is reballing a PS3 worth it ?

thedoc46 · 6 Oct 2013 at 21:18

My launch day PS3 ylod on me on Friday.

Given its a launch day console, its backwards compatible with the 16 ps2 titles I have. Which admitedly i hardly, play, but would like to keep for nostalgic reasons.

I'm seriously thinking about paying the $100 and getting it reballed.

However my concerns are that a reball is a complicated process, that looks to me that it needs to be done by someone with a LOT of patience and skill. For $100, which includes the shipping to and from, how much care and attention could someone seriously take on your machine.

Not going to waste my time on a reflow. If i'm going to do this i want something that's as permanent as you can get.

Or shall i just call it a day and buy a new 12gb and throw the 1TB drive in there, that's currently in that YLOD phat.

My question goes out to all those who were previously in my dilema, and had their phats reballed, and i want to hear, if its still going strong, if so how long ago did you reball it? or if only lasted a certain amount of time.

Thanks

bloodiedathame · 6 Oct 2013 at 22:23

Get a PS2 and a new PS3. Sorted.

I reflowed my dead phat and did new therm paste and cooling pads and got it working again but I didn't trust it so gave it away.

MadMatty · 6 Oct 2013 at 23:56

My own Launch day ps3 died on Friday. It took 10 mins of GTA V to finaly do it in.

I have take it apart to attempt a heatgun fix, but once it was back together I only got another 10 mins out of it, just long enough to make sure my latest saves were uploaded.

That £100 is better spent on a new ps3 to be honest. The reflow fixes (even paid ones)tend to only be a tempary fix anyway.

ps3ud0 · 7 Oct 2013 at 00:03

Hes talking about a 'professional' reball not throwing your PCB into your oven or using a heat gun and crossing your fingers

ps3ud0

Psycho Sonny · 7 Oct 2013 at 00:04

My launch BC ps3 died after 5 years and 11 months of use. Retailer was happy to pay 50% of a refurbished console from Sony.

Sony asked if I wanted the same model back or a newer version. I asked for the same one and it was louder than a Dyson. I then thought might as well just get a slim so they swapped it, the slim had psu issues, so I got a 3rd replacement another slim which is fine.

From my experience it's best just to let it go and buy brand new. Refurbished consoles tend to be crap.

Psycho Sonny · 7 Oct 2013 at 00:05

ps3ud0 said:
Hes talking about a 'professional' reball not throwing your PCB into your oven or using a heat gun and crossing your fingers

ps3ud0

How do you know it's a professional reball and not some guy using a heat gun or oven?

ps3ud0 · 7 Oct 2013 at 00:08

Psycho Sonny said:
How do you know it's a professional reball and not some guy using a heat gun or oven?

Because its completely different procedure that thedoc46 is after, reflowing is not the same as reballing. Just read the opening post...

ps3ud0 :cool:

Psycho Sonny · 7 Oct 2013 at 00:13

ps3ud0 said:
Because its completely different procedure that thedoc46 is after, reflowing is not the same as reballing. Just read the opening post...

ps3ud0

Yeah but the guy could be claiming to reball them and just reflowing them.

Better to stick the $100 towards a new console either way.

ps3ud0 · 7 Oct 2013 at 00:14

Its not hard to tell the difference between the two - do you actually know what you are talking about?

ps3ud0 :cool:

Psycho Sonny · 7 Oct 2013 at 00:34

How could you tell then if it had been reballed then?

Because reballing is removing the solder off the cpu and gpu as well as the motherboard then resoldering the chips but not the motherboard.

No way to tell it had been done without removing the cpu and gpu, which if you can do to check it, you may as well reball it as well yourself

ps3ud0 · 7 Oct 2013 at 00:43

LOL you clearly dont know what you are on about - reballing something isnt something you can do without decent electronics equipment. Go and reball a BGA chip package please

EDIT: In hindsight I missed your point about knowing the difference, yeah you are right it isnt easy to tell using your naked eye, but Ive assumed thedoc46 is doing the checks to make sure they will be doing a reball as its simply not something most people would be capable of doing themselves...

ps3ud0 :cool:

Suarez7 · 7 Oct 2013 at 01:02

GTA V has been killing brand new PS3's as well, including my superslim, sending it back to zavvi and went and bought myself a preowned older slim model and it's working much better and I don't have the really loud disc reading noise anymore that the super slims have.

thedoc46 · 7 Oct 2013 at 01:13

So has anyone had the reball then ?

