[jordanmoore]

First of all some basic details:
40GB PS3 model, CECHG. Must have bought it in about March 2007. It's currently running Wutangrza CFW + Geohot Jailbreak. I think I put Rebug on there too, but I can't remember how/when/if. (how as in whether I had to remove the firmware I had on there first.. when was quite a long time ago.. if as in I jailbroke the console before the 3.55 JB and then updated to the 3.55 one)

The console has worked perfectly everyday since its purchase and has ever only crashed once or twice, and that was years ago.
For the past year, almost, I've been using the console purely for PlayTV and the occasional bit of Gran Turismo played off the hard drive thanks to Multiman.

The past month or so I have been noticing, occasionally, that the animations in PlayTV were a little bit jerky when opening a new dialogue box.

About a week ago I scheduled a bunch of programs to be recorded overnight. When I woke up I tried to turn the console on by using the controller, the lights just kept flashing on the controller and I thought to myself "hmm.. that's odd." Then I notice that the red light on the console is flashing. I think nothing of it. Press the power button once, "beep," the console is now off. Press the power button again and the console turns on and works perfectly.

I go onto the PlayTV application and look at my recordings - the console would have turned off at about an hour and a half after I went to bed. Also now the console is running perfectly smoothly.

Fast forwards to Thursday night. I've been using the console every night up until now. On the thursday night I go to turn the console on and it powers up as usual. Go onto PlayTV to set up my nightly recordings then start watching a little bit of Live TV. A few minutes in the console turns itself off and beeps 3 times and the red light starts flashing. I remember that it's just done this not that long ago and try and turn the console on.. doesn't work. Please note that I put my hand to the back of the console and it felt cool, as it always does, so it's not an overheating issue. (cool as in not hot, but the kind of warm you would expect when removing heat from components)

When I try and turn the console on the green or yellow light comes on (I don't know which colour, I'm colour blind) and then it beeps three times and goes to a red flashing light. When it starts to turn on I hear the fan spin up, then the console turns off and the fan just spins to stop.

The console's 4 years old so obviously out of warranty, so I take it apart. There's a little bit of dust in there but really the console was seriously clean on the inside. Nevertheless I completely disassembled the console and cleaned literally every inch of it, I also re-pasted the Cell Broadband and RSX chips just for good measure. I put the console back together but doing that had done absolutely nothing. Console has the same error as just before.
The circuit looked in immaculate condition with no obvious signs of being burnt or heated up. There were two slightly darker blobs on the PCB which didn't look to be the result of burning, and there weren't near any chips.
the RSX and Cell Broadband chips looked to be in perfect position and didn't wiggle at all upon applying side to side pressure. Board didn't look to have any instances of broken solder.

Seriously no idea what's up with the console. There is nothing wrong with it - it just thinks that there is. Any ideas?

[pereb27]

You have YLOD. 99% of the time YLOD is caused by solder crack between motherboard and RSX from overheating/heat-cool cycles. Also if the air coming out of the console is cool, it means it's overheating, as the heat is not being transferred from the processors to the heatsink correctly and stays trapped inside them. The air coming out of a PS3 that is properly cooled should be hot (and not just warm, I mean hot, the air coming out of my 60gb is over 40C/105F). Either way poor thermal transfer is due to the thermal paste drying out, between heatsink and IHS but also the paste under the IHS (which isn't replacable unless you have good skills). It is also due to the heatsink and IHS's warping over time, which can be fixed by lapping (although it's more complicated on the IHS aswell).

You must get the PS3 reflowed, or even better, reballed to fix it.

[jordanmoore]

Worth a shot I guess - thanks.

[Mackdanny]

This never happened prior?

[XZ32]

Got the same thing last week...
Ordered repair kit on eBay to reflow. Hopefully ill get it working again...

[lucky_davis]

A flashing red light means it could be overheating and it shuts down to prevent major issues or the hard drive has failed, since u say it turns off shortly after you turn it on, my money would be that the hard drive is on it last leg. If it was a ylod it wouldnt come on at all. Try putting a new hard drive in it, u will have to get ur programs again but i believe it will clear it up. Try the hard drive before u go opening it up to try to "reflow" it. I read on sony fourms that is what the blinking red light means. Of course if it was the ylod, the light would be yellow not red, and it wouldnt come on because of a motherbroad defect, not come on, for a little then shut off.

[pereb27]

Originally Posted by lucky_davis A flashing red light means it could be overheating and it shuts down to prevent major issues or the hard drive has failed, since u say it turns off shortly after you turn it on, my money would be that the hard drive is on it last leg. If it was a ylod it wouldnt come on at all. Try putting a new hard drive in it, u will have to get ur programs again but i believe it will clear it up. Try the hard drive before u go opening it up to try to "reflow" it. I read on sony fourms that is what the blinking red light means. Of course if it was the ylod, the light would be yellow not red, and it wouldnt come on because of a motherbroad defect, not come on, for a little then shut off.

YLOD = turns off after 2-3 seconds of turning it on, I believe 2-3 seconds qualifies as "shortly".
If it was overheating but went to the XMB, it would show an overheating message before turning off.

[fahadsul3man]

a bit off topic but u got a pretty coooooool website jordan plus the eyes following the mouse is really cool

[iwasaperson]

I recommend you get it reballed by a professional. If you can't, then follow one of the two stickied guides above this topic to repair it. I recommend you do the one with a heatgun, but if you can't get a hold of one, then use the oven method. Note that these are only temporary fixes, except for the professional reball.

[jason52034304]

Hi jordanmoore i had the exact same problem and i discovered it was my HDD try a different one if you have one handy just to see if solve's your problem. Mine has been running great eversince