When Sony launched its latest PlayStation in 2007, they described it as a super powered entertainment machine. No longer just a games console, the PlayStation 3 could play high-definition movies and digital TV, store photos and music, and connect to the internet. It sold for £425, making it the most expensive console on the market, but that was ok, because it was built to last, right? At the North American launch of the PS3 in November 2006, Sony Computer Entertainment President Kaz Hirai told CNN, "I think the investment the consumers make on day one with the PS3 is an investment that they can enjoy for many, many years to come."
But after a little more than two years, the enjoyment of some owners of the original PS3 has turned to frustration: their machines have broken down without warning, and all have displayed the same fault indicator - a yellow flashing light. When that light shows, the box no longer works. It's become so feared by gamers that they've dubbed it "The Yellow Light of Death".
More than 150 Watchdog viewers have contacted us to say they've experienced it, and by Sony's own admission, around 12,500 of the 2.5 million PlayStations sold in the UK have shut down in this way since March 2007. The problem is mainly thought to affect the 60GB launch model, but Sony repeatedly refuses to release the failure rate for that model, claiming that the information is "commercially sensitive".
If this failure had occurred in the first 12 months after purchase, Sony would have replaced the customer's console without charge, but since the problem appears to be affecting consoles after 18-24 months of use, and therefore outside of the warranty period, Sony say it's not liable. Sony does offer a solution, by offering customers a refurbished machine in return for their faulty one. Up until late August 2009, the company charged £145 for this service, but that price has since been reduced to £128. As part of this charge, not only do customers receive a console that is as good as new, they get a door to door courier collection and delivery service. Sony says it makes no profit from the facility, and in fact make a loss.
Sony dislikes the term "The yellow light of death", since it implies a single fault is afflicting all consoles. It says the flashing yellow light is a "non-specific fault indicator that can be triggered in a range of different circumstances." Sony adds that the yellow light could indicate a problem caused by "any one of a range of issues that may inevitably affect any complex item of consumer electronics".
What's causing machines to stop working?
So if there isn't one single thing that's causing thousands of machines to stop working, why does it appear that one single repair appears to get them working again?
Unwilling to pay Sony for a refurbished PS3, customers often turn to independent console repair businesses. Several of those businesses have told Watchdog that the vast majority of consoles they see with the "yellow light of deaht" can be repaired by heating up specific parts of the circuit board. This process is called solder re-flow. By heating the connections between the components and the circuit board to temperatures in excess of 200 Celsius, the metal solder joints melt, just like they did when the device was first assembled. Console repairers say that this process method is commonly used to repair fractured connections, or dry joints.
Watchdog asked independent console repairer Marc Newman to attempt this repair on 16 viewers' consoles which had the yellow flashing light problem. After being disassembled and heated in Marc's special oven, all 16 machines began working again, much to the delight of their owners. Unfortunately, of the 16 repaired, five have since stopped working again, and these were just 16 out of the thousands to have suffered the "yellow light of death". But is it just coincidence they were all resurrected using the same technique? Could that mean their breakdown was caused by the same thing?
Sony's response
Sony say it's disappointed if a small number of their consumers appear to have experienced problems with their PlayStation 3 units outside the manufacturer's warranty period, but stress that there is no evidence that these problems are caused by a manufacturing fault. "We entirely refute the suggestion that PS3 consoles have an inherent defect or other design issue...Of all PS3's sold in the UK to date, fewer than one half of one percent of units have been reported as failing in circumstances where the yellow indicator is illuminated."
"The phrase "yellow light of death" has been adopted by certain members of the online community to describe the situation in which PS3 systems have shut down following the illumination of the yellow light on the PS3's front panel. The yellow light indicator is simply a non-specific fault indicator that can be triggered in a range of different circumstances."
"As regards the purported solution to the supposed "yellow light" issue adopted by commercial repairers, effecting a reflow correctly, to the required engineering standards and in a properly controlled static-safe environment requires the use of an infra-red BGA soldering station, which must be set up and programmed to run at very specific temperature profiles. Each such station costs tens of thousands of pounds.
Consequently, even if a yellow indicator/system shutdown were triggered by a soldering issue, it would be misleading for you to suggest to viewers that the basic solder reflow process you describe....is necessarily a reliable procedure when performed in that way, or that it can properly be done cheaply and quickly."
"It is standard practice for businesses in the electronics and many other consumer products sectors to provide free servicing/repairs only during the warranty period, but to charge for out of warranty repairs. It is therefore unfair to criticise Sony Computer Entertainment UK in this way."
Has the same thing happened to you? Or maybe you've had a similar experience with another product? Send us your story!
