You play for half an hour and it goes fine. Then the fan starts blowing harder, until it sounds like a vacuum cleaner behind your TV. And then the screen goes black, in the middle of a match.
An hour later it starts again as if nothing happened. That pattern nearly always gives away the same thing: your console shuts itself down because it gets too hot.
How to tell it is heat and not something else
With overheating there is always time between switching on and shutting down. It works normally first, gets louder, and only then drops out. During a heavy game that goes faster than in a menu, and in summer faster than in December.
If it shuts down straight away, cold and without a game running, the fault is more likely in the power supply or on the board. If it keeps running while only the picture is gone, look at the HDMI side. If a light blinks in a fixed rhythm, the device is telling you something else, as with the blue light on the PS5.
The symptoms
- The housing is too hot to hold comfortably, especially on top.
- The fan runs flat out, even in a menu.
- It shuts down after twenty to forty minutes, always during the same heavy games.
- After cooling down it starts normally again straight away.
- With the window open you play noticeably longer.
What it does just before it shuts down
A console does not just drop out, it tries to save itself first. The fan goes to maximum, and if that does not help, the processor slows down. You notice that as stuttering picture and longer loading times. If you spot that, you have a few minutes of warning.
If that does not help either, the protection cuts everything at once. The picture goes black, the fan stops abruptly and the light goes out. Usually without an error code, because this is an emergency stop.
Error codes and messages
Do not expect a tidy code. A PS4 usually shows a message that the device is too hot and needs to cool down; a PS5 gives a similar warning. If you do get a code, write it down word for word, because then something else is often in play, such as a console that gives no picture.
The causes, from most to least common
1. Dust and pet hair
By far the biggest group. A console draws in a lot of air, and everything floating in it comes along. The dust settles between the thin fins of the heatsink, exactly where the heat is given off, and builds up into a felted layer.
Pet hair is worse than house dust. Hairs are long, hook into each other and form a mat with grease that you will not blow out. With a dog or cat in the house and the console on the floor, count on a service every eighteen months. Hair and dust get into controllers as well, where they are a common cause of stick drift.
2. Standing in a closed cabinet
The second big cause, and the cheapest to fix. A console has to be able to draw in cool air. If it stands in a closed TV unit, it draws in its own warm air again and the temperature in that cabinet climbs until everything is too hot.
Behind a door, between an amplifier and a set top box, on a carpet or with its back against the wall: all the same problem. Keep ten centimetres clear around every opening.
3. Thermal paste that dries out
Between the processor and the heatsink sits a layer of paste that fills the unevenness. Without that paste the two surfaces only touch at a few points and hardly any heat crosses over.
That paste ages: the oil in it evaporates, what is left goes hard and grainy, and the transfer drops away. On a console of five years or older that is normal wear. The symptom: hot and loud quickly, even with a clean heatsink.
4. Liquid metal that shifts, mainly on the PS5
On the PS5 Sony does not use ordinary paste but liquid metal. It carries heat far better, but it stays liquid. After years of heating and cooling it can move, and where it pulls away a dry spot is left on the chip that can no longer shed its heat.
We see this most on the early PS5 models, less on the Slim and the Pro, and the PS5 Pro has grooves in the heatsink that hold the metal in place. Liquid metal also conducts electricity, so beside the chip it causes a short. Not a do it yourself job, then. Getting spilled metal off a board is the same careful cleaning we do after liquid damage, and a short next to the video chip leaves you with work on the HDMI side as well.
5. Fan bearings that are worn out
A fan runs on a bearing with a thin layer of lubricant, and after a few thousand hours that is gone. It starts humming, ticking or squeaking, runs slower than the console thinks and so moves too little air.
You recognise it by a noise that changes tone rather than just getting louder. A fan that has had liquid through it wears out even faster, and that is a different problem: see liquid damage in your console.
6. Less often: a sensor or the power supply
Sometimes the temperature is fine but the console reads it wrongly, or the power supply itself gets too hot. Rare, and exactly why we measure first.
Models, model numbers and what typically gets too hot
| Model | Model number | What heat typically does here |
|---|---|---|
| PlayStation 5 | CFI-1000, CFI-1100, CFI-1200 | Dust in the heatsink; liquid metal with dry spots |
| PlayStation 5 Slim | CFI-2000 | Smaller heatsink, dust clogs it faster |
| PlayStation 5 Pro | CFI-7000 | Grooved heatsink holds the metal in place |
| PlayStation 4 | CUH-1000, CUH-1100, CUH-1200 | Dried out thermal paste and a fan full of dust |
| PlayStation 4 Slim | CUH-2000, CUH-2100, CUH-2200 | Little room between fan and heatsink |
| PlayStation 4 Pro | CUH-7000, CUH-7100, CUH-7200 | Big fan that catches a lot of dust; known for noise |
| Xbox Series X | 1882 | Draws in at the bottom, blows out on top; dust in the fins |
| Xbox Series S | 1883 | Small volume; heat builds up in a closed cabinet |
| Xbox One | 1540 | Hard thermal paste; the power brick gets hot too |
| Xbox One S | 1681 | Power supply sits inside a cramped housing |
| Xbox One X | 1787 | Vapour chamber; dust between the fins |
| Nintendo Switch | HAC-001 and HAC-001(-01) | Small fan that clogs up |
| Switch OLED | HEG-001 | Same cooling; warm is normal, shutting down is not |
| Switch Lite | HDH-001 | Fan and heat pipe in a closed housing |
| Nintendo Switch 2 | BEE-001 | Still young; dust in the cooling opening |
What you can safely try yourself
- Give it room: ten centimetres all round, nothing on top, cabinet door open.
