“Just the HDMI port, please. The rest is fine, it’s perfect.” We hear that about PS5s almost every week. The HDMI port is what people come in for, and when we mention a deep clean and new liquid metal while the console is open, the answer is nearly always the same: no need. This PS5 came into our Cambridge workshop at 7 pm on Friday for the HDMI port. By 8 am on Saturday it had a new port, a full PS5 HDMI repair and deep clean, and fresh liquid metal on a processor that was on its way to cooking itself. The port, the deep clean and the liquid metal together are about 4 hours of skilled work, and that is a lot.
Why “just the HDMI” is never a quick job
PS5s come to us for HDMI ports non-stop. A bent or worn port means no picture, and it is not a plug-in part: the port is soldered straight onto the motherboard, with 19 pins a fraction of a millimetre apart. Replacing it means stripping the console down to the bare board, taking the old port off without lifting the thin copper pads underneath, then soldering the new one on pin by pin under the microscope and checking every joint. It is skilled microsoldering under the microscope, and it cannot be rushed.
That is exactly why we bring up the cooling. To reach the HDMI port, the fan, the heatsink and the processor are already out on the bench in front of us. Most owners still say no: the console seems fine, it is not that loud, and they cannot see inside it. We can. Here is what “fine” looked like on this one.
What was inside a PS5 that was “fine”
The PS5 pulls cool air in through the fan and pushes it out through the heatsink fins. On this console the fan intake had a thick ring of dust round every opening, the air vents in the side covers were lined with it, and the heatsink fins had a grey felt coat. The fan was still spinning, so from the outside nothing looked wrong. Inside, the air was fighting its way through.
The liquid metal was leaving the chip
Sony cools the PS5 processor with liquid metal instead of ordinary thermal paste. Fresh, it moves heat brilliantly. But it does not stay put for ever: every time the console heats up and cools down, the metal gets pushed outwards. On this chip it had pooled round the edges, gone thin and grainy across the middle, which is exactly where the heat comes from, and started to creep off the chip at one corner.
That is a problem twice over. A starved middle means the processor runs hotter, so the fan gets louder, the console slows down and eventually it switches itself off mid-game. And liquid metal conducts electricity: once it escapes the chip it can reach the tiny components around it. Add blocked heatsink fins and you have a console slowly cooking itself. A few more months of “it’s fine” and the HDMI port would have been the least of its problems.
About 4 hours of work: what this PS5 got
- A new HDMI port, microsoldered pin by pin under the microscope, with every joint inspected.
- A full strip-down to the bare motherboard.
- A deep clean of the fan, the fan housing, the heatsink fins, the air channels and the side covers.
- New high-end liquid metal: the old metal cleaned completely off the chip and the heatsink, and fresh liquid metal applied with precision tools and kept on the chip where it belongs.
- A full test: picture and sound over the new port, temperatures and fan noise under load.
Dropped off at 7 pm on Friday, ready for collection at 8 am on Saturday. The HDMI port, the deep clean and the liquid metal together took about 4 hours of work, and that is a lot of careful, skilled work for one console.
The liquid metal itself is not the expensive part. The high-end liquid metal we use costs only £22. What takes the time is everything around it: stripping the console to the bare board, cleaning every trace of the old metal off the chip and the heatsink, and applying the new metal so that not one drop lands on the motherboard.
Why “no need, it’s perfect” costs more in the end
- The console is already open. An HDMI repair takes the PS5 down to the bare board. Cleaning it and re-doing the liquid metal at the same time costs far less than opening it all up again later.
- The metal is cheap, the work is not. The high-end liquid metal costs only £22. The port, the deep clean and the liquid metal are about 4 hours of work, and doing it all in one go is the cheapest way to get it done.
- You cannot see it from the outside. Dust and dried-out liquid metal give no warning until the fan roars and the console starts switching itself off.
- Heat is what kills consoles. A new HDMI port on a console that is cooking itself is only half a repair.
- We show you before we do it. You get photos of the inside of your own console and a plain explanation of what we found, before any extra work, and you decide.
Frequently asked questions
My PS5 is not loud. Does it really need a deep clean?
If it is more than two years old, it almost always does. Dust builds up inside long before you hear it, and the liquid metal on the processor dries out and moves with every heat cycle. When your console is open for an HDMI repair we send you photos, so you can see it for yourself.
Why replace the liquid metal during a PS5 HDMI repair?
To reach the HDMI port the console is stripped to the bare motherboard, so the processor and heatsink are right there. Doing the liquid metal at the same time costs far less than a second strip-down later, and it stops the console overheating, throttling and shutting itself down.
How long does a PS5 HDMI repair and deep clean take?
About 4 hours of work in total for the HDMI port, the deep clean and the new liquid metal, and that is a lot of skilled work. This console was in at 7 pm on Friday and ready at 8 am on Saturday.
How much does the liquid metal itself cost?
The high-end liquid metal we use costs only £22. The cost of the job is the work: about 4 hours in total to strip the console, microsolder the HDMI port, deep clean it and apply the new liquid metal without a drop landing on the board.
Can I have just the HDMI port done?
Yes, it is your console and your decision. We will still show you photos of what we find inside, so you decide with the evidence in front of you.
Is there a warranty on a PS5 repair?
Yes. Every PS5 repair comes with a 12-month warranty, and you bring the console back to us in Cambridge or Dagenham if anything is wrong.
PS5 HDMI repair and deep clean in Cambridge, Dagenham and Barking
No picture, a loud fan, or a console that switches itself off: see our PS5 cleaning and HDMI port repair page, book an appointment, or message us on WhatsApp 0749 792 5760. Every PS5 repair comes with photos of the inside, a full test and a 12-month warranty. More PS5 jobs from our bench: the PS5 with no picture after a repair elsewhere, and the PS5 that came in for “just an HDMI port” and later needed a disc drive.
Book a PS5 repair WhatsApp us about your PS5 See our PS5 repair service