Originally posted by KillerBug: It is soldered on...no way to remove it without removing chunks of the cell with it afaik.
Are you sure that the heatsinks are secure? Sometimes you need to add washers.
Did you remember all the thermal pads for the other parts? If you forget that rubbery pad for the 'chipset' you will have similar issues.
Are you sure it is getting hot? Heatgun fixes can damage the thermistors that control the fan...cauing the fan to spin faster or slower than it normally would.
Are the caps ok? Check that they are not burned, leaking, or bulging.
Hi thanks for the reply. I've tried adding washers. It didn't help. Also, this PS3 has never been heatgunned. The only issue that it ever had was the laser and had never been opened until I got my hands on it.
I seem to have lost one tiny rubber pad but like I said, this PS3 was never opened and had this issue when I got it so I'm guess that's not the issue.
How does the metal plate behind the cell and rsx look? If you are really overheating, it will usually be blued.
Also, don't want to insult you, but I have to at least mention the correct way to use thermal compound in case you are using it wrong...
.Get good compound; I like Arctic Silver 5 for the PS3 personally.
.Fully clean chips and heatsinks of the old stuff
.Spread it thin. Cover the whole chip covers, right to the edges. Don't apply anything to the heatsinks. Ideally, it should be spread so thin that you can read the larger lettering under bright light, and you should be able to see where the smaller lettering is. It is not meant to bridge large gaps; it is just meant to fill-in microscopic imperfections in the surfaces.
Originally posted by KillerBug: How does the metal plate behind the cell and rsx look? If you are really overheating, it will usually be blued.
Also, don't want to insult you, but I have to at least mention the correct way to use thermal compound in case you are using it wrong...
.Get good compound; I like Arctic Silver 5 for the PS3 personally.
.Fully clean chips and heatsinks of the old stuff
.Spread it thin. Cover the whole chip covers, right to the edges. Don't apply anything to the heatsinks. Ideally, it should be spread so thin that you can read the larger lettering under bright light, and you should be able to see where the smaller lettering is. It is not meant to bridge large gaps; it is just meant to fill-in microscopic imperfections in the surfaces.
Hey mate, it's no insult. I know how to apply compound though and that wasn't the problem. It doesn't really matter though I've given up on it now. I'll just put it in my kids room and let them use it till it YLOD's and then sell the parts to get my money back. I got it for almost nothing anyway.
Apply a thin layer of thermal paste. Reassemble the system and then take it apart again. Look at the bottom of the heatsink, the RSX heatsink is probably clean meaning that it's not touching the RSX.
