On my iron, the blinking light indicates that auto-off is engaged. If you haven't given up on it yet, have you tried smacking it really hard to see if you can free the ball? The only thing that seems to get mine going again is to take it apart and put it back together again. I don't know why, but I guess all that shaking frees the ball and it works again...for a while. Once it starts working, if I leave it upright it keeps working. Good luck!

Irons - Rowenta - Powerglide DE011 Iron with Auto Shut-off