Playstation 3 and the Yellow Light of DEATH

[Trekker4747]

You know, it'd be nice if these companies stress-tested these expensive electronics some and made sure they could handle extreme temperature tolerances. How is it a great many computers, TVs, DVD/BD-players and countless other electronics and can be used constantly for years without problems, but a PS3 bricks itself after a few years because of some mild use?

I bought my PS3 in the winter of 2008/2009 as a console but more for a Blu-Ray player. And it's overall served that role great, the "smart BD player" aspect has been great and even though I'll never have one it's also nice that the PS3 automatically updated itself to a 3D-BD player when that format came out.

*Sigh*

So this afternoon I get home and start watching a DVD, a few minutes in the video goes blank, the PS3 beeps three times and the red-light on it flashes.

Flip the switch, reboot, three beeps, flashing red light.

I knew instantly this had to be something plaguing the PS3 community, researched it and, sure enough, learned of the "Yellow Light of Death." (So named because of brief flash of yellow from the usual green-active light to the flashing red light on the console.)

I tried a few things, like vacuuming out the vents and such for better airflow but my research told me that this was a pretty critical issue that many suffered and that I'd need to resort to more desperate measures.

One involved removing the unit's harddrive and running a hair-dryer set on high over the rear vents of the device. (This correcting the solder/heat-weld issues inside the unit... I guess.) Well, I don't have a hair dryer (I'm a dude and I own towels plus I know that a semi-dry atmosphere exists in my home) and it seemed this "solution" was not only temporary but not strictly a "sure thing."

Some quick research revealed a more involved and permanent repair involving simple tools but also required things I didn't have (a "heat gun" and special heat -absorbing gels.) Luckily, some internet-researched revealed a fairly near-by computer/game shop that repairs consoles. I called over there and told the guy, "I have a PS3 with the Yellow Light of Death."

He knew immediately what I was talking about, especially since I have the larger PS3 model and that this problem is common to it (and I guess becoming more common as these models "get older.) He told me he should be able to repair it for $50, flat-fee for the YLOD PS3 repair and it'll be fixed by Tuesday/Wednesday.

Hopefully any "damage" caused by this heat issue isn't irreparable (heat and electronics not good bed fellows), it seems the more involved repair is more-or-less a sure thing but still has a likelihood of failure. (I hope having it done "professionally" ups my odds.) Which, well, if it doesn't work I guess the device I lose isn't a big deal since it's done anyway. I lose $50, though.

And, well, then I'm going out and just buying a simple smart BD player. I'm not spending $250 for a refurbished/pre-owned PS3 nor am I spending nearly $400+ on a new PS4.

Why am I posting this?

A) To get it off my chest.

B) WHAT THE FUCK?! I spent $400 on this thing, don't use it all that intensely and it only lasted 6 goddamn years?! Was largely playing DVDs/BDs in an open environment (It's out in the open/not contained in a cabinet and I even have the base of it propped up a few inches for better air-flow) just *too* much for it?! What the fuck, Sony?! I expect more from you.

Well, not really, but more than *this.*

 

[Mr. Adventure]

After years of luck my 360 Elite gave me the RROD the other day and I'm in the same boat as you. The repair shop is literally just up the street for me but I haven't dragged myself up there yet. I don't play it very much these days but yet I still have some old games that I either want to play or play again someday.

 

[Trekker4747]

Same here, I like the PS3 as a BD player but I suspect a Sony "Smart" Blu-Ray player (or any Blu-Ray player) will provide with the same "apps" and stuff the PS3 has. But, sheesh, there are still some PS3 games I like to play. But, if it is Bricked then I've got some games to sell which may help off-set the cost of buy a new BD-player.

 

[martok2112]

Please don't take this the wrong way, for it is not intended to start a console war in this thread....but you should consider yourself fortunate.

I have owned three PS3's.....the first of which was the original 60gb fully backwards compatible model. I got a few good years of strong use out of it as both a gaming console, and a blu-ray player before it finally gave up the ghost in the machine. The next two I still own, and run just fine.

I have owned seven Xbox 360's. The first one gave up the ghost in the machine long before my original PS3 did...and PS3 came out after the 360. Five other 360's I've owned (all brand new) failed (two in the first week of owning them....one of them (a Resident Evil 5 Special Edition Elite...a pre-order at that time) failed right out of the box.

I still get 360's (at least they aren't Xbox Ones), and I'll still get PS3's should the need arise.

Machines fail....that's a given....but it is amazing that Xbox 360 continued to be a popular console with a 47-52% manufacturer failure rate.

 

[Amaris]

I know how you feel, but for me it was the XBox 360. Back in 2008, I went through three of those damned things, and finally told Microsoft where they could put the last one. I didn't have a gaming system from that point forward until recently, where I just got my used PS2. A PS2, by the way, which was in a house filled with dirt and dust, crammed into the corner of an entertainment center. I cleaned it from stem to stern, and fired it up, and watched as it started working like it was brand new.

