PlayStation 5: Defects with leaking liquid metal are piling up

More and more PlayStation 5 consoles are broken as leaking liquid metal destroys the console forever.

Before the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X consoles were released, there was a lot of discussion about the thermal compounds used by both console manufacturers.

While Microsoft uses the well-known silicone thermal paste, Sony relied on liquid metal for the PlayStation 5. This has the great advantage of dissipating the heat generated during operation of the console even better. But even at that time, the risks of using liquid metal were viewed critically by some “experts”.

how wololo.net (via golem.de) reports, two years after the launch of the PlayStation 5, the failures of the Sony console are piling up. Reason for the defective PS5 consoles is leaking liquid metal.

The PS5 is marketed as a device that can be used both horizontally and vertically. Sony has used a new approach to securely fix the SoC on the socket, for which you need an extra patent submitted has.

An experiment that seems to have backfired on many PlayStation 5 players as more and more consoles are sent in post-warranty to repair shops who uncover a fixation and liquid metal failure.

Hardware repair experts from France say that “using the PlayStation 5 vertically is a guaranteed disaster that can destroy your console!”

These hardware experts from France, who have been running console repair stores for over a decade, to reportthat more and more PlayStation 5 consoles are being sent in for repairs, where a defect with leaking liquid metal is found.

Leaking Liquid Metal – PlayStation 5 – Image via Ben Montana

Ben Montana, owner of the specialty repair shop ILoveMyConsole in France, has been trying to draw attention to this problem for months.

Ben said: “After taking the PS5 apart several times and reviewing the development of the liquid metal in the consoles, I’ve just seen that leaving the PS5 is not a good thing in the long term.”

“68Logic” owns a hardware repair shop in France since 2010 and warns before and said that you should never stand your PS5 console upright – and supports the statements of Ben Montana.

The technology experts assume that consoles that are set up vertically are particularly affected by this defect because the escaping liquid can only leak downwards and the console is destroyed. Digital editions are affected as well as the PlayStation 5 disc version.

In several cases it has been found that the patented “seal” between the APU and the PlayStation 5 console’s cooler can shift, loosen or become damaged. As a result, it no longer sits perfectly on the circuit board, the contact pressure is not optimal and liquid metal can escape.

The displacement of liquid metal does not necessarily lead to immediate failure of the console, and in a horizontal position the liquid should retain its properties. However, in a vertical position there is a risk that the liquid metal will gradually flow downwards and become uneven.

Even minimal changes mean that the heat can no longer be dissipated well. As a result, the PS5 has to turn up the fan more and thus becomes significantly louder.

In addition, there have been multiple cases where the liquid metal has spilled onto other parts of the motherboard and completely destroyed the device, even with consoles that were stored upright in the box, unopened. The reason for this is the extreme conductivity of liquid metal. And if that touches the wrong components on the motherboard, it’ll instantly short out and ruin the PS5 console.

The YouTuber and Console Fixer “TheCod3rThis is attributed to a design flaw by Sony, as further reported. He pointed out the problem at the beginning of the year.

He showed a defective PS5 console that was never unpacked, but stood upright in the box for months, whereby he could identify escaping liquid metal as a defect, as can be seen in this picture and in the video below:

Leaking Liquid Metal – PlayStation 5 – Image via TheCod3r

Here is the video that best shows the defect:

It remains to be seen how bad this failure really is and what the extent of the damage to the liquid metal could be. However, it seems to mostly occur on consoles that are placed “vertically” and as such we would advise laying your PS5 horizontally if you have the space to do so.

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