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TronicsFix: PS5s Have a Major Problem

CrustyBritches

Gold Member
New video from TronicsFix about PS5s overheating during gameplay due to liquid metal pooling when placed in vertical position. He fixes both a Slim and OG both having the same issues with shutting down randomly. Sometimes with overheating warnings, sometimes without. The consoles were donated by Alderon Games and previously used for playtesting their game Path of Titans.

Both consoles showed severe dry spots on the APU. The liquid metal had migrated/pooled to the edges, leaving large portions (estimated 40-60%) of the APU without proper thermal contact. He mentions that maintenance is essential and says to regularly clean your PS5 to prevent dust buildup. He repairs consoles and states that liquid metal migration is a recurring PS5 issue and that orientation (vertical vs. horizontal) influences it but isn't the only factor. Also states that Sony's cooling/ventilation design has flaws that make the consoles prone to failure without upkeep. Something to keep in mind given the increased cost of consoles and upcoming potentially very expensive PS6. Especially if your collection is mainly physical and if the PS6 doesn't have a disc drive, then it will be important to keep your PS5/Pro in good condition for the long haul.


PS5 OG:
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PS5 Slim:
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This guy has one of the better gaming hardware repair channels on youtube, so I thought it would be worth sharing. I personally keep my Pro and Slim in horizontal position and I've never had issues with overheating. At some point I'll probably do a teardown and deep clean, and maybe check the liquid metal to make sure it's not pooling.
 
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This guy has one of the better gaming hardware repair channels on youtube, so I thought it would be worth sharing. I personally keep my Pro and Slim in horizontal position and I've never had issues with overheating. At some point I'll probably do a teardown and deep clean, and maybe check the liquid metal to make sure it's not pooling.

It ia just a repair channel, not a hardware engineer ( I've bought 10 defective Switches, 10 defective Xboxes, 10 defective PS5s.... = logic is MAJOR PEOBLEM :/ ) . He got a DEFECTIVE UNITS to repair it. He just said what can happen with liquid metal if leaks. Same shit with a one French guy few years ago who got a DEFECTIVE units and tried to paint it as a WIDESPREAD ISSUE. So, it isn't a widespread issue. It would be a big problem if it is. And surely on social media across the board
 
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Everyone capitalizing on the Sony/PS5 algorithm boost. This has been a known weakness in the PS5 design for a while now. Hence the news of them moving away from liquid metal.
 
PS5's design issues have been known about forever. One of the many many reasons I never bought one along with the fact that the console is ugly as sin.
 
We already knew Sony were scammers. Imagine thinking they could innovate im the hardware industry when the digital world is the future.
 
Everyone capitalizing on the Sony/PS5 algorithm boost. This has been a known weakness in the PS5 design for a while now. Hence the news of them moving away from liquid metal.

PS5's design issues have been known about forever. One of the many many reasons I never bought one along with the fact that the console is ugly as sin.

Bingo. This isn't news. This has been well known for years now.
 
Launch PS5 has been vertical since day one, no issues yet and I live in a pretty hot place and don't use too much AC. They have also supposedly made various improvements in newer revisions like adding grooves to not have it pool on one side. It shouldn't be a "major" problem.
 
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PS5's design issues have been known about forever. One of the many many reasons I never bought one along with the fact that the console is ugly as sin.
They stopped using liquid metal in newer consoles (due to less heat) but these leaks are overblown anyway. This is a repair channel and I'm sure he gets a fair share of defective consoles but what is the percentage to PS5s failing? I have a launch PS5 phat (liquid metal) without issue and I've had it vertical the whole time. Somebody has put the LM cooling block against glass and heat cycling to check this phenomenon too in a visible manner. Nothing yet but maybe over a long time something might happen to it. New consoles like the slim don't even use LM anyway though.
 
This is not new. This is at least a year old news. GAF has already talked about this subject.
It's almost 6 years old. This "concern" started to appear just after console's release. And it was never widespread issue even though there are surely were such cases. But it's just how complex hardware works - there is always some percentage of failures
 
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This is not new. This is at least a year old news. GAF has already talked about this subject.
We talked about it ages ago in 2023. Not sure why it's reared its head again:

 
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I like this guy. I tore down my ps4 pro, which is practically a requirement afterawhile, and his videos really helped me not break the PSU connector, put it back together right, properly apply the thermal pads, etc, etc.

After watching that video it looks like I'll be doing the same thing with my ps5! I keep it horizontally but there's alot of dust/dog hair in my house so I imagine the PSU and heatsink will get clogged and then the ONLY way to clean them is to break the seal on that liquid metal and probably have to redo it... so the future of the "console gamer" is clearly becoming a tech repair professional, now we realize how great those old consoles with low temperatures and NO fans really are. Get ready for the inevitable. Blowing canned air at a plastic vent hole on the outside of the ps5 is clearly not going to pull dust out of the heatsink fins or off those little power supply vent holes.
 
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I keep it horizontally since day one. It was only common sense to do so even if the risk is super low.

There is a reason Sony improved the system a few times to prevent exactly that.
 
They stopped using liquid metal in newer consoles (due to less heat) but these leaks are overblown anyway. This is a repair channel and I'm sure he gets a fair share of defective consoles but what is the percentage to PS5s failing? I have a launch PS5 phat (liquid metal) without issue and I've had it vertical the whole time. Somebody has put the LM cooling block against glass and heat cycling to check this phenomenon too in a visible manner. Nothing yet but maybe over a long time something might happen to it. New consoles like the slim don't even use LM anyway though.

