dusty psp screens - solutions?

[randombs]

my psp's 2nd hand but is near-mint as far as the screen's concerned - no dust, bits and whatnot between the screen's surface and the case. somehow, some dust has crept in. i opened it to replace the R trigger and sprayed the heck out of it with compressed air.

i was wondering - i've heard that dust gets in through the gaps around the buttons, and probably the d-pad, too, so has anyone on here had any bright ideas about solving this problem? i was thinking about adding some more foam around the edges of the screen to seal it off from the rest of the unit. but then i decided against it as it'd make removing any dust that *did* get in that much more difficult, probably.

or better yet, what about isolating the dpad and buttons from the rest of the unit? maybe adding some foam of some sort around them instead?

the thing is, i remember opening a jap unit earlier this year at work, and i think the rubber bit that the buttons press was on the actual board, not stuck to the top cover as with the us/uk ones.

so, anyone got any bright ideas, or has anyone tried anything funky with their psps?

[randombs]

nowt

[vertigo]

i've heard that dust gets in through the gaps around the buttons, and probably the d-pad, too, so has anyone on here had any bright ideas about solving this problem?

Yeh, keep it somewhere clean i.e. not on the floor beside your bed, and keep your house clean too. No sarcasm or dissing intended.
Also, don't live in the desert. My GBA suffered from dust problems quite a bit when I was in Australia, sand seems to get into all sorts of places including inside my screen, which I eventually managed to remove.
I also had this bizarre problem where it seemed a colony of dust mites (or at least something similar but visible about 1mm big) infested my GBA, sometimes I could see them wandering across the screen. They must have died eventually though, as they've been gone for some time.

[randombs]

well i'm really fussy when it comes to consoles - i never play without washing my hands and stuff like that, and whenever i buy a console or pad or whatever that is 2nd hand i'll give it a thorough clean. i just got an n64 a few weeks ago and i spent a good hour or so dismantling it all the way and cleaning every nook and cranny, inside and out. now it's sparkling

i've never had dust problems with either my gba or my sp. the only things i have that get dust on the screens are my mobiles, but they've both got xpress-on covers and that's probably why (while it makes it easy to just open them and remove the dust, it also means they get loads more dust inside than if they were sealed)

[Jei]

well i'm really fussy when it comes to consoles - i never play without washing my hands and stuff like that, and whenever i buy a console or pad or whatever that is 2nd hand i'll give it a thorough clean. i just got an n64 a few weeks ago and i spent a good hour or so dismantling it all the way and cleaning every nook and cranny, inside and out. now it's sparkling

OMG!! So i'm not the only one, i've been thinking i'm wierd these past few years! Do you take second hand pads apart and soak the buttons etc to get the grime off them?

[randombs]

i do take them apart, yeah, if they're grimy. when getting 2nd hand stuff from a shop i'll try and go through them to find the nicest one. i'm always in a rush to use what i've bought, so i don't soak - i just attack all the bits with my trusty special toothbrush (it's not for teeth! just for cleaning keyboards, circuits and whatever) and dry them on the spot.

take the n64, for example. when i got that rgb-modded beauty home, i wanted to play asap so i used minimal water/soap and kept drying all the bits with a cloth, resorting to the hair dryer for the difficult spots. then i left the bits in the airing cupboard (where the water boiler is) for an hour or two while i went out. came back, did the rgb amplification mod (from www.mmmonkey.co.uk - just join two points on the board and instant super rgb without capacitors! it messes up the composite if you ever have to use that, so best try using a switch).

behold!

[sofasurfer]

How easy is it to take apart the PSP?And is compressed air the best thing for cleaning the screen?

I have loads of dust under my screen and the machine is always in the pouch when not being played.My house is clean so god knows where it comes from.

[randombs]

yeah compressed air is best. i bought a big can of the stuff from maplin for a tenner, and it's really powerful.

basically you just unscrew five screws on the psp - two on the back cover behind the d-pad, one at the base of the psp on the silver strip, and two in the battery cavity (one is beneath the warranty sticker. actually, two are beneath it but one holds the screen in so leave that one. it's the one nearest the outside edge that you want)

once these five are removed, you simply pull the top cover away. the d-pad, buttons and analogue nub are all stuck to the cover, as are the home, music, screen, etc, buttons. just spray away and whatever you do, DO NOT TOUCH the inside of the top cover's screen! it's coated with something and even super-soft wiping with the softest cloth you can find will leave big marks and then you're buggered. you can wipe the screen just fine if you happen to get fingerprints on it (i usually wipe the screen and then spray away the remaining dust)

[sofasurfer]

yeah compressed air is best. i bought a big can of the stuff from maplin for a tenner, and it's really powerful.

basically you just unscrew five screws on the psp - two on the back cover behind the d-pad, one at the base of the psp on the silver strip, and two in the battery cavity (one is beneath the warranty sticker. actually, two are beneath it but one holds the screen in so leave that one. it's the one nearest the outside edge that you want)

once these five are removed, you simply pull the top cover away. the d-pad, buttons and analogue nub are all stuck to the cover, as are the home, music, screen, etc, buttons. just spray away and whatever you do, DO NOT TOUCH the inside of the top cover's screen! it's coated with something and even super-soft wiping with the softest cloth you can find will leave big marks and then you're buggered. you can wipe the screen just fine if you happen to get fingerprints on it (i usually wipe the screen and then spray away the remaining dust)

Will give that a go.Cheers for the help.