I fear for my PS3's life

[Beautiful End]

I suppose this belongs here. If not, feel free to do something about it, Mods (Not sure what but...yeah).

So about two years ago, I bought a used 60gb PS3 at some GameStop. The manager told me that they bought that system from some guys a couple of months ago and no one had wanted to buy it. That gave me a bad feeling, but then I realized that it was just simply that no one was interested in getting that model specifically at the time.

So I took it home, I nourished it and cherished it. Never gave me a single problem. Works just fine. Maybe some connection problems every now and then (Can't get into PS Home without literally getting disconnected two minutes later, I get disconnected randomly from some online matches, etc.) but I also heard some old models had that problem.

However, as of lately, I've noticed it kinda overheats. In other words, the inner fan is kinda loud. This doesn't affect the gameplay at all. But it worries me. I've heard people say how all old-model PS3s are doomed to eventually break down and die. I don't want that to happen! I bought that model specifically so I could play my PS2 games!

Of course, being the n00b that I am, I bought an intercooler. I use it every now and then, but again, people have told me that's even worse.

I live in the desert (Texas). The summers are really hot and winters are really cold. During winter, my PS3 rarely overheats. During summer, however, my PS3 gets hotflashes or something. It's not even officially "hot" over here and its doing that right now. The house temperature is just fine, if you ask me, but my PS3 is picky (?).

Anyway, my question is: is there a way to prevent that from happening? I don't even know if my PS3 is "sick", but I'd like to know if there's a way to find out if there's something wrong with my PS3. I heard there was something I could do related to...grease? I don't know. Anything would help at this point.

 

[Brighton_Game_Trader]

My old 40GB PS3 is doing the same - and always on the same games. During Red Faction: Armageddon it constantly started whirring REALLY loudly - so much that I had to turn the volume up on my speakers!

Worried it's about to die too - will be really sad when trusty old steed needs to be put out to pasture...

As for a solution, all I've heard is that they are prone to this and then they die. We'll just have to buy a new, low-power slim model.

I share your pain, Beautiful End.

 

[ChupathingyX]

My 40gb model used to make loud noises but it hasn't done that in a long while. Then again there was a period of time between late last year and early this year where I barely played it so maybe it just needed a little break.

What I'm worried about right now is that I apparently have "~3000mg/37gb" of space left.

What does that mean, specifically the "37gb" part? Because I've had a couple of "You have less than 500mg of space left" messages in the past couple of months.

 

[OldDirtyCrusty]

Use the vacuum cleaner to get rid of the dust.

I have the same problem sometimes and this is the general "clean up" reminder for me.
Most of the time it helped, but yeah a hot summer + long playtime does it`s work to make a ps3 go loud (it`s almost at 360 loudness then ).

 

[Brighton_Game_Trader]

My 40gb model used to make loud noises but it hasn't done that in a long while. Then again there was a period of time between late last year and early this year where I barely played it so maybe it just needed a little break.

What I'm worried about right now is that I apparently have "~3000mg/37gb" of space left.

What does that mean, specifically the "37gb" part? Because I've had a couple of "You have less than 500mg of space left" messages in the past couple of months.

You just need to delete some info/game installs to free up some space.

The 37GB part is that you have a 40 gig hard drive, and 3GB of that is taken up with the Playstation operating system (the XMB) and any updates that have been installed.

A 40 gig hard drive will never actually give you 40 gig of space.

 

[Toby Kitching]

I had this problem. If you have the PS3 lying down, stand it up: if that isn't an option, put something underneath it, preferably something that doesn't quite cover the ends of the console. there are a ring of vents around the base which draw in air, and if you obstruct them whilst playing for extended periods, it heats up. now it's surprisingly quiet.

 

[OldDirtyCrusty]

I had this problem. If you have the PS3 lying down, stand it up: if that isn't an option, put something underneath it, preferably something that doesn't quite cover the ends of the console. there are a ring of vents around the base which draw in air, and if you obstruct them whilst playing for extended periods, it heats up. now it's surprisingly quiet.

Now that i`ve seen your post mine looks kind of rude. I wasn`t implying the tc lives in a dirty room.
"Vent" was the missing word (sorry). Use the vacuum cleaner on the air vents of your PS3. That`s what i do and usually it works.

 

[DanielPowell33]

Try this: take any disc you may have in the PS3 out, turn the system completely off, hold down the ejection button, and turn the PS3 back on. That should kick the fans into high gear and blow all the dust out.

Some of the youtube videos say doing that can damage your system, but I've done it to my 60gb model a few times with no problems.

-

My used PS3 has been working fine ever sense I got it, but I am a little paranoid from my Xbox 360 days where I had four red ring, so I try not to play it for more that three hours at a time.

 

[Stilkon]

I play my PS3 in the basement (yes, I know), so the cooler temperatures help me out. Perhaps you want to try playing it in a cooler area?

 

[Gorilla Gunk]

Try using some compressed air to clean the vents and the fan and then use a vacuum to suck the dust out.

You could also try buying one of those cooling pads for laptops and put your system on that. It might help a little.

 

[Tayh]

Use a plastic bag to seal it in a vacuum, then leave it in your freezer or refridgerater while you play.

Spoiler: Legal notices and other boring stuff.

*Note, this poster is not a qualified PS3 technician and takes no responsibility for any harm that could happen to your console, follow his advice at your own risk. If you do follow this advice and your PS3 blows up, please post screenshots - could be good for a laugh.

 

[mikecoulter]

Firstly, visually inspect your air vents using a torch. If you can see a large build-up of dust then use a can of compressed air to try to clean them out as best as possible.

I'm sure I read somewhere that using a vacuum creates unwanted static that could cause a problem... :/

 

[OldDirtyCrusty]

Firstly, visually inspect your air vents using a torch. If you can see a large build-up of dust then use a can of compressed air to try to clean them out as best as possible.

I'm sure I read somewhere that using a vacuum creates unwanted static that could cause a problem... :/

Using it only on the air vents shouldn`t be a problem. With compressed air i would fear for my disc reader. I don`t know how open this system is inside, blowing dust in instead of out doesn`t sound healthy to me... but then i`m no technician, so who knows.

 

[Beautiful End]

I've opened my PS3 before and used compressed air to clean it. i don't recall if it helped or not, though.

My PS3 IS lying down. Maybe I should stand it up for a change. I have it right above my TV (Not on top of it) and I put it in there because the place where it was at was a n open cabinet. I figured it would suffocate.
Oh, and my living room is one of the coolest rooms in the house. As much as I'd love to have my PS3 in my room to watch over it all the time, my room is quite stuffy.

I suppose I will clean it again and see if that helps. Now, does anyone know about that grease thing? I recall a friend of my brother once said it would break down either because of that "grease" thing or because it would lack of it or something like that.

Like I said, I'm just trying to take preemptive measures and tackling all alternatives.