PS3 getting REALLY hot

[Dorkenstein]

I have my PS3 connected via ethernet, and yesterday I turned it on to update the firmware. A few minutes into the transfer I smelled hot air. So I put my hand behind the ps3 and it was almost hair dryer hot around the air grills. I put my head down there and the hot smell was coming from it. I could barely hear any air movement. Do the fans just die on these things? I had the ps3 off for a few weeks while I was renovating, can it get killed while connected to a surge protector even if it's off?

I normally wouldn't be so paranoid, but the story is, I bought this 60gb PS3 from what turned out to be a very shady/dishonest trader on this forum. I was amazed to receive it at all, but I got it in a beat up box with barely any packaging. The shell of the PS3 was cosmetically damaged and the plastic housing was definitely not in stock condition, shall we say. It's a backwards compatible 60gb PS3. Before you ask me "why did you keep it?", let me just say that the whole ordeal was a nightmare and I knew that even IF I could agree to ship it back there's no way I would have gotten my money back from this snake of a trader, let alone convince Paypal that it was damaged when I got it.

So, I'm stuck with it. Is there no reason to worry or am I FUBAR'ed?

 

[destrekor]

Uh... if it's still working, then the fans must be working. The PS3s, especially the 60gb (that's what I have, launch unit), get very hot, and move a lot of air. But just because it's hot doesn't mean there is a problem, but if you are feeling hot air, that means the fans are most likely moving the air.

If it doesn't lock up, give you errors, or do anything else out of the ordinary, I say you're fine. And consider yourself lucky too - my 60gb isn't exactly quiet. It's no older 360 in terms of fan noise, but it's audible if there if the volume is low. I believe there were two manufacturing models, one Japanese and one Chinese. Each had a different fan style, with different shaped blades and number of blades. I've heard that one of these is quite loud, while the other one is very quiet/silent.

If you feel hot air blowing out, I'd say its working as expected. You won't really hear air being moved unless its like a big fan, otherwise you just hear the turbulence and noise the fan makes.

 

[Dorkenstein]

Thanks for replying. I think you're right, I just never remember it getting that hot before, and definitely not smelling hot.

 

[mmntech]

I have a 60gb PS3 and it never gets that hot. It sounds to me like the fan/heatsink is clogged with something. Since you said it smelled, I'm guessing it's most likely dust. No telling what kind of condition it was originally kept in. Since it's probably out of warranty, you could try cracking it open to check and give it a clean. Be warned though, it's a big job.
http://www.llamma.com/PS3/repa...sassembly_tutorial.htm

 

[DOTC]

Its out of warranty so you might as well give it a try. If you mess it up or it fails, you can always spend about $150 to get it repaired. good luck.. it looks like a total PITA.