The PS3 Technical Issues Thread

[Sambert]

As one might guess, this post is concerned with the issue of hot and bothered PS3s. In setting the scene, it is worth noting that my 60 gig machine had been running GTHD off the HDD for no more than four hours that day. The PS3 was positioned on a dust free desk away from walls and other appliances, and the ambient temperature was in the low twenties °C. After finishing up with GT, I quit back to the PS interface in order to tweak my wireless network settings (persistent timeouts and network issues are another story.) Following this I went to reload GTHD, yet the game icon was replaced by a spinning sixaxis. At this point the power button began to flash red, so I turned off the machine and left it to cool for half an hour. So far the problem has yet to resurface, though I'm keen to hear of any other experiences.

 

[Minnesota01R6]

Mine locks up during RFOM online play from time to time. I restart it and go right back to what I was doing - I don't think it is heat related as much as it is software related, but my power never flashes red.

 

[DuckRacer]

No problems here.

 

[OZZYGT]

Mine gets heated to a considerable level but it hasn't given me any problems so far. Though the heating really worries me.

 

[Pebb]

Guys check again if you’re PS3 has plenty of airflow all around it. But you should remember to remove dust around it every week from like the back of it mainly and the front bottom.

 

[Sambert]

Guys check again if you’re PS3 has plenty of airflow all around it. But you should remember to remove dust around it every week from like the back of it mainly and the front bottom.

Having difficulties with the reading part, or is comprehension the issue?

 

[Kelvari]

Not to scare, but merely inform

I have heard reports of PS3s overheating, catching fire, and even exploding. It seems that Sony let a few bugs slip through with this batch that it shouldn't have. I'd keep an eye (and ear) out for any recalls or safety bulletins in the not-too-distant future.

 

[Jay]

Not to scare, but merely inform

I have heard reports of PS3s overheating, catching fire, and even exploding. It seems that Sony let a few bugs slip through with this batch that it shouldn't have. I'd keep an eye (and ear) out for any recalls or safety bulletins in the not-too-distant future.

If PS3's were catching fire and exploding I'm quite sure it would be seriously doing the internet rounds of PS3 bashing. fire catching and exploding are pretty serious things.

 

[DuckRacer]

Not to scare, but merely inform

I have heard reports of PS3s overheating, catching fire, and even exploding. It seems that Sony let a few bugs slip through with this batch that it shouldn't have. I'd keep an eye (and ear) out for any recalls or safety bulletins in the not-too-distant future.

Post links to these so called "reports".

 

[Tornado]

I'm sure if you filled a PS3 with M80's it still wouldn't explode.
I did hear of one burning down a house, though that one had been left on for more than a day with the fan vent blocked.

 

[Omnis]

Mine gets heated to a considerable level but it hasn't given me any problems so far. Though the heating really worries me.

Are you serious? Is it vertical or horiztonal? When I have mine standing vertically, there is almost no heat come out of the system whatsoever. My system only becomes warm when horizontal, and that's usually only near that underside of the ridge parallel to the stand-by button. It's also quiter than a whisper. My CRT television makes more noise.

 

[OZZYGT]

Mine is in vertical position. It gets heated by the upper right side of it. But it's only on that part though, the rest of the console remains at normal temperature.




Tell me thats normal

 

[Omnis]

Mine is in vertical position. It gets heated by the upper right side of it. But it's only on that part though, the rest of the console remains at normal temperature.




Tell me thats normal

Yeah, that's where mine gets warm. It's not super hot or anything, though. You make it sound like it's on fire.

 

[Digital-Nitrate]

No heat or operational problems for me. So far I have watched about fifty hours of Blu-ray movies, and even forgot to turn it off a couple times, leaving it running for over 18 hours straight with no problems.

Not to scare, but merely inform

I have heard reports of PS3s overheating, catching fire, and even exploding. It seems that Sony let a few bugs slip through with this batch that it shouldn't have. I'd keep an eye (and ear) out for any recalls or safety bulletins in the not-too-distant future.

Inform: Impart knowledge of some fact.

Spreading unsubstantiated rumors, especially that extreme, is not what I would call "informing". 👎

 

[Jedi2016]

Kelvari, I hang around practically every major gaming site on the internet. I hear news within an hour of it's announcement, sometimes several days before it hits some of the sites I visit. And I've yet to hear a single report of any PS3's catching fire or.. my God, did you actually say they exploded? Gimme a break. Wherever you're reading such nonsense, I suggest you never go there again. And if you're the source of said nonsense, I suggest you never come here again.

