Things You'll Need
Instructions
Pull the warranty sticker off of the bottom of the PS3. This will void your warranty, so make sure that the problem you are addressing is not covered by your warranty. Note that taking your PS3 to be repaired by someone other than Sony will still void your warranty. You are not losing anything by taking apart your PS3 yourself. Under the sticker will be a small piece of rubber that hides a single screw. Remove the rubber piece and unscrew the screw.
Slide the faceplate off of the PlayStation 3. After the faceplate is removed, you can now separate the two halves of the plastic covering. Remove and set aside the top piece of the plastic case to expose the internal components of the PS3. On the underside of the top plastic covering, there will be a memory card slot at the bottom-right corner.
Locate and remove the Bluetooth circuit board. Remove the four screws to lift the Bluetooth board free. This is located at the bottom-left corner of the main body of the PS3 if you have the system flat on its side instead of standing up straight. This will look like a green rectangle with a tan metal covering.
Locate the small circuit board that controls the power and eject functions of the PlayStation 3. Remove the four Phillips-head screws in order to separate this piece from the body of the system. This is located at the bottom-right corner of the PS3, directly in front of the disc box.
Locate and remove the Blu-Ray/PS3 player. This is the large tan metal box that is located in the top right corner of the PS3. Unscrew the player and flip it upside down to expose the circuit board that controls it. If you want to remove the circuit board, there are five small screws that hold it in place.
Remove the power supply from the inside of the gaming system. This is located at the top-left corner inside the PS3. To remove this component, there will be two telephone-like plugs that have to be unplugged, one at the top and one at the bottom of the power supply. Additionally, there will be 13 screws that hold the power supply in place. The back and front plastic coverings of the PS3's shell will now easily slide free.
Remove the final internal component, which is the PS3's motherboard. In order to do this, remove the metal covering the rests on top of the motherboard. There will be 11 screws that border the metal covering as well as four screws in the very center, two from each of the rectangular center pieces. Once the screws are removed, the metal covering will lift off and the motherboard will be able to be removed.