PS3 hardware failure

[Nesh]

Has anyone heard of a solution for the excessive fan noise?
I hate to see my old BC PS3 like that.
I popped in a disk and to my surprise.......there is also an even LOUDER fan mode!! I was like "No fucking way"

Its so noisy it sounds like a vacuum cleaner. It is impossible not to make someone feel uneasy in the room and I am not sure if there is a real overheating problem or if it kicks in for no apparent reason

I took it to the shop that fixed it from the YLOD and a guy there told me that they havent found a solution. He said that after the YLOD fix the CPU thinks that it takes more voltage than it does so it goes full speed, which I doubt is the case. It didnt get THAT noisy before. He said that the only guaranteed solution is changing the motherboard itself. Which will be costly.

But I have also read that it could be a thermal paste issue?

This is how it sounds (only much louder in real life)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfAHkj8EFcQ
It drives me insane

 

[Silent_Buddha]

Is it possible to splice in a manual fan control? Not ideal but it would at least allow you to manually control the fan speed.

Regards,
SB

 

[orangpelupa]

my friend console also got something like that
its fixed after heating the GPU and CPU, changing thermal paste, and doing the "Clean fan trick".

 

[Grall]

But I have also read that it could be a thermal paste issue?

Quite likely, if you've not had your console opened up and the paste replaced recently-ish.

If the paste has dried out (like I understand happens a lot with at least older PS3s) then heat transfer from the chip(s) will slow down and they'll start to run warm. The console can't know about the paste issue of course and tries to fix the high temps by ramping the fan speed, but since the thermal paste is bad it doesn't help, so it ramps the fan some more...and so on.

I wouldn't run my PS3 if the fan is howling like a banshee. It's probably not good at all for it. Have it serviced, that's the safest option.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Just had my second die. Playing Might and Magic, it cut out, full power off. Wouldn't turn which turned out to be because the fuse had blown. Changed fuse and it it'll brieflt show a yellow light on power on before powering off.

 

[-tkf-]

Just had my second die. Playing Might and Magic, it cut out, full power off. Wouldn't turn which turned out to be because the fuse had blown. Changed fuse and it it'll brieflt show a yellow light on power on before powering off.

2nd fat or is it a slim one?

Still on my 2006 (knock knock) fatboy, i did get a themal paste upgrade..

 

[Arwin]

Just had my second die. Playing Might and Magic, it cut out, full power off. Wouldn't turn which turned out to be because the fuse had blown. Changed fuse and it it'll brieflt show a yellow light on power on before powering off.

Ouch that's terrible! Within warranty this time or just outside?

 

[TheChefO]

Surprised to see so many hardware issues with ps3 in here.

Buddy of mine had an original fat 60gb ps3 live through a house fire, sold it to another buddy of mine who had it until last year when he sold it.

It was used sparingly, however.

 

[joker454]

Surprised to see so many hardware issues with ps3 in here.

Buddy of mine had an original fat 60gb ps3 live through a house fire, sold it to another buddy of mine who had it until last year when he sold it.

It was used sparingly, however.

Back in the day in the lab they all eventually failed, it was a 100% failure rate on those original fat models. That was under daily use, so if you use it sparingly then you may be ok but I'd suggest selling the fat model if you still have it and replace it with the newer slims. Most of us got launch models due to having worked on various projects, and there are no surviving fat models amongst us.

 

[TheChefO]

Back in the day in the lab they all eventually failed, it was a 100% failure rate on those original fat models. That was under daily use, so if you use it sparingly then you may be ok but I'd suggest selling the fat model if you still have it and replace it with the newer slims. Most of us got launch models due to having worked on various projects, and there are no surviving fat models amongst us.

With such a high failure rate, did Sony address this with an extended warranty?

 

[joker454]

With such a high failure rate, did Sony address this with an extended warranty?

I don't know what they did on warranty to be honest, mine ironically died while I was trying to sell it on ebay and back then they wanted I think $120 to fix it. So I ended up selling my launch unit as a broken model, which still got decent money at the time since it was a 20gb unit with full hardware ps2 compatibility. No clue what the warranty situation is now. I still recommened that anyone with a fat model sell it while it still works and replace it with a slim.

 

[TheChefO]

I still recommened that anyone with a fat model sell it while it still works and replace it with a slim.

