Today marks a rare occurrence. Someone has discovered a feature of the PS3 that we have never witnessed before. Apparently, the 40 gigabyte PS3 can perform a fan test which will remove the dust from the innards of your system. We've placed the 'how to' video below.
Once again, this only works with the 40GB SKU. We have no idea what will happen if you attempt this with one of the other models, but we don't recommend it. Anyway, if you want to clean your 40 gig or make it sound like a 360 for a minute, give this cleaning feature a whirl.

Holy crap my 360 is loud. But that is definatly a cool feature. Especially since console do gather alot of internal dust.
"Anyway, if you want to clean your 40 gig or make it sound like a 360 for a minute, give this cleaning feature a whirl" :D:D:D:D HAHA GOD THAT WAS FUNNY :D:D:D
I have a 60GB and I would NEVER do that even if the 60GB model had that feature. That was just scary, it sounded like the PS3 was about to blow up or something. You would have to pay me $100 bucks just to make me do that to my PS3.
More proof that the PS3 is alive. "It's Thinkin'...." Remember that guys?
"Its Thinking". Isn't that the Dreamcast promotion slogan?
how would it not be safe? its not like he heated the ps3 up super hot for the fan to engadge super high speed mode. Its just like turning a ceiling fan on high. It would be bad if your fan was doing that for hours and days on end.
You can't do it with the 60 gb since it's only beeping when you hold the eject button :P. But I wnat to clean it :(
There's a simple way to avoid risk guys.
Remember those ancient things called Hoovers?
Well, take one of those, switch it on, and hoover your ps3 arround the fan grills. Much less risk and at elast the dust isnt being blown randomly into the atmosphere.
yh i want to clean my ps3...there bits of dust in the ventilation and the i try a portable hoover on it doesnt get all the dust....FIRMWIRE UPDATE SONY !!!! lol
the power of the playstation! i might get some dust cleaner stuff tonight
Is that safe, i have the 40gb, I want to do it but im thinking it could f up my PS3. Im probably going to do it anyway. Hopefully it doesnt break on me.
Do it, do it, do it.........I want to see it take off like like a rocket.................Video cam
opps... well I might aswell make the comment worth while, I'm gonna try this on my friends 40GB next time I go round to his xD
BRUTAL stuff! Is it safe I wonder?!
lol, sounds like my hoover on high speed mode!! I wish it would work on the 60GB tho, a spring clean every once in a while would keep it in good shape.
oh yeah I did that by accident once
Ghetto "Fan Test"
That's pretty cool. Why don't all models do it?
Oh and for the record, you get 3 beeps if you try it on a 60GB.
lol im gona try that with my 60gb
I found this artice :D wooooo go me
nice, but not on my 60 gig!
tried it on my 20 gig... didn't work ://...
And now how the **** does that clean ur ps3 ? i saw this vid a year ago , too bad psu is ancient and the members too ! geez , i tried this on my 2nd ps3 and it f up my fan, why try something not in the manual ? i mwan if it did ''clean'' the machine why is it not stated in the dam manual !! dont be thick guys christ
that aint no fan test thats a f***ing hairdryer :-|
sounds like it's about to take off...
*clears runway*
What about the 20 and 80 gb models?? The 80gb came around the same the 40gb so does it work for that one too??
I get 3 beeps on my 80GB... and the 3 beeps are just the normal 3 beeps you get when there's no disc in the system and you touch eject.
I tried it with my 60gb but it didn't work.
lol make it sound like a 360 for a minute
IS IT SAFE TO USE THAT TECHNIQUE ON HOW THE PLAYSTATION 3 40GB CLEANS ITS SELF I WAS JUST WONDERING CAUSE I WANT TO TRY BUT I DONT KNOW IF IT WILL DAMAGE THE CONSOLE. PLEASE REPLY TO LET ME KNOW PS ADD TO TO YOUR PLAYSTATION 3 ONLINE ACCOUNT MY USERNAME IS SWAMPYTKJAMES
don't do it!!!!!!!
PSN: yungder
Somebody try it on the 60GB model please, I'll give you a taco
I think this feature is available under all ps3 skus...i say this because this may be a feature sony uses to test when defective ps3s are sent in. It probably has to do with the repair process.
No go on the 60gb. Anyone with an 80gb try it?
As a cleaning method I understand the theory, as the fan on the PS3 works to expell heat form the inside it's also inoizing the air around it so while it blows out the heat it's also attracting dust. Using this method throretically would blow out all the dust before the system turns on and begins the ionizing process again. Frankly though I'm fine with a can of compressed air.
that trick does'nt work on the 80GB, 60GB or 20GB. I tried them all and it won't do nothing. its a repair technique that only works on 40GB SKU. its safe. Its a hidden trick though, so it won't be in the manual. It probaly works only on the 40GB because its the last and latest model SKU.
it's scary ha ha ha XD
Man there are some stupid people here. Not to be mean but... its a FAN! And those things dont just happen, Sony most likely uses that to test the fans or to even just quick clean the bad units. I showed this to my friend and he said when he contacted sony because his fans were always on high on his 40gb because it overheated, they told him to do this. It would be nice if someone could verify that for us by contacting sony. But seriously, if you know the slightest bit about what is going on you would realize that those $10 fans arnt going to break because they are going faster. People are just used to the extremly low RPM that they usually run at.
