First of all, let us properly introduce the author! The writer of this article is the head technician at Gophermods LLC. A large electronic repair center that specializes in PS3 Repairs, Wii Repairs, iPhone Repairs and much more.
Below is a detailed explanation of the very commonly misdiagnosed issue known as the “PS3 Yellow Light of Death.” If you don’t already know what the yellow light of death issue, you may want to read some of our other articles on the subject!
So, what is this “YLOD” or Yellow Light of Death
The yellow light failure is a general hardware failure of one of your main processors. It is also known as the YLOD – Yellow Light of Death – its new name since the appropriate feeling of death one feels when they hear and see their console randomly shut off for the first time.
Yellow Lights/Blinking Red Lights are general hardware failures that are very commonly associated with older original PS3 consoles such as the 40GB, 60GB, and 80GB.
While yellow light failures are mostly common in the original PS3 consoles, they still do happen in the later versions of the console. Today, new PS3 Slim models do in fact get the yellow light as well. Many argue that they are indestructible, but just like the original consoles, the YLOD didn’t become a major problem until they were about three years old. The slim, approaching its third birthday this August, according to theory, will begin breaking down too much more frequently.
What causes this?!
The yellow light sequence, according to Sony is just an indication of a ” general hardware failure.” Not all yellow lights are the same, but close to 90% of them are all caused by the GPU. What is a GPU? The GPU is your Graphics Processing Unit. The name of the GPU for the PS3 is the RSX, which stands for Reality Synthesizer.
The yellow occurs due to a breakdown from the “package” and the PCB (motherboard) and this failure is caused by the lead-free solder used to integrate the GPU and the motherboard together. Lead-free solder is less robust in comparison to lead based solder and is more prone to micro cracks that develop because of oxidizing of the solder. As a result this causes the complete disintegration from the motherboard and GPU processor. To get a better understanding of what can cause a “breakdown” click here.
Question: So if the lead-free solder is less robust, and causes these problems. Why is Sony using it?
Answer: Due to European Union laws (Called RoHs, google it for more information) and California environmental laws to reduce the amount of “eWaste,” this manufacturing directive restricts the use of six hazardous materials in the manufacture of various types of electronic and electrical equipment. One of these is of course the opposite of lead-free solder, lead solder!Care must be taken in selection of RoHS solders as some formulations are harder with less ductility, increasing the likelihood of cracks instead of plastic deformation, which is typical for lead-containing solders. Cracks can occur due to thermal or mechanical forces acting on components or the circuit board, the former being more common during manufacturing and the latter in the field. RoHS solders exhibit advantages and disadvantages in these respects, dependent on packaging and formulation. ( For the entire paper, please checkout: Thermal cycling reliability of SnAgCu and SnPb solder joints)
In summary: Lead-free bad for electronic longevity but good for the environment.
The Breakdown
Previously we were discussing the “breakdown”. Unfortunately we cannot attach any photos to this article. I’ll do my best to create a visual image. Consoles will develop the YLOD issue for many different reasons, but one of the most common reasons we see is due to excessive heat caused by poor ventilation.
Consoles could adequately ventilate the heat the console produces while being used. As a result, it is trapped with the console, and causes the consoles core temperature to consistently be above normal operating temperatures. As a result and as explained in the paper referenced above, this increases the likelihood of cracks instead of plastic deformation, which is typical for lead-free containing solders and these cracks can occur due to thermal or mechanical forces acting on components or the circuit board. Just how your PS3′s GPU is manufactured.
Question: So what do these solder cracks look like on the motherboard? Answer: We thought you would ask, but again we cannot add a photo. Search for photos on our website, Gophermods, under the PS3 Yellow Light Explained page.
How many cracks does it take to cause a YLOD?
Question: Okay, so now I know what causes a general yellow light failure, how many of these solder cracks does it take?
Answer: Only one well located solder crack will cause a yellow light. Others say, it takes many, or just one random. However, it actually only takes one on the BGA package. There are in total 1,344 individual 0.6mm lead-free solder spheres that integrated your RSX GPU to the PS3 motherboard. To see a diagram of the BGA layout, again checkout our website. The diagram shows all 1,344 individual spheres. The ones marked with color, if they develop a solder crack it will cause a yellow light failure.
So how do you fix it, and why is a heat gun is a bad idea.
All repairs and fixes always have a correct way and a wrong way. The wrong way to fix a yellow light is doing it yourself with a heat gun, oven, pizza maker, or anything you buy from Home Depot. YouTube has tons of great videos of kids fixing their consoles in 10 minutes. They don’t show you, that it only lasts for 10 minutes to ten hours, and fail to tell you if you do it wrong, you’ll completely ruin your console.
Now that you are informed on what the yellow light is, and that it is caused due to solder cracking. You should be able to tell, that a heat gun for 30 seconds over the processors will not “fix” the yellow light issue. Referencing back to the paper, you simply are bringing the consoles core temperature above normal operating temperatures and increasing of plastic deformation of the motherboard.
You are not fixing the cracks, all you are doing is warping the processor and motherboard so they are integrated. Hence, as soon as your console warms up, and the console begins to warm up under normal operating temperatures, the processor and the motherboard separate again, and you have a yellow light.
The WRONG thing to do is, try it again with a heat gun or oven, your just going to damage the processors and motherboard even more.
The melting point of the lead-free solder used to integrate your GPU RSX processor and your motherboard together is 217C.
To resolve the solder cracks, you must bring the solder above its melting point and get the solder “wet.” This must be precisely done as too much time above the solder’s TAL (Time above Liquidus) will damage the processor and the individual BGA joints. By not reaching the solders melting point you are effectively doing nothing to fix the real source of the issue, the cracked joints. You are merely warping the plastic to confirm a connection again, hence, why most heat gun and blow dryers repairs don’t last long.
If you reach TAL too fast, you can cause solder bridges, making it impossible to fix the yellow light without a complete reball, more on that later.
The reflow profile we use is roughly 15 minutes in length, without cooling. Below is an example of an industry standard reflow profile for most SMT lead-free reflows. We cannot show our exact reflow profile, since it is proprietary information that we have spent years perfecting.
In Summary: Now you may understand why Craigslisters can charge $30 for a reflow. They use a $15.00 heat gun with limited experience; it’s not only a waste of your time, and money but you risk damages!
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