My PS3 has gotten loud :(

Zeon

So, i have a PS3, i bought it not long after launch, and generally its been pretty good. I keep it on 24/7 because it takes about 10 minutes to find my tversity server after i boot it up, so generally its easier to keep it on. However, recently its started running its fans about medium speed all the time. If i shut it off and then turn it back on, the fans run on low for maybe 10-20 minutes, and then back to medium. Its in a well ventilated area, im not actually doing anything taxing like playing a game or playing a disc, it just all of a sudden kicks into high gear.

I bought a can of compressed air and sprayed it out fairly good, and that seems to have extended the amount of time before the fans kick on, but is there anything else i can do? I miss having it quietly running in the corner instead of constantly whirring away, reminding me that its there.

bsjezz

if you're brave, you could try backing up your stuff and formatting or restoring the system, but i think it'd be a slim shot. has anything else changed? you don't have that silly information board running, do you?

in the end there's never been much consistency regarding how a ps3 fan should normally run, and it's always been somewhat inconsistent for me too - it could be a change in firmware, or the media server's demands, or the climate in your house

greeble

Its most likely a build up of dust on the heat sinks or fans thats preventing it from cooling optimally. Its a damn shame you can't easily open them up to clean 'em out like you can with a computer.

Kagera

"This is Zeon, a PS3 owner. Let's see what happens when we replace his PS3 with a 360."

ArcticMonkey

Kagera wrote: »

"This is Zeon, a PS3 owner. Let's see what happens when we replace his PS3 with a 360."

I hope you're not suggesting a 360 to someone complaining about noise in a PS3. Because that would be silly.

Zeon

Kagera wrote: »

"This is Zeon, a PS3 owner. Let's see what happens when we replace his PS3 with a 360."

The 360 runs quieter... except when you want to, you know, actually use it, then it sounds like a fucking jet taking off. Im really liking the hard drive installs on that though, it makes a big difference in sound. The fans actually dont make near as much noise as an overheated PS3.

But yeah, i was thinking dust except i used an entire can of dustoff on the thing and its still running loud... a lot of dust actually did come out, and it did make a difference in how long it takes for it to kick on (now its maybe 15 minutes instead of 5-10 before), but they still come on. The weird part is i cant really feel it pulling in a lot of air, or pushing out a lot of hot exhaust from the back, and its not actually running hot (before it used to get fairly warm underneath the disc drive) but the fans are still screaming away.

Oh well, maybe ill pick up another can of dust off and try again, see if theres anything else left in there.

Interpreter

Zeon wrote: »

But yeah, i was thinking dust except i used an entire can of dustoff on the thing and its still running loud... a lot of dust actually did come out, and it did make a difference in how long it takes for it to kick on (now its maybe 15 minutes instead of 5-10 before), but they still come on. The weird part is i cant really feel it pulling in a lot of air, or pushing out a lot of hot exhaust from the back, and its not actually running hot (before it used to get fairly warm underneath the disc drive) but the fans are still screaming away.

Oh well, maybe ill pick up another can of dust off and try again, see if theres anything else left in there.

The cleaning instructions say a 'low powered vacuum'. That might be better than the canned air(not blowing the dust into the PS3 and all).

BakerIsBored

Interpreter wrote: »

Zeon wrote: »

But yeah, i was thinking dust except i used an entire can of dustoff on the thing and its still running loud... a lot of dust actually did come out, and it did make a difference in how long it takes for it to kick on (now its maybe 15 minutes instead of 5-10 before), but they still come on. The weird part is i cant really feel it pulling in a lot of air, or pushing out a lot of hot exhaust from the back, and its not actually running hot (before it used to get fairly warm underneath the disc drive) but the fans are still screaming away.

Oh well, maybe ill pick up another can of dust off and try again, see if theres anything else left in there.

The cleaning instructions say a 'low powered vacuum'. That might be better than the canned air(not blowing the dust into the PS3 and all).

I thought any sort of vacuum causes static electricity. If air throws through it, then using canned air regularly would just blow stuff out. This is what I also do, not a fan of using vacuums.

Gyral

ArcticMonkey wrote: »

Kagera wrote: »

"This is Zeon, a PS3 owner. Let's see what happens when we replace his PS3 with a 360."

I hope you're not suggesting a 360 to someone complaining about noise in a PS3. Because that would be silly.

The joke is in reference to an old coffee commercial where people expected one thing (their own brand of coffee) and had it switched with something else.

PeregrineFalcon

Zeon wrote: »

So, i have a PS3, i bought it not long after launch, and generally its been pretty good. I keep it on 24/7 because it takes about 10 minutes to find my tversity server after i boot it up, so generally its easier to keep it on. However, recently its started running its fans about medium speed all the time. If i shut it off and then turn it back on, the fans run on low for maybe 10-20 minutes, and then back to medium. Its in a well ventilated area, im not actually doing anything taxing like playing a game or playing a disc, it just all of a sudden kicks into high gear.

I bought a can of compressed air and sprayed it out fairly good, and that seems to have extended the amount of time before the fans kick on, but is there anything else i can do? I miss having it quietly running in the corner instead of constantly whirring away, reminding me that its there.

Since the Envirotroll thread is relevant here, you might want to know that it's costing you probably $20 a month to keep it running 24/7. Considered trying to figure out what's wrong with the TVersity setup instead?

Zeon

Yes. My tversity setup is unfixable. I just downloaded playon recently and that works no problem. Tversity is just a peice of shit when it comes to actually broadcasting its availability over the network (i have the same problem if i try to stream to my 360). Too bad it is the best sharing software available.

PeregrineFalcon

Zeon wrote: »

Yes. My tversity setup is unfixable. I just downloaded playon recently and that works no problem. Tversity is just a peice of shit when it comes to actually broadcasting its availability over the network (i have the same problem if i try to stream to my 360). Too bad it is the best sharing software available.

Ah. Well then.

Use a battery-powered vacuum (Dustbuster, etc) that won't cause a static buildup, and possibly in combination with the compressed air. You could try the "ramp the fans up to Ludicrous Speed" trick if you have a 40GB PS3 as well to try to help.

Malechai

The heat sink of the ps3 is insanely complicated you may want to throw another can of compressed air at it see if you can kick out anything else in there. If you have pets there is also a chance of some hair getting wraped around the axle of the fan causing it to not run as well.