My PS2 has ice on it...

The fan on our PS2 (slimline) started making a lot of noise. I have yet to open it up to figure out exactly why but it sounds like a bad bearing or that the fan has come into some interference. The PS2 seems to have a temperature control unit on it that modulates the small fan within 3 settings (off, low, and high) as necessary. On high, the fan is loud enough to make hearing the TV a problem. What we’ve been doing is placing an ice pack on the underside of the PS2 before we turn it on – this keeps it cool enough so that the fan never even turns on.

I did some research into the power consumption of the thing. The original PS2 consumed approx. 79 watts vs. the new model at approx. 45 watts. In addition to the lower power rating, the new model uses an external power supply/converter – I’d imagine that this means the new unit generates only half the amount of heat on the inside of the console. While the fan in the new unit is much smaller, and moves less air we’ve never had a problem with the PS2 overheating. That said it does get a little warm…

I've never been the type to simply replace an OEM part with another OEM part so I’ve devised a scheme to insure the proper cooling of the otherwise very small, very slim PS2. Currently Leif and I are debating retuning it under warrenty or doing something (i.e. over clocking the processor) to justify a major cooling upgrade.

Stay tuned here for a few sketches on the current cooling upgrade plan. Also, if any one can comment on overclocking the PS2 processor that'ld be neat.

Edit: here's plan A (note the use of blue LED glowing fan). I was thinking I could get away with using the machine shop at school to make that fan shroud/cover thing. I'd think a solid block of abs plastic or some urethan would be easy to machine and when painted black with the same side mouldings/slits would match the look of the origonal PS2 casing.