Nerdnauts

How to Replace Your PS3 Laser: Part 1 – Extracting the BluRay Drive

So basically, while playing my Playstation 3, the laser suffered a heart attack and died unexpectedly. It was past its warranty and the cost to have it repaired was too steep, so I ended up doing it myself. It turned out to be quite simple to tear apart and tinker with. I’ve created this step-by-step guide you through the process of opening your PS3 and resurrecting the laser. In part 1 here, I’ll show you how to open the system and extract the disc drive. BEGIN!.

Honestly, I’ve played maybe 4 games total on my PS3. It kind of just sits there. That’s why I was surprised this year when the laser just up and died on me while playing God of War 3. I’m on the very first boss right? I’ve almost got him and suddenly the whole screen shudders, skips, then freezes. I couldn’t eject the disc or turn the system off with the front buttons, so I flipped the switch on the back. I powered it back up and everything seems fine until…omg, my game won’t load! I grab another disc which doesn’t load either. I try a blu-ray movie, no dice. Finally I try a PS2 game and it’s still giving me the finger. Software works just fine, I can even play games downloaded to the system. Scouring some forums, it sounds as though the laser has somehow become unuseable, warped, or something; the laser is dead.

First thing I do is check the warranty, which has expired only weeks prior to this happening. Great. Sony’s official repair service costs $150 just to have them look at a system and diagnose the problem. Seems like my only option would be to have them fix it at a ludicrous cost or purchase a new system. Well, I guess the new slims are kinda nice, but this was one of the last models with backwards compatibility built in.

So what do you do with a system you’d like to fix but your warranty is useless and you don’t want to pay to have repaired? Find the parts online and do it yourself!

I ordered a new laser assembly from The Gamer’s Fix for about $55. They are reputable and were recommended online and the purchasing experience was smooth in my case. Many people order from Ebay but this seemed like less hassle.

Replacement parts, check, what else? Before you get started you’ll need a set of very small screw drivers. The screws inside the PS3 are very tiny and a normal sized driver set won’t work here. I bought a set at Lowes for about $12. To get the case shell off you’ll need a small hex or star screwdriver as well. I also have a container for holding onto all the screws you’ll be removing, it’s the orange thing you see in the pics. Let’s begin!

Remove the Shell

The PS3 has an outer shell with the “Playstation 3″ logo on it that covers the upper piece of the plastic case. Lay the PS3 flat horizontally and look on the “base” where it would sit if it were vertical. The hard drive bay is also located here. Toward the top of this side is a little rubber foot covered by a warranty sticker. Ain’t got no warranty nomore, so rip that shit off. We live dangerously here!

Dig the rubber foot piece out with a finger nail or small screw driver, it should wiggle out fairly easily. This will reveal a small space where the hex screw is located that holds the plastic cover on. Go ahead and unscrew that. This is the only hex screw used throughout the case for what we’ll be doing, so it should be easy to remember where it goes during reassembly.

With the screw removed, slide the cover down toward you and lift it off the plastic case, then set it aside.

Opening the Case

With the cover removed, we now have to remove all the screws holding the top portion of the plastic case in place. They should be circled in the image. There are two very short screws in the center and one medium length screw in the top right corner. The rest are long screws. Remove them all, but keep track of which goes where.

The case should open now, but be careful, you want to gently lift it from the BACK of the system toward the front, like a clam shell.

When you’ve got the case open about 90 degrees you’ll see a small parallel cable attached from the main board to the card reader that is inside the top piece of the case. This is why you want to be gentle, if you tug on the cable you could damage it, creating another problem to fix.

The cable is held in place by small black latches on both attachments points. Slide your finger nail under the latch and it should pop open easily. Remove the cable and the case will be completely free. Set it aside as well.

Extracting the Disc Drive

Oh man, there she is, the BluRay drive ready to be gutted soon.

Before you do anything, let’s take a look around. The screws that hold the case in place also conveniently hold the drive in place as well, so that’s taken care of, it should lift freely. It is however attach with another, fatter parallel cable underneath it and a power cable on its side. Remove the parallel cable first. The latches pop up to release the cable just like the card reader before.

Once that’s done, you can lift it to the side for a bit more leverage to yank the power cable out. This one is in pretty tight, but doesn’t mean you need to force it out either. Grab it near the base and wiggle it back and forth a bit and it should slide out pretty easily.

The drive should be completely free now.

Simple enough! Stick around, next we’re going to take the disc drive apart so we can install the new laser.