You try to turn on your PS3, and all you get is 3 beeps and your console powers down. What does this mean? Countless number of PS3 owners claim to encounter this problem. The only bit of information you can get from Sony is that it is the result of a hardware issue. Then they ask you to send your console to them and pay the "small" fee of $150 for repairs, not including shipping.

Most of the time, when your PS3 beeps, it is due to overheating. This overheating causes the solder to melt that is holding the CPU and GPU. When the solder melts, the chips loose contact with the motherboard, and then you will get the infamous 3 beeps. Another common name of the 3 beeps is the Yellow Light of Death (YLOD), which gets it's name from the faint yellow light that is produced after the console beeps 3 times.

A few minor fixes you could try include:

• Confirm that your HDD (hard drive) hasn’t come loose. Many videos covering this topic can be found on YouTube.

• Power your console off for about 25 minutes, and make sure all the air vents are free of dust.

If these quick fixes do not work then it is time to start searching for a real fix. First, if your console is still under warranty I would definitely send it back to Sony for a replacement or repairs, but if your console is out of warranty, that is another story. I don’t know about you, but I do not want to pay Sony over $150 for them to repair my console. Not to mention, it will take them about 6 weeks to complete the whole process. There are many other cheaper and reliable options to fix your PS3 3 beeps/YLOD.

So for those whose console is not under warranty, the cheapest and quickest way to fixing your PS3 is doing it on your own, with guidance from a professional repair guide. I would not recommend attempting to fix your console on your own, as there are a countless number of things that can permanently damage your console during a fix. A repair guide is a fraction of what you would pay Sony, and much, much quicker. Therefore, you won’t have to go 5-6 weeks without your console.

I personally have fixed my PS3 using a repair guide, and I am happy to announce that the fix worked perfectly. My PS3 is running like a champ! For a review of the guide that led me to a flawless PS3 YLOD fix follow the link in the resource box.