Like any other piece of electronic equipment, the Playstation 3 (PS3) has many parts, some of which may fail during the life of the console. If you feel confident in your ability to replace the broken parts, you can save yourself money by fixing your Playstation 3 on your own. There are a few retailers that sell Playstation 3 parts and some of the internal components of the PS3 can be swapped out with parts from other electronic devices.
Instructions
1. Diagnose the problem. If you are attempting to repair your Playstation 3, be sure you are not spending money on the wrong parts. Spend some time researching and trying to isolate what part is not working. For instance, what may appear to be a disc drive problem could be a faulty connection or a bad flex cable.
2. Verify your PS3 model. The Playstation 3 has many different SKUs, including at least two drastically different models -- the original PS3 and the slim PS3. Many of the parts are interchangeable, but some will only work on the correct model.
3. Search for the required part. Once you diagnose the problem and know the model, do a simple web search for that part. You can also look on auction sites like eBay or on specialty retailer sites like PSXBoy.
4. Consider buying a broken Playstation 3. If you cannot find the individual part you need, you can possibly find the working part in a non-working PS3. Check eBay for as-is PS3 auctions. If the auction is not clear about what is broken on the PS3, contact the seller to get clarification. Don't buy a broken PS3 if you are not sure that the part you needs is working.
5. Look for replacement parts from other electronic devices. Some of the PS3 parts can be swapped out with generic electronic parts. One example is the PS3 hard drive. Most 2.5-inch SATA notebook hard drives are compatible with the Playstation 3. Be sure to back up your data onto an external storage device, such as a thumb drive, before you swap out hard drives.
6. Check for PS3 hardware modification parts. If your system works fine but you want to jazz it up, you can buy hardware modifications. Hardware mods can be new cases, fans or even neon lights.
Tags: electronic devices, from other, from other electronic, hard drives, other electronic
