Overheating after clean-up and re-applied thermal paste

[zeromx]

Hello,

Ive got a uk PAL ps3 40gb, it had a faulty blu-ray drive initially...

So while i waiting for the replacement laser to arrive, i took it apart and clean it carefully - mainly using compressed air in a can.. and also cleaned up the old thermal paste and replaced it with Artic Silver 5.

Then after when i started it, the fans starting getting really really loud, after searching around i though it may be too much thermal paste or too little, so i opened it up again and re applied with a good (ideal amount) and now it turns on, fans kick in really loud and turns off automatically......

Any help, this console never had any issue like this before i cleaned it up and changed the thermal paste..

[harrytasker]

Had same problem here with a 60GB Launch model.
It was already horribly loud, and i mean like watching a bluray movie for 10 minutes, made the fan sound like a jet engine and made watching the movie impossible.
Same happens with games.
I opened up my PS3, cleaned and added new thermal past. Sadly it didn't do jack shit, the fan still bloody noisy.
If anyone got a suggestion pleae let me knoW!

[jMs]

Have you had a look @ the heat-sink surface area, is the paste in contact with the whole (or at least 70% of the CPU/GPU).
The heat-sink/ gpu-cpu surface area have a tendency to warp.
You might have to apply some more pressure to the clamp when you re-apply them. Cause with less than 70% contact you're sure to get a freeze or in worst case Ylod. Also a thick layer will result in the same (it should be very, very thin layer.)

This is an example of a bad thermal paste scenario -> http://www.llamma.com/PS3/repair/dis...F0401thumb.jpg < much like what it will look like out of the box in bad cases.

[greyest]

Hello,

Any help, this console never had any issue like this before i cleaned it up and changed the thermal paste..

you must have worsened contact between cpu/gpu/ram and heatsink in the process. the heatsink should be pressed straight and tight.

[v8s10]

I have a 40GB CECHG nand model doing the same thing...after 30 seconds, fan ramps up to full speed then shuts down with ylod. Turns back on no problem and does the same thing.
The unit has been reflowed...no difference.
What i have tried so far that has helped, popped off the heat spreader (aluminum plate on the gpu...not sure if that is the correct term) and replaced the thermal paste on the gpu die itself. Now the ps3 will actually stay running, but the fan alternates between high speed & 1 speed below, although the air coming out the rear of the console is cool.
What i didn't do was put thermal paste on the 4 corners of the gpu (ram chips?) I think it should actually be thermal adhesive, but i have none, so paste it is. Im going to try that next, if that doesn't work, Im going to try a shim between the heatsink and heatspreader for a slight bit more pressure and see what happens.
The worst part is reassembly with a loose heatspreader...gotta be careful it doesn't shift off the gpu!
Hopefully one of these attemps fixes it!

[xPreatorianx]

Now first a disclaimer before I go any further : I have never done a reflow, reball, or reapplied thermal paste to any portion of the PS3! But I have done these things on the 360.

Now that I'm done with that, I see this all the time with the 360. So I don't see why it doesn't apply here. Basically the PS3 is used to a certain amount of pressure being applied to the chips. Usually they are pretty ****ing tight on there (excuse my french) so my advice would be to tighten the heatsinks before doing anything else. As all you did was clean the old thermal paste and then applied a new layer. So it simply means you aren't applying enough pressure on the chips to allow sufficient heat dissipation, or you aren't applying the pressure in a uniform fashion. (hopefully this is the only problem.)

So tighten the heatsinks about a mm or two and keep turning the machine on until it's stable. Basically only "nudge" the screws. As I know the 360 is finicky as hell with a Xclamp/thermal paste replacement and I imagine the PS3 is too with the YLOD or thermal paste replacement.

Also like the poster above me suggested, make sure you have the proper compounds on the corresponding chips.

But again just to clarify so I don't have people saying "you screwed my machine up further, DAMNZZZ YOUZZZ!!!" I have never done any maintenance hardware wise on a PS3. But I have done a lot of maintenance and repairs on 360's. But in all honesty I believe they would share the same "quirks."

