Sony Playstation 3 problems

[scovilletech]

Hi everyone,

I have posted this on other support forums better suited to gaming, but have gotten no help.

A customer brought me her son's PS3 saying it wouldn't power on. I plugged it in and the red light over the power button glows red. When you press power you get a quick green led and one beep, then lights go out and nothing happens until you pull power and re-plug after a few seconds. This is my first venture into gaming systems, so please forgive my lack of knowledge. Could this be failed power supply?

The unit has a funny smell, but not like a burnt component smell. Once I opened the unit, I saw what looked like specks of dirt stuck all over everywhere and once I saw a couple dead bugs, it hit me that this was roach crap and thus the smell.

I unplugged the two wires on each end of the vented module that the fan blows through and shook it. It is full of roach material. I am assuming this is the power supply. Do any of you have any words of wisdom?

Thanks!

 

[Rob_NNCC]

yep, sounds like it could be the psu

 

[scovilletech]

OK, in this model, am I right in thinking that this is the long black module with fan vents that mounts across the back rear?

Now that I am grossed out by this thing, I hope this will fix it, because I don't even want the dang thing in my house now any longer than it has to be. Will order one off ebay and see what happens.

Do you know any good suppliers for game console parts?

Thanks!

 

[Rob_NNCC]

venders? nope, sorry. I did research on PS3s for about 3 weeks looking to possibly fix them, but the demand was never there. I don't know what version you have (fat or slim) so I don't know what the box with vents in it is.

 

[Pc Fixed Right]

I am not sure if this LINK can help your client but it might be worth a shot if the company is still doing replacements.

Read the entire thing.

 

[scovilletech]

The model I'm working on appears to be a "slim" model according to pictures I've seen. It looks like the vented box is the power supply because it has the 2 pin AC connection on one end and the output on the other. Found one on ebay, so we'll try that.

 

[NYJimbo]

Once I opened the unit, I saw what looked like specks of dirt stuck all over everywhere and once I saw a couple dead bugs, it hit me that this was roach crap and thus the smell..........It is full of roach material..... Do any of you have any words of wisdom?

Thanks!

Yes, tell the customer you cant work on it because its full of roach feces and that cant be cleaned out. Give the unit back to the customer and walk away. Do you really want to work on this thing ?

 

[AlexT]

I wouldn't have it in my house! If you're getting any lights then surely the psu is still functioning somewhat. I would imagine it could be the graphic chip. I'm no expert at this myself but i have come across a couple displaying what you describe and it turned out that it was the graphics.

 

[rsarceno]

It sounds like an old problem similar to PS2 (GPU issue). With PS2 a temporary solution is re-flow. A permanent solution is reball.

It wont hurt to re-flow and see what happen. If it works for a few minutes or days, then you know it a the same issue and not the power supply.

 

[NYJimbo]

It sounds like an old problem similar to PS2 (GPU issue). With PS2 a temporary solution is re-flow. A permanent solution is reball.

It wont hurt to re-flow and see what happen. If it works for a few minutes or days, then you know it a the same issue and not the power supply.

So, you just kinda passed over the whole "packed full of roach crap" thing, right ?

 

[scovilletech]

I agree about handing it back to the customer and will do that if I can't get the cheap psu I bid on ebay. The one in the unit I think may be failing when it tries to power up the unit, having just enough voltage to light the red led, but dies under load. Probably due to the carcasses and crap inside it. Right now the thing is wrapped up in a garbage bag twisted and tied shut. If that doesn't fix it, I'm done. You guys may be right on with the gpu issue, I think I'll start with the psu for cheap and my gut feeling seeing how power supplies can behave. If that doesn't do it, I'll save the psu and tell her no can do.

 

[AlexT]

Let us know how it works out for you, personally i would start with the gpu because it's the most common fault i have seen with these. Can you test the psu with a multimeter?