Hello fellow PS3 users. I've come across a hardware issue with my PS3 that hopefully can be fixed with help from here. My 20gig launch PS3 decided to shut itself off yesterday, during a Netflix session, and tried to reboot itself. The light turned green then the system beeped followed by flashing the red light. After looking that up, it seems as if the flashing red light is symptomatic of an overheating issue. The thing is, i've always had my PS3 in a well ventilated area so there's proper air circulation and I dust if off regularly so i'm not sure why it would be overheating. Are there any solutions?

Its dying.You'll very soon get YLOD.

Sounds like a PS3 in its death throws.

Start backing up your data buddy....

I'd take cypher's advice. Start backing up your data. You could call Sony customer service but they would charge you for a fix. It would probably be cheaper than buying a new PS3 though.

edit- Thermal paste might be an issue too.  That would be the quickest and cheapest fix if that was the case.  Since you can get thermal paste for about 10 dollars for a decent size tube (more than what you actually need).  Perhaps open it up and check to see if the paste is dried up.  Since your warranty is already void it wouldn't matter too much.  Although you should make sure everything is backed up just in case something goes wrong while opening it up.  I've actually applied paste a few times on my old computer and it takes only a few minutes if that.

What's the best way of backing up the harddrive data if the system won't turn-on?

You dont.  

If its just the red light though, which means its just overheating,  try taking a vaccuum cleaner and sucking out all the dust from the inside.  Dont use a can of compressed air, that will only make it worse.  

Hopefully then you can get the console to fire up long enough to make backups

It would be ideal to have a back up before the system wont turn on anymore.

Also your problem seems to be dry cooling paste. You have a 20gb model which is 5 years old. The cooling paste on GPU and CPU will be dry by now. That is bad for the transport of heat. And makes your system turn off.

To prevent damages on CPU or GPU just open up the PS3 remove fan and heatsink and apply fresh cooling paste on CPU/GPU. You will find video tutorials on youtube how to do it. That should solve your problem and buy the best paste available so it wont dry up as fast.

I have had this problem when I haven't turned my PS3 on for a while ( like a month ) and then when I try to play it, it will show signs of overheating and then shut down. Then a screen appears showing that you shouldn't turn of a PS3 from the mains or something.
This problem seems to go away the more you play it O.o

You absolutely need to put the fat PS3 model in vertical position, just keeping air around will not do. Hope your able to make it work again though, as someone stated, you can try replacing the thermal paste.

very informative. good luck