Since the launch of the system, I've heard of one, maybe two cases of a PS3 overheating. But, like any other computer system, it's designed to shut down when it overheats. This, believe it or not, actually prevents things like fire or thermonuclear detonations.

In addition, I've heard maybe a half a dozen reports of systems breaking or otherwise dying. So we're looking at... what, eight systems? By that same token, on those same websites and forums, I've heard several hundred reports of Xbox360's dying, almost all of which with the same single flaw, that I've dubbed "The Red Death".

Now, that said..

To the folks who say it's getting hot... what exactly is getting hot? The unit itself (i.e. hot to the touch), or simply the air that's being blown out of it? Because if it's just the air that's warm, that's what's supposed to happen. The idea of a cooling system, especially one designed like the PS3's, is the move the hot air away from the components. The fact that it's blowing warm air out of it's interior doesn't necessarily imply that it's getting too hot. It's most likely just the cooling system doing it's job. Remember that this is a purpose-built cooling system, specially designed to move air around and out of the system to provide maximum cooling. It's not like the 360, which uses little more than a few standard heatsinks and fans, like a PC. So comparing the outflow of the two isn't really a good comparison.

As I understand it, the right side of the unit (horizontal, what would be the "top" when it's vertical) is where the hot air is blown out. If that portion is at the tail-end of the cooling system, as is likely, then it would be pretty normal for it to be slightly warmer.

A good test would be to find one of those websites that shows the innards of the PS3 (and link to it, because I'd like to see it, too.. hehe), and determine where the Cell and RSX are. Those are the two components that will generate the most heat, and if those parts of the console are cool or normal temperature, then the cooling system is doing it's job. I would imagine that they're on the left side of the console.. that's where the output ports are, and the disc drive takes up a good chunk of space on the right side. If you can determine what's where inside the box, it'll give you a better idea of exactly what's getting warm.

 

[G.T]

Good to see they are quite reliable. I'm quite fed up with the issues of the Xbox 360...

Even if the PS3s you saw mentioned DID catch on fire, that's probably around a 1:50,000 chance of happening or something ridiculous like that. All electrical devices have a chance of catching on fire, so I wouldn't worry unless it was a well-known issue.

 

[Robin]

As far as I can tell none of this sounds as bad as 360 problems... so as long as you turn the PS3 off for a while and back on again everything should be ok.....

I too recommend cleaning the dust out regularly... you should also have it high up in a room so its breathing fresh air and not been a vacuum cleaner on the carpet!

 

[German Muscle]

Flashing red power is overheating. The console will shut itself off and flash the power button red when it reaches the temperature threshold

 

[German Muscle]

Not to scare, but merely inform

I have heard reports of PS3s overheating, catching fire, and even exploding. It seems that Sony let a few bugs slip through with this batch that it shouldn't have. I'd keep an eye (and ear) out for any recalls or safety bulletins in the not-too-distant future.

looks like your pretty naive.

 

[DuckRacer]

With my PS3, the air that comes out of it is hot enough to cook an egg.


...Well, not that hot, but you get my point. Whenever it's running, the actual system is cool to the touch.

 

[TigJackson]

With my PS3, the air that comes out of it is hot enough to cook an egg.

You just knew this would show up....didn't you?
XBOX 360 Egg Frying!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLabckoPC0g

 

[Pebb]

The only way the PS3 could catch fire is if the power cord had some damage or if the PSU got damaged on the inside.

 

[Jeremy Ricci]

With my PS3, the air that comes out of it is hot enough to cook an egg.


...Well, not that hot, but you get my point. Whenever it's running, the actual system is cool to the touch.

Which is why the air is hot. Pull in cool air, let out hot air.

I've noticed a lot of fanchildren trying to put spin on the fact that the air coming out of the PS3 is hot...but I don't get it...really.

 

[Jedi2016]

The air coming out of my 360 is hot.

Computers get hot.. especially the big powerful ones. We have a room at work, our "lab", where there are dozens of computers, ranging from PCs to full-on mainframes. The room is kept at roughly 70 degrees Farhenheit, but not by the A/C... In fact, that one room in the entire building, the only room in the entire building, that receives full-blast cold air from the A/C twenty-four hours a day. It's kept warm by the computers operating in that room. One day when the A/C went out, the temperature rocketed to ninety in a matter of hours, we had to start shutting down systems until they could get the A/C back on. Another time, when we powered off the systems over the weekend, the A/C was left on, and the room dropped into the lower fifties.

