Introduction: Make Your PS3 Intercooler Turn On/off With the Console
The Nyko Intercooler for the fat PS3 had one MAJOR flaw. You had to walk/crawl over to your PS3 console to turn it on or turn it off because the Intercooler is what controls the power to the system. So if you are used to powering the console on and off with the controller you would eventually get tired of all the back and forth crap and take the Intercooler off.
I had it for one day, and that is all it took for me. That was for the birds so I had to do something about it.
So while it was unhooked I took it apart and investigated what i could do to use the Intercooler and also use my controller to turn the console on and off.
This is for Model # 83010-A50
Do this at your own risk, I am not liable for any issues that you may happen upon. If you feel stumped, stop. Test your fan system out before you put it back onto your console! If you have a warranty for your Intercooler, do not do this. These things are rare now so be sure that you want to do it.
What you will need are:
5 volt relay
thin wire (copper stranded is easier to wiggle around)
USB male cable
soldering iron
solder
Dremel type tool or file
Drill or Dremel with drill bit
wire strippers or scissors
Phillips screw driver
electrical tape
power strip with circuit breaker
USB wall charger
Multimeter
I had it for one day, and that is all it took for me. That was for the birds so I had to do something about it.
So while it was unhooked I took it apart and investigated what i could do to use the Intercooler and also use my controller to turn the console on and off.
This is for Model # 83010-A50
Do this at your own risk, I am not liable for any issues that you may happen upon. If you feel stumped, stop. Test your fan system out before you put it back onto your console! If you have a warranty for your Intercooler, do not do this. These things are rare now so be sure that you want to do it.
What you will need are:
5 volt relay
thin wire (copper stranded is easier to wiggle around)
USB male cable
soldering iron
solder
Dremel type tool or file
Drill or Dremel with drill bit
wire strippers or scissors
Phillips screw driver
electrical tape
power strip with circuit breaker
USB wall charger
Multimeter
Step 1: Get Into It
First of all, make sure that you have the unit unplugged from the wall!
Grab the part of the Intercooler that you plug the power cord into. Face it so that you can see the screws. Now grab your phillips screw driver and remove the four screws that are on the edges of the left side of the unti, near the part that sticks out and looks like the end of your power cord.
Pull gently on the power cord looking interface until that cover comes off.
Grab the part of the Intercooler that you plug the power cord into. Face it so that you can see the screws. Now grab your phillips screw driver and remove the four screws that are on the edges of the left side of the unti, near the part that sticks out and looks like the end of your power cord.
Pull gently on the power cord looking interface until that cover comes off.
Step 2: Pull It Out
Grab the circuit board and gently pull it out of the casing. Be carefull that you don't pull too hard and watch for any wires that might be caught on something.
Don't worry about the differences between what you see on yours and what is in the image. We'll get to that later. I already modded the one in the picture.
Don't worry about the differences between what you see on yours and what is in the image. We'll get to that later. I already modded the one in the picture.
Step 3: Cut the Trace
Maneuver the circuit board so that you can get to the bottom of it the easiest.
Again, I've already modded this one so you won't see the wires(red and black) on the bottom of your motherboard at this time.
**If your circuit board does not look like this on the bottom (without the wires) then you may have a different revision and will want to stop now.
What we need to do now is cut the trace on the board that leads to the fans.
By doing this, it prevents the fans from running. Yes there will be power running through the board at all times by doing it this way but it's no different than any wall wart being plugged in a wall all the time. Also as a side note, at anytime if you decide to undo the mod for any reason all you have to do is just bridge the gap back with some solder and you are back to stock.
After that circuit trace is cut and you don't see any metal in the gap we can now put on some wires.
Grab your wire, it doesn't matter what color you use, all that matters is that you know which wire goes where later on.
Make two wires about 3 to 4 inches in length.
Strip a little bit of the plastic coating off of each end of the wire.
Tin the wires on each end with solder. You can search the web on instructions on how to tin wires if you don't know how.
Solder the wires onto the board as you see in the image.
We will call the red wire in the image "wire A" and the black one "wire B"
Again, I've already modded this one so you won't see the wires(red and black) on the bottom of your motherboard at this time.
**If your circuit board does not look like this on the bottom (without the wires) then you may have a different revision and will want to stop now.
What we need to do now is cut the trace on the board that leads to the fans.
By doing this, it prevents the fans from running. Yes there will be power running through the board at all times by doing it this way but it's no different than any wall wart being plugged in a wall all the time. Also as a side note, at anytime if you decide to undo the mod for any reason all you have to do is just bridge the gap back with some solder and you are back to stock.
After that circuit trace is cut and you don't see any metal in the gap we can now put on some wires.
Grab your wire, it doesn't matter what color you use, all that matters is that you know which wire goes where later on.
Make two wires about 3 to 4 inches in length.
Strip a little bit of the plastic coating off of each end of the wire.
Tin the wires on each end with solder. You can search the web on instructions on how to tin wires if you don't know how.
Solder the wires onto the board as you see in the image.
We will call the red wire in the image "wire A" and the black one "wire B"
Step 4: Make a Hole
Next we'll be drilling a hole to pull the USB wire through.
Take a look inside of the casing to judge how much room you have to work with and try to envision how your wire will be going through the hole once it is drilled.
Grab your drill or Dremel and using a drill bit that is the same or a little larger than your usb cable wire, drill a hole into the casing about where you see it in the image.
Test out your hole and see how well your cable will go through it. Take it back out.
Take your USB cord and strip off the plastic cover, give yourself about an inch or more length for the wires.
