How to Take Apart & Clean Your PS4

HOW TO TAKE APART AND CLEAN YOUR PS4

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If you’ve noticed your PS4 making a lot of noise when playing games, chances are it’s in need of a clean. Given that your PS4 likely sits in the same spot for long periods of time, it’s little wonder that dust and grit accumulate both on top of and inside the console.

When that dust and grit enter or obscure the PS4’s various ventilation or fan ducts, the fans have to work much harder to cool the CPU and GPU. Thus, your console will start to sound like a jet airplane and eventually might even shut off as a safeguard against critical levels of heat build-up.

Before you go calling up an electronics repair company though, you might find that giving the system a thorough clean will improve its performance markedly. This can all be done by yourself and is relatively straightforward.

However, it’s worth noting that cleaning your PS4 thoroughly will require you to remove pieces of the hardware and take the console apart. This may void your warranty, so only attempt this if you’ve had your console for a while and are no longer under warranty.

Light, Easy Clean

For those under warranty, you can still give your console a brief clean. To do so, remove all the connection wires from the console and set it up on a clean workspace. You’ll want two brand new paintbrushes with soft bristles (one small and one large), a microfibre cloth, and a spray bottle with clean water inside. Gently brush all the crevices to remove the dust and grit, working over the USB slots, fan ducts, and the ports at the rear of the console.

You can gently blow any lodged dust away when appropriate; a vacuum also works if you can see significant dust inside the ducts. If you want to give your PS4 the best possible clean without taking it apart (and instead of using a paintbrush), purchase a can of compressed air to blow the dust away.

You can also remove the HDD cover on the top of the PS4 if you feel it necessary. This will not void your warranty and gives you the chance to check for any significant build-up of dust inside. Although this section of the console doesn’t strictly need to be completely dust-free, it’s good to do so anyway.

Lastly, spray your microfibre cloth lightly with clean water and give the console a quick clean. If there’s lots of dust on the console, just wipe it off in strokes rather than wiping in a circular motion as you would a window screen. This is done to prevent any dust trapped on your cloth further scratching the glossy parts of the console.

Keep folding your cloth over to keep the surface of it fresh and clean, and reapply a spray or two of water when necessary. Once the console is looking fairly clean, you can then buff it with a dry towel or second cloth in a circular motion to get a nicer finish.

Thorough Clean (Take Apart PS4)

For a more thorough clean, the PS4 needs to be taken apart completely. This isn’t really as difficult or daunting as it sounds, but even still, you’ll want to carefully follow the instructions and make sure you’re keeping all the various screws and pieces in a safe place. Make sure your workbench is clean and that you have all the right tools you need before you start work.

Rather than explain how to do this in writing, it’s much easier to follow a video taking you through the step-by-step process. Luckily, YouTube channel Disorderly Gamers has provided an excellent tutorial. Check it out below:

That should be all the information you need to clean and take apart your PS4. For other useful guides on all things video games, be sure to search for Twinfinite.


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Author
Alex Gibson
Alex was a Senior Editor at Twinfinite and worked on the site between January 2017 and March 2023. He covered the ins and outs of Valorant extensively, and frequently provided expert insight into the esports scene and wider video games industry. He was a self-proclaimed history & meteorological expert, and knew about games too. Playing Games Since: 1991, Favorite Genres: RPG, Action