These people http://www.ps3repairshop.com/ say they'll give a lifetime warranty labor re-do on their reball, on untampered ps3's. not that a warranty from a repair shop, like that means anything..

Anyway i was hoping for at least a few reballers here saying, yep done it 2 yrs ago, etc....... still going fine...

Again, I'm not reflowing, or heat gunning it.. I'm trying to figure out my probabilities of being a semi perm fix.

Psycho Sonny · 7 Oct 2013 at 01:23

Put the $100 towards a new console, I've had refurbished consoles directly from Sony and they were not fit for purpose

meths · 7 Oct 2013 at 01:25

Psycho Sonny said:
Put the $100 towards a new console, I've had refurbished consoles directly from Sony and they were not fit for purpose

I'd second this.

Not worth the money.

ps3ud0 · 7 Oct 2013 at 01:27

I dont think Ive ever seen anyone on here mention a reball - might be worth a search though - surely over there you should be able to get a 2nd hand PS3 for not much more?

That shop has a blog too - http://rsolpc.wordpress.com/category/ps3-repairs/

ps3ud0 :cool:

thedoc46 · 7 Oct 2013 at 02:32

ps3ud0 said:
I dont think Ive ever seen anyone on here mention a reball - might be worth a search though - surely over there you should be able to get a 2nd hand PS3 for not much more?

That shop has a blog too - http://rsolpc.wordpress.com/category/ps3-repairs/

ps3ud0

Thanks, I just went ahead and purchased a used PS2 slim on ebay for $50 /w three official controllers. So now I probably won't bother reballing my old launch day PHAT.

I'll just get a new 12gb ps3 for $200, which will include a new DS3, which always comes in handy. I have the 1TB drive, which i only put in the phat less than 3 weeks ago. Problem is the saves.. It was in my kids bedroom and i know he spent some time on some of his games.. Perhaps i'll try the heat gun myself just to get it going to ps+ the saves. undecided yet. Never saved on PS+.... kicking myself now.. guess never thought it would happen to me.... Didn't realise how often it happened on the old phats.

I had it activated for use on PS+, i guess i'll either need to heat gun it soon, or deactivate it for the 12gb replacement.

Solus · 7 Oct 2013 at 04:25

I offer reballing as part of my business.

I always advise people it's still not a perfect fix (which it isn't). 18 months is around what you should expect.

Bubo · 7 Oct 2013 at 09:38

There is also the naughty method of still being able to play your legitimate ps2 games when your ps3 phat dies on you such that you have to buy a non ps2 game compatible ps3 slim/super slim. But as I say, it is naughty. Though to me that naughtiness is somewhat diminished by the fact that you have just had to go out and buy a goddamn new ps3, and you still have your ps2 disks kicking about.

Psycho Sonny · 7 Oct 2013 at 13:10

Bubo said:
There is also the naughty method of still being able to play your legitimate ps2 games when your ps3 phat dies on you such that you have to buy a non ps2 game compatible ps3 slim/super slim. But as I say, it is naughty. Though to me that naughtiness is somewhat diminished by the fact that you have just had to go out and buy a goddamn new ps3, and you still have your ps2 disks kicking about.

"Given its a launch day console, its backwards compatible with the 16 ps2 titles I have. Which admitedly i hardly, play, but would like to keep for nostalgic reasons. "

i don't think he needs to or will even want to go down that route.

i had a BC ps3 and never used BC, it's just never needed nowadays as when people move to next gen consoles they tend to solely play next gen games.

there's only a handful of people who actually play old gen games after a new gen console has been around for what 8 years now, yes at the start of a next gen console you may want to play some but as time passes, they become less and less.

with the ps4 coming out in a matter of weeks now, the number of people playing ps2 games or even wanting to play them is going to be so low that sony just don't care.

thats why they removed BC from later ps3 models and there's no BC ps4 models.

it's just not that big of an issue and people who think it is can always buy the old console on the cheap anyway.