PileOfRust

ive got a "big" 40gig ps3, have had it for 3 years and it ran fautless, but at the beginning of this summer it decided to randomly cut out...

i was playing gt5 and was pissing about on tg test track as ya do when it suddenly beeped and turned itself off and the red light was flashing.
it never gets hot as its well ventilated, the vents get cleaned, its never been dropped etc its well looked after but it just randomly gave up :/

we switched it off at the back, and tried it again... it turned on fine, loaded the menu up fine then switched off again with the red light flashing

right

so tried it one last time just to make sure and sure enough it didnt want to power up at all, youd press the power button, itd beep twice, yellow will flash once then it will carry on flashing red

i googled it and when the HD goes, its ment to repeatedly flash yellow so its not the HD which is a relief i guess
so it must be something else, maybe software issues?

this happened a couple of months ago and it hasnt been touched since as i havent taken it to a repair shop yet but i wondered if any of you had the same problem??

as said, i havent abused it in any way, and its kept clean so dust cant make it overheat, what could it be dya reckon? just want a second opinion

Cheers for any help

cozmeister

iTrader: (1)

It's a hardware problem - needs a heatgun and a phillips screwdriver to sort it out. Can be repaired in an hours. Mine's presently in pieces on my desk at work, not had time to sort it out yet

The fault stems from how the main processor and graphics processor are connected to the main board. They use a system called a BGA - Ball Grid Array - basically, every single 'pin' on the underside of the chip is connected to its associated 'pin' on the board by a small ball of solder. The solder's not brilliant to start with in order to cut costs, so what happens over the course of hundreds of heating and cooling cycles (ie, power on and use, then power off), the balls of solder either crack, or break contact between the board and chip on one side, making the device useless because the chip's now effectively disconnected from the board.

By heating the chip and board carefully, the balls of solder melt ever so slightly, allowing the chip and board to become fully reconnected again.

If you have some patience and a heat gun, do it yourself (worked for me!). I'll dig up the links to an awesome 3 part guide on youtube to save being bum-raped by an ebay seller charging you for the same, or a shop charging a small fortune for the privilege.

PileOfRust

i dont want to risk breaking it more but i waant my ps3 back!!

are you definatly sure its a hardware problem?

foci

ylod. Google it theres tonnes of repair guides on the internet.

You will need it strip it down to the main board.

Heat certain parts of the board up to reflow the solder

then more thermal paste and put it back together.

IF you can follow instruction step by step its easy to do yourself

cozmeister

iTrader: (1)

i should've re-posted instead of editing my original. Read my essay above.

PileOfRust

hmmmm

cozmeister

iTrader: (1)

Watch the videos here if you're not convinced. If you can operate a screwdriver and hairdryer, you can fix your PS3

Youtube PS3 "repair flashing red light" how-to guide:

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_Ic1_TY-GU

Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vr1zyAGwnuU

Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHgCa3XEPic

PileOfRust

theres a place near me that can fix it for about £80, so do i risk buggering it up or spend out on the money and get a 3 month garuntee too?

cozmeister

iTrader: (1)

To be honest you can't bugger it up much more than it already is

Horses for courses to be honest - if you fix it first time and it lasts, you're laughing, that 80 quid can go on MW3 when it comes out. Or if you'd rather have the peace of mind that a 3 month warranty brings, get your wallet out. Also remember that sods law will make it die a week after the warranty runs out, then it's time for another 80 quid.

Bear in mind if you have a go and it doesn't help, or it does the same thing after a few hours or whatever, just have another go.

PileOfRust

i'll have to have a think about it, atleast if it fucks up big time then i wont be blaming myself

PileOfRust

theres a place near where my dad works that repairs console's so it will be going in there tommorow

foci

I would try it yourself. I have bought 6+ for £20 off ebay repaired them and then sold them to friends for a slight profit. They know what was the matter with them before I repaired them. Out of the 6 I can count in my head. Only 1 has done it again. All I done was repeated the procedure and It's still going strong.
some tips I have picked up:-
Buy yourself some very good quality thermal paste and alcohol wipes (to remove the old paste).

Use a proper heat gun (Not a hair dryer).

Be very methodical in taking the screws out and line them up so you know the correct order for re-assembly.

Have a digital camera to take snaps of where you took Screws/plugs/ribbons out.

I know the procedure off by heart now. Just don't forget to plug the cmos battery back in! It's one of the last things to come off the board before you re flow it and if you don't plug it back in it won't work!

The key is to getting the right amount of thermal paste on the chips and getting the best quality paste you can find. I have used cheap paste on one of my own before and it didn't last 20 minutes.

Give it a go and if your stuck I'm only a pm away

DanRSturbo

I got mine done by consolewerks in Essex and it lasted about 4 months, if it goes again I will do it myself or just buy the slim and put my hardrive in it

MadMac

Fix it, back it up and get a slim before it goes pop permanently. Which is will, because I fixed mine 4/5 times and then it gave up the ghost permanently.