Thanks to a fellow member of the TE, I was recently able to get my hands on a PS3 super slim for a cheap rate. The model number is CECH-4008C. Now the PS3 was not working and obviously in a dire need of restoration. This is a summary of the work that I have been working for the past few weekends [I only get limited time these days after office].
So, this is going to be a long post.
Also, I forgot to take pictures in many cases. So, I will try to explain the stuffs to the best of my knowledge but unfortunately, I don’t have the patience and energy to open the console once again just to take the picture. Please bear with me.
Okay. So, let’s begin. The first course of action of was to actually connect the all the cables and check what the issues are. I was aware the Disc drive was sporadically turning on / off for no apparent reason.
I connected all the cables, namely power, HDMI, Multioutput AV cable, and LAN. The PS3 would not even boot. The power LED would light up for barely a second and it would turn off. Now that’s a not a good sign at all. I tried with just the AV cable but same result. I tried with just the HDMI Cable but still no luck. I tried with the soft reset option, but it DID NOT work. In short, the PS3 was almost DEAD.
So now the real project begins.
The tools that we need are
• Multibit screwdriver set [the amazon basics set is a great one. This is enough for opening the PS3.]. Otherwise We need a T8 Torx security, Philips #1 , Philips #00 and a prying tool of some sort like a guitar pick
• Old toothbrush
• A couple of Q-tips
• Isopropyl Alcohol [for cleaning]
• CR2032 batteries [It is called BIOS battery in local store]
• Heatsink compound [Arctic MX4 is good]
• Roll of tissues
• Old T shirt or rags
We start by taking off the console apart in pieces.
1. The drive cage is easy to open. One needs to slide off the cover on the right side and it reveals the drive bay. There is a single blue screw holding the drive. Just use a Philips screwdriver to open it. The PS3 uses a standard 2.5 inch laptop HDD. You can replace it with any Laptop HDD as long as the height is 9.5 mm. I guess 2TB is the max size at the height. Also remove all the other three screws.
2. Then we need to turn the console upside down and remove the four screws. NOTE THAT THIS WILL VOID YOUR WARRANTY. You have been warned. Three screws are behind the rubber feet and one is behind the sticker. The small tool is perfect for removing the rubber feet without damaging them.
3. Use a Spudger to push the tab on the rear top finisher, and lift up to remove it. The red tabbed tool is great for this. Start from the left of the console and gently work towards the right of the console. The top panel should come off. Same can be used for the bottom panel too.
4. Remove the 5 screws from the front of the PS3. Four are on the lower half and only one is on the top part. Also remove the 2 screws inside the DISC tray. Be careful not to touch the Lens head. It’s delicate and should never be touched barehanded.
5. Lift the top cover and you should be one step closer.
6. Remove the power connector from right side and two screws holding the power module. After that, the power module simple lifts off straight. If this is the first time you are removing it then it can be little stiff. But you can use gentle force to rock the module and lift it off. Don’t worry there is nothing to break here. There are just 2 metal prongs holding the power module. My first doubt was that the power module is faulty and simple replacing it with another power module will resolve the issue. But it was not so. Even after replacing the power module with a new one the problem was still there. On closer inspection of the power module it seems its relatively low power. The output is 13A on 12V which is great from the engineering point of view.
7. Next we need to remove the optical drive. For this we need to remove the ribbon cables. The top cable is easy. The bottom wider cable is a bit tricky. Use a small flathead screwdriver to slightly lift the lock and then remove the ribbon cable.
8. We need to remove the seven screws. The we need to lift motherboard up out of the lower half of the case to remove it. Be careful not to bend the HMI or AV connector. We also need to remove the WiFi and Bluetooth antennae. Make sure to unscrew the two-metal antenna and take pictures of them if need as they are routed through a series of small cutouts.
9. Next, we need to flip the motherboard and remove all the 6 screws. This will give us the full access to the motherboard. At the end of all this you should have a lot of parts with you.
10. I am marking the various Chips used in a PS3 super slim. Some chips are universal [Like the Cell BE, Sony Multi adapter etc] while RAM modules etc vary by model and region too.
11. For cleaning purpose we need to use IPA and clean everything thoroughly. You can even use distilled water for cleaning the plastics and metals parts including the heat sinks. BUT MAKE SURE THAT IT IS DRY BEFORE PUTTING IT ALL BACK. Use the toothbrush to go into the crevices and clean the fan and grooves of ps3 thoroughly.
12. It is also a good idea to replace the CMOS battery of the PS3. These batteries have a life of about 5 years and it’s a good idea to replace them while we have the option. This will keep our clock in time. And there was this one time I was unable to access any OTT on the PS3 and there was no reason for it to not work. I reinstalled the apps / then did a full restore of PS3 OS. But the culprit was that my clock was running in 1990. How I don’t know. But after syncing the clock everything went normal. So it’s always a good idea to replace the CMOS battery after a couple of years.
13. Also, since the Cell Broadband Engine chip is a massive one the usual method of dropping a pea sized thermal paste is not going to work. Use an old credit card and smear the thermal compound evenly on it. Don’t forget to use a tiny amount on the RSX chip too.
