Playstation 3 Blinking Red, beeping three times fast

[megasdkirby]

Hello everyone!

No, but PS3 is not dead.

This is a friends PS3. It's the original 60GB model.

Problem is as follows, according to him: He was watching a movie, when all of a sudden the console shuts down by itself. He then proceeds to turn on the unit manually (touch button) when it starts to "boot" but then immediately turns red, blinking red with three consecutive fast beeps. It continues to blink endlessly after this.

What could be causing the problem? It's not the HDD, as he took it out and the same thing occurs.

Are they any free FAQs about this?

Thanks!

[Dangerboy]

From Sony's Page:

# Shut the PLAYSTATION 3 down completely and let it cool down to room temperature, then try running it again.
# If the fan cannot be heard before the system shut down, the PLAYSTATION 3 may need to be sent in for service.
# If there is no airflow from any of the vents, the system may need to be sent in for service.

Sounds like possible board failure. I Believe flat fee repair is $150 (might be less since the price drop.)

[megasdkirby]

Will the console boot up without an HDD installed?

[Moriya]

I don't think it would.
Sounds like an overheat. Since its a 60gb, I am gonna assume its no longer under warranty.

[Dr. Dib]

According to the sources of Google, well PSUforums, you can boot it up without the hard drive in the console. The PS3 will start and say it needs a Hard Drive to run.

[megasdkirby]

Well, I am trying to fix his PS3 today.

From everything I checked, it seems it has the YLOD syndrome. And they (as in internet folk) say it's quite common (though they also admit it's quite rare...so which is it?)

I also read about using a heatgun preset to 350 degrees celsius to "reflow" the solder on the CPU and GPU (which they say is the cause of the problem).

Has anyone done this? Any recommendations before I tacke this beast?