Consoles on Carpet

[Black_Heart]

So I just found out you're not supposed to put game consoles on carpet as that will kill them. Either I'm very lucky, or it's just superstition, cause I've had some of my retro consoles on carpet for years and they still work flawlessly. The two I read you should NEVER put on carpet are N64 and PS1. Welp, I do that all the time with no issues. In fact, I had been using my N64 for around 2-3 hours a day for the past week playing Conker.
Now granted, I don't usually play my N64 or PS1 for more than 3 hours. Maybe the whole carpet thing only applies if you're playing for a very long time?
I've also used my laptop on carpet for a couple hours whenever I wanna use it as a SEGA Saturn. Still had no issues.

 

[wormdood]

its all about heat your house has good ventilation airflow or even a draft then you wont ever have an issue

 

[sarkwalvein]

Putting a console on a carpet is a very bad idea, and the why of it should easily be answered by your common sense.
Consoles try to breath from below and from around it, and carpets not only block the air intakes, but also collect dust that is later sucked in by the consoles and clog their ventilation system.
This all will only lead to failure of the cooling sub-system inside your console, building of heat, and early death.
That said, older or retro consoles lacked any kind of active cooling, and thus their cooling systems didn't actively breath in air (but they depended on standard passive convection).

Because of this retro consoles are way less affected by doing a careless thing like blocking their air intakes and putting dust collectors around them... still they are affected, I don't know why someone would do something like that. I mean, you can go around all day in your car without putting in brake fluid and if you are lucky you won't die, but if you really need to brake then you're toast. Will you drive your car without brake fluid then? Hey! You can survive it! It's been proved! /s

 

[spotanjo3]

So I just found out you're not supposed to put game consoles on carpet as that will kill them. Either I'm very lucky, or it's just superstition, cause I've had some of my retro consoles on carpet for years and they still work flawlessly. The two I read you should NEVER put on carpet are N64 and PS1. Welp, I do that all the time with no issues. In fact, I had been using my N64 for around 2-3 hours a day for the past week playing Conker.
Now granted, I don't usually play my N64 or PS1 for more than 3 hours. Maybe the whole carpet thing only applies if you're playing for a very long time?
I've also used my laptop on carpet for a couple hours whenever I wanna use it as a SEGA Saturn. Still had no issues.

That's true but can you leave your laptop/consoles running on carpet and go out for 8 hours ? Would you worry about it ? Yeah, you would be worrying about fire in the house, no matter what.

Now.. Do not use your laptop/consoles on carpet at all. Just dont. No matter if it is just superstition or not.

 

[DinohScene]

Why the fuck would you do that?
Dust in the carpet will be sucked into the console.
Not to mention dirt n other things that can happen to the poor thing.

 

[Pokepicker]

I have heard smoking gives you cancer. I think it might be superstition, because I have not gotten cancer yet. Might as well continue to expose myself to cigarettes.

 

[Deleted User]

Interesting to see that the N64 stands out in particular as a console you should never put on carpet, due to its lack of moving components. Then again, I've never owned an N64, and there's probably something I'm missing, so take what I just said with a grain of salt.

That aside, it's definitely a bad idea to leave any console on carpet while playing, especially if they use disc drives or generate a lot of heat. It's unhealthy for the console, and you're running a fire hazard risk. At the very least, get a stool or a small table to put the system on before running it.

 

[Black_Heart]

its all about heat your house has good ventilation airflow or even a draft then you wont ever have an issue

I always have the AC and ceiling fan on where my retro consoles are. Mainly since it gets to 99 degrees Fahrenheit without it.

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Why the fuck would you do that?
Dust in the carpet will be sucked into the console.
Not to mention dirt n other things that can happen to the poor thing.

I didn't know consoles inhaled air, only exhaled heat.

 

[DeadlyFoez]

I have heard smoking gives you cancer. I think it might be superstition, because I have not gotten cancer yet. Might as well continue to expose myself to cigarettes.

Exactly. Also, quitting is for losers.

 

[DinohScene]

I always have the AC and ceiling fan on where my retro consoles are. Mainly since it gets to 99 degrees Fahrenheit without it.

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I didn't know consoles inhaled air, only exhaled heat.

The expelled air has to come from somewhere.
Pretty much all consoles with fans in them rely on a negative airpressure to ventilate.
Air and dust (including pet hair and other debries) is slowly getting sucked in and deposited on the heatsinks/fans.

Passively cooled consoles don't have that problem (anything N64 and below)

 

[Black_Heart]

The expelled air has to come from somewhere.
Pretty much all consoles with fans in them rely on a negative airpressure to ventilate.
Air and dust (including pet hair and other debries) is slowly getting sucked in and deposited on the heatsinks/fans.

Passively cooled consoles don't have that problem (anything N64 and below)

So basically N64, Genesis, NES, and Famiclone should be fine?

 

[sarkwalvein]

So basically N64, Genesis, NES, and Famiclone should be fine?

It's still a bad idea to put them on a carpet, but they usually won't die.
For sure it will take a lot longer for them to die if they do.
In the other hand if you do that to a PS4 or XBone (*or a PC or Notebook) it will probably die after a month of use or so.

 

[Black_Heart]

It's still a bad idea to put them on a carpet, but they usually won't die.
For sure it will take a lot longer for them to die if they do.
In the other hand if you do that to a PS4 or XBone (*or a PC or Notebook) it will probably die after a month of use or so.

PS2 and above are all on shelves or in cabinets. Only ones on carpet are retro consoles (primarily NES, Famiclone, Genesis, N64, and PS1)

 

[DinohScene]

So basically N64, Genesis, NES, and Famiclone should be fine?

They should be fine but I wouldn't do it meself.
I take care of them haha.

 

[Black_Heart]

They should be fine but I wouldn't do it meself.
I take care of them haha.

Would a cutting board like this work?

 

[sarkwalvein]

Would a cutting board like this work?
View attachment 136693

That would be sure a lot better than just putting it right on the carpet.

 

[DinohScene]

It would certainly be better but if your intent is to keep them on ground level.. Nah, dust etc.
Placing it higher up means you're quicker to manually clean it instead of quickly dusting it as well.

Hey, I don't tell you to do it that way, I'm just sharing me opinion about it haha.

Edit: bloody phone.

 

[Black_Heart]

It would certainly be better but if your intent is to keep them on ground level.. Nah, dust etc.
Placing it higher up means you're quicker to manually clean it instead of quickly dusting it as well.

Hey, I don't tell you to do it that way, I'm just sharing me opinion about it haha.

Edit: bloody phone.

When put away they're in a cabinet with my Gamecube and PS2. I only have them on the floor when playing so the controller can reach the couch.

 

[DinohScene]

You could invest in controller extension cables?
But yeh, I doubt it'll do much harm to passive consoles like that.

 

[wormdood]

I always have the AC and ceiling fan on where my retro consoles are. Mainly since it gets to 99 degrees Fahrenheit without it.

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I didn't know consoles inhaled air, only exhaled heat.

1. then your only problem should be dust
2. fans only work because there are vents/cracks to allow airflow . . .
3. if you have never done so before you should buy a can of compressed air and use it on your console vents/cracks