Worst Nightmare: PS3 blinking red light of death! - Page 14

No code needed. They will ask for the serial number and then give you the option of repair or trade-in for a slim. From what I have read, as long as you let them know there is a disc stuck inside you will get it back with the new unit. Good luck!

All true. I had to send mine back with a brand new Skyrim disc in it. It was returned to me with the disc in a protective sleeve, taped to the top of the plastic bag that the PS3 was wrapped in.

My $99 refurb 160GB slim has worked flawlessly since I got it (mid-november) and it is worlds quieter than my 60GB ever was.

Thanks for the clarification. I will be giving them a call.

Thanks again!

Well I waited a while as I decided if I was going to open it up and try the re-flow thing myself in order to get it to stay running long enough to get our game saves onto a USB. or just send it in.
I just couldn't seem to find the time and my son was losing patience with me so I decided to go ahead and send it to Sony.
It appears that their price has gone up for this service as they told me it was now $149 to either fix mine or trade it for a refurb 160 slim model. I made a snap decision and told them that I wanted to get the slim 160 which I later regretted.

They sent a nice pre-paid shipping box that arrived in one day. I filled out and included the appropriate paperwork, and sent it out.
Exactly 2 weeks after I sent it arrived and much to my surprise, when I opened the box was my original 80g fat PS3.

I was actually a bit relieved that I got my old one back because shortly after I had sent it off, I realized that with a slim model, I would lose my ability to play SACD via HDMI and the shelf and face plate would also need to be changed in my rack.

In the end, I am very pleased with this service option that Sony is offering. Sony is a large entity and probably have the resources to offer this service. I'm sure that since the PS3 platform is still a current offering, that may have a significant impact on why they offer this kind of service program. But I doubt that there are too many others out there that would be willing to do the same kind of service on a unit that has been out of warranty for nearly 3 years. In my experience, they would say sorry, and ask that you to buy a new unit at a retail outlet, or if there is a repair service option, it would end up being more than the cost of a new unit.

Thanks Sony!

I think it's a good service, too. They are pretty quick about it, and the customer service reps I've dealt with on the phone have been very good. I had my 60GB fixed the first time and it lasted about 3 years. I swapped it for a 160 slim the second time. You do lose some functionality with the slim, but man is it quiet compared to the fat.

buyer beware,

I did that with my OG 60GB phat unit when it died at around 2 years old. They sent me a refurb 60GB for $150 or so. Almost 2 years to the month later that unit got the dreaded YLOD too.

Personally, after opening up that unit (to reflow it) and seeing everything, I came to the conclusion it's just a faulty design for the amount of heat those things pump out, combined with the tin solder issues.

Failure rate of phats between myself, friends and gaming buddies is up around 50-60%. I'm not surprised the slim was released so soon too. Sony probably moved it up because of these failure rates on phats.


And cool. You could cook some eggs and bacon on a phat right next to the fan exhaust.

So my secondary PS3, an 80GB pre-slim, does this weird thing. If you hit the power button, it beeps ans the red light blinks. If you try to turn it on with the controller nothing happens. The only way to turn it on is to hit the power button while the light is blinking red. Then it works fine. Anyone know what this means?

I have the 60 gig release model and it has never had a problem in the 5+ years I've had it. Today I was playing Tiger Woods PGA 13 and after 3 holes it just shut down and it had red blinking lights. So I rebooted it from the back and tried again and it went green , yellow to blinking red in a matter of 3 or 4 seconds. So first I put it in the freezer for 20 minutes to see if it was over heating and try to get it back on so I could get the disk out and it didnt work. Then I took the HDD out and tried it to see if I could get to the dash board and then I would know it it was the HDD or the unit. Still did the same thing. Does this mean my HDD should be ok? If its the unit and not the HDD can I buy a refurbed PS3 and put my HDD in it and not loose anything from my HDD like downloads and game saves?? Any help would be greatly apreciated because my PS3 and TW games are my life outside of work.