Final note for anyone and everyone : Make sure you don't gob the thermal paste on there. The layer should be extremely thin and should barely cover the surface. Basically thinner then a white notebook piece of paper. (rough example.) Keep in mind though that it has to cover the entire surface. But again don't overdue it. An extremely thin "film" should work fine. A good example from the PC world is "A pea size drop will do ya!"

[v8s10]

Now that I'm done with that, I see this all the time with the 360. So I don't see why it doesn't apply here. Basically the PS3 is used to a certain amount of pressure being applied to the chips. Usually they are pretty ****ing tight on there (excuse my french) so my advice would be to tighten the heatsinks before doing anything else. As all you did was clean the old thermal paste and then applied a new layer. So it simply means you aren't applying enough pressure on the chips to allow sufficient heat dissipation, or you aren't applying the pressure in a uniform fashion. (hopefully this is the only problem.)

So tighten the heatsinks about a mm or two and keep turning the machine on until it's stable. Basically only "nudge" the screws. As I know the 360 is finicky as hell with a Xclamp/thermal paste replacement and I imagine the PS3 is too with the YLOD or thermal paste replacement.

I know exactly what you are saying with the 360 & tightening the screws, I have done that too...unfortunately, this won't work on the ps3. The ps3 uses a metal "spring plate" so to speak, for pressure on the heatsink/gpu or cpu with only 2 screws for each. Only problem is the machine screws that hold the spring plate & heatsink together have shoulders, so you can only tighten them until they bottom out on the heatsink. I guess you could just replace the screws with non shouldered ones & maybe get more pressure that way. I might have to try that yet!

One other thing i should note: I have repaired many YLOD ps3's and one thing i have noticed is there are different spring plates (fats only, I've never opened a slim!). Some are very hard to bend, while others are very easy to bend. The console I am working on now has the softer easy to bend plates. It seems like it doesn't matter how much you bend them to try to get some extra force out of them, they just bend back after being installed again. I'm not sure if they are interchangeable from one model to the next though.

[xPreatorianx]

I know exactly what you are saying with the 360 & tightening the screws, I have done that too...unfortunately, this won't work on the ps3. The ps3 uses a metal "spring plate" so to speak, for pressure on the heatsink/gpu or cpu with only 2 screws for each. Only problem is the machine screws that hold the spring plate & heatsink together have shoulders, so you can only tighten them until they bottom out on the heatsink. I guess you could just replace the screws with non shouldered ones & maybe get more pressure that way. I might have to try that yet!

One other thing i should note: I have repaired many YLOD ps3's and one thing i have noticed is there are different spring plates (fats only, I've never opened a slim!). Some are very hard to bend, while others are very easy to bend. The console I am working on now has the softer easy to bend plates. It seems like it doesn't matter how much you bend them to try to get some extra force out of them, they just bend back after being installed again. I'm not sure if they are interchangeable from one model to the next though.

Ahh damn that sucks. I won't even offer anything on the rest. I don't even wanna touch that with a 10 foot pole lol. Sucks I couldn't be of any help. But good luck m8! Once you do figure it out, please let us know so if this problem comes up again we can link back to here.

The only reasonable suggestion I can tell you is to go looking for the mod/repair based console sites. They always have little "hacks" that you do to get around these console quirks. They've always helped me with the 360. So they should have some tutorials/information/etc etc/ on the PS3.

(This is of course if someone doesn't come along with a hell of a lot more knowledge on the PS3 than I do :P.)

[FNS]

Get a new one dude

[v8s10]

Just a quick update...I reapplied the proper amount of thermal paste under the gpu heat spreader (centre & 4 corner chips). The ps3 is running great now, fan only hits 2nd speed, luke warm air out the back, no shutting down at all. I'm gonna leave this thing running for a few days, alternating between HD movies & gaming to see how it holds up, but so far so good.

NOTE*** The ps3 i'm working on was basically considered junk, trying any of what I did will be at your own risk...I am not responsible if you screw up your machine*** Anyway, maybe this will help others get their ps3 going...good luck!