14. For Assembling we simply need to follow the guide in reverse order.
So, this is going to be a long post.
Also, I forgot to take pictures in many cases. So, I will try to explain the stuffs to the best of my knowledge but unfortunately, I don’t have the patience and energy to open the console once again just to take the picture. Please bear with me.
Okay. So, let’s begin. The first course of action of was to actually connect the all the cables and check what the issues are. I was aware the Disc drive was sporadically turning on / off for no apparent reason.
I connected all the cables, namely power, HDMI, Multioutput AV cable, and LAN. The PS3 would not even boot. The power LED would light up for barely a second and it would turn off. Now that’s a not a good sign at all. I tried with just the AV cable but same result. I tried with just the HDMI Cable but still no luck. I tried with the soft reset option, but it DID NOT work. In short, the PS3 was almost DEAD.
So now the real project begins.
The tools that we need are
• Multibit screwdriver set [the amazon basics set is a great one. This is enough for opening the PS3.]. Otherwise We need a T8 Torx security, Philips #1 , Philips #00 and a prying tool of some sort like a guitar pick
• Old toothbrush
• A couple of Q-tips
• Isopropyl Alcohol [for cleaning]
• CR2032 batteries [It is called BIOS battery in local store]
• Heatsink compound [Arctic MX4 is good]
• Roll of tissues
• Old T shirt or rags
We start by taking off the console apart in pieces.
1. The drive cage is easy to open. One needs to slide off the cover on the right side and it reveals the drive bay. There is a single blue screw holding the drive. Just use a Philips screwdriver to open it. The PS3 uses a standard 2.5 inch laptop HDD. You can replace it with any Laptop HDD as long as the height is 9.5 mm. I guess 2TB is the max size at the height. Also remove all the other three screws.
2. Then we need to turn the console upside down and remove the four screws. NOTE THAT THIS WILL VOID YOUR WARRANTY. You have been warned. Three screws are behind the rubber feet and one is behind the sticker. The small tool is perfect for removing the rubber feet without damaging them.
3. Use a Spudger to push the tab on the rear top finisher, and lift up to remove it. The red tabbed tool is great for this. Start from the left of the console and gently work towards the right of the console. The top panel should come off. Same can be used for the bottom panel too.
4. Remove the 5 screws from the front of the PS3. Four are on the lower half and only one is on the top part. Also remove the 2 screws inside the DISC tray. Be careful not to touch the Lens head. It’s delicate and should never be touched barehanded.
5. Lift the top cover and you should be one step closer.
6. Remove the power connector from right side and two screws holding the power module. After that, the power module simple lifts off straight. If this is the first time you are removing it then it can be little stiff. But you can use gentle force to rock the module and lift it off. Don’t worry there is nothing to break here. There are just 2 metal prongs holding the power module. My first doubt was that the power module is faulty and simple replacing it with another power module will resolve the issue. But it was not so. Even after replacing the power module with a new one the problem was still there. On closer inspection of the power module it seems its relatively low power. The output is 13A on 12V which is great from the engineering point of view.
7. Next we need to remove the optical drive. For this we need to remove the ribbon cables. The top cable is easy. The bottom wider cable is a bit tricky. Use a small flathead screwdriver to slightly lift the lock and then remove the ribbon cable.
8. We need to remove the seven screws. The we need to lift motherboard up out of the lower half of the case to remove it. Be careful not to bend the HMI or AV connector. We also need to remove the WiFi and Bluetooth antennae. Make sure to unscrew the two-metal antenna and take pictures of them if need as they are routed through a series of small cutouts.
9. Next, we need to flip the motherboard and remove all the 6 screws. This will give us the full access to the motherboard. At the end of all this you should have a lot of parts with you.
10. I am marking the various Chips used in a PS3 super slim. Some chips are universal [Like the Cell BE, Sony Multi adapter etc] while RAM modules etc vary by model and region too.
11. For cleaning purpose we need to use IPA and clean everything thoroughly. You can even use distilled water for cleaning the plastics and metals parts including the heat sinks. BUT MAKE SURE THAT IT IS DRY BEFORE PUTTING IT ALL BACK. Use the toothbrush to go into the crevices and clean the fan and grooves of ps3 thoroughly.
12. It is also a good idea to replace the CMOS battery of the PS3. These batteries have a life of about 5 years and it’s a good idea to replace them while we have the option. This will keep our clock in time. And there was this one time I was unable to access any OTT on the PS3 and there was no reason for it to not work. I reinstalled the apps / then did a full restore of PS3 OS. But the culprit was that my clock was running in 1990. How I don’t know. But after syncing the clock everything went normal. So it’s always a good idea to replace the CMOS battery after a couple of years.
13. Also, since the Cell Broadband Engine chip is a massive one the usual method of dropping a pea sized thermal paste is not going to work. Use an old credit card and smear the thermal compound evenly on it. Don’t forget to use a tiny amount on the RSX chip too.
14. For Assembling we simply need to follow the guide in reverse order.
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