Anyway, speaking of the XBox 360, I remember talking to one of the support people from Microsoft, where I mentioned that I would play for an hour, and the system would just overheat and give me the RROD. I also recall him telling me that I shouldn't play games for an hour, that the system wasn't designed to run that long all at once. Seriously, that is what he told me. I knew it was bullshit, but the sheer denial MS went through for the longest time should have drove millions of gamers away. Of course, it didn't. Even one of my friends would tell me, "I've had 5. Just keep getting it replaced." That kind of thinking just baffles me. It's a waste of time, and money, to have to replace your gaming system every couple of weeks (which was the frequency by which I was exchanging them).

It's poor design is what it is, because they're too busy making it look good to care about the engineering. It's just my opinion, but everything they make anymore is throwaway, intended to last a few years at best, and to breakdown right around the time the new shiny comes out.

 

[Trekker4747]

Machines fail....that's a given....but it is amazing that Xbox 360 continued to be a popular console with a 47-52% manufacturer failure rate.

Sure, machines fail, but there's no reason why a machine that cost $400 and a major company spent years developing and, presumably, testing should fail because it can't properly cool itself disrupting the soldering inside of it. Especially after only a few years of, fairly light compared to most gamers, use.

As I said, how is computers, TVs, conventional DVD/BD players all manage to run much longer life-spans without any problems but, here, I have a PS3 that bricked itself inside a few years?

It's poor testing and design on Sony's part (and on Microsoft's part when it comes to the 360 and the RRoD.)

Short of abusing it, dropping it a lot, or maybe even improper placement there's no reason why a well-designed piece of electronic equipment should *ever* fail due to a hardware issue. There's certainly the occasional "X-Factor" when it comes to any device, not everything comes off the assembly line 100% perfect but that so many people had trouble with the RRoD and the YLoD suggests these machines were not well made or designed in the slightest.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Have these kinds of issues cropped up with the PS4 or Xbone yet?

 

[martok2112]

Robert, far as I can tell, both new platforms are a lot more stable....although I did hear that the first run of PS4s did apparently have a problem with their HDMI ports....a problem which seems to have been resolved....that's why I never buy a new console in its first run...there are almost inevitably going to be problems. My PS4 thus far has run splendidly.

I haven't heard of any deal-breaking mechanical problems with Xbox One. Their problems were largely involving a gun, and a foot. (problems that certainly are enough to keep me from even looking at an Xbox One....and I was fully ready to embrace the new generation until the Xbox One debacle.)


Trekker4747, I was conversing with my roomie the other day about the consoles we've owned in the last generation. He's had the completely opposite result in owning three Xbox 360's over the years. They've all served him well since purchase, and if they failed or bricked, it was after what he felt was his money's worth in terms of use. I think you might have simply had bad luck with a singular PS3, just as I seem to be a magnet for failed Xbox 360's.

He's never owned a PS3, but that was largely due to his "buy American" upbringing. However, with the PR fiasco over Xbox One, he's considering getting a PS3, and watches me playing PS4, thinking about getting a PS4 when the library becomes more impressive. However, he absolutely will not get an Xbox One because of what M$ tried to pull before launching their new console....(as indeed millions of gamers have decided the exact same thing).

 

[BillJ]

I've got a 20 GB PS3 that I've had since 2009 and it still runs like a charm and that is with heavy use. I had a ton of problems with the Xbox360.

If it dies tomorrow, I'll have gotten my monies worth out of it a dozen times over.

 

[RoJoHen]

I've got a 20 GB PS3 that I've had since 2009 and it still runs like a charm and that is with heavy use. I had a ton of problems with the Xbox360.

If it dies tomorrow, I'll have gotten my monies worth out of it a dozen times over.

That's been my experience as well. Bought mine in 2008, and I have never had a single problem with it.

 

[Owain Taggart]

I don't know, but 6 years is a pretty good life for electronics these days. My first one didn't last half that long, and I ended up replacing it with a white 500GB model. If anything, I'd count yourself lucky.

I've had lots of devices of all kinds fall short, the most ridiculous one being a blue-ray player that lasted less than 4 months with hardly any use.

 

[Kelthaz]

I've never had a system die on me. Even older CD systems I own like the Sega Saturn and Playstation still work great to this day. I dunno, guess I've been lucky.

 

[Trekker4747]

I don't know, but 6 years is a pretty good life for electronics these days. .

That we say such things like this is utterly sad. Six years for me is not good for a machine that cost $400 and only saw moderate use in ideal placement/storage conditions. Not when many other electronics last far longer, my computer is 8 years old and still runs like a champ, if out dated.

There's an old TV set that used to be my grandmother's (I'm talking OLD, this thing has a 20" screen, screw ports for connections and KNOBS, and little color adjustment knobs you manipulate with a jewler's screwdriver) so this thing is nearly 40 years old. Still works, doesn't see much use, obviously, but works.

