60GB Launch PS3: How Doomed is it?

[Dolobill]

I recently got my hands on a 60GB Launch (Fat) PS3 (model CECHA01). This is the $600 PS3 model that released at launch, and is the only model (along with the launch 20GB) that has native hardware backware compatibility with PS2 games.

I mostly intend on using the system for PS1 and PS2 games, but I'm a bit concerned about the longevity of the system. Everywhere I look, people say it's a ticking time bomb and is doomed to fail.

I'm hoping to quantify the failure rate with the poll. I've read people say that replacing thermal paste and installing custom firmware (for adjusting fan set points) can improve the life of the console. Do these preventative maintenance methods actually work?

Edit: Sorry for poor wording in the 4th poll option.

 

[LewieP]

I have one that is still working perfectly, but it was just used for a short while around launch, then it went into storage, until about ten years later when I acquired it. I try to avoid using it for long periods of time because I want it to survive as long as possible.

Edit: and if I do use it, I use digital purchases on it where that is an option, only using discs for disc only games, to avoid wear on the blu ray drive.

 

[platocplx]

I had a launch 60 back in the day I think it died after 4-5 years without maintenance, but that thing survived a fall from a high place and kept on going with a separated power so yeah crazy for me lol

 

[TheJollyCorner]

Tried plugging in my old 20gb launch system after sitting dormant about three years to play some of my PS2 games recently and I'm pretty sure it's dead. The system light turns on but all I get is a black screen with no sound. Bums me out, but it lived a long life.

Good luck, OP.

 

[defaltoption]

Ive had I believe 4 maybe 3 phat ps3s that all died at one point or another. I currently have two super slims going strong though of course they get much less use these days.

I never did any maintenance to any of them but basic dusting. The phats were all used very heavily.

 

[SirNinja]

My brother's 60GB model is apparently still going. Don't think he's used it in many years though.

It was nice being able to natively play PS2 games on that thing.

 

[jiggle]

The Blu-ray diode on mine died twice
But still plays digital and ps2 games


The last time I turned it on anyway

 

[Deleted member 420]

My 60gb's bluray drive died during a second playthrough of MGS4. I think the system was probably fine aside from that but I still traded it into Gamestop because I was dumb. Just don't stress the bluray drive with the dual layered games.

 

[Unaha-Closp]

Mine lives but it was a replacement from Sony. My launch one got the YLOD and they sent me a refurbished one. It is louder than 1000 PS4's though so it just sits there being all fat.

 

[HotHamWater]

I remember I got mine from Blockbuster in the UK, because they had some insane bundle including a bunch of blu-rays at the time. The disk drive died shortly after the warranty ended, so I bought one from ebay and replaced it, only for the new disk drive to die about 3 months later. I ended up getting a slim and I'm pretty sure the 60GB is in the the loft.

 

[Deleted member 34881]

Mine cant read blu rays but it still plays ps2 games fine and everything else works.

 

[internet rabbit]

oh man, i'm dealing with a 60gb launch model as well currently. getting a green light but no video at all, like my system isn't even cutting to a black screen from the input screen. wonder what that means.

 

[secretanchitman]

My 60GB 6 years after I got it, ironically right after I came back from EVO 2013. I think it's still in the box somewhere.

 

[Sulik2]

They will all 100% die eventually. Factories did not know how to work with lead free solder yet and led to a massive issue with motherboards across all of computing in that era. If you have a launch 60GB that still works you are incredibly lucky.

 

[Dolobill]

Part of me hopes that if it lasted this long, it's good for the long haul. Probably wishful thinking...

 

[Fuzzy]

The real repair that needs to be done on them is the cap replacement described in this video.

 

[mute]

Not launch but my MGS4 model died after about 18 months or so.

 

[Kazer]

Mine's alive. It got the YLOD at one point so I had to send it in for service.

 

[Astandahl]

Sold to a friend in 2009. Still lives.

 

[androvsky]

The current running theory is there's a set of capacitors that don't handle heat well and there's no good replacements since it's a crazy form factor, though I've seen people replace them successfully anyway. I don't know if there's been much data from that particular repair to see if it really does work well.