Cut off all of the wires EXCEPT for the red and back wires.
You need to grab the soldering Iron again and tin the black and red wires.
Once that's done, put your cable back through the hole and pull it through about five or more inches.
Now you can take the cord and make a knot in it. Doing this will prevent the cord from being yanked out if someone was to pull on it. We'll need to leave about an inch or two for you to get to your wires easily enough to solder them onto the relay. Your relay may not be like mine that is shown so take that into account at this point and make sure that your cable will be long enough to accommodate the difference.
Take a look inside of the casing to judge how much room you have to work with and try to envision how your wire will be going through the hole once it is drilled.
Grab your drill or Dremel and using a drill bit that is the same or a little larger than your usb cable wire, drill a hole into the casing about where you see it in the image.
Test out your hole and see how well your cable will go through it. Take it back out.
Take your USB cord and strip off the plastic cover, give yourself about an inch or more length for the wires.
Cut off all of the wires EXCEPT for the red and back wires.
You need to grab the soldering Iron again and tin the black and red wires.
Once that's done, put your cable back through the hole and pull it through about five or more inches.
Now you can take the cord and make a knot in it. Doing this will prevent the cord from being yanked out if someone was to pull on it. We'll need to leave about an inch or two for you to get to your wires easily enough to solder them onto the relay. Your relay may not be like mine that is shown so take that into account at this point and make sure that your cable will be long enough to accommodate the difference.
Step 5: Relay It
What I have is a relay that I salvaged from an old cordless house phone. You may be able to do the same. This one is long and cylindrical. Yours may be a block of plastic. Either way, you are going to need to know which points on your relay do what.
What the relay does is when it is fed power(in this case 5v) it will either open or close a pathway inside it, it is a switch in this regard. So you will need to know whether your relay is normally open or closed when no power(5v) is fed to it. Mine is normally off so when the 5 volts hit it, it will be on. We'll move on from here. If you are puzzled about relays, I suggest that you stop now and do some research about them.
Here you now solder the red wire coming out of the USB cable to one of the terminals of the relay which is not the terminals that power the magnet. The black wire from the USB cable is then soldered to the other terminal. These two wires should not have continuity between them while soldered to the relay so check that with a meter if you have one. They should only have continuity when the relay is given power from the other terminals.
Now you take wire A which was the red wire in the previous images and solder it to the positive side of your relay that powers the magnet. Then solder wire B, the black wire from said images to the other lead. These wires will charge up the magnet inside the relay which when given power(5v) will allow the current for the fans to flow.
What the relay does is when it is fed power(in this case 5v) it will either open or close a pathway inside it, it is a switch in this regard. So you will need to know whether your relay is normally open or closed when no power(5v) is fed to it. Mine is normally off so when the 5 volts hit it, it will be on. We'll move on from here. If you are puzzled about relays, I suggest that you stop now and do some research about them.
Here you now solder the red wire coming out of the USB cable to one of the terminals of the relay which is not the terminals that power the magnet. The black wire from the USB cable is then soldered to the other terminal. These two wires should not have continuity between them while soldered to the relay so check that with a meter if you have one. They should only have continuity when the relay is given power from the other terminals.
Now you take wire A which was the red wire in the previous images and solder it to the positive side of your relay that powers the magnet. Then solder wire B, the black wire from said images to the other lead. These wires will charge up the magnet inside the relay which when given power(5v) will allow the current for the fans to flow.
Step 6: Tuck It In
We are almost done.
Grab some tape, cut some small squares and gently wrap each of the wires that you just soldered. Be careful with it because you may accidentally snap your wires off. It doesn't have to be pretty, all you need to do is make sure that when you put the board back in and tuck the relay in with it that the terminals on the relay don't touch any of the components on the circuit board.
Ok, so put the circuit board back into the case and tuck in the relay about where you see it in the image.
Pull on the USB cord from the outside to so that the knot is against the back wall of the casing but make sure and watch that you don't pull the wires off of the relay.
Put the cover back on.
If it doesn't fit right, try moving the wires inside around until it does.
Put the screws back in.
Grab some tape, cut some small squares and gently wrap each of the wires that you just soldered. Be careful with it because you may accidentally snap your wires off. It doesn't have to be pretty, all you need to do is make sure that when you put the board back in and tuck the relay in with it that the terminals on the relay don't touch any of the components on the circuit board.
Ok, so put the circuit board back into the case and tuck in the relay about where you see it in the image.
Pull on the USB cord from the outside to so that the knot is against the back wall of the casing but make sure and watch that you don't pull the wires off of the relay.
Put the cover back on.
If it doesn't fit right, try moving the wires inside around until it does.
Put the screws back in.
Step 7: Test It Out
Before you test this out on your PS3, I suggest that you use a wall charger for a phone instead or something like it. Also, use a power strip that has the circuit breaker in it just in case. I have an android phone and it came with a USB charger. It works great for this. It doesn't matter what you use for USB power as long as it has a USB port. .
When you plug in the USB cable the fans should turn on, when you unplug it they should go off!
When you are satisfied with your testing. Your done. :-)
Put the Intercooler back onto your PS3 and plug the USB cable into one of the USB ports on the front of the console.
Finally use your controller to power the console on. FTW
When you plug in the USB cable the fans should turn on, when you unplug it they should go off!
When you are satisfied with your testing. Your done. :-)
Put the Intercooler back onto your PS3 and plug the USB cable into one of the USB ports on the front of the console.
Finally use your controller to power the console on. FTW