teh PS3 knows how to... (PS3/console dust cleaning thread)

P

patsu

Legend
...clean itself (40Gb PS3 only): http://palgn.com.au/article.php?id=11095&rss=1&title=Hidden+cleaning+option+discovered+in+PS3

In an effort to protect your precious console from the copious amounts of dust that seem to be attracted to its shiny exterior, you can now blow away excess dust from the internal components by following a simple procedure.
Click to expand...

I'd hate to steal traffic from them since they found this little gem. You'll have to click the above link to find out about the procedure.

Is this explained in the 40Gb user guide ?


EDIT: Looks like someone at PSU discovered it first:

 
It might help blow some recent (past two weeks) dust from the inside and maybe the grill. But in my limited experience with fans, unless the fan spins backward the dust will continue to build up on the leading edges of the fan blades and on any intake grills.
 
FutureCTO said:
It might help blow some recent (past two weeks) dust from the inside and maybe the grill. But in my limited experience with fans, unless the fan spins backward the dust will continue to build up on the leading edges of the fan blades and on any intake grills.
Click to expand...

And it might even be detrimental by moving dust/etc from the leading edges of the heatsinks into the middle, causing a clog and resulting is reduced thermal performance. Also the increased pressure can also pick up dust from non-thermally critical sections and clog them into the critical sections or increase already existing clogs.

Basically, the only way to really clean things if you have build up is disassembly and canned air/hand cleaning.

Aaron Spink
speaking for myself inc.
 
Manual says you should suck out the dust with your vacuum cleaner put to the holes. How is this any different? If you clog the dust and "reduce thermal performance" you're going to hear your fans spinnig faster from the fan test onwards due to increased temp measured by the sensors. IMO that's just a case of serious Internet drama.
 
I think the notion is it could/can cause harm to your PS3 rather than fix it. We had a long thread on PS3 cooling discussion, but I couldn't find it at the moment. Not sure if the PS3 fan pull air in or push air out.
 
ConayR said:
Manual says you should suck out the dust with your vacuum cleaner put to the holes. How is this any different? If you clog the dust and "reduce thermal performance" you're going to hear your fans spinnig faster from the fan test onwards due to increased temp measured by the sensors. IMO that's just a case of serious Internet drama.
Click to expand...

You should attempt to remove dust via the input ventilation NOT the output ventilation. Basically the same principles you would use to clean an old heatsink with canned air. You want to blow backwards (aka in the opposite direction of normal operational air flow) to force out the blockages and dust. Blowing forwards provides minimal effectiveness cause if it really worked, you wouldn't build up dust in the first place.

The failsafe full fan speed is merely trying to compensate for blockages by increasing error flow along the paths that aren't blocked.

Aaron Spink
speaking for myself inc.
 
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patsu said:
I think the notion is it could/can cause harm to your PS3 rather than fix it. We had a long thread on PS3 cooling discussion, but I couldn't find it at the moment. Not sure if the PS3 fan pull air in or push air out.
Click to expand...

Well I hope it does both! ;)
 
aaronspink said:
You should attempt to remove dust via the input ventilation NOT the output ventilation.
Click to expand...
Ok, this is probably the part I don't understand. Why would you attempt such a thing? By blowing or sucking (OMG :LOL: ) backwards you're forcing parts to operate the way they were not intended to.

aaronspink said:
Basically the same principles you would use to clean an old heatsink with canned air. You want to blow backwards (aka in the opposite direction of normal operational error flow) to force out the blockages and dust. Blowing forwards provides minimal effectiveness cause if it really worked, you wouldn't build up dust in the first place.
Click to expand...
I think that the point in case of the PS3 fan test is that fans are spinning faster, hence increased airflow. Air distribution is slightly different and some of the dust that's somewhere in the corners should be ripped off and exhaled. If that wasn't working a) fan test wouldn't spit the dust b) vacuum cleaner solution wouldn't work either. But they both do.

aaronspink said:
The failsafe full fan speed is merely trying to compensate for blockages by increasing error flow along the paths that aren't blocked.
Click to expand...
On the other hand blowing backwards causes air flow along the paths that were not intended to be utilized.
 