I think you're dead in the water, but...you never lose your downloads. You just log in to the playstation store and re-download them. It takes a while, sure, but once you've purchased downloads they're yours. They belong to your playstation ID, not the playstation unit.

Buy a slim. Do a reflow on the fat. Transfer your data from the fat to the slim. Hope the fat lasts long enough to do the transfer. Been there, done that.

My reflow lasted long enough for the transfer. It then made it ten minutes into a BluRay before YLOD again. Not sure if I should sell it complete, part it out, or send it to Sony.

So if my 40 gig dies, I can get a slim for 100 bucks? Oh heck yes. Die you bastard! Lol.

No, I believe currently you can only get a refurb 40 gb if your current 40 gb dies. That is all they offered me, and I called multiple times trying to get a slim. I believe the 20, 60, and some 80 gb models qualify for the slim.

My refurb 40gb does seem to run cooler and quieter than my last one. The last Sony rep I talked to said they would take care of me should I have another failure. I've really been testing this unit, leaving it on all day, letting the kids play for hours, etc.

I'm sorry....but this is just a joke. I just told my friend the same thing: If you buy a product, you can only expect it to last slightly longer than the warranty period. These companies have statisticians come in and tell them, within their budget, how long a warranty can be provided for at a certain % failure rate. Of course Sony knew the systems would start failing after a certain time....and so should you have.

Especially the Xbox and PS3, which were basically computers. You wouldn't expect for a computer to last 3-5 years without a component failing would you? If you do, you should've bought an extended warranty.

I've had PC's last 10 years with no issues, so I'm not sure what you're going on about.

Tin foil hat off, the problem comes down to tin solder and a inadequate heat dissipation in the tiny PS3 phat. That seems to been fixed in the slim, but it was an issue in the phats and still is. Both Sony and MS figured their cooling systems would be enough in their switch to next gen (not really having to worry about it last gen), both figured wrong.

If it's a reflow, realize is only a temporary solution at best.

If it's a reball (remove tin solder, replace with lead), it might last, but the jury is still out. Reballing is only on the RSX, so if the memeory or CELL connection go next, there's not much you can do.

Personally, I'd just reflow it yourself, grab your data, and pony up the money for a slim.


And again, if you have a Phat trade it in as soon as possible! They're all dieing IMO, and yours will goo eventually, with no warning.

Yeah I had to reflow myself this weekend, used the hairdryer on medium for 10 mins, it fired up got my disc out and made it to the PS store where I was going to back up, then it YLOD again.....ok. I removed the HDD again and this time heated it on high for 10 mins to the point where it kind of dis figured the vents on the back, fired it up and wham...worked fine all the way through my backup and then transfer....its now under my bed til I figure out what to do with it...

Then damn near everything I own should evaporate any minute now.
-Sent From A Gateway Solo 5100

Yeah, I already responded to that. It's bunk.

Most computer electronics shoot for 4-8% failure rates in their 4-5th years, which is low. Computers are also iffy, because so many thins a user does or doesn't do can attribute to failure. I have to wipe and restore my parents computer ever year or so because it's become so bogged down with spyware, crap-ware, and useless stuff. For a lot of people PC's are like the garage or trash heap, they just keep piling on and are not using them in a manor that keeps them running well. It's like buying a car and never giving it an oil change, or bringing it in for regular maintenance. Of course thats going to lead to failures.

I've seen stats stating that MS back when the RROD was prevalent was as high as 17% in the first two years, and since then Phat PS3's have been dropping like flies from my own anecdotal evidence, both here, and within my clan where 60% of our launch units are now paperweight.

