(Un-Official) PS3 Laser Replacement Manual & Video

[Marine Mike]

*Disclaimer: Replacement of the PS3 Laser is not a common problem as the PS3 has a failure rate of less than 1%. But for those who do have an issue, hopefully this tutorial will help you.


*This will void your Warranty, and possible permanent damage may result. Only attempt this process if you consider yourself to be handy with electronic equipment as results may vary depending on model. Enter at your own risk.


Check out my video tutorial on Youtube!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJAhl2cb6iU

As some of you already have known that I've been having difficulties with my PS3. One of which has been my PS3 laser going bad on me and no longer reading Blu-Ray discs. Instead of explaining my whole ordeal, lets just say that I needed to order a new laser and replace it myself in order to save money and time.

I decided to create this thread in order to help out others like myself that wanted to replace the laser themselves. I did some research and studied how to replace it on my own, but I found the instructions to be lacking and found that it doesn't always correspond with my setup. So be advised that your PS3 may be built differently than mine as its an 80GB Motorstorm Bundle setup. Though the differences were small and you can just use common sense to determine what to do where my manual may not cover.

My symptoms of having this issue were:

-It would only read my Blu-Ray discs for only 5-15 minutes before it would freeze. No matter how long I left it off and unplugged, the max it would read the discs for were only 25 minutes, which at first lead me to believe it was a heating issue.
-Play DVDs/CDs normally.
-Play everything on the hard drive just fine.

The model of laser I got is the KES-400A from an Ebay seller called gadgetresurrection.

This is the screwdriver set that I used during this operation. Keep in mind that I had to switch between the screwdrivers depending on which screw I unscrewing.
Kronus™ 6-Piece Electronics Screwdriver Set


Please Note: While reading these steps the pictures correspond with the text above them.

Blue Circle: Unscrew the screw

Blue Square: Unsnap the cable

1. The first thing that you want to do is Make sure that there is no disc in the disc drive. (I made the unfortunate mistake in doing this and it caused major problems for me as I had to dissemble it approx 10-12 times before I finally was able to get it to work)

2. Next step is to turn off your PS3 and flipping the switch on the back of it to Off and unplugging it from the wall.

3. Remove the rubber bumper on the side of your PS3 where the security screw is located underneath it. You can use an Allen Wrench to unscrew it.







4. Now you can slide the top off of the PS3.





5. Next there are a series of screws that are clearly labeled on your PS3 with small arrows pointing to them. Also there are no 'extra' screws on there so just unscrew them all.





6. Now its time to take off the top layer of the PS3.





CAUTION! (Reason why I say this is because there isn't any manual out there that points this part out and when I did it on my own, I pulled it really hard and it just snapped out.)

There is a cable connecting the top part to the bottom part in which you lift the black connector up to unsnap it.





7. The gray dull box is the Blu-Ray drive. You will (7-1) unplug the power cord on the side of it and (7-2) unsnap the cable on the bottom of it.







8. Next step is to remove the circled screws only in order to remove the casing on the drive.





9. Next there are 7 screws you will have to unscrew in order to get to the laser to open it up.

Side Note: Now is the last opportunity to make sure you do not have a disc in the drive, so take note and be 100% sure there isn't one as it could potential cause long term damage to your PS3.



Now separate the two halves of the disc drive and keep in mind there is a red and black cable connecting the two, so make sure you don't break it.



10. Follow the instructions on the picture. First, unsnap the specified cable. Then remove the black bracket. Then remove the two silver brackets. After that, remove the silver rod and slide the laser off. Don't forget to do the next step with remove the white thing before you put the new laser on the rod.





11. Unscrew the white laser slider to put on your replacement laser.




12. Unscrew the silver bumper from side of the old laser to put onto the new laser.




13. Put in the new laser and go backwards and you are set!



After following my steps and replacing the laser, my PS3 is working just like it did before. It plays Blu-Ray, DVD, CD, and SACD (though depending upon your model of PS3 (not laser), your PS3 may not play SACD so please consult your PS3 first before determining this factor).

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Here is some useful information provided by kaliraver69 with regards to the different types of PS3 lasers.

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.p...3&postcount=70

Also here is a picture he posted showing the difference in lasers.