This is something that some of you may enjoy checking out. Apparently, the PS3 has a self-cleaning feature that nobody knows about. Check the video below. 

I don't know anyone that actually doesn't know about this :P a friend told me when I first got my PS3 back the end of 07' that it stated this on the manual for it. So everyone I know that has one knows about this...but I'm sure there are plenty that don't ever read manuals or have people that tell them this stuff.

I didn't know about this. I'm going to try it out and report back to you.

EDIT: Oh wow. The PS3 was quiet before but now it's like new again. This is brilliant.

Sounds a bit like my 360 when using the DVD drive!

Seriously though, good tip. My PS3 is pretty much always silent, but I know from experience it's only a matter of time before computer-related fans clog up. Good to know these things are powerful enough to do it themselves rather than needing the ol' pressurised air canister. :D

Doesnt work on mine :S - ive got a 60gb model? maybe thats why?

I think it only works on 40 gig models.

Yeah...i dont think meh 80g has that.... :(

I didn't know it could do this. I'll try it out later.

This is definitely only for models as new or newer than the 40GB model from what I've read. I suppose you could wrap a towel around your PS3, though! :P

I can confirm this doesn't work on the old launch PS3's, and the manual says nothing about self cleaning.

Sucks to be me I guess.

i tried this on my 40gb a while ago and it worked, but then i found out it can do some damage to the CPU so i haven't tried it since.

and it sounds like a fukn jet takin off.

might wana check this out too..

 http://www.gamegrep.com/news/8630-playstation_3s_selfcleaning_feature_dangerous_for_the_longevity_for_ps3/

Why don't cars have this feature?

because they have vacuum cleaners instead

The PS3 has tons of stuff no one knows about, such as uploading and downloading save files and lots others.

"The PS3 has tons of stuff no one knows about, such as uploading and downloading save files and lots others."

nice

Yeah, I saw this video a few months back. A pretty nifty feature. Cannot imagine it on my 360 though, for the sheer fact that as a user mentioned, it causes a potential risk to the console. So my 360's chances of breaking increase, by the mass. x_x

I think that news story has it wrong. The fans speeding up isn't dangerous to the PS3 in itself; it's the fact that the fans normally only get that fast when the PS3 is extremely hot, which obviously is a problem.

I did actually manage to get my PS3 fans this loud a number of times when it was in another location, in a wooden cabinet where the air circulation was bad. During intensive games such as Burnout Paradise the PS3 would get very hot, so much so that if you put your hand behind the console you could literally feel your hand dipping into hot air. The fans would be operating at this volume for minutes at a time, until I came in, realised what was happening and told my brother to turn the damned thing off!

Simply engaging the fans at this speed shouldn't cause any issues whatsoever, although obviously the fans aren't meant to operate at their fastest level for extended periods of time so doing this regularly could very well shorten the lifespan of the fans. And if the fans fail, the CPU could get too hot as there's nothing cooling it down.

Although you'd think the PS3 has an additional measure to automatically shut the system down when the CPU gets too hot, just like pretty much all PCs do. Fan failure is relatively common on PCs, so motherboards are generally designed to be capable of detecting excessive heat and protecting the CPU.

My conclusion is that you should only do this if absolutely necessary, or perhaps once very six months as a rule of thumb. Doing this will help get clogged-up dust out your system, and indeed after doing it after about a year of use a visible amount of dust was on the glass TV stand around the PS3 that'd just been blown out. Clearing dust out a PC is a pretty necessary maintenance task, so it makes sense these newer, more complex consoles will benefit too.

That is an interesting feature but my PS3 (newer 80 gig model) is healthy and quiet, so I probably don't need to use it. Will it even work on my model?

It can damage the cpu, dont do it

That's nifty, didn't know about this. I'll try it out later.

RyanJW said:

"I did actually manage to get my PS3 fans this loud a number of times when it was in another location, in a wooden cabinet where the air circulation was bad.

My conclusion is that you should only do this if absolutely necessary, or perhaps once very six months as a rule of thumb. Doing this will help get clogged-up dust out your system, and indeed after doing it after about a year of use a visible amount of dust was visible on the glass TV stand around the PS3 that'd just been blown out. Clearing dust out a PC is a pretty necessary maintenance task, so it makes sense these newer, more complex consoles will benefit too."

My PS3 doesn't support this function, and the alternative method risks overheating.

"I don't know anyone that actually doesn't know about this :P a friend told me when I first got my PS3 back the end of 07' that it stated this on the manual for it. So everyone I know that has one knows about this...but I'm sure there are plenty that don't ever read manuals or have people that tell them this stuff."

Cool, but if it can hurt my ps3 I won't try it :p

Wow thats awesome, didn`t know about this, thanks for the post I`m going to try this now.
Btw, it sounds like a normal 360 : P

"Cool, but if it can hurt my ps3 I won't try it :p"

Nice, just did it.

haha BIZZARE cuz I did this to my PS3 by accident this morning

This is older news. It only works on 40GB's and after.

ARyanJW said:

"This is definitely only for models as new or newer than the 40GB model from what I've read. I suppose you could wrap a towel around your PS3, though! :P"

"This is older news. It only works on 40GB's and after."

I saw either that video or one just like it a while ago.  I never did try it, but I think I will right now.

"LiquidPrince said:

"This is older news. It only works on 40GB's and after."

It's a good job you pointed that out! I was just thinking it already being mentioned several times wasn't enough."

Two things op. First off its not really "self cleaning"  if you have to activate it.  Second is its only on models made from the 40 gig upwards and not on the original 20 or 60 gig models

Holy cow!  I need to do that with my PS3.

O_O 

Doesn't work on on my 80GB

so it makes the fans go super fast and it cleans them out? and its safe? (i got a 40 gig but upgraded it to a 320 :P )

Nope, does not work on launch models, nice feature though.

I'm ashamed to say I didn't know this. Thanks though.

Do that once a month.  Have a few times.  Not problems with it.