Topic: Heat damaged PS4 power supply?

Hi all,

I've found quite a lot of threads around the web about people fixing up unreliable PS4s by opening them up and cleaning out the dust. However in my case this doesn't seem to have quite done the trick. My brother gave me his original model PS4 a while back. He'd bought a slim due to the fact his original unit kept turning itself off. I opened it up and as expected it was full of dust. I fully cleaned it out and it seemed to then work for a time. Before long however it started shutting down after issuing three beeps and then required a reinstall of the OS to get up and running again. There's no error code to be found in the system log. Last time I tried it, it was working seemingly normally again after an hour of use (it's been sat in my cupboard for a while).

I'm wondering if perhaps the PSU is still full of dust, but I guess this is not easy to check? When I last tried the console it was working OK as I mentioned, however it did get very hot on the top, and around where the power cord connects. Is this common?

I am tempted to pick up a new slim as I don't fancy getting 30 hours into Persona 5 and Bloodborne to find I can't then complete the game. Is the machine I inherited still salvageable?

@mcdreamer Over in the general PS4 thread I posted my recent experience cleaning out my unit. I don’t have any functionality problems, only the fan seemed a little louder playing Ghost of Tsushima so I cleaned it out. But after doing that and watching a bunch of online videos there was some talk about replacing the thermal paste. Apparently it’s a little trickier proposition, requiring a near full breakdown of the PS4’s innards, but it might be worth it to at least give that a try before having to buy a new unit. Supposedly the thermal paste can dry and crack over time and it loses its ability to transfer heat off of the components. I have no idea beyond what I’ve read online, and have never done it myself, but it’s a thought. 😁

@Th3solution Thanks for this. Back when I did PC builds getting the heat sink and thermal paste set up was always the bit of the build I feared most! Luckily I never had any problems though. I hadn't thought about applying that same thing to a console, but why not! They're just the same as PCs in many respects after all. Will look up some videos and hopefully give it a go!