Try these PS3 troubleshooting techniques before you decide to consider sending your console back to Sony or taking apart your PS3 to fix it yourself. If your PS3 has the dreaded Ylod then the causes might be many but is often simply caused by excessive heat. The advanced chips and graphics processors combined with the Sony Ps3 produce a whole lot of heat, particularly if you have the high def settings turned all the way up. Here are a few tips about how to fix PS3 overheating problems without needing to send the system back to Sony and pay $150 -$300 and wait 4 to 6 weeks.
Cooling It Down:
1) Don’t place your PS3 console in the corners of the room. Heat gets easily held in corners and can increase the overheating problem. The PS3? already creates a massive amount of heat, and also the trapped heat will overheat it much more quickly.
2) Try placing your PlayStation 3 console with an open shelf away from every other electronics. Do not close the doors on your entertainment system when you’re playing. You want to get just as much air flowing to the unit as possible
3) Turn off your PS3 and wait for 30 minutes to allow it fully cool. After you have moved it to a less heat intensive environment turn it on again an turn it on for some time to see if this fixes your PS3.
4) Try placing your PS3 console near an aura conditioning vent. Before you buy any additional cooling units try to use your already-in-place ac system. It’s already blowing cold air using your house, so let it blow around the PS3 also.
5) Leave your console running for a short while, and then check the sides from the walls of the shelving. If any one side is hot to the touch, you will want to look at purchasing and installing fans especially for PS3 consoles to cool the hot side from the console. There are plenty of third-party manufacturers that produce fans for all sides from the system, and you can locate them at any gaming retailer or online gaming shops. Just do a quick look for “PS3 cooling fans”.
6) This task is kind of a final resort but could sometimes help. Purchase a laptop cooling pad for that console to sit down on. You can buy these at any computer accessory retailer like Best to buy, and you will be amazed at how quickly these electronic pads will cool down your PS3 console.
7) Here is the last step to fixing PS3 game systems. Improve your hd settings to try to cool things down. Either switch off the high resolution setting or lower the resolution. This can help because the graphics processor produce much of the heat.
Try any of the above tips to cool down the body and get eliminate the yellow light of death. These fixes do not require any modifications for your PS3 as well as their success rate varies. They are however quite simple to complete and their price is minimal. If these steps do not fix the PS3 permanently you might have to send the unit to Sony or decide to fix it yourself. I found a great instantly downloadable PS3 repair guide and glued mine myself in about an hour and a half also it was really really quite simple and didn’t require any special tools or equipment. The guide included how you can videos and clearly written tutorials with lots of pictures.