Should electronic products last more than a year? Would you pay more for longer lasting products?
Please note, we cannot publish any brand names and any new allegations about the Sony PlayStation 3. However you can click on Got a Story? to alert us about anything you think we should be investigating.
Sony PlayStation 3 and the "yellow light of death"
But after a little more than two years, the enjoyment of some owners of the original PS3 has turned to frustration: their machines have broken down without warning, and all have displayed the same fault indicator - a yellow flashing light. When that light shows, the box no longer works. It's become so feared by gamers that they've dubbed it "The Yellow Light of Death".
More than 150 Watchdog viewers have contacted us to say they've experienced it, and by Sony's own admission, around 12,500 of the 2.5 million PlayStations sold in the UK have shut down in this way since March 2007. The problem is mainly thought to affect the 60GB launch model, but Sony repeatedly refuses to release the failure rate for that model, claiming that the information is "commercially sensitive".
If this failure had occurred in the first 12 months after purchase, Sony would have replaced the customer's console without charge, but since the problem appears to be affecting consoles after 18-24 months of use, and therefore outside of the warranty period, Sony say it's not liable. Sony does offer a solution, by offering customers a refurbished machine in return for their faulty one. Up until late August 2009, the company charged £145 for this service, but that price has since been reduced to £128. As part of this charge, not only do customers receive a console that is as good as new, they get a door to door courier collection and delivery service. Sony says it makes no profit from the facility, and in fact make a loss.
Sony dislikes the term "The yellow light of death", since it implies a single fault is afflicting all consoles. It says the flashing yellow light is a "non-specific fault indicator that can be triggered in a range of different circumstances." Sony adds that the yellow light could indicate a problem caused by "any one of a range of issues that may inevitably affect any complex item of consumer electronics".
What's causing machines to stop working?
So if there isn't one single thing that's causing thousands of machines to stop working, why does it appear that one single repair appears to get them working again?
Unwilling to pay Sony for a refurbished PS3, customers often turn to independent console repair businesses. Several of those businesses have told Watchdog that the vast majority of consoles they see with the "yellow light of deaht" can be repaired by heating up specific parts of the circuit board. This process is called solder re-flow. By heating the connections between the components and the circuit board to temperatures in excess of 200 Celsius, the metal solder joints melt, just like they did when the device was first assembled. Console repairers say that this process method is commonly used to repair fractured connections, or dry joints.
Watchdog asked independent console repairer Marc Newman to attempt this repair on 16 viewers' consoles which had the yellow flashing light problem. After being disassembled and heated in Marc's special oven, all 16 machines began working again, much to the delight of their owners. Unfortunately, of the 16 repaired, five have since stopped working again, and these were just 16 out of the thousands to have suffered the "yellow light of death". But is it just coincidence they were all resurrected using the same technique? Could that mean their breakdown was caused by the same thing?
Sony's response
Sony say it's disappointed if a small number of their consumers appear to have experienced problems with their PlayStation 3 units outside the manufacturer's warranty period, but stress that there is no evidence that these problems are caused by a manufacturing fault. "We entirely refute the suggestion that PS3 consoles have an inherent defect or other design issue...Of all PS3's sold in the UK to date, fewer than one half of one percent of units have been reported as failing in circumstances where the yellow indicator is illuminated."
"The phrase "yellow light of death" has been adopted by certain members of the online community to describe the situation in which PS3 systems have shut down following the illumination of the yellow light on the PS3's front panel. The yellow light indicator is simply a non-specific fault indicator that can be triggered in a range of different circumstances."
"As regards the purported solution to the supposed "yellow light" issue adopted by commercial repairers, effecting a reflow correctly, to the required engineering standards and in a properly controlled static-safe environment requires the use of an infra-red BGA soldering station, which must be set up and programmed to run at very specific temperature profiles. Each such station costs tens of thousands of pounds.
Consequently, even if a yellow indicator/system shutdown were triggered by a soldering issue, it would be misleading for you to suggest to viewers that the basic solder reflow process you describe....is necessarily a reliable procedure when performed in that way, or that it can properly be done cheaply and quickly."
"It is standard practice for businesses in the electronics and many other consumer products sectors to provide free servicing/repairs only during the warranty period, but to charge for out of warranty repairs. It is therefore unfair to criticise Sony Computer Entertainment UK in this way."
Has the same thing happened to you? Or maybe you've had a similar experience with another product? Send us your story!
Should electronic products last more than a year? Would you pay more for longer lasting products?
Please note, we cannot publish any brand names and any new allegations about the Sony PlayStation 3. However you can click on Got a Story? to alert us about anything you think we should be investigating.
Sony PlayStation 3 and the "yellow light of death"