This feature can be added on the other models, fans can be controlled by software, so in theory it can be done. Solution, spam Sony's forums and especially their blog (they apparently read that) to add this in a future update. This might seem harsh, but companies don't listen that easy to the people, we gotta force them. PLUS, if this does help the cleaning of the console, it would have a BIG advantage over the other systems (more than it already has :) )
tryed it on my 60g dint work
Lol, holy sh't.. I wonder if this is on purpose.
I think the test just makes the console think it's overheated, hence the blinking red light. Cool feature but I'll stick with my trusty compressed air can. Mine runs 24/7 on F@H (just hit 803 WU) unless I'm playing games, and it still runs quiet enough to sleep 6 feet from it.
HOLY CRAP MAN!!!! i just tried it n it f works, the fan sounds better and it sounds like the ps3 is not even on, if anybody wants 2 do it go ahead don get scare cuz it is pretty lound
You guys must not trust Sony if you're thinking this fan test going to mess up your 40GB PS3. I'd be worried if I owned an Xbox 360, not a PS3.
My 360 still sounds louder :?
@brandonh33 yo man you know nothing just go away we love our ps3's we just can't do anything that not talked thing because we buy our ps3 much price and can't do anything that not have any warrent or something that little scary funny thing lol i have sega ps1.2.3 xbox360 and black original. i know better unlike you. i already opened all my consol ( expect psp) don't thing any gamers that way ( chi teneg pizda)........ :)
thank you man :D
I tried this myself and it works :) cool i mean what more do you want your ps3 to do lol
Wow. This is a really good feature, why don't sony shout out about liitle things like this, why the big secret. I can't try it I have the 60gb but kudos for the 40gb.
@RuiJR, did not understand a single word you said...Actually I understood the words but not the sentences.
I just tried this 5 minutes ago, thanks to the video. YES THIS IS CONFIRMED WORKING FOR THE 40gb model. I carefully took the system to a quiet room in the basement, turned it on, listened for a minute, then did the fan test. The fan really did sound like a 747! Then, I hard-rebooted from the back, and now IT RUNS MUCH SMOOTHER... AND QUIETER. (No damage to system whatsoever).
One more thing... the fan test EXHAUSTS air, whereas during normal operation it might 'INHALE' air... but I haven't checked that yet... it's just a guess (b/c paper behind my ps3 blew to the ground).
maybe he actually read the manual...
@IONIXX
thanks dud, if the spam for the in-game XMB worked, it can work for this too.
is it strong enough to clean up my room? :P
@ Inferno Reaper
Wow G, you have that many F@H work units? Holy sh't!
- - -
Tried it with my 60 GB. It didn't work. But my screen froze, even when the console was switched off. Although, seems to work just alright.
Yo PS3 mods, SMC, etc. Can someone contact Sony and confirm this works for the 80 & 60 GBs models? It looks like a cool and useful feature.
lol I did that on my PS3 by accident. I thought it was gonna explode lol.
@RuiyJR, umm I am not sure what to say. If you could speak english I might have something to say to you but i guess you cant.
noooooooo ryt thats it im attempting this on my 60 gig XD
sooooooooo kewl
nevr saw tht 1 coming :P
@brandonh33 i'm not UK or American i don't need to learn english expert so don't worry i understand what you say just my typing spell is not good. it's hard to learn 4 or 5 langauge right now . what you want say from me? just tell me yo
Should be safe, my PS3 does that once in a while by itself anyways... I live in the Fiji Islands so the tropical climate isn't that friendly to heat sensitive electronics...
http://crackle.com/c/How_To/PS3_60_Gig_Fan_Test/2248784/
Tried this and it works on my 60 gig version. But is this the same thing? And does this work on the 40 gig version? Well watch the video and try for yourself.
Pretty neat, but I dont think that Sony added that as a feature. I think that it just happened that way. Its cool though, just dont see why it only owrks on the 40 gb. I use air duster, it helps some.
Waste of time, I just take mine into the shower with me...clean as a whistle.
I will stick with cleaning my PS3 the old fashioned way (Compressed air). Also my 60GB PS3 already, when you turn it on makes the same noise (the fans start off fast and then slow to their normal speed). I assume this is for the same reason, to clean excess dust. The fans are so quiet I can't hear them anyway.
my 20gb version does this, but automatically. i dont need to go threw this proceedure. fan just goes crazy for like a minute or so then goes back to normal.
lol souds like a hair dryer
is there a reason why it only works on the 40GB
That is amazing. I'm going home to do that on my lunch break might make it sound better.
PSN: DarkJ3JB
I like Sony, but you have to remember how they did us with the ps2 and the "disc read errors" with the lenses needing to be cleaned. For a long time, they would charge you to "repair" the problem when it only needed to be opened up and cleaned. Of course, opening it voided your warranty. Sony is not going to offer very much in the way of increasing your system's lifespan. Heck, as far as they care, you should buy another one when it breaks...
cool feature just tried wiv my 80gb all igot was 3 beeps