Hell, on cold days, our techs have been known to slip behind one of the mainframes and open the rear door, revel in the blast of warm air that flows out.

My PC here is actually rather cool, but then again, it doesn't do much these days. I bet if I kicked off a stream of LightWave renders, it'd get nice and toasty inside.

As I mentioned above, so long as the console itself is cool or only slightly warm, it doesn't matter what temperature the air is that's coming out of it. Better to get the heat AWAY from the console, yeah?

 

[Robin]

With my PS3, the air that comes out of it is hot enough to cook an egg.


...Well, not that hot, but you get my point. Whenever it's running, the actual system is cool to the touch.

Seeing a 360 running yesterday in a really hot room omg I felt the heat comming out of the back........ you seriously could dry your hair with it! and its horribly noisy! bring on the PS3's quoted quieter than the slimline PS2 opperation!

Robin

 

[Omnis]

The air coming out of my 360 is hot.

Computers get hot.. especially the big powerful ones. We have a room at work, our "lab", where there are dozens of computers, ranging from PCs to full-on mainframes. The room is kept at roughly 70 degrees Farhenheit, but not by the A/C... In fact, that one room in the entire building, the only room in the entire building, that receives full-blast cold air from the A/C twenty-four hours a day. It's kept warm by the computers operating in that room. One day when the A/C went out, the temperature rocketed to ninety in a matter of hours, we had to start shutting down systems until they could get the A/C back on. Another time, when we powered off the systems over the weekend, the A/C was left on, and the room dropped into the lower fifties.

Hell, on cold days, our techs have been known to slip behind one of the mainframes and open the rear door, revel in the blast of warm air that flows out.

My PC here is actually rather cool, but then again, it doesn't do much these days. I bet if I kicked off a stream of LightWave renders, it'd get nice and toasty inside.

As I mentioned above, so long as the console itself is cool or only slightly warm, it doesn't matter what temperature the air is that's coming out of it. Better to get the heat AWAY from the console, yeah?

No wonder we have global warming. Hahaha. Goes to show you how much energy is used for AC and stuff all over the country.

 

[Danny]

I wish I had one to have problems with.

 

[DuckRacer]

bring on the PS3's quoted quieter than the slimline PS2 opperation!

Robin

My PS3 doesn't make any noise at all, except when it's reading a disc. And even still that's relatively quiet. When I'm browsing the internet on it, I can't hear jack squat on it. For comparison, my 360 always makes a slight hum when, say, messaging friends or browsing the Marketplace.

And the quote you heard said that the PS3 is almost as quiet as the slimline PS2, not quieter than it.

 

[harrytuttle]

Mine is in vertical position. It gets heated by the upper right side of it. But it's only on that part though, the rest of the console remains at normal temperature.

http://translate.google.com/translate?u=pc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/2006/1111/ps3.htm

Looks like that's just where the heatsink & cooling fan are, thus the heat from the rest of the chassis will flow to that area (and then past on its way to the exhaust vent).

Tell me thats normal

I suppose so. My experience with the PS3 (and other electronics) is that a temperature that is fine for one component is deadly for another. For example, when listening at normal levels, some Krell amplifiers can get hot enough to cause 1st degree burns (yes, really; I have first hand experience). That's normal for Krell, but it would mean death for, say, a laptop computer. Whether this temperature you're feeling from the PS3 is bad or not can only be determined after some time. Excessive heat generally shortens the lifespan of any electrical component, but how much heat and how much time varies from part to part.

Also, I think there should be a non-subjective comparison made here (i.e., measure it). What's "fine" for some people is "hot" for others.

The fact that it's blowing warm air out of it's interior doesn't necessarily imply that it's getting too hot.

Actually, if there's hot air exiting the PS3, then it is hot. The fan certainly isn't creating all that heat. Of course, the actual temperature and whether this temperature is within Sony's tolerances or not is an entirely different issue.

 

[Jeremy Ricci]

Actually, if there's hot air exiting the PS3, then it is hot. The fan certainly isn't creating all that heat. Of course, the actual temperature and whether this temperature is within Sony's tolerances or not is an entirely different issue.

The thing about the PS3 is that it pulls heat from ALL components of the PS3 and places them right over the blu-ray drive where the fan is. Pulling the hot air away keeps the rest of the system cool, and the Blu-Ray drive doesn't have much of a need to keep "cool". THe heat your feeling is mostly accrued from the rest of the system, and doesn't necessarily suggest that everything else it hot, it just means that the heat sink is grabbing up heat from the other components and getting warm. It's genius in both design and implementation.