Playstation 2 DEAD from cat urine

[Cunning Linguist]

Hi guys, have been away for a long time how is everyone.
My son's cat (kitten actually) decided to use his PS2 as a toilet and now is
is completely dead, does anyone know of a download site for schematics,
voltages etc for one of these.
Any help greatly appreciated
Cheers
Tony..

Tony Leathem
LecWreck
25 Coulson Place
Orange NSW 2800
Australia

 

[David]

Considering it is a multilayer circuit board similar to a pentium
motherboard, if any liquid is all over the main board, time to buy a new
one.

 

[Chaos Master]

Hi guys, have been away for a long time how is everyone.
My son's cat (kitten actually) decided to use his PS2 as a toilet and now is
is completely dead, does anyone know of a download site for schematics,
voltages etc for one of these.
Any help greatly appreciated
Cheers
Tony..

If it's a multi-layer board , as in a computer motherboard or PCI/AGP card,
forget it - it's unlikely you can repair it at home. You could try cleaning it,
and try to squeeze some life out of it.

 

[mike]

Hi guys, have been away for a long time how is everyone.
My son's cat (kitten actually) decided to use his PS2 as a toilet and now is
is completely dead, does anyone know of a download site for schematics,
voltages etc for one of these.
Any help greatly appreciated
Cheers
Tony..

Tony Leathem
LecWreck
25 Coulson Place
Orange NSW 2800
Australia

If it happened VERY recently, take it apart and wash it good in some
biodegradable cleaner with a toothbrush. I like "simple green".
Schematic probably won't
help you cause the problem is all over the board.
An ounce of prevention...Get rid of the cat.
mike

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[Ian Molton]

My son's cat (kitten actually) decided to use his PS2 as a toilet and
now is is completely dead

Give up. cat urine is the most corrosive substance known to man. if
washing it doesnt work (and beware, its hard stuff to wash off, and the
deposits are hygroscopic) you are almost certainly SOL.

 

[LASERandDVDfan]

Hi guys, have been away for a long time how is everyone.

My son's cat (kitten actually) decided to use his PS2 as a toilet and now is
is completely dead

Considering that we are talking about a system that is highly complex in terms
of its design with exclusive parts, repair for this kind of damage may be
outright impossible to attempt. Sony will probably not sell you the schematics
for this machine. Even if they did, to perform any kind of repair to the
mainboard would require highly specialised tools for servicing multi-layer
boards consisting of A LOT of small surface mount components, many of them
electrostatically and thermally sensitive.

For instance, if the damage is within the Emotion Engine VLSI (which is a
totally unique architecture in terms of its design, btw), your only recourse is
to strip your old PS-2 of any usable parts and purchase a brand new console as
a replacement.

There are resources for used parts, but without knowing specifically what parts
are shot and the fact that you will have to take it completely apart and
totally clean it out of any traces of urine, it may not be worth the extra
effort you will have to expend in addition to the money spent for the required
parts.

Not to sound cynical, but at least you've got a good idea as to what to buy
your son for Christmas now. To make it a bit better, go on and buy a Gamecube
and/or X-Box for him as well, so he won't feel like he was cheated on Christmas
(although, Christmas isn't about gifts).

And, next time, find a way to keep the new PS-2 stored away to where Mittens,
or whatever name your pet has, won't litter on it and create another headache.
- Reinhart

 

[BFriedl]

Dont know where the unit was stored, but storing any game console on the
ground is asking for bad news. Not only is it easier for fluffy to sit
on top of the unit, clogging it with cat hair at the least, but it is
also suspectible to higher dust contamination, especially if on carpet.
The dust can clog the unit, ending up overheating it or gunking up the
laser, creating disc read errors.

Short answer: Keep your PS2/XBOX/GameCube on a shelf in your
entertainment center with some ventilation.

Cunning Linguist wrote:
--
BFriedl
A+ Certified Technician
AIM: UACybercat
** Bear Down Arizona! **
******* Go Cats! *******

 

[Asimov]

"BFriedl" bravely wrote to "All" (16 Dec 03 01:11:08)
--- on the heady topic of "Re: Playstation 2 DEAD from cat urine"

BF> From: BFriedl <[email protected]>

BF> Dont know where the unit was stored, but storing any game console on
BF> the ground is asking for bad news. Not only is it easier for fluffy to
BF> sit on top of the unit, clogging it with cat hair at the least, but it

It is just as likely that Fluffy would get to it if it was 4 feet higher
off the ground, because Fluffy has the uncanny ability to leap up 10 feet!

