If you ever find yourself in a situation where you need to take your PS4 apart, you need to make sure you have the right tools and know what you're doing. You also realize that anything else is possible besides installing a new hard drive or SSD storage.Disassembling your PS4 will void your warranty. If you are familiar with this, the following article will walk you through the steps required to take apart your PS4 Slim, PS4 Pro, and PS4 controller in order to clean them or perform any type of maintenance or repair work. I've done this in the past to clean it and swap out some components and honestly it's so easy and will save you a lot of time and money instead of taking it somewhere or sending it in for repair.