Repair shops are claiming that PS5 consoles placed in a vertical position could be irreparably damaged by a design flaw with their cooling system, despite the console being marketed for use either vertically or horizontally. This is caused by the liquid metal that is used in the cooling system becoming out of position due to the forces of gravity.
How vertical PS5 consoles can become damaged through a design flaw
The PS5 console uses a liquid metal cooling system for the APU. In most consoles, the APU and its cooling system will be pressed too tightly together for gravity to be a problem, and most of the 30 million PS5 owners will never have this issue. However, in PS5 consoles where the seal has been damaged, the metal can reportedly become uneven or even spill over time when the console is stored vertically, affecting the efficiency of the cooling system.
This issue was raised by French repair shop @68Logic on Twitter, who posted the following image of the liquid allegedly having spilled:
Do not put your Ps5 upright, here is the result the liquid moves and the freezes are there pic.twitter.com/A4Do3TkcXk
— Consoles System (@68Logic) January 4, 2023
If the cooling system has been affected, players could get noisy fans and unexpected shutdowns as the console overheats. However, Wololo has compiled reports from several hardware experts that claim the liquid metal can even spill onto other components and can cause short circuits, effectively killing the motherboard.
This includes a video from YouTuber TheCod3r posted earlier this year, who explained that a PS5 which had been stood in a vertical position in its box for months had suffered the same issue:
With hardware prices predicted to rise, players would hope Sony could fix this issue soon. We have reached out to Sony for a comment but they had not replied at the time of publication.
