Wii Overheating Test

[fiendish50]

Just wanted everyone to know. I had my system running in Standby mode ever since November 19th. Around the first of the year, I started seeing artifacts pop up on my screen. I thought it was a problem with my brand new 32in. LCD tv(oh noes!!!) however, when I took the system to my brother's house, it did the same thing. I researched the problem and it seems that the Wii CAN overheat and damage the graphics chip. I had mine sent off and it should arrive back this week. I don't know if Nintendo replaced my Wii entirely, just replaced the graphics chip with a new(and hopefully more durable one) or just replaced the chip with the exact same model. So, to all you Wii owners out there, just letting you know.

 

[ins0]

the bottom and surface it lays on must get warm?

anyways i may invest in wii cooler system in future for xtra safety lol

If its vertical, as was said by acphydro, it won't get as hot as lying horizontal as more air flows around it. Also, you have to bear in mind, the more surface area closer to the ground/floor/wherever its resting, the less heat it can dissipate. The stand itself too bear in mind acts as a little heat sink, as its not 100% solid, it distributes more evenly and as a results cools the Wii case down more.</science>

 

[Nitram]

Mine sits horizontally and get pretty hot while on standby mode, hot enough to worry me. It may be fine now, but the hotter chips run, the shorter lifespan they will have, So this is not good, even if all our wiis are fine for now.

 

[wii_cammy]

mines has always benn fine

 

[Trulen]

I've left it on standby for pretty much two or three weeks straight (Games got a bit boring. Beat Zelda, Red Steel kills me (Curse you Dino men in Bunny hill!), Excite truck is near impossible, and Wii sports lost its flare.).

And it's been A-Ok!

 

[ShadowHound]

yea the Wii is tough! my sister let it drop down the back of the drawer its on onto a raditor while i was out and left it! the heat didnt effect it in the slightest! so ive got no worrys of it overheating! nintendo make things last!

 

[itguy07]

Mine sits horizontally and get pretty hot while on standby mode, hot enough to worry me. It may be fine now, but the hotter chips run, the shorter lifespan they will have, So this is not good, even if all our wiis are fine for now.

Not necessarily. The chips are rated for a temperature span - usually up to 190F or so, depending on the manufacturer and chip type. Go over that and you can have issues, but as long as you're in the range of safe temps, the chips will last a long time.

And you're talking of a life of over 150,000 hours or around 17 years of 24/7/365 operation. Even if the heat were to be a factor, you're probably talking about shaving 5k hours (or 208 days) off the life of the unit. so 16 years of 24/7/365 operation.

Again, much ado about nothing. The incidents of overheating were due to an improper amount of glue on the heat spreader (metal part of the chip where the heatsink attaches to) where it contacts the chip die. It would have overheated no matter what as it wasn't making proper contact.

In short, I wouldn't worry. What feels hot to you and me is not necessarily hot to a computer. And unless you probe it with a thermometer and find it's out of the specs there's nothing to worry about. Most electronics these days runs hot.

 

[RcNdi]

Not saying i am a Nintendo hater considering i am loyal customer since the NES first came out but my wii actually has a deformed side pannel on the left side if looking at the front of the wii. I left for Drill weekend fro the Air National Guard and returned to the wii in this condition.

the wii was in this position and environment while i was away.
- average room temp 65-70f
- Wii in stand on a wooden piece of furniture (no cloth or fabric under wii to hinder cooling ability) (while i know the cooling fans don't run in standby by mode)
- The room has a ceiling fan that i leave on medium speed all the time i don't think i have turned it of in the last 3 years

// i will say the wii still plays fine but the bow in plastic and a tiny hint of brown is quite the cosmetic problem but still it is proof that Nintendo didn't think the standby mode completely through

///Edited to fix a spelling error at the begging of the post!

 

[Brawny]

meh, even if it DOES get hot....a simple update could turn the fan on for a minute or two every hour.....

 

[wiing-around]

I saw a fan up for sale ar ebgames, that should cool it down.And my wii is kinda warm, i leave wiiconnect24 off when im leaving to go somewhere that takes a long time.

 

[WiiZero]

I've had mine on since December no problems whatsoever

although I think all those discs melting inside might be a problem

 

[The_Mitch]

I've had mine on since December no problems whatsoever

although I think all those discs melting inside might be a problem

the only way a disc could melt in a wii (or any device) would be if the disc was either A) sitting directly on the heatsink for a long time or B) having the air inside of it reaching temperatures of 250F which if your Wii gets that hot, you have a much bigger problem than your game melting

 

[DARKFIRE007]

Mines been connected since November 19

AMEN my friend........13 hour wait in 30 degree weather overnight AFTER going to the biggest game of the year here in my state.........the iron bowl.

that was the coldest and longest night of my LIFE!! but laying my frozen hands on the wii for the first time............priceless

 

[Wii x]

Well i had mines connected 24/7 but when i was updating the wii with the latest update it overheated during an update and shut down by itself, it did that like seven times and the wii was super hot.. the last time i used my wii it froze while playing a game and i went to go touch it out of curiosity and it was very hot. i wanted to throw it to the wall but i was like nah.. im just gonna have to call Nintendo. ;\

 

[cannon]

The promo Unit AKA my wii i received from Nintendo has been on and connected to wiiconnect24 since the 1st of november 2006. It gets warm but has never got to the point were anything should start to melt.