- Stand it upright or flat as the manual says, never on a carpet.
- Shine a torch into the vents and look for a grey felted layer.
- Vacuum the vents on the outside, without pushing the nozzle in.
- Note which game it shuts down on and after how many minutes.
- Leave it off for an hour. If it then works again, it is heat.
When to stop
Stop before you spray compressed air into the openings. It makes the fan spin far faster than it was built for, and that ruins the bearing. On top of that you push the dust deeper into the heatsink.
Stop before you open the console as well. The warranty seal tears and you cannot undo that. A PS5 and an Xbox Series X have a built in power supply with mains voltage on it, and the capacitors hold their charge for a while. On a PS5 the liquid metal comes into it too: it conducts electricity, and a drop in the wrong place turns a hot console into a dead one that only blinks, see the blue light on the PS5. If liquid has ever been near it, do not switch it on at all any more; see liquid damage in your console.
Why playing on causes permanent damage
Shutting down from heat feels harmless, because it starts up again anyway. Something is happening on the board in the meantime, though.
The processor is held down by hundreds of small solder balls under the chip. Metal, plastic and the board expand at different rates when they get warm, so with every warm up those balls are deformed. That is called thermal cycling, and after enough rounds one of them cracks. The result is a console that plays up first and in the end does not start at all.
Heat ages the rest as well. Electrolytic capacitors dry out faster the hotter it gets; as a rule of thumb their life halves with every ten degrees extra. Playing on slowly turns a service of 69 euro into motherboard repair.
How we repair it
We open the device and take the heatsink out. Fan, fins and housing come out completely dust free, with a brush and low pressure air. We turn the fan by hand; if it hums or runs stiffly, a new one goes in.
We take the old paste off with isopropyl alcohol until both surfaces are bare, and then new paste goes on. On a PS5 we work with liquid metal and a barrier around the chip, so nothing can run beside it. If there is already metal on the board, we clean that first under the microscope.
Then we measure. With a thermal camera we follow how the heat spreads across the heatsink, because a cold corner gives away a dry spot. If there are signs of heat damage, microsoldering belongs with it, with hot air at a controlled temperature. Finally the device runs for hours with a heavy game.
What it costs
A service starts at 69 euro: opening it up, dedusting, new thermal paste or liquid metal, and testing under load. If the fan has to be replaced, you hear that price in advance.
If you are not sure it is heat, the diagnosis costs 49 euro. If there is damage on the board, motherboard repair starts at 89 euro, and if liquid has been involved that is from 99 euro. We give 12 months warranty on every repair, turnaround 2 to 5 working days.
You can send it in from anywhere in Belgium
Servicing is exactly the kind of work you post in for. Devices reach us from Antwerp, Mechelen and Turnhout, from Ghent, Sint-Niklaas and Aalst, and from Bruges, Ostend, Kortrijk and Roeselare. From Limburg they come from Hasselt, Genk and Sint-Truiden, from Flemish Brabant from Leuven, Vilvoorde and Halle.
From Brussels it runs just as smoothly, with customers in Schaerbeek and Anderlecht. From Wallonia devices come from Liege and Verviers, from Namur, from Charleroi, Mons and Tournai, and even from Arlon. Pack it so nothing presses on the ports, because a knock there adds an HDMI repair to the bill.
If it shuts down while you are playing, do not leave it. Register your console for repair and say after how many minutes it shuts down and on which game.
Frequently asked questions
How do I know for sure it is overheating and not something else?
Look at the pattern. With heat it runs fine for a while first, the fan gets louder and louder, and only then does it shut down, usually during a heavy game. After an hour of cooling it starts normally again. If it also shuts down straight away from cold, or it happens just as easily in a menu, then look in another direction.
Can I just carry on playing if it shuts down now and then?
Better not. A console that gets too hot first slows down to protect itself, and only then shuts down. Every time the board heats up and cools down, the solder joints under the big chips expand and shrink a little. After enough of those rounds one cracks, and then the damage is permanent.
What does cleaning and new thermal paste cost?
A service starts at 69 euro. That covers opening it up, fully dedusting the fan and heatsink, new thermal paste or new liquid metal, and a test under load. If there is more going on, a worn fan or damage on the board for example, you hear that in advance.
Is it normal for my PS5 to blow out warm air?
Yes. A console blows out warm air, that is how it works. What is not normal is a housing too hot to hold, a fan that keeps running flat out in a menu, or a device that shuts down. Warm is normal, shutting down never is.
Does an external cooler or fan from the internet help?
Hardly. Those coolers blow along the outside, while the problem sits inside: dust in the heatsink or thermal paste that no longer carries heat across. Some models even pull dust towards the openings. Space around the device and clean cooling do help.
Ready to have it repaired
Describe what your console is doing in your own words. You get an answer within one working day, with shipping instructions and a guide price. The diagnosis costs 49 euros and comes off the bill if you go ahead with the repair.