PS3 Power Supply Dead

[isuzutrio]

So my PS3 just turned off on its own while I was playing NCAA 10 yesterday. Only played for about 20 minutes, wasn't hot at all.
Getting no power, no lights, nothing.

Out of warranty so I pulled the thing apart, started checking everything with the handy multimeter. Cable is good, switch is good, primary side of PSU is good. Secondary side is the weird one. With the 12v prongs and the 5v plug both unplugged, they get voltage, but as soon as I plug either one, or both, in, the whole secondary side has no voltage. Then when I unplug them, voltage magically returns.

Any ideas to what part of this PSU is bad?

[CoenNL]

I do know something about PSU for computers not PS3 specific.

As everyone know you can overload a PSU and then it doesn't work anymore. But what is also possible is when you underload a PSU. Then it works at full speed but the power cannot get away because there isn't enough need for power. Then usually it breaks down with weird problems like this one.

The most common one is that when you start it up it will give power for 1 second and then terminate itself. Then its underloaded.

Usually users do that with a paperclip. How a PS3 PSU crashes thats the weird thing I cannot explain. But the story you tell me does seem to be underload. Or maybe it only takes 12volt and not the 5 volt. In most cases all the lines should be used for a PSU to operate normally.

[neorudemovement]

wow, this might be something easier to fix on your own my friend just said. whereas the ylod needs to be shipped off my friend said as long as you understand computer inards and buy the same specs you should be fine replacing this yourself. this is a first for hearing about a dead power supply. 2 of my ps3's have broken.

one was an original 60g and the other i bought used as a backup and it looked to be treated fairly crappy previous to me getting it.

[JeffJ]

So my PS3 just turned off on its own while I was playing NCAA 10 yesterday. Only played for about 20 minutes, wasn't hot at all.
Getting no power, no lights, nothing.

Out of warranty so I pulled the thing apart, started checking everything with the handy multimeter. Cable is good, switch is good, primary side of PSU is good. Secondary side is the weird one. With the 12v prongs and the 5v plug both unplugged, they get voltage, but as soon as I plug either one, or both, in, the whole secondary side has no voltage. Then when I unplug them, voltage magically returns.

Any ideas to what part of this PSU is bad?

if you get no voltage when its plugged into the PS3 that means the PS3 unit its self is experiencing a dead short.

if u get no voltage from the PSU when its switched on but not plugged into the ps3 unit then, the psu is dead.

if you can hear the psu clicking when u have it assembled ot the ps3, then its hitting its crowbar circuit because of a short.

as for the ps3 overloading the PSU, thats unlikely unless its a short. even when its overloading it will at least boot until the 3d kicks in and starves the unit of the amperage it needs. Im a pc tech i see this all the time.

[DrMaxim]

if you get no voltage when its plugged into the PS3 that means the PS3 unit its self is experiencing a dead short.

if u get no voltage from the PSU when its switched on but not plugged into the ps3 unit then, the psu is dead.

if you can hear the psu clicking when u have it assembled ot the ps3, then its hitting its crowbar circuit because of a short.

as for the ps3 overloading the PSU, thats unlikely unless its a short. even when its overloading it will at least boot until the 3d kicks in and starves the unit of the amperage it needs. Im a pc tech i see this all the time.

QFT! I have seen this phenomenon several times professionally. Not PS3 related, but most power supplies will kick out when overloaded. I dont know if you can, but when we run into this in the field with out machines (not ps3s) we diconnect one item at a time to see which is the culprit. Unplug the fan and see if it works (short time for testing only), unplug the BD drive, etc. Again, I don't know if you can isolate these items or not, but if you can it's an easy way to find the culprit.

[JeffJ]

QFT! I have seen this phenomenon several times professionally. Not PS3 related, but most power supplies will kick out when overloaded. I dont know if you can, but when we run into this in the field with out machines (not ps3s) we diconnect one item at a time to see which is the culprit. Unplug the fan and see if it works (short time for testing only), unplug the BD drive, etc. Again, I don't know if you can isolate these items or not, but if you can it's an easy way to find the culprit.

this would be a good way to see whats shorting yes.

its not an overload, trust me or the fuse would pop, thats why its there. its a short thats causing the psu to shut down into its crowbar circuit to preven hardware damage. something got to hot, solder flowed and there is a short.

if it was an overload, the fuse would pop as its drawing more amperage then it can handle or if it has a breaker it would trip. and if it has neither. then it gets too hot as its being over worked and catches fire. something is grounding out. could be as simple as a bent 5v pin to ground in the usb slot which i see cause laptop a/c adapter to go into a crowbar shut down all the time. all it takes is some one to rip that usb cable out on an angle.

as for you having power supplies come back in the field after removing stuff, only proves either a) the device removed was shorting or had a leaking ground or b) the capacitors in said hardware removed or power supply have lost there ability to charge and discharge at there printed value. which can easily happen because non-solid state capacitors will begin to lose there value and ability to charge and discharge at this value at if they reach any temperature above 105 degrees Celsius. the don't have to be blown/leaking to be bad either.