Why I’m still going to stand my PS5 vertically, despite the alleged risk
PlayStation Problems
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You may have seen reports warning you off placing your PS5 vertically, saying that you could damage your console, even bricking it permanently. But there’s a good reason to doubt these claims, and I, for one, won’t be changing how I use my console.
We’ve seen reports that thePS5can run into trouble after standing up for extended periods. For example,@68Logic, who runs a repair shop in France, says they’ve seen a few cases while repairing consoles where a potential seal breakage between the cooler and APU resulted in liquid metal leaking through the casing and setting onto other components, ruining the console.
Do not put your Ps5 upright, here is the result the liquid moves and the freezes are there pic.twitter.com/A4Do3TkcXkJanuary 4, 2023
They’re not the only one to claim to have seen this fault.YouTubeTheCod3ropened a PS5 Digital Edition console he had in to repair, saying the console wouldn’t boot. He discovered a metal spill from the APU and says the spill resulted from a design flaw.
Something else to consider is user-made damage either. The consistent movement of a console has the potential to cause internal damage and movement to parts, so if you frequently swap your console from vertical to horizontal you could potentially be putting your console at risk but, even then, the cooling and CPU of a PS5 are tightly packed enough to avoid any potential liquid falling or spilling onto other components.
However, even if these PS5s did break from being stood vertically, I’m not going to start laying my console horizontally. Reports of this fault are so rare that it doesn’t appear the problem is widespread. The PS5 has been on sale for more than two years now, with, presumably, a great many people standing it up vertically (as it is designed to do). If this was a common problem, we would be seeing great many more reports, like when the Xbox 360 suffered from theRed Ring of Death.
In that instance, the risk of reputational damage was so sever thatMicrosoftgave a blanket free return and repair policy. And, in that case, the failure rate wasreportedly between 3 - 5%. If PS5s were failing in significant numbers we would be hearing about it.
We have reached out toSonyto ask if it is aware of the claims and if it would like to comment but have not yet received a reply. We will update this article with a statement if we receive one.
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Kara is an Evergreen writer at TechRadar Gaming. With a degree in Journalism and a passion for the weird and wonderful, she’s spent the last few years as a freelance video game journalist, with bylines at NintendoLife, Attack of the Fanboy, Prima Games, and sister publication, GamesRadar+. Outside of gaming, you’ll find her re-watching Gilmore Girls or trying to cram yet another collectible onto a shelf that desperately needs some organizing.
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