[wittking9]

I bought a broken PS3 off of craigslist to see if I could fix it. It is a 40 gig fat. It has absolutely no lights that turn on. I have another power supply that I put in and still no lights.

I tried testing the power supplies with a multimeter and didn't get a read on on either (not sure if I am testing them right, I followed a youtube video). I want to check the on/off switch to make sure that is working but I'm not exactly sure how or what I am looking for.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

[KillerBug]

For the switch, just flip it to on and check the resistance...it should be under 2 ohms for each of the three connections.

[wittking9]

Thanks for your help. The switch is fine and the five pins are outputting power from the power supply its self, but for what ever reason there are no lights that come on. Any Ideas?

The button doesn't work either. Any way I can trick the system into thinking its on to at least see if anything will start up. Some how bypassing the buttons and lights?

Thanks again!

[madshaun1984]

Check the input/output to the power switch sensor (the pads underneath the buttons front of the ps3). Its sounds like you've shorted something.

[wittking9]

I'm not getting any reading from them. Any other ideas? If somethings shorted is there any way to fix it?

[madshaun1984]

You'll need to replace that part. The ps3 should then work again, unless damage has been done elsewhere on the ps3's main board.

[wittking9]

How should I start to try to find a short? Thanks again!

Just to add, there are no visible signs of a short and no burning smell anywhere.

[Mistawes]

I had the exact same problem before and it turned out to be the ribbon cable not sliding back in correctly because there was something stuck in the slot.

Using a magnifying glass or something like a high resolution photo you can zoom into the area's that you're looking for a short (macro focus is what you want for a nice close-up image).

If you have continuity testing on your multi-meter, it'll beep if the 2 probes connect. Hold one probe on the end of a trace/pin/point and probe around to see if anything is connected to 2 points. There might be a couple connected to common ground/earth which will throw you off, that's why visual inspection is best.

Have you tried different power cables/sockets? (I know it's obvious)

[KillerBug]

The "pads" under the power and eject buttons usually don't have voltage...at least not in my model. There is a tiny voltage there, but the voltage reading from my fingers is much higher. These are capacitive touch sensors, so they have to work at very low voltage/current.

How to force the PSU to turn on:
One of the pins on the front of the PSU should detect as 0V, but when doing resistance to ground it should be relatively high. Apply a 3.3V voltage to this pin (us a linear voltage regulator), and the PSU will be forced to turn on even if there is no mainboard attached.

[wittking9]

Originally Posted by Mistawes I had the exact same problem before and it turned out to be the ribbon cable not sliding back in correctly because there was something stuck in the slot. Using a magnifying glass or something like a high resolution photo you can zoom into the area's that you're looking for a short (macro focus is what you want for a nice close-up image). If you have continuity testing on your multi-meter, it'll beep if the 2 probes connect. Hold one probe on the end of a trace/pin/point and probe around to see if anything is connected to 2 points. There might be a couple connected to common ground/earth which will throw you off, that's why visual inspection is best. Have you tried different power cables/sockets? (I know it's obvious)

Thanks again for the help everyone! I have tried different cables and outlets and those are not the problem. The motherboard looks like it may have been exposed to some moisture so I defiantly think it is a short.

I have take some pictures to see if I can see anything. It's gonna take a little time to go through them.

I did notice, when I was checking around the board for different levels of output, when I checked the LEDs they light up but only while I was testing them. Not sure if that tells you anything.

I'm not the best with electronics, but I'm a quick learner and great at following directions. This is really just fun for me!