The Hair Dryer Trick
Some people have tried the infamous hairdryer trick to cure a YLOD problem on a Playstation 3. This is the result:
While you may be one of the lucky ones whose console still powers up after trying this "repair", it will not last very long. We have researched various repair techniques and heating profiles in order to cure the Playstation 3 YLOD fault. Simply blowing hot air in the vents of your Playstation 3 does not heat the right area of the board, and in fact causes more damage - not just cosmetically, but also to some of the components including the internal cooling fan and its shell as seen below. You can read more about our professional repairs or book your console in by clicking through to the Playstation Repair page.
Xbox 360 Fan Mod
Another "fix" we see often is the Xbox 360 fan mod. We have also seen a similar repair done to the Playstation 3. This is where a variable resistor has been placed between the internal fans and the motherboard, and the power turned up.
This causes the fans to be revved up with the aim being better cooling of the console. While in the short term they do help, the extra work the console is having to do actually draws in more dust in the long term, and adds to the heat. Also, the original fan set up regulates the internal temperature to be at its optimum, based on the heat the GPU and CPU produces. These chips operate best at a set temperature. The original fans run slowly when the temperature is low, and fast when hot, as the chips require. Messing with this set up is not a good idea. We see this mod as a bit of a fad, that offers no benefit, and can actually can contribute to a console failing. If your console is in need of some attention, check out our Xbox Repair page.
BluTack Mod
Yes, I'm afraid you read that right! A few console repair forum members decided that using BluTack instead of thermal paste was a good idea. Can we please stress that BluTack does not have the thermal transfer properties that our beloved consoles need. Other weird and wonderful attempts at fixing GPU faults that we've seen are:
- Soldering round the edge of the heat shield on a Playstation 3 RSX
- Glue round the edge of an Xbox 360 GPU
- The use of penny coins, taped in insulation tape, and stuck between an Xbox 360 GPU and its heatsinks to create pressure on the chips - not a good solution.
Home Repair Attempt
There are many YouTube videos showing how to repair iPads, iPhones, Xbox 360s and so on. Almost all of them miss out vital steps. We often get iPads sent in after attempted home repairs, where a broken screen was the initial problem, but then a whole lot more was required...
While we are sure many people out there successfully complete a home repair, if you are unfamiliar with repairs, don't have the correct equipment and don't use anti-static precautions, we recommend leaving it to the professionals.
The iPad pictured needed a new WiFi antenna, new volume ribbon cable, a new LCD, and the contacts for the home button were damaged and needed replacement.
We repair 1000s of iPads every year both from public and business customers. If your iPad has seen better days, please get in touch. Check out our iPad Repair page for more info.
We repair 1000s of iPads every year both from public and business customers. If your iPad has seen better days, please get in touch. Check out our iPad Repair page for more info.