Seems a lot of these guys are having problems with slims as well though

 

[djskribbles]

I remember reading a recent article (forget which one... I think it was PCMag. I'll try to find it) saying that the PS3 is still fairly reliable with the Wii still being the most reliable (not surprising). I would take this thread with a grain of salt. Claiming a high failure rate based on a few posts is ridiculous.

I still haven't had one die and I've owned a PS3 since launch. My 20GB launch unit lasted 2-3 years until I sold it. Now I'm still on my 120GB slim launch unit from whenever it was released.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

2nd fat or is it a slim one?

Fat. It was a Sony refurbed replacement for my original. Model CECHG03 - I think it's at least 3 years old. G03's were being produced second half of 2007.

Ouch that's terrible! Within warranty this time or just outside?

Nope. Outside warranty.

Online articles still suggest that the PS3 is still fairly reliable. I would take this thread with a grain of salt. Claiming a high failure rate based on a few posts is ridiculous.

I still haven't had one die...My 20GB launch unit lasted 2-3 years until I sold it.

That'll be why. I've known 5 fats die among three people, who are moderate gamers and take general care of our gear. Enough anecdotal evidence constitutes decent empirical evidence - XB360's RROD was very apparent thanks to anecdotes long before it was recognised officially. I'm not going to claim 100% failure within 3 years for all fats or anything, but PS3's appears less reliable than other PS consoles by a long chalk.

 

[joker454]

I remember reading a recent article (forget which one... I think it was PCMag. I'll try to find it) saying that the PS3 is still fairly reliable with the Wii still being the most reliable (not surprising). I would take this thread with a grain of salt. Claiming a high failure rate based on a few posts is ridiculous.

I still haven't had one die and I've owned a PS3 since launch. My 20GB launch unit lasted 2-3 years until I sold it. Now I'm still on my 120GB slim launch unit from whenever it was released.

Yeah because you sold it, it will just break on the next unlucky guy. Ultimately I'm just passing along my experience, that of which is seeing stacks and stacks of broken launch ps3's. Personally i'd stay away from the fat models like the plague. In the end though it's your money, do what you like with it.

 

[Arwin]

We have 8 fats at work I think, of which two died including mine. But they do seem to die in order of how much they are being used.

 

[jonabbey]

Anecdote: my March 2007 fat is working fine, it gets heavy daily use.

 

[djskribbles]

That'll be why. I've known 5 fats die among three people, who are moderate gamers and take general care of our gear. Enough anecdotal evidence constitutes decent empirical evidence - XB360's RROD was very apparent thanks to anecdotes long before it was recognised officially. I'm not going to claim 100% failure within 3 years for all fats or anything, but PS3's appears less reliable than other PS consoles by a long chalk.

Yeah because you sold it, it will just break on the next unlucky guy. Ultimately I'm just passing along my experience, that of which is seeing stacks and stacks of broken launch ps3's. Personally i'd stay away from the fat models like the plague. In the end though it's your money, do what you like with it.

Sorry, I didn't know you guys were talking about the fat PS3s. My response was more towards TheChefO who claimed that the PS3 has a "high failure rate". Of course you're gonna see lots of reports of failures, even with slim models. But were talking about a huge install base here. You could look at anything considered reliable and still see lots of reports of failures. It's all about the percentage.

While the PS3 may not be as reliable as the PS2 (especially the fat models), I still think it's fairly reliable. I've seen relatively few complaints with the slim models given the size of the userbase. I even see a lot of launch units going strong.

I do wonder once in a while if my launch unit that I sold is still working.

 

[Lucid_Dreamer]

Just had my second die. Playing Might and Magic, it cut out, full power off. Wouldn't turn which turned out to be because the fuse had blown. Changed fuse and it it'll brieflt show a yellow light on power on before powering off.

That sounds like you have pretty dirty power in your house. A voltage regulator and stage 3 surge protection would've likely prevented the fuse from being blown by such voltage spikes.

 

[Lucid_Dreamer]

That'll be why. I've known 5 fats die among three people, who are moderate gamers and take general care of our gear. Enough anecdotal evidence constitutes decent empirical evidence - XB360's RROD was very apparent thanks to anecdotes long before it was recognised officially. I'm not going to claim 100% failure within 3 years for all fats or anything, but PS3's appears less reliable than other PS consoles by a long chalk.

They still seem to be well within 5% failure rate, however a lot of that <5% seem to post online. I've known one person with 11 of the same model console failures. They just weren't PS3s. I've had a launch PS3 fail on me after several years (4?).