System is getting too hot notification.

Recently I've been having a problem with my Playstation 3 system here at home. I've been playing games for hours and hours and never did my PS3 show a sign of overheating, until now. While I was playing Uncharted 2: Among Theives, about 20 minutes into the game, a little message came up on the top right corner of my TV screen saying, "Your system is getting too hot, please restart or wait a while before switching it back on." Something like that. I asked my local game retailer and he said that I should buy some compressed air and spray it into the vents because sometimes loose dusts cloud up the fans, I tried it today and still, the sign comes up.  
I need some more advice, please help. 
Qbert

Depending on the model, I've heard you can force the PS3 into a "fan test" mode. You might google it. I've heard both good and bad things about it. I hear it's not good to do to the original 60GB units, but for the others, it seems to have some decent success.  
 
However, I've also hear horror stories about it.  
 
Sorry for such crappy info, but you might google PS3 fan test mode and read up on it and decide what you want to do. 

Thanks, il try that right now

NOOOOOO.  The fan test does way more harm than good. DO NOT DO THAT!!!
 
Right, now i churned that out let me go into a tad more detail.  Sony themselves have said its damaging to the system, as it traps all the hot air inside rather than blow it out, which aint good.  If it did work, you wouldnt have to either: a) hold the machine upside-down or b) hold the eject button for however long, it'd be already in there.
 
Compressed air is a great bet...dust it regulary, make sure it's well ventilated and away from any heat sources.

what you mean hold the system upside down

Thats the only way to do it if you have a 60gb model.  Does that sound like a feature good for your system?

I have the 80 gb 2008 model

Then I don't think there's any way you can do it then.  Which is good, because it damages your machine.

So what should i do?

Spraying air into the vents is a bad idea, you should hit it again with a vacuum cleaner.
 
Spraying air in will send those clumps of dirt inside, onto boards and chips and stuff, potentially making your problem worse. If your vacuum cleaner has a brush attachment, shove it on and use that. Get those vents good and clean.
 
I wouldn't recommend opening your Playstation casing, I'd send it back to Sony or something if the problem persists.

Compressed air it if you can. Then ensure it's in a well ventilated place where you dust it regulary (once or twice a week is all it really needs.)  Just dust around the vents and use a weak vaccum cleaner around them for the time being and it should be all hunky dory.

Ok Thanks

Wrap it in a towel...that fixes the problem. ;-)

" Wrap it in a towel...that fixes the problem. ;-) "

Yeah make sure it's in an open area. Even having it in a space with 6-8 inches of room on either side might not be enough, since it can get pretty hot in there over time, and the PS3 fans won't push air far enough out to circulate cooler air into the vents. Use the vacuum cleaner instead of the compressed air like DanceDance said. And make sure to give your PS3 a break every couple hours no matter what. I know it may suck when you have limited time to play games, but it's better than sending the unit away to Sony for a couple weeks.
 
I have a 60GB launch PS3 and have never had any problems with overheating, using these tips. But my fan gets crazy loud sometimes, that's my queue to turn it off for a while. Good luck.

DONT COMPRESSED AIR IT, Sony says NOT to. Their advice is a vaccum cleaner on low settings. Also removing the hard drive and cleaning out the dust from there is a good idea as well; I was having noise problems when my system was TURNED OFF and it resolved that was either loose and or the dust was getting to it. Just vacuum the PS3 on low settings and with an attachment that won't scratch up or damage the system (someone recommended a brush like one), ensure it is in an open area and at least 4-6 inches from walls on all sides.
 
Uncharted 2 for me as well caused my system to get louder, fans were roaring after a session and would eventually die down to their normal sound.
 
To my knowledge there is a way to fan test on most of the systems but its at your own risk.

 
The problem with Uncharted 2 Among Thieves is that there is no installation. And when there's no installation the game loads almost everything in live and this causes faster overheating. That's the case with GTA4 also. 
You may have noticed that (depending on where you live) the PS3 tends to overheat during summer. For my case, I have a 2007 40gb model and I live on a tropical island, thus I can't play GTA4 and Uncharted 2 at all during summer and during winter I could play GTA4 for like 8 hours non stop.
 
 Uncharted 1, RE5, GT Prologue, Silent Hill 5 all play fine all the time here. I really hope that Polyphony will provide installation for the upcoming GT5 or else the endurance races (8-24 hours) !!! won't be playable at all.

hii everbody . i agree with david . cause ia have the same problem with my PS3 when im playing UNCHARTED 2 , i think because u cant install it ,,, but my PS model 40 GB ASIA version 2008. my  country at summer temp will over 40 . just anyone can tell what can i do to fix this ?

Vacuum Vacuum Vacuum! suck them dust particulates out of your system. keep it somewhere where your sure it will get proper ventilation,  and make sure your system is out of direct sunlight(although i hope i shouldn't need to mention that one).

Strange.  I've never seen this message.  But I have heard my PS3 take a page out of the 360 playbook and just start sounding like a jet engine.

Yeah I live in a warm climate too, it turns up the fans big time. Vacuum clean it on low settings and move to a cooler climate ;)

I had this problem with my super slim 500gb and I cleaned the vents and removed my hd and cleaned that, switched it on and now it's fine :) no over heat warning

There sure have been a lot of old topics getting bumped lately. I wonder if something is causing it. I've been seeing ads for Giant Bomb content here and on gamespot so maybe old topics are showing up as ads for some people? That's the only thing I could think of.

From what others have suggested, it seems a lot of forum topics are showing up in Google searches these days. I just googled "hot PS3 warning" and this thread was the third result.

Old thread is old, but I figured Id chime in and say: if your console gets hot make sure it has enough space behind it to properly ventilate. TV stands with closed backs are not really good for consoles because they limit airflow. And blowing canned air into the back of the console isn't going to do shit. Some of the dust might escape, but a lot of it will just get pushed further into the system. If you're on warranty send it to the console maker to get cleaned/whatever. If not, opening a console and cleaning it isn't very hard.