PSU getting very hot, system turns off after 20 min

[DanAdamKOF]

My PS3 fat (CECHE01) is overheating somewhere. If I run it for a while, the internal fan gradually increase in speed, and the PSU gets extremely hot to the touch (can't leave my palm or fingers on it for more than a second). Eventually it turns itself off, and the red light doesn't come on. If I leave it unplugged from the wall for about 5 minutes, I hear a click from the PSU, and then I can turn it on again. If I have fan blowing on it, it doesn't overheat (used it for about 6 straight hours last night with a fan, and had no issues).

Is this a power supply issue, or is the overheating coming from further within the PS3, and the power supply is just conducting the heat?

Any help is appreciated, thank you all in advance.

[kpatm]

Sounds like the start of the YLOD mate. Can you try another PSU in your PS3?

[HankVenture]

I would either start taking preventive measures such as actually opening up the case and replacing the thermal paste and cleaning off the motherboard and heatsink of dust. Or if you don't like that you can send it to Sony and get a refurb of the same model back. It will cost you if you are no longer under warranty though. Either way, good luck. YLOD is no fun.

[DanAdamKOF]

Thanks for the advice. In the near-future I'll gut this PS3 and clean it thoroughly, and I guess I'll apply thermal paste if it's still overheating after that.

edit: got bored and pulled out the motherboard. Yeaaaaaah I think I know why it was overheating now, turns out it was crammed full of Sony's lawyers, and by that I mean roaches and the requisite tons o' dust. I guess no craigslist deal is ever 100% perfect, is it...

I'll have my results in a bit, almost done cleaning it out, but I'm pretty sure this will fix it.


edit 2: son of a, it did just overheat, after enduring that nastiness now i'm a bit pissed lol, guess I'll tear it a bit further apart some other time and see if i can find more crap blocking the way. Meanwhile it really doesn't get that hot at all with the fan running near it, I'm not too worried though it is pretty noisy.

[Mistawes]

Yeh, I've never gotten one full of bugs but ya do find weird shit inside them! Mainly toothpicks in Xboxs though..

You need to change your thermal paste for Arctic Silver 5, otherwise it will give you YLOD very shortly. Look into modding your fan too if you're capable, can run it faster to make your PS3 last longer, but more than anything else keep it away from carpet and give it about 2 feet clearance behind it to allow good airflow.