ConayR,
You may want to try following the steps in post number 11 with any piece of ventilated electronics in your house. After getting a little experience with this you will both understand the issue better and have taken care of some helpful chore. Aaron did an excellent job of both summing up and illustrating the point I was trying to make. And ultimately the advise would be that this is a test, and only a test, should there have been an emergency the fan would have sped up on its own. Please resume using the narrow nozzle on your vacuum cleaner.

You should attempt to remove dust via the input ventilation NOT the output ventilation. Basically the same principles you would use to clean an old heatsink with canned air. You want to blow backwards (aka in the opposite direction of normal operational error flow) to force out the blockages and dust. Blowing forwards provides minimal effectiveness cause if it really worked, you wouldn't build up dust in the first place.

The failsafe full fan speed is merely trying to compensate for blockages by increasing error flow along the paths that aren't blocked.
Click to expand...
 
ConayR said:
Ok, this is probably the part I don't understand. Why would you attempt such a thing? By blowing or sucking (OMG :LOL: ) backwards you're forcing parts to operate the way they were not intended to.
Click to expand...

When you are attempting to clean a part you aren't in an operational mode (or at least I hope you aren't...) The issue is that the clogging has occurs via forward path air movement, the amount of directed pressure required to push the obstruction through is high and in a situation where there are parallel air paths, no amount of forward pushing is going to unclog it.


I think that the point in case of the PS3 fan test is that fans are spinning faster, hence increased airflow. Air distribution is slightly different and some of the dust that's somewhere in the corners should be ripped off and exhaled. If that wasn't working a) fan test wouldn't spit the dust b) vacuum cleaner solution wouldn't work either. But they both do.
Click to expand...

any dust being spit out during the fan test is purely incidental and not affecting performance. The amount of additional air pressure exerted during the fan test isn't all that significant and have a high probability of lodging non-obstruction dust/dirt particles in the heat sink and helping.


On the other hand blowing backwards causes air flow along the paths that were not intended to be utilized.
Click to expand...

um, no! think about it, you'll understand.

Aaron Spink
speaking for myself inc.
 
patsu said:
Right, silly me :oops:
Click to expand...

OK. People seem to be misunderstanding what that French site was saying. At least, I believe it was in response to a 60GB "Fan Test" that didn't employ the official 40GB fan test. Ie. Look here at this stupid child telling us how we should clean out our PS3's:

http://www.ripten.com/2008/04/14/60gb-ps3-fan-test-want-to-kill-your-console/

The next “test” sought to appease non-40GB owners. However, it isn’t an official test, nor is it a “fan test” at all. What is demonstrated in the following video is similar to putting your hand down a dieter’s throat to make them cough up the fat.
Click to expand...

Do people advise using a can of compressed air? Or just the hoover? I hoovered mine for the first time in 8months (I dust it weekly though).
 
When it comes to PC power supplies, I'm happy to hold a vacuum near the grille in order to get the dust out - obviously with the system being off. But with the PS3, since the grille holes are designed in such a way as to make dust hard to enter, I have low confidence that the clumped up dust inside is going to have any easier a time exiting. It might remove from the fan blades, but at the risk of clogging up the air holes from the reverse side.

My honest advice would be to open the thing up if it's past warranty, and just clean the fan blade edges by hand. It's easy enough to open, and though there's a higher psychological barrier to doing so, if at the root you feel comfortable around PC components it's pretty much the same thing.

PS - This is not something I myself have done yet, though I've considered it several times over the course of the last year. If you're again familiar with doing these things, you can sorta tell the 'needs' level of the cleaning based on certain changes in the acoustic profile.

PPS - Given the evolved direction of the thread convo I edited the thread title Patsu since it goes beyond the "self-cleaning" now. :)
 
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I've always been told to use a toothpick to hold the fans still when cleaning an electronic device with suctions (or the reverse) to ensure that fans don't spin past their intended RPM. Of course, this begs the question, where are the fans on the PS3? Which ones can be reached and secured (w/o opening it)? The most obvious one I can see is on the back of the unit. I think one could get a toothpick, or something smaller yet strong enough, to secure the fan.
 
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