.... I worked hard to attach the electrodes to it.

 

[Jim shedden]

Hi,

I'm no expert, but I guess I would look into ultrasonic cleaning
methods. Probably must use the proper solvent and can't be flammable
or toxic due to vaporization from the cleaner. Be safe and do your
research!

This would probably get around all those component leads and far
enough under the chips to work though. I doubt a toothbrush could.

I have worked on circuitry to detect femptoamperes in a helium mass
spectrometer. One fingerprint and the circuit would not work due to
leakage current. To clean before placing in the high vacuum of the
spectrometer tube, it was boiled in freon, then baked in an oven.

Good Luck,
Jim

 

[LASERandDVDfan]

I'm no expert, but I guess I would look into ultrasonic cleaning

methods.

But no amount of ultrasonic or chemical cleaning will help you if critical,
non-replaceable components are destroyed. Particularly if the Emotion Engine
VLSI was zapped by a short caused by the cat piss.

It may be difficult, if not impossible, to dismount the VLSI from the board as
it is most likely wave-soldered with the mountings concealed. Even if you
could remove it and reinstall a new chip, Sony may not supply a replacement
VLSI to anyone.

If the VLSI core is shot, you have to replace the entire mainboard, which may
end up costing more to do than simply replacing the entire console for a new
one. This is assuming you have a resource for a replacement mainboard of the
type required, depending on the model number. - Reinhart

 

[James Sweet]

Hi guys, have been away for a long time how is everyone.
My son's cat (kitten actually) decided to use his PS2 as a toilet and now is
is completely dead, does anyone know of a download site for schematics,
voltages etc for one of these.
Any help greatly appreciated
Cheers
Tony..

Tony Leathem
LecWreck
25 Coulson Place
Orange NSW 2800
Australia

Even if schematics existed (they likely don't) for the main board, they'd be
of no help, these things are an order of magnitude more complex than a
television or other consumer device. Your best bet is to clean the board as
well as you can, use warm soapy water and scrub off as much of the pee as
possible before it corrodes things, then let it dry out for a week or so in
a warm place and try it out, if the fuse in the power supply is good and it
still doesn't work, junk it and buy a new one.

 

[James Sweet]

If it happened VERY recently, take it apart and wash it good in some
biodegradable cleaner with a toothbrush. I like "simple green".
Schematic probably won't
help you cause the problem is all over the board.
An ounce of prevention...Get rid of the cat.
mike

No reason to get rid of the cat, just train it not to piss on things,
kittens, like little kids, occasionally do these things, but they generally
grow out of it.

 

[Amelia M. Samples]

I cleaned a PII mainboard (back when they were worth something) by triple
wash with distilled water, and a dry at the lowest setting in the oven. If
it's been powered up with the deposits though, you're probably SOL. I'd
still try, you have nothing to lose. If the drive didn't get wet, you can
always pick up one that won't read from ebay and fix that one.

 

[Chaos Master]

No reason to get rid of the cat, just train it not to piss on things,
kittens, like little kids, occasionally do these things, but they generally
grow out of it.

Or place it somewhere where a cat can't reach (I.e. in a locked place).

 

[Jim shedden]

Hi,

Yes, I agree that if there is major damage cleaning won't help. But I
wouldn't assume the chip is bad until the board is thoroughly cleaned,
dried, and properly reassembled.

I have no particular knowledge of the "Emotion Engine", but I have
designed several ASICS. From this and test experience, I found that
all integrated circuits, VLSI included, are far more forgiving of
output abuse than I had ever expected. In a low voltage chip with many
IOB's you will find that there isn't a whole lot of power available at
the pins, so you may survive a short without a problem.

It's not like we're going to sell this to a customer or send it to
Mars. It's a just a toy that went through an unscheduled urine test.
Shouldn't we at least read the results properly?


Regards,
Jim

 

[LASERandDVDfan]

It's not like we're going to sell this to a customer or send it to

Mars. It's a just a toy that went through an unscheduled urine test.
Shouldn't we at least read the results properly?