Unfortunately that is just scratching the surface with the issues with the PS5 the design itself is flawed

 
Everyone capitalizing on the Sony/PS5 algorithm boost. This has been a known weakness in the PS5 design for a while now. Hence the news of them moving away from liquid metal.
Yeah, everybody is just dogpiling because they can get views. I actually subscribe to Tronics.

I'm not saying Sony doesn't deserve criticism for recent events but people are definitely trying to capitalize on it one everything they can.
 
Yes, absolutely. This has happened to my PS5 when it's vertical regularly and occasionally when it's horizontal.

For reference, I have a PS1, PS2, PS3 and PS4 as well, not one of those has broken down or had any issues, even now with as many respective years as per each console.

Makes dropping Sony now with lack of physical even more of a no brainer.
 
Both launch day pro and launch day PS5 have been vertical for years now with no issue.

These mountain out of molehill click bait bullshitters need to stop
 
My PHAT Horizontal is FINE and QUIET

The worst Sony Design was PS4 Jet Engine, the cooling system is a pure garbage the fan pushs the hot air to the PSU
 
It ia just a repair channel, not a hardware engineer ( I've bought 10 defective Switches, 10 defective Xboxes, 10 defective PS5s.... = logic is MAJOR PEOBLEM :/ ) . He got a DEFECTIVE UNITS to repair it. He just said what can happen with liquid metal if leaks. Same shit with a one French guy few years ago who got a DEFECTIVE units and tried to paint it as a WIDESPREAD ISSUE. So, it isn't a widespread issue. It would be a big problem if it is. And surely on social media across the board
Good Lord stop with this shit. The only company who successfully solved the liquid metal issue is Framework and its partly by engineering a compartment the liquid metal can't escape from. Secondly PTM 7950 is a superior thermal medium and Sony should have started replacing liquid metal with this already.
 
When the liquid metal finally chews through the sponge on my PS5, I'll wave goodbye to Astrobot and Sony hardware.
Come on Sony, I only need Astrobot and I'll have the entire collection of PS4 and PS5 games rebought on PC.
Just One little IP of games. 3 Astrobot games, it's all I need to boot that PS5 out of the house, liquid metal and all.
 
When the liquid metal finally chews through the sponge on my PS5, I'll wave goodbye to Astrobot and Sony hardware.
Come on Sony, I only need Astrobot and I'll have the entire collection of PS4 and PS5 games rebought on PC.
Just One little IP of games. 3 Astrobot games, it's all I need to boot that PS5 out of the house, liquid metal and all.
alfred-never.gif
 
LTTP OP. This isn't the first time he's talked about this





Why cant these people make normal Youtube thumbnails? Why they always have to make goofy face?

There must be better way to get views than making clown face and treating their viewers like children.
 
I even keep my PC in the horizontal position. I'll never understand why anyone fights gravity for form factor when building any kind of computer. I don't even buy horizontal cases. Just flip her on the side. Always keep it under my desk anyway with a nice USB hub up top for I/O. CPU and GPU much happier. Think I started when I noticed my GTX 280 having the slightest sag and never went back.
 
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Why cant these people make normal Youtube thumbnails? Why they always have to make goofy face?

There must be better way to get views than making clown face and treating their viewers like children.
I think Youtube thumbnail face is here to stay. It's all over the world. now in AI form.
 
New video from TronicsFix about PS5s overheating during gameplay due to liquid metal pooling when placed in vertical position. He fixes both a Slim and OG both having the same issues with shutting down randomly. Sometimes with overheating warnings, sometimes without. The consoles were donated by Alderon Games and previously used for playtesting their game Path of Titans.
I don't get it. In the beginning people said: "put it horizontal because the stuff flows downward otherwise!" Then some time later people said: "lmao no that was just a rumour without basis in reality, reatards!"

Anyway, I kept mine horizontal at all times to be safe.
 
I acknowledge that this is a failure point of the design, but I also see it as an unavoidable one so it doesn't bother me much. Products go through general wear and tear. When/if this issue rears it's ugly head, I'll put on my big boy pants and do what I did when my PS3 and PS4 started having difficulty staying cool. I'll open them up and do some basic maintenance.

Heck, just a few days ago, I learned that most PS2 Slims have ribbon cables in the CD assembly that are starting to become unglued and scratching discs. Had to fix that too.

And don't even get me started with my Game Gear that had to be recapped so it wouldn't kill itself.

I feel like being able to do routine maintenance of tech is really helpful. 10/10 would recommend.

Love his channel, btw. Seems like a chill guy.
 
It ia just a repair channel, not a hardware engineer ( I've bought 10 defective Switches, 10 defective Xboxes, 10 defective PS5s.... = logic is MAJOR PEOBLEM :/ ) . He got a DEFECTIVE UNITS to repair it. He just said what can happen with liquid metal if leaks. Same shit with a one French guy few years ago who got a DEFECTIVE units and tried to paint it as a WIDESPREAD ISSUE. So, it isn't a widespread issue. It would be a big problem if it is. And surely on social media across the board
Or like that German repair guy who was seeing a sudden influx of 6x00XT's with massive failure rates with the die sometimes cracking in half - and there was all this speculation about a driver update killing them and other bullshit - then it turned out they were all ex-crypto cards that had likely been treat like shit and then dumped onto the resale market at the same time.
We just had one single Steam Machine throw an error code that was literally fixed by turning it off and back on again - and people were proclaiming the Steam Machine the next xbox360 RROD.
 
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