Mine died after four or five years of reasonably heavy use, I did a reflow and got another year out of it. It's currently sitting as a pile of parts in my closet as I wait to decide if it's worth it to attempt the capacitor replacement. My other options include hope Sony actually does the right thing with the PS5 (lol) or build up a PC dedicated to emulation.

 

[xpownz]

my brothers 60gb died in my hands while playing gta v
RIP

 

[Piggus]

Mine died, and every 60 gb PS3 that wasn't professionally re-balled with lead solder is destined for the same fate eventually.

The current running theory is there's a set of capacitors that don't handle heat well and there's no good replacements since it's a crazy form factor, though I've seen people replace them successfully anyway. I don't know if there's been much data from that particular repair to see if it really does work well.

Mine died after four or five years of reasonably heavy use, I did a reflow and got another year out of it. It's currently sitting as a pile of parts in my closet as I wait to decide if it's worth it to attempt the capacitor replacement. My other options include hope Sony actually does the right thing with the PS5 (lol) or build up a PC dedicated to emulation.

Click to shrink...

The YLOD (and RRoD on 360) can be caused by several issues, but by far the most common is the weak lead-free solder used to hold the main chips to the motherboard. These lead balls weaken over time with repeated heating and cooling cycles and will eventually detach from the board as it flexes under heat. You can reflow the chips in order to fully reattach them, but they'll eventually come off again (as you discovered) since the solder is very weak by that point. The only way to fix it is to have the solder balls replaced (which is an option that some repair places offer!)

I reflowed my PS3 numerous times because I was desperate to finish RDR. The first time, it lasted about a month. By the end, it would die within seconds of booting up.

 

[Nexus2049]

It lives with replaced thermal paste.

 

[bushmonkey]

I didn't have a launch model For a long while then my father in law gave me his one about 3 years ago but my kids preceded to kill it less than a month later by playing LEGO marvel non-stop for a whole weekend. It just wouldn't turn on again after that. I still have my first phat PS3 and it still works but it doesn't have PS2 BC.

 

[Rowsdower]

Mine lasted right up until The Last of Us came out. 2006 to 2013, with fairly heavy use. Put in The Last Of Us, and everything was just.. messed up. Models, music, textures. Then the game frozen. Then it spat out the disc, and turned off. Never turned back on again.

RIP 60gb PS3, killed by Joel.

To be fair this was happening to other games as well, just after a restart things would go back to normal. It was a sign the PS3 was dying.

TLDR; mine lasted 6 years with medium-heavy use and no maintenance. Only thing I did was change the standard HDD and dust it.

 

[golem]

My launch one is still rockin'

 

[Symphony]

It'll die, it's just case of how many miles it has on the clock as the PS3's problem stems from the lead free solder melting from the heat (due to the garbage cooling system) and then hardening again causing the solder joins to crack. Longer play sessions are actually better than lots of shorter ones since you're melting it less times. Replacing the thermal paste (the default stuff is trash) and fitting a better fan would make it last a bit longer, as would keeping use to a minimum. Honestly though, I think the only way to keep one of those going long term would be to gut the innards, put them inside a PC tower and replace the cooling system entirely with a water cooled solution or something.

 

[TacoSupreme]

My 60GB launch PS3's bluray lens died a couple years after purchase. I replaced the lens, but it died again within a year. After that I just ripped my entire collection of games to disc and used custom firmware. Friends and family with slim PS3s never had this problem, but everyone I know who had a phat PS3 eventually had some kind of hardware trouble.

It's kinda weird that my launch PS3 had so many troubles, but my launch 360 still boots fine to this day.

 

[Deleted member 420]

my brothers 60gb died in my hands while playing gta v
RIP

Click to shrink...

How'd you break the news to him? How'd he take it?

 

[zoodoo]

Tried plugging in my old 20gb launch system after sitting dormant about three years to play some of my PS2 games recently and I'm pretty sure it's dead. The system light turns on but all I get is a black screen with no sound. Bums me out, but it lived a long life.

Good luck, OP.

Click to shrink...