Except, it's a toy with a highly complex computer architecture designed into it
with the capability of being upgraded to work with Linux. To give you an idea
about the kind of hardware we're dealing with, take a gander here:

http://arrakis.ncsa.uiuc.edu/ps2/index.php

I was surprised myself, but there it is! It just goes to show you just how
complex and capable the PS-2 is, mainly because of the layout of the Emtoin
Engine and its ability to work exclusively in SIMD processing modes.

Anyways, this isn't like pouring cat pee into an electronic talking Barbie
doll. This is more like pouring cat pee into a personal computer. There is
simply more that can go wrong when something like this happens. The fact that
the PS-2 was most likely still connected to the mains and that its BIOS/PS-2 OS
settings are sustained using a CR2032 lithium cell doesn't help matters any. -
Reinhart

 

[LASERandDVDfan]

If

it's been powered up with the deposits though, you're probably SOL.

The thing is it may have been, even when it's off. The PS-2 has a stand-by
mode it goes into when you turn it "off" using the front panel controls on the
right front corner of the console. To turn it off completely, you have to flip
a toggle switch on the back corner of the console. Plus, the system does have
internal settings and a clock that are sustained using a CR2032 lithium cell.
It's more likely that the pee would hit the power supply because the board is
located above the vent openings with exception of the rear exhaust fan. -
Reinhart

 

[Ian Molton]

On 17 Dec 2003 22:25:40 GMT

Anyways, this isn't like pouring cat pee into an electronic talking Barbie
doll. This is more like pouring cat pee into a personal computer.

what are you on about?

cat pee conducts electricity so yes, you'll get corrosion bad if you apply power too long.
its also corrosive in its own right
its also hygroscopic
and hard to clean off.

but its only liquid. it wont break down the plastic of the chips for a good long time (if ever) and most other components are immune (mechanical stuff is a different matter).

if you caught it before any tracks corroded through, and assuming the PS2 doesnt have any weaknesses in its design that make high resistance shorts across chip pins fatal, it will probably spring back to life after a good clean (the ultrasonic one sounded like a good bet, and many cartridge-world shops would be happy to run it in their cleaner for free).

just because its a compuiter doesnt mean its not robust enough to survive a good soaking.

I know someone who dropped a handbag into a lake, complete with high-end nokia. it was soaked (water dripping out of it), when handed in (this was at windermere, UK btw) many hours later, and the battery was in it the whole time.

I had assumed it'd be dead (battery current would have electrolysed away the tracks for sure I thought), but after a mere 3 hours drying out it sprang to life! (I did tell them to dry it longer byut did they listen?)

 

[LASERandDVDfan]

cat pee conducts electricity so yes, you'll get corrosion bad if you apply

power too long.
its also corrosive in its own right
its also hygroscopic
and hard to clean off.

The posibility of damage from a short is more worrisome than corrosion, and
it's more than just the EE. You also have to worry about the ROM containing
the OS.
It's more likely, however, that the cat crap has soaked the power supply than
the mainboard, however. The mainboard is above the power supply and is also
above all vent openings with exception of the exhaust fan vent. However, if
the power supply has been zapped due to mineral contamination from liquids,
it's possible for more to go wrong. For instance, it's possible that current
from the primary section could have shorted over to the secondary section
because of the urine and hit the mainboard with raw mains current, effectively
damaging the mainboard before anything would go open to cut the power flow.
However, just as likely, the fuse would have opened before anything else could
happen.

Of course, nothing can be said for sure without doing a check-up. - Reinhart

 

[Ian Molton]

On 17 Dec 2003 23:01:37 GMT

The posibility of damage from a short is more worrisome than corrosion,

I dunno. I've seen cat pee on a PCB eat away the tracks to *nothing* (just rust coloured damp powder) in under a week. its viscious stuff.

and it's more than just the EE. You also have to worry about the ROM containing
the OS.

not really. logic chips are pretty robust. RAM is about the worst in a computer, and you can handle DIMMS pretty carelessly and get away with it. (not that its clever to do so, mind)

if
the power supply has been zapped due to mineral contamination from liquids,
it's possible for more to go wrong. For instance, it's possible that current
from the primary section could have shorted over to the secondary section
because of the urine and hit the mainboard with raw mains current, effectively
damaging the mainboard before anything would go open to cut the power flow.

highly unlikely though...

However, just as likely, the fuse would have opened before anything else could
happen.
indeed.

Of course, nothing can be said for sure without doing a check-up. - Reinhart

and soon too.