What is the best way to clean my PS2? Without...

Opening it up. I am a very nervous person when it comes around fixing electronic things due to how poor I was as a child and how my parents instilled the "take good care of your things." way of thinking.

Basically, my ps2 is not wanting to read disks, it can still read them but it takes time. I think the lens is dirty and the ps2 is dusty. Would a can of air work in getting the dust out and then getting microfiber cloth when it comes to cleaning the lens. If so, are there any chemicals I should or shouldn't use and is it easy to clean a slim version?

I do plan on buying a new one, but I would like to keep this one alive for as long as possible. Any help would be awesome. I am sorry to the mods if they don't like me asking here. But I do need help with this and I doubt the PS2 boards see much action these days so until the questions I asked are answered, I would like it if they could hold off from moving it until someone post a good way to clean it without opening it up. Then they can move it to their hearts content. This is just really important to me though.

But yeah, any help would be awesome everyone.

if you think the lens is dirty why not just get a lens cleaner?

@devilzrule27 said:

if you think the lens is dirty why not just get a lens cleaner?

But the system is dusty as well. So I would also like to know if a can of air is safe to use before cleaning the lens.

a drop of distilled water on a lint-free cloth to clean the lens should do the trick. If the drive motor is going out, you're kinda SOL. If the lens read strength is weakened, there might be a way to adjust it to be stronger, usually with a potentiometer adjustment that involves opening the console. Good luck.

@Lunar_Aura said:

a drop of distilled water on a lint-free cloth to clean the lens should do the trick. If the drive motor is going out, you're kinda SOL. If the lens read strength is weakened, there might be a way to adjust it to be stronger, usually with a potentiometer adjustment that involves opening the console. Good luck.

...I don't even know what half of that means... by drive moter. do you mean the spinning thing? How would one know it is going out?

At this point a new PS2 would be pretty cheap if you don't feel like messing with the innards of your current one.

I had the same issue with my PS2. I tried all the lens cleaner business and it mostly amounted to wasted time.  
 
PS2's are pretty easy to get a hold on now, though, so all hope is not lost.  
 
Unrelated: I'm thinking about buying an original Xbox to start doing Xbox 1 Let's Plays. (I'd be but one nondescript dude in a fucking torrential sea of Let's Play-ers, but whatever.)

@MariachiMacabre said:

At this point a new PS2 would be pretty cheap if you don't feel like messing with the innards of your current one.

Again. I know this. I would like to buy a new PS2 sooner or later but I just want to keep my current one alive for a while.

I now know the distilled water and cloth without lint is good. But I would like to know if the can of air can help out due to how dusty it is.

The PS2 having trouble reading discs rarely has anything to do with how dusty the system itself (apart from the lens) is.

Regarding the canned air cleaning method, it's safe to do as long as you spray the air with the can at a correct upright position. Holding the can upside down and spraying the console risks blowing moisture-air (yes I'm dumb I can't think of the word right now) into your PS2.

You'll know your motor is dying out when load times are unnervingly long or you realize the PS2 isn't spinning discs anymore.

Would buying a used PS2 from gamestop online be a good idea? I would like to know.

@Lunar_Aura said:

The PS2 having trouble reading discs rarely has anything to do with how dusty the system itself (apart from the lens) is.

Regarding the canned air cleaning method, it's safe to do as long as you spray the air with the can at a correct upright position. Holding the can upside down and spraying the console risks blowing moisture-air (yes I'm dumb I can't think of the word right now) into your PS2.

You'll know your motor is dying out when load times are unnervingly long or you realize the PS2 isn't spinning discs anymore.

Do you mean freezing issues? Or do you mean not playing them at all? Mine really doesn't do that. It just can't seem to start them unless I leave it in it. turn it off, and then turn it back on again. Then it acts just fine.

i used a compressor. to blow out the dust its its lose then a vacum cleaner and cue tips. with the lens i used again a cue tip and some alcohol. rub it gently on the lens and let it evaporate and if all else fails buy a new one they are cheap and easy to find

uh and dust on the outside of the machine i use a microfiber cloth

@Grillbar said:

i used a compressor. to blow out the dust its its lose then a vacum cleaner and cue tips. with the lens i used again a cue tip and some alcohol. rub it gently on the lens and let it evaporate and if all else fails buy a new one they are cheap and easy to find

uh and dust on the outside of the machine i use a microfiber cloth

Wait... like a full sized vacum? That will work? I know it has a slend attachment but... is that safe?

Also, but compressor you mean Air Can right? Just making sure since I will be doing this tomorrow morning... since it is really really late right now for cleaning.

Are you getting a Disk Read Error message? That used to plague my non-slim PS2, and it was always dust. That of course is just my case, so we can't assume it's the same issue for yours. I actually unscrewed and got inside there and cleaned it out with compressed air can and used a damp Q-tip on the lens. This probably took place about 5 times in the console's lifespan.