So six years for an electronic device made by one of the largest electronic manufacturers in the world? Bricked due to a rather serious design problem with heat management? (A problem corrected on later models of the PS3, including the Slim) Sorry, no, 6-years is unacceptable when there's still NES' s, N64's, PS-Ones and countless other systems out there that are years to decades old still running like champs.

Yeah, they don't have as heat-intensive hardware as the PS3 does, but the thing could have been designed a lot better to manage heat and not have thsse problems.

 

[Amaris]

Agreed. 6 years is not an adequate length of time for a console to continue working, unless you're a hardware manufacturer, of course. We've known how to cool high end hardware for years, yet the 360 and PS3 can't be arsed to include that relatively inexpensive technology? Yeah, that doesn't fly with me.

 

[Trekker4747]

Did the Apple III teach us anything?

 

[Random_Spock]

Agreed. 6 years is not an adequate length of time for a console to continue working, unless you're a hardware manufacturer, of course. We've known how to cool high end hardware for years, yet the 360 and PS3 can't be arsed to include that relatively inexpensive technology? Yeah, that doesn't fly with me.

Definitely. I still have my old PS2. It's over 10 years old and still working well. Just don't play any dvd's on it, and just use it for gaming.

It seems as if (from what I've read about so far) that around 6 years or so is the life span for most PS3's. It comes down to planned obsolescence imo. They want people to keep on buying and buying.

That's why I'll only get a PS3 if it's on sale. It's not worth $260 something + Tax to me. Around $150, maybe. So onto Black Friday... Not counting on much though.

 

[Amaris]

Did the Apple III teach us anything?

Only the ones willing to learn from it. Companies cut corners thinking nobody will notice, and then "whoops!" when nearly 50% of their machines die from heat damage. Of course, then they just deny it, say it was your fault, and finally pay for the return of some of them, and mumble mumble mumble.

Agreed. 6 years is not an adequate length of time for a console to continue working, unless you're a hardware manufacturer, of course. We've known how to cool high end hardware for years, yet the 360 and PS3 can't be arsed to include that relatively inexpensive technology? Yeah, that doesn't fly with me.

Definitely. I still have my old PS2. It's over 10 years old and still working well. Just don't play any dvd's on it, and just use it for gaming.

It seems as if (from what I've read about so far) that around 6 years or so is the life span for most PS3's. It comes down to planned obsolescence imo. They want people to keep on buying and buying.

That's why I'll only get a PS3 if it's on sale. It's not worth $260 something + Tax to me. Around $150, maybe. So onto Black Friday... Not counting on much though.

Yeah, it should be illegal. I'd say don't buy things from companies that do that, but planned obsolescence is incorporated into nearly every product these days. I get that companies need to make money, and business relies on repeat sales, but instead of making a great product and offering a better one years later, they just make them cheap and estimate how many years they have to churn the next one out as the first one breaks. It's lazy. Of course, they wouldn't do it if they couldn't get away with it, but they do, and so many gamers just nod their heads and exchange their boxes for a new one that will burn out as if that's the way it has always been. Then they'll lap up the next generation console a few years later.

 

[Trekker4747]

It's lazy. Of course, they wouldn't do it if they couldn't get away with it, but they do, and so many gamers just nod their heads and exchange their boxes for a new one that will burn out as if that's the way it has always been. Then they'll lap up the next generation console a few years later.

See: Poster above who thinks 6 years is a good run for a $400 piece of machinery.

 

[Amaris]

It's lazy. Of course, they wouldn't do it if they couldn't get away with it, but they do, and so many gamers just nod their heads and exchange their boxes for a new one that will burn out as if that's the way it has always been. Then they'll lap up the next generation console a few years later.

See: Poster above who thinks 6 years is a good run for a $400 piece of machinery.

Well, it's possible some people have the money to figure it's worth the cost. I'm not one of them, though. Then again, there are people who think paying hundreds of dollars for a phone they'll be trading in next year in order to pay hundreds of dollars for the next phone is a great deal. For some reason, they think it's worth it. So manufacturers get away with it, and will continue to do so as long as it remains lucrative. Why give a damn if the customer is begging you to do it? Oh, some will complain, but they'll buy it anyway, and that complaint will disappear the moment they power on their new toy. That's how it works.

 

[Kemaiku]

Have these kinds of issues cropped up with the PS4 or Xbone yet?

The PS4 had a specific batch with a "blue light of death", not all PS4's had the problem. It wasn't much of a problem beyond the few couple of months.

The White PS4 that came out this year has hardware revisions and is less likely to fail than the originals.

But come on, $400 is £260 and you complain you *only* got 6 full years heavy use out of it? 6 entire years is pretty damn good for that.

The only things I've ever owned that made it that length of time are my original DS this year, and it's just about surviving, and my original laptop, which was falling to pieces. This was is too at the 5.5 year mark.

6 years is the benchmark I use to replace anything that I intend to use for a 'long time'.