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What's wrong with my PS3 (characters)?

So I've encountered this problem a few times before. Basically what happenes is that my PS3 shuts down automatically without warning and there is a red blinking light. After I restart my system it says that the system was turned off improperly and it preforms a check on corruption of the hard disk. Now, I found out that the red blinking light means that it overheated. This has happened since around March, it would maybe happen once every few weeks and would be fine after restarting. I can play for hours at a time without problems, but recently (about 4 weeks ago) it really started to happen often. Now I could play for up to 3 hours or something, but it could also shut off after 20 minutes. I noticed that I could play games on the hard drive longer than disk games. So now my PS3 has been off and unplugged for about two weeks. I have a 160 GB fat model. It is in a cupboard under my TV. So is there anything I can do to prevent it from overheating? Should I get a new fan or an external fan? Or is my PS3 as good as scrap metal?

1 Answer

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  • ?
    Lv 6
    9 years ago
    Favorite Answer

    1. Clean out the vents with a soft head vacuum.

    2. If your warranty has expired (which it probably has) you may want to open up the system to clean it out more thoroughly (this can be quite tricky if you've never opened one up before, search videos on youtube for a how to)

    3. Keep the system at least 6 inches away from walls, floors or ceilings.

    4. Keep the system away from carpets, these trap a lot of heat.

    5. Stand the system so the disc drive is sitting vertically and not horizontally, this will ensure maximum airflow through the vents on the bottom of the system.

    7. Lastly you may want to look into replacing the thermal paste in the system. Again this is kind of tricky, so you should look at some videos first before attempting it.

    Another thing to note: Thermal paste may not be the exact cause of overheating in your system, however it is a pretty common cause on the older models. Replacing thermal paste is not a guaranteed fix, nor is it a permanent solution. If done properly it can extend the life of your system, and prevent the system from overheating until the paste breaks down again. However if done improperly, it can shorten the life of your system, and cause more damage to its components.

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