PS3 Dust prevention?

[El Marsh]

Yeah, I'm not sure if this deserves its own topic but I'm dead series in my query so I figured I'd make it anyway.

As I've mentioned in a few threads of late, I had to get my PS3 serviced because I was having some pretty wonky graphical issues. The issue was resolved by Sony and they even sent me my original console (they just fixed what the problem was) but they neglected to mention to me what the cause of the problem was. While it's quite possible (and perhaps likely) that it was just a bit of hardware failure, I'm paranoid that excessive dust buildup may have played a part. I live in a small, carpeted apartment in a fairly old (60 year old) building and as such, dust builds up pretty fast. I thought I was pretty good about wiping the excess off but every now and again, I'd go a week or two without doing so. Although I don't know if dust was the problem, I'm still kind of concerned about it being there. Do you guys have any suggestions about how I could better maintenance this?

One thing I'm contemplating is finding someplace to put the system that's neither on the carpet nor on the TV stand (my PS2 collects pretty healthy amounts of dust there) but I'm drawing blanks, as I don't have a whole lot of space to work with.

[TigerSword]

I've dusted my PS3 about 3 times since I bought it at PS3 launch, so I'm 99.9999999% sure that dust had nothing to do with your problem. Putting it on carpet is a possibility as that may have caused it to get too hot.

[El Marsh]

Yeah, I've been reading about it on the net and apparently carpet = torture for consoles.
I never knew that since all of my other consoles were either on a desk (college) or an entertainment center (parents' home). I guess I'll try to put it on my TV stand and see how that goes. My PS2's been alright under there for a couple of years so hopefully my PS3 will be as well.
Thanks for the tip.

[MrMDK]

You actually put it on carpet? I'm shocked at that, I thought everyone knew from birth never to do that. Forget damage to the console but if you've got cheapo carpet it could catch fire...

Dust didn't do anything to your system, something on the motherboard overheated and needed replaced. Probably a 45 cent part that they had no problem replacing (cost more to pay someone an hourly rate to solder it on than the actual part). If you want to put it on the floor, fine, but put something between it and the carpet. Piece of wood or something...

[El Marsh]

I had the thing for a year and a half before it started having problems, so I didn't see any reason not to.
I actually had NEVER noticed any sort of excess heating until last night which was AFTER my machine had been serviced. I was pretty alarmed at the amount of heat (the discs were HOT after ejecting them) so I figure it's in my best interest to move the console somewhere else. I liked having it on the floor because it was an open space (as opposed to the TV stand's small shelf) but if doing so can damage my system, it's not worth it. Would a piece of wood between the carpet and the console really help? That sounds like another potential hazard. I seriously don't know, otherwise I wouldn't ask.

[MrMDK]

When you put it on the carpet the fibers of the carpet surround the base. Not so much the underneath vents but the vents around the base. There's nowhere for air to go. If it's on a flat piece of wood there will be a gap between the ps3 and the wood (where the rubber feet on the ps3 are). Something is much better than nothing.

[El Marsh]

Duly noted.
Given that, would it be better to find a piece of wood to fit under the console and leave it in the open or would putting it on an enclosed shelf be equally acceptable? My concern with putting it on the shelf is that the rear vents will have much less space than before. Obviously either way is better than what I'm doing now but I want to know if one way is better than the other.
I actually have a piece of wood handy (a broken dresser drawer that's slighly narrower than the PS3 but should still work) so either way would be no problem for me. It's just a matter of "optimizing" space for vents and stuff.

[TigerSword]

All it really needs needs is a few inches on either side for the air to move out.

My PS3 is on a shelf under my coffee table.

[El Marsh]

Well, I put my PS3 on a plank of wood (it actually fit better than I thought) and kept it in the same place.
I noticed that it still seemed like it was running hot (the discs are VERY warm whenever I remove them) but it dawned on me last night that maybe that's because I usually don't touch the discs aside from the hole and the edge, which usually aren't too warm. So for all I know, that's how my discs could have been feeling all along. Still, I think I'll keep my console off the carpet and try to keep it in a better ventilated area, as I think the heat from the room it is in also makes the system warmer.
Thanks for the feedback. I really didn't know about the carpet thing.

[MrMDK]

Discs are going to be a little warm when you take them out right after using them. They spin pretty fast ya know...

Your system may have some dust inside it because it couldn't blow it out. Maybe get a can of compressed air and GENTLY blow around all the vents. You'll see some dust come out but don't blow it full blast right up close or anything. It would probably be fine but you could damage something in theory. Getting it off the floor is a good first step.

[TheDenizen]

Also, try standing it on it's end instead of horizontally. Less surface area touching the ground the better.

[El Marsh]

Standing it on its end probably wouldn't be the best idea for me, as my floor is kind of slanted (actually, it gets me discounted rent though ). I suppose I could always prop it up with something but I don't think it's that big of a concern. I did notice that disks aren't nearly as warm as they were before moving the PS3 to the plank of wood so I think that's helped. I've also decided to leave my air on during the day because I'm sure the 95 degree outdoor temp coming into an un-cooled, unventilated apartment didin't do my system any favors (plus it was flat out nasty coming home to a hot apartment).