I think when/if the PS4 generation arrives, there should be a concerted media effort to pin Sony down on declaring what the expected service life is on this one. If they say it is 2 yrs, then they're probably telling the truth (that would suck, but at least we got the truth). If they say it is 5 yrs, we hold their feet to the fire the whole way. Sony made a fantastic piece of CE hardware with the original PS3 (so much such that the current slim model is a mere shadow of the original as far as functionality), but also a real turkey as far as longevity. The system that melts itself internally with near certainty (let alone, the BR diode that burns itself out like a ticking bomb) is just not something we the consumer should stand for as an acceptable product. You'd expect this sort of quality from a cheap $30 Asia knockoff dvd player, not a $500 premiere product from a top tier Japanese brand.

What most irritated me when my 60GB launch machine failed last November was the fact that my 3 year older PS2 continues to function fine. And it was $200, not $600.

This on top of my Sony SACD player which listed at $1500 when released failing after about 700 hours of use over 5 years due to a laser head defect common across several models in their ES line has convinced me Sony should not be given big amounts of money for premium machines. So whatever I buy to play SACDs from here on out will be a different brand.

My $5500 (MRSP $7k) 70" XBR2 tends to agree with you Brandon.... As soon as I get some disposable income "Sony Cares" is getting an earful.

Their manufacturing the last 10 years has been very shoddy, and doesn't command their premium price as it once did.

My PS2 hung in there to the end, but the dvd player diode was getting flaky by that time. I had still gotten my times-worth out of it, and dvd players were nearly ubiquitous by that point. PS3 reliability has turned out to be in stark contrast to the PS2, in my ownership history.

Playing my 1st generation, 2007 launch PS3 just tonight . when suddenly it shuts off and starts blinking the red light. I instantly turn to the internet only to find it is mainly an irreversible problem. I face facts giving up hope. Then I proceed to just turn it on. It states it was shut off improperly and wants to do a restore thing where it makes sure all the files are fine. I say yes, then it shuts off and starts blinking red again. I turn it back on, but this time I don't let it do a restore recovery thing. It goes to the sign ins, I quickly record my emails and passwords, knowing the problem could end up locking me out of the ps3, also backed up all my pictures. Now, so far, it hasnt shut off again. My question: Am I just lucky or is it inevitable my Ps3 will die soon?

Trade that sucker in for a slim while you can!

At minimum it'll give you peace of mind.

You have seen the signs. It's happened to many of us already. The writing is on the wall... er, screen... er, whatever. Not to be all doom and gloom, but those early units weren't built to last.

Got the yellow light of death this morning. Disassembled it today, going to refloat the CPU & GPU tomorrow after I buy thermal compound. I'm pretty sure thats the problem so right after I hopefully get it working again, Ill transfer my saves to my slim ps3 I bought a while back. Refloating it will only be a temporary fix, might buy me a few months..but I'd rather just get all my data onto the slim to be safe. Just an update.

My 60gb system that I got in January 2007 finally died on my a few weeks back.

I tried to take it in to a local place to have a reflow done on it, but was told that it was my video card that had failed.

Now I'm sending it to a guy on eBay to have him reball the video card. If that doesn't work, I'll have to fork over another $50 for him to a new video card and replace the one on this unit.

My last backup was in December of last year, so we lost a good amount of game saves since then. I'm wiling to fork over the money to get the PS3 working again so that I can get the data off of it and have the original system in working order.

However, I'm going to be migrating to the 360gb slim I picked up last year (haven't even unboxed it yet, as I was going to put it in our bonus room, but looks like I'll be putting the 60gb once I get it back). It's a shame too...I upgraded the 60gb unit to a 7200rpm 120gb drive. I believe the slims are 5400rpm still, no?

I've convinced my wife that getting the PSN Plus subscription would probably be a good idea moving forward.

I'm bummed about the hardware failure, but I'm not too upset. I've had multiple PCs die on me in less than 4 years. My original modded PS2 died on me in about 5 years as well.

My 80GB fat died two days ago while using the web browser. . .

So that makes 3 out of 4 PS3s that have kicked the bucket for me - two slims that malfunctioned shortly after opening the box and the fat I bought 4 or 5 years ago.

Cheers