PS3 Fan Mod Tutorial!

[Traybourne]

This tutorial will show you how to mod your PS3s fan to give you full control over it. The goal is to let you increase your fan speed to keep your PS3 much cooler and help prevent YLOD. DO NOT turn the fan speed lower than the stock speed unless you want your PS3 to burst into flames. Also this tutorial is only for phat PS3s as the slims tend to work much cooler than the phats so it is not as needed.

OK let's start with the things you need:
-A soldering iron (you can find them for pretty cheap on eBay)
-Solder
-A 250k ohm Linear potentiometer(these are at most electronic parts stores but there's always eBay. something like this should work 2 x B250K Potentiometer pots Tone control 15mm Shaft S | eBay)
-Some wire. I used IDE cable.
-Electrical tape
-Rubbing alcohol
-Arctic Silver thermal paste
-A strong adhesive

Now first thing you will need to do is disassemble your PS3. There are many guides on youtube to help you through this. When you see your fan, take it off and use rubbing alcohol and some paper towel to clean off the crappy thermal paste between the CPU and GPU and the heat sinks. When you have it nice and clean, apply the Arctic Silver thermal paste and put the heat sink back on. Take it off again and inspect it to make sure the thermal paste has spread evenly all over the CPU and GPU. Now cut the gray wire leading to the fan and attach it to one end of your wire with some solder and wrap some electrical tape around it. Run that wire out the back vent of the PS3 as you see in this picture.



Now put it all back together except for the case. Take the leftmost wire coming from the power supply and cut off a small section of the insulation. Splice in one of your wires like so. (Note: I have only done this mod on the CECHE01 PS3 model. If you have a different model, I would recommend you use a multimeter to check if that wire is the 3.3v wire as it may be different in certain models.)



Run the other end of that wire under the motherboard and out the same vent you used for the first wire.



Once you have the system fully assembled, you should have two wires hanging out the back. Take one wire and solder it to one of the outside pins on the potentiometer and solder the second wire to the middle pin. Now stick the potentiometer on the PS3 with some strong adhesive as shown in the first picture and now you should be all done.

[psxman]

Good tutorial!

Is there maybe someone that know wich wire I have to take for a CECHG04 model?
If I check it with a multimeter,do I have to search for the wire that give 3.3v?

Hope someone can help me...

[Cyris]

great tutorial! Stuff like this is why i wish they would make a case mods or system hardware mods thread.

as a former console repair person I can honestly say that if people stop standing consoles on their sides, shoving them in cramped places, and sitting them next to other heat source then no one would get the YLOD or the RROD.

Cyris For Moderator 2012

[RoversRob]

noob question here, but how do I check the wire using a multimeter? Never used on in my life and not a clue what to do. Do I need to split the wire and test the voltage whilst its live?

[qrange]

great tutorial! Stuff like this is why i wish they would make a case mods or system hardware mods thread.

as a former console repair person I can honestly say that if people stop standing consoles on their sides, shoving them in cramped places, and sitting them next to other heat source then no one would get the YLOD or the RROD.

Cyris For Moderator 2012

but I heard placing it on side is good for cooling?

about the mod, is it a good idea to have the fan constantly on same speed, if temp changes all the time (and it does because GPU is not always at 100% use)?
they say temperature variations (with overheating) cause YLOD.

[piaf]

nice guide..thanks!

silly question:
can we use the potentiometer from a coolermaster/old one for AMD, i have no clue if this can be used instead of ordering new ones.

Also, if everything is attached, what's the stand of the potentiometer? in the middle for default or a lower, stupid question maibe, it's just the fan runs at default speed, how should one set the potentionmeter, otherwise maibe its to low on startup?

thanks!

[djluiluv]

I just want to thank you 1st & foremost for such a helpful and detailed tutorial. Just a quick Q... dos it matter the type of electrical wiring we use or can we use and type of category cabling/wiring???? I want to be sure b/c I'm getting ready to do this to my CECHG01 and CECHE01... ~ Thank You...

[defyboy]

This does not prevent YLOD.

[furrymoggy]

about the mod, is it a good idea to have the fan constantly on same speed, if temp changes all the time (and it does because GPU is not always at 100% use)?
they say temperature variations (with overheating) cause YLOD.

Not a good idea to have the fan running at a fixed speed. Too low a speed and you risk overheating when you're engrossed in the heat of battle. Set the speed high and the console may not overheat but there will be the constant fan noise even when there's no action! Of course you can manually adjust the speed with this mod, but you've got to remember to do so!

Also, this mod doesn't drive the fan as it was designed to be driven. The fan speed should be varied using Pulse Width Modulation, not simply a varying voltage.

I've got a neat little module off ebay for a tenner. It automatically tracks the PWM from the console and increases the speed in line with that provided by the console. Works a treat and is a snip to fit! Search ebay for "ps3 fan accelerator"!

P.S. I've just noticed a "mod" with the same title which is just a pot on wires.... this is most definitely potentially dangerous to the health of your fan as it connects the fan's speed control input to the 12volt supply!!

[relaxxx]

I also sell a fan mod on ebay: "PS3 fan Booster". Mine's not as fancy as I don't have resources for fan connectors and such but it's cheap and easy to install. Also you can use multiple fan boosters to increase speed even more and add switches if desired.