The Bad Effects of Dust On the PlayStation Systems

Dust is notoriously difficult to contain, with 60% of all household dust entering from the outside, primarily through the bottoms of our shoes, affecting not only carpet and surfaces, but much of your expensive electronic equipment.

The build-up of dust is rarely considered a good thing in any context. When it comes to PlayStation consoles and similar electronics, dust deposition impacts the system’s performance in inconspicuous, but potentially serious ways.

Causes PlayStation Consoles to Overheat

Even if you’re not that into electronics and don’t really understand how the game consoles’ internal systems work, you probably understand that game consoles consist of electrical circuits and components. These circuits constantly produce heat as a byproduct of their processing prowess.

Now, excessive heat output is a rather undesirable byproduct for the smooth functioning of electric circuits. Electronic engineers and designers are constantly on a quest to mitigate such heat dissipation to achieve superior computing and performance.

PlayStations even produce heat when left idle (this heat comes from the ‘steady state’ power usage of the PlayStation system).

The Need For Cooling

We all know that the PlayStation consoles produce a lot of heat as they work hard to keep apps running. Using the internal fan and air vents that sense and regulate temperature, they can manage how hot or cold they are.

Now, a small output of heat in a PlayStation console is nothing to worry about, but problems arise when a PlayStation console produces more heat than it can dissipate. This problem is typically aggravated by dust accrual. Many game console repair technicians will tell you that the build-up of dust is one of the biggest contributors to unregulated heating in a game console system.

Too much heat will slow the PlayStation down, causing to crash often. In the long run and worst-case scenario, overheating may damage a PlayStation’s internal components and you could even lose important data if the dust causes your PlayStation to crash.

Dust accumulation

The PlayStation’s ability to cool itself is hampered when dust starts to accumulate inside of it. Dust accumulation inside the PlayStation results from clogged internal fan, obstructed air filters, and coated electrical parts.

The build-up of dust can negatively impact your PlayStation system’s performance in 2 main ways: it causes the components of your console to retain heat and it makes it more difficult for the internal fan to dissipate heat from the system, thereby decreasing the efficiency of the entire system.

Damages Circuit Boards

In a country like Australia, the summers are extremely humid and when humidity is high, dust attracts moisture. Moisture, of course, does not go well with any electrical components, including game consoles.

If moist dust finds its way inside your PlayStation, it will begin to eat away at the circuit boards. Corroded circuit boards will lead to your PlayStation crashing intermittently, where it will eventually need to be replaced.

Prematurely replacing your game console due to lack of care is a significant financial setback for many users as this is a cost that can be easily avoided.

Clogs USB ports

USB ports are an important part of your PlayStation that, due to where they are positioned, become subject to a significant amount of dust. USB ports are responsible for holding external storage devices that transport information to and from your PlayStation. Also, you use your PlayStation’s USB ports to charge your controller, connect your headset, PSVR and other accessories.

Needless to say, if your USB port is clogged with dust, it will stop working and interfere with your ability to transfer files, and the connected device may malfunction or not working at all.

How You Can Control It

Fortunately, dust does not have to be a problem for your PlayStation if you know how to manage it correctly and stay on top of cleaning procedures. The best way to stop dust entering your PlayStation is to reduce the amount of dust entering your house as a whole, including vacuuming the floors, dusting surfaces and thoroughly wipe down PlayStation monitors.