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Fan running louder than normal on PS3, is it ok?

H

Hobbun

Member
My PS3 has always run actually very quiet. However, maybe 15-20 minutes ago I noticed the fan was running a bit louder. Nothing obnoxousily so, but definitely noticeable louder than it has prior.

I did run the system yesterday for a good 6-7 hours and today about the same, would that have anything to do with it? I wouldn't think it should.

Is the louder fan a sign of the harddrive going out? I hope to god not, I have a 60 gig, which would be even more expensive to replace than normal.
 
I

inner-G

Banned
I think they all get louder after a while. It shouldn't be extremely loud though.

Shouldn't have anything to do with the HDD, but even if it did, that's like the easiest thing to fix. You could pop a new one in yourself.
 
D

Dreweyes

Member
A louder fan usually means there isn't enough air flow going through the PS3, and is reaching high temperatures. Try thoroughly cleaning out and clearing the vents around the system. There might be something stuck in the fan, or caused one of the fan blades to be bent and make a loud annoying sound.
 
S

spwolf

Member
you need to vacuum your ps3... dust makes fans kick up in higher gear.

nothing to do with your hdd, it means your ps3 is running hotter, usually because it gets quite dusty... in fact, mine is loud as fuck these days as i am too lazy to clean it :)
 
Pimpbaa

Pimpbaa

Member
Fans do spin up a bit after playing game (only really notice it when it is absolutely quiet in the house and the volume on the tv is low).
 
T

The_Inquisitor

Member
My PS3 has collected a ridiculous amount of dirt due to my dorm conditions. (I have the worst roomate ever)

I was going to use compressed air, but other people say you should vacuum the vents. What is better?
 
H

Hobbun

Member
Thanks for all the replies.

To be honest, it IS warmer in my place, about 5 degrees, didn't really notice it, though. Would that make that much difference?

But an update, just to be safe, I had copied over some of my Persona 3 files (I am a the beginning of January. If my HD crashes, I am NOT going to lose over 100 hours of work) However, when I turned the system on and it tried to load the game (right after the Playstation 2 logo popped up) my PS3 beeped and then the power light started to flash.

So I think "Oh crap, there went the HD." I turned it on again and got the Home screen and it loaded P3 this time, however the sound was all staticty. It did that once earlier today as well and when I rebooted, it went away. So I rebooted again this time and the sound is fine.

This is all making me nervous. First it starts to run louder, then I get the flashing red light another time and now it goes staticty on me sometimes. Wtf is wrong with my PS3.
 
V

Valkyr Junkie

Member
The_Inquisitor said:
My PS3 has collected a ridiculous amount of dirt due to my dorm conditions. (I have the worst roomate ever)

I was going to use compressed air, but other people say you should vacuum the vents. What is better?
Click to expand...

Compressed air will just compound the issue and pack most of the dust in even deeper.
 
S

schick85

Member
Do they still sell those HORI dust guard kits for the 20 & 60 gig models?
All the internet stores (eBay included) seems to be out of stock.
 
H

hateradio

The Most Dangerous Yes Man
Hobbun said:
Thanks for all the replies.

To be honest, it IS warmer in my place, about 5 degrees, didn't really notice it, though. Would that make that much difference?

But an update, just to be safe, I had copied over some of my Persona 3 files (I am a the beginning of January. If my HD crashes, I am NOT going to lose over 100 hours of work) However, when I turned the system on and it tried to load the game (right after the Playstation 2 logo popped up) my PS3 beeped and then the power light started to flash.

So I think "Oh crap, there went the HD." I turned it on again and got the Home screen and it loaded P3 this time, however the sound was all staticty. It did that once earlier today as well and when I rebooted, it went away. So I rebooted again this time and the sound is fine.

This is all making me nervous. First it starts to run louder, then I get the flashing red light another time and now it goes staticty on me sometimes. Wtf is wrong with my PS3.
Click to expand...
That plus sign of louder fan means it's getting closer to death I think :? Is it a 60/20GB?
 
Agent X

Agent X

Member
I just got a replacement (refurbished) 60 GB PS3 from repair, and it also seems to have a noticeably louder fan than my old near-launch PS3 did. It's quiet when I start up and stay on the XMB, but after I get into a game, the fan noise increases dramatically. The old PS3 would also get loud on occasions, but this unit has only seen about 2 days of use in my house so far, and already seems about as loud as my old system was at its peak. Should I be concerned?
 
