PS3 Overheating

Astor Reinhardt

I've had the same "phat" 60 GB (I think) backwards compatable PS3 since the Christmas it came out. About a year ago or so I was playing Red Dead Redemption (more like just watching the intro scene) when the PS3 made a loud sound, a red light came on and a big cloud of dust blew out of the side. It wouldn't turn on so I started freaking out and went online to figure out what had happened.



Well I had guessed it overheated from the years of dust caked on it. Leaving it alone for a day and it could turn on again. So I figured I would take it apart and blow out the dust as best as I could and I did. I also wiped any dust that wasn't blowing off...I didn't fully take it apart, like getting down to the motherboard and that sort of thing (was scared i'd fuck it up...still scared of that) but I felt I got most of the dust.



I put it all together again and turn it on and still hot.



I've let it sit, untouched since then, afraid to play it because I don't want to get the yellow light of death. I can't afford to buy a replacement right now.



I recently heard that the thermal paste might be bad and cleaning it and putting new thermal paste on would help. Is this true? What kind of thermal paste should I use?



Or do you guys have any other ideas to help solve this issue?

MrPete1985

Not sure how much new thermal compound will help but if you want to try it I use Arctic Cooling MX4 on my PC



http://pcpartpicker.com/part/arctic-cooling-thermal-paste-acmx4



Most people say use Arctic Silver 5 but that has been around for ever and there are better options. AS5 requires multiple heat cycles and curing time to reach peak performance but the MX4 you can just put it on, there is no curing time and does not require heat cycles.

JustinParks

I had pretty much the same problem with my old 80GB backwards compatible PS3. Mine overheated to the point that I got the yellow light of death. To fix the overheating you will need to take the entire thing apart and apply new thermal paste to the processor. Over time the thermal paste evaporates which will then cause overheating. It also help to clean out all the built up dust when taking it apart. When you turn it on does it still work but just run hot? If so, then you will be ok by applying the new thermal paste to help with cooling. If not, and you are getting the YLOD like I was then you will need to re-flow the processors with a heat gun. Doing this fixed my YLOD. Unfortunately I just used a generic thermal paste that I had on hand and my PS3 ended up overheating again about a month later so mak sure you get the good thermal paste.



Here is a great video explaining how to take it apart and also re-flowing the processors if you need to:







The whole process took me about an hour to do, but I have previous experience in fixing electronics. Just go step by step and you wont have any problems with the repair.

USFLegend

Originally posted by: JustinParks



I had pretty much the same problem with my old 80GB backwards compatible PS3. Mine overheated to the point that I got the yellow light of death. To fix the overheating you will need to take the entire thing apart and apply new thermal paste to the processor. Over time the thermal paste evaporates which will then cause overheating. It also help to clean out all the built up dust when taking it apart. When you turn it on does it still work but just run hot? If so, then you will be ok by applying the new thermal paste to help with cooling. If not, and you are getting the YLOD like I was then you will need to re-flow the processors with a heat gun. Doing this fixed my YLOD. Unfortunately I just used a generic thermal paste that I had on hand and my PS3 ended up overheating again about a month later so mak sure you get the good thermal paste.



Here is a great video explaining how to take it apart and also re-flowing the processors if you need to:



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U...



The whole process took me about an hour to do, but I have previous experience in fixing electronics. Just go step by step and you wont have any problems with the repair.

Can't stress enough how important good thermal paste is. I have repaired a few in the past and 6 months is about the longest I think it went without having issues again. 



The other option is to bring it into a microsoft store and trade it in towards the xbox one. Guarenteed $100 in store credit and they don't really test them for the most part. $350 for xbox one with assassin's creed or sunset overdrive. Brings it down to $250 and then target has buy 2 get 1 free on games starting the 9th. All set for Holidays :-)

MuNKeY

Definitely need to open it up and clear all that dust build up out, then replace the compound. Its not all that hard breaking down a ps3 just take it slow and taking pics with a cell as you go so you know what goes where, but be extra careful with the bluray drive if for some crazy reason you open that up as it can go into a mess in a hurry. If your not comfortable with it then by all means find someone to do the job.

ulasamosa

I used to use Artic5 back in the day. Nowadays its all about the Diamond ICE or w/e the hell its called. I use it on game consoles, video card heatsinks, basically anything that needs an upgrade. Im also the guy that fully disassembles his brand new laptop and replaces all the factory paste....but I assure you, PS3's heatsink is simple to get to. Once you have the case off entirely its only like 4-8 screws.

Nes Freak

also you should get a faster fan and keep it in an open space. the original ps3's would get the red or yellow light of death cause of that.

matt17_52

I have the Uncharted edition 160GB PS3 bundle. I have had almost 6 years and used compressed air to keep the dust out of it. It still overheated because it doesn't get all the dust. I called Sony support and they recommended against fixing the issue myself or having some other person do it. I sent it to Sony and they fixed it in about 3 weeks time (shipping included) and only cost me about 100 bucks shipping and all. I have no problems for about 2 years now. I have seen some really bad repair jobs that sort of mask the problem for awhile that end up doing more harm than good. All these guys advertising on CL and in stores really don't know how to repair these machines. If it ain't an electronic engineer I wouldn't let it any one touch it.

GCrites80s

The only real long-term solution for those older PS3s is a pro reball with leaded solder balls. A large percentage of those early models are already dead.