You might just not be using the right cable. That happened to me. Previous time I used it was with av cable then a few weeks later plugged it with hdmi and blackscreen. You have to plug it with the right cable then go settings and change the outpout

 

[XMonkey]

My launch system lives, although it sees very little use.

I redid the thermal paste some years ago. Pretty fun taking it apart, actually.

 

[Psychonaut]

My 60GB got the yellow light of death in early '09 as I was playing the Brutal Legend demo. No maintenance. Thankfully I was able to turn it on one last time to eject my friend's copy of Fallout 3.

Got a slim a few months later and it lasted until GTAV killed the disk drive.

 

[zoodoo]

My 60GB launch PS3's bluray lens died a couple years after purchase. I replaced the lens, but it died again within a year. After that I just ripped my entire collection of games to disc and used custom firmware. Friends and family with slim PS3s never had this problem, but everyone I know who had a phat PS3 eventually had some kind of hardware trouble.

It's kinda weird that my launch PS3 had so many troubles, but my launch 360 still boots fine to this day.

Click to shrink...

Mine died the first week I bought it. Could not read any disks. I was furious cause I did not buy it locally. So I had to ship it to Sony and dumb me sent the controller also which they did not return. I ended up playing with a ps2 controller and a usb adapter for a while cause they did not sell any ps3 controller in my area. My first few months with the ps3 were a nightmare

 

[evilalien]

Mine is working fine still, though I did replace the thermal paste at some point when it started getting really loud.

 

[R IS REAL 2041]

Mine still going, don't know it's history because I bought it on 3.55 in 2015. I did everything I could think of/within my power except the NEC/Tokin thing.

 

[xpownz]

How'd you break the news to him? How'd he take it?

Click to shrink...

"André, your PS3 is now a brick"

At the time I was 21...so he was 26. He already had his gaming pc rolling and was overly addicted to it. No harm done. Good fella, my brother

 

[HebrewHammer]

Died a few years in and had to get a slim.

 

[Deleted member 420]

At the time I was 21...so he was 26. He already had his gaming pc rolling and was overly addicted to it. No harm done. Good fella, my brother

Click to shrink...

Good dude indeed

 

[zMiiChy-]

Mine had to be sent in for repairs twice, but has been used semi regularly ever since.

The Blue tooth feature is really wonky, but it works fine otherwise.

 

[RCSI]

Mine is two choices, I knew it lived when I tucked it away 10 years ago without maintenance, but I don't know if it will still boot.

 

[PlayBee]

My 80GB is fine though I replaced the HDD long ago with a bigger one

 

[TheJollyCorner]

You might just not be using the right cable. That happened to me. Previous time I used it was with av cable then a few weeks later plugged it with hdmi and blackscreen. You have to plug it with the right cable then go settings and change the outpout

Click to shrink...

I'll try this! Thank you!

 

[Hokey]

I bought mine on launch day and put it away into storage only last year (still works perfectly). Zero issues the whole time outside of a bit of fan noise which was fixed by cleaning dust inside.

 

[hey it's that dog]

My OG was killed by Kratos in March of 2010.

 

[blockhead1700]

I have a launch 20gb that I recently acquired that works perfect after I switched the Blu-ray drive out due to it having trouble reading discs. It had never been opened prior to my getting it(warranty sticker was still in place) and it was full of dust. I changed the drive with the one out of my 80gb PS3 and it works perfectly. It's whisper quiet when turned on and doesn't seem to be getting too hot.

 

[Clowns]

Last I heard, the primary cause of YLOD isn't poor solder as people thought for a decade, but bad capacitors. So this may be a solved issue.

 

[skillzilla81]

My 20gb is still going strong. Have it in my arcade cab.

 

[Deleted member 41651]

My phatty died almost 2 years after purchase. Used a console repair place which fixed it only to die 5 days later. They fixed it again free of charge then I sold it on Ebay with a huge disclaimer. I loved that thing, though.

 

[nogoodnamesleft]

replaced the thermal paste and a larger fan and now its whisper quit and running fine

 

[Pocky4Th3Win]

Still got mine and it's running as good as it does. It's just so sluggish compared to modern consoles.