G

Gbeav

Banned
Mine has gotten a bit louder since I bought it at launch but I haven't noticed any difference. I wouldn't worry about it.
 
H

hateradio

The Most Dangerous Yes Man
Hobbun said:
God I hope you are wrong. It's a 60 gig.
Click to expand...
My friend's gave him a few buggy days before it completely died, exactly with the red light, no Yellow/Green (he's colorblind though and didn't notice the one when it did actually YLOD). I know mine's sound got louder and louder, the fans in general would start up only after 20-30mins of use :/ ...and it died of course.
 
M

Musashi Wins!

FLAWLESS VICTOLY!
I've been reading about this a lot lately, apparently most the 60gb get loud. And then sometimes go bad. Mine is getting loud again. I've had two go bad though, so I'm just of the opinion it's a pos hardware though perhaps not as universally bad as certain other machines.
 
H

Hobbun

Member
I just got off the phone with Sony support and he indicated that the red flashing light and louder fan are definite issues of it running warmer than it should. And thinking about my conditions, my warmer condo unit and running the system for quite a few hours today, it makes sense with that.

However, with the staticty sound, he wasn't sure on that. But said that when the system doesn't start to run smoothly in general, that other little quirks can start to go wrong as well.

I am hoping it was the system running warmer than usual and once it cools down, it is fine and not what hateradio's friend went through. I mean I've had the system over a year and a half now and it's been great until today.
 
M

MvmntInGrn

Member
About a year with mine now and it used to get loud before I moved, very hot house. Now I don't hear it unless it is the only thing on in the room.
 
H

Hobbun

Member
hateradio said:
My friend's gave him a few buggy days before it completely died, exactly with the red light, no Yellow/Green (he's colorblind though and didn't notice the one when it did actually YLOD). I know mine's sound got louder and louder, the fans in general would start up only after 20-30mins of use :/ ...and it died of course.
Click to expand...

Ok, this helps me out a lot. My fans started up pretty much immediately once getting to Persona 3's title screen. Which is oh, about a minute after the system started up.

I mean honestly, I don't remember my fans ever kicking in before, the system has been that quiet for me. Althoug I am sure they have kicked in after hours of playing, I just haven't noticed.

However, if you are saying the fans starting up 20-30 minutes after use is soon, I am pretty positive my system was overheating because as I said they started up almost right away. I am guessing that is what is causing my issues.
 
S

Speevy

Banned
My 60 gb model has exhibited the same fan behavior for over a year. I can't speak for flashing lights, but the ps3 is very resilient when faced with high temps.
 
A

AndyD

aka andydumi
The_Inquisitor said:
My PS3 has collected a ridiculous amount of dirt due to my dorm conditions. (I have the worst roomate ever)

I was going to use compressed air, but other people say you should vacuum the vents. What is better?
Click to expand...

They recommend vacuum. Air pushes crap in.

Also its much more frequent to get loud when playing PS2 games for some reason. They tax the hardware more I think than PS3 ones.
 
LiquidMetal14

LiquidMetal14

hide your water-based mammals
My fans kick in during most extended sessions. It doesn't bother me much like my ELITE fan doesn't bother me. The main difference is that the PS3 fan doesn't hit that high immediately. Unlike the 360, which sounds loud from the beginning.
 
W

Ward

Member
With summer my fans are kicking on more often. Right around 72* or so and higher seems to be the switch for high fans.
 
C

Chrange

Banned
Mine gets ridiculously loud about halfway through a movie. Never really noticed it with a game, but I generally play those with the volume louder :lol
 
H

Hobbun

Member
Just wanted to give an update. I played my PS3 last night for about an hour and a half and it ran just fine, the fan didn't get loud or the sound didn't get all staticy.

I did call Sony a second time, and chose to speak to a representative who works under "Sound problems" and she all the problems I was having was definitely due to an overheating unit, including the static noise.

I am just glad the console is working fine now. I really do think it's because I let my condo get too warm. The Sony rep said the PS3 is very sensitive to heat. I will have to make sure to keep my condo cooler from now on.

Thanks for everyone's replies.
 
P

Phoenix Fang

Banned
Valkyr Junkie said:
Shouldn't be if you use a cardboard paper towel roll and hold that on the end of your vacuum nozzle.
Click to expand...

I usually vacuum the vents of my LCD TV and my consoles without a cardboard paper towel roll. Will that give my TV and systems problems?
 
D

dk_

Member
Had that a couple of times last year in the summer months. Then it has never happened to me since September.
 
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