I bought a 20gb PS3 about a year ago off eBay. It has worked perfectly until now (I only use it as a Blu-Ray player), but has started acting funny.

Long-story-short, after thinking it didn't work, I left it unplugged for a day, then tried it on a different TV and it worked. Unplugged it and put it back on my nice TV and it worked...for a bit. Then the display got quite a bit wonky (within a minute or two), and then after resetting it, my receiver and TV don't see it plugged in.

I think it's overheating, but am not sure. Is this now a paperweight, or is there a way I can open it and check to see if the fan is spinning or not? I didn't have the time to check late last night, so thought I'd see if someone knew or had some suggestions for me.

Thanks!!!

how much airflow does it get when in use? from what i read the CPU's in there are just slightly modified versions of what IBM used to sell Apple to run the old pre-intel macbooks. and those used to get so hot you could cook on it

Is it really loud? The fan will go to high speed if the system is overheated.

Al, should have plenty of airflow. It's in a well-ventilated area.

Fandango, it isn't really loud. Quite the opposite, in fact. The main reasons I think it's overheating are:

1. It worked for the first 60-90 seconds I had it plugged in. Then went all wonky.
2. It seemed very hot after those 60-90 seconds.
3. I can't hear much of a thing (as far as a fan goes).

Another thing that is worth mentioning: After it goes all wonky, if I try to press the main button on one of my remotes, instead of the four channel lights blinking and then the "1" button staying lit, they just all blink-blink-blink for about 2 mins. But the remotes work fine when I first boot it up (cold).

I let my brother-in-law borrow this, and it left my house working perfectly - never a problem. And came back like this. :cry:

I wonder if I should just crack that big ol'bastard open and see if there's an obvious fan that's not spinning?

Does the power light ever change color when it goes bad?

Nope, just tried it right now. Played for about 3 minutes, and then just froze up, no change to the power indicator light. When I very first turn it on, I hear the fan spin up, then it stops after about 2-3 seconds...

Did you used to hear the fan going after it was on for awhile? (mine usually kicks in after 15 minutes or so, but there is alot of variance with PS3s, some people barely hear a fan come on, but they still work fine). If it's overheating, I'm sure the top of the case should feel warm or hot to the touch. Try feeling it. And if it is hot, you should feel hot air being blown out of some of the vents (which vents depends on which model you have). If the top feels hot, and you don't feel any hot air coming out of anywhere, I'd say it could be a fan not working.

Have you tried putting it out in the open and putting a portable fan to work on the PS3 vent? See how that goes.

Not well. I bought an Intercooler and applied it. Within 2-3 minutes, that thing sounded like a turbine engine. Within 3 minutes or so, the system froze.

Damn man. Did you get a warranty from the eBay seller? You should call Sony and get them to repair it for you.

Called Sony. Going to cost me ~$150 to have them repair it. Better than paying $350-$400 for a new one, but a bit bummed.