PS3's RLOD(Red Light of Death) and the YLOD(Yellow Light of Death) Fix

My good friend was in need of help with his ps3. He was inflicted with the RLOD or what is better known as the Red Light of Death. I'm pretty sure I knew how he felt when it occurred because this happened to me before also when I got the YLOD or better known as the Yellow Light of Death which we'll go more depth with later on. Where were we?.....oh yeah I bet while playing his kick ass game his favorite kick ass gaming system just shuts down on him without warning. He chalked it up to some kind of glitch? Maybe the game caused his ps3 to shut down? Nothing to worry about because you know what?? He'll just turn that kick ass system of a play station back on.

Power button pressed and here we go. Usual red light flashes and a few dings and then out of nowhere new ding sounds come on and the red light starts blinking in succession. Confusion sets in and he tries every option he can think of..unplug the power cord and plug it in, do a hard restart, do a soft restart, use the eject button, but it doesn't work. Helplessness and ANGER sets in!!!! AAARRRGGGHHH This is where I come in and provided a solution to his predicament. Before touching upon the solution let's talk about the reason and meaning behind these lights of death.

The reason why this occurs is because of an overheating issue. When the playstation is on there is a lot of heat build up especially around the motherboard. As a result the CPU and GPU chips would get so hot the solder would melt and lose contact with the motherboard. This is due to the ps3 not having no lead-free solder.

The difference between the RLOD(Red Light of Death) and the YLOD(Yellow Light of Death) is the chip connection. In the YLOD a green flashes then a yellow light followed by red blinking lights. This is when both the CPU and GPU lose their contacts. In the RLOD the red blinking light shows and this means only one chip has lost their contact. This system was developed by Sony to help identify customer issues.

There are a few troubleshooting tips you can go through when first encountered with this issue.

• check vents for dust and any kind of obstruction
• have the ps3 standing up instead of laying flat because when flat the fan blows upward towards the motherboard
• remove the hard drive and insert it
• unplug the system and leave it alone for 30min and plug it back in

You have options if you keep getting the lights of death. If you are still covered under the manufacturer's warranty you can send the system out to get fixed. The only fee incurred is the shipping. If you are out of warranty you can still send it out to Sony but you will be billed for the fix which usually costs 150 dollars. Both processes takes 4-6 weeks for completion. Your last option is to fix your playstation which can take up to 1 to 2 hours and I am going to show you how through a step by step process. Before I start I would like to point out I am not responsible for any negative results that would occur due to my instructional fix. This is for the 60gig launch model and later model's components are arranged differently but relatively have the same components.

What You Need
-10 point torx screwdriver
-philips screwdriver
-precision screwdriver
-thermal compound preferably Arctic Silver 5
-flux fluid
-heat gun
-tissue or paper towels
-70% to 90% rubbing alcohol


Before I start I would like to point out that this is going to be a very very dusty unit. If you see dust of any kind CLEAN IT! Remove the plastic plate covering the hard drive. Unscrew the blue screw. Pull the rubber tab up top and use the torx screwdriver to remove the screw within.


Remove the hard drive by sliding it towards the right and pull.


Slide the top of the ps3 towards the section where you took the torx screw from. What you uncover is your 1st set of screws to detach. All of them are the same size except for 3 peices. I would use a sticker or chalk to mark where those three came from.


Pull the top and be careful not to pull too hard because there is a drive cable attached to the top part.


To detach simply flip the black tab upwards.


Next lift the blue ray drive but be careful because there is also a drive cable attached to it. Just unclip this tab also.


We detach the power supply. This one is a bit more diffucult because of the extra screws and cables. This will be your 2nd set of screws to remove. I advise to keep the sets of screws separate from the first and the following. Just remove the screws marked with an arrow on them just like the top plate you removed earlier. There are also 5 cables to remove and I marked them in the picture. 1st is the disc detection sensor.

2nd and 3rd


4th is the ground and is the only one with a washer. 5th is a data cable.


Next remove the eject circuit board switch and its data cable.


Next is your 3rd set of screws to remove. There are 2 small screws in this set. I would mark them with chalk or stickers for identification. Once that's finished just remove from plastic bottom.


Flip the unit and there is the battery cable to detach and the screws housing the hard drive. Remove the plastic housing in the rear. They are held by tabs.


Remove the clamp screws and once that's removed detach the metal plate.


Remove the fan and remove the metal plate.


Now use the alcohol and tissue to clean the thermal compound off the 2 silver cards and off of the fan.


Thoroughly clean them. Once finished apply the flux fluid around the black chips, cell, and rsx chip. Let it settle for 15min.


VERY IMPORTANT TO LEAVE THE BOARD AS FLAT AS POSSIBLE AND DO NOT MOVE THE BOARD AT ALL DURING THIS PROCESS! If you move the board during this process the components would shift and mess everything up. There are 3 stages of the heat gun process. 1st use the heat gun around 500 degrees and use circular motions as you pass the board. Focus on the black chips close to the rsx and cell chips for 30 second intervals each chip. Spend 5 minutes with your first pass throough. 2nd use around 800 plus degrees and focus around 30 seconds on each chip and 5 minutes with this pass through. 3rd go back down to the 500 degree mark and repeat the same process as you did with the first all while going with the circular motions. Let it cool down for 30 min. DO NOT MOVE THE BOARD AT ALL!
Now you can apply the thermal compound on the rsx and cell chip. Assemble everything by backtracking your steps with the assembly process. You have the sets of screws, reference points, and images to work with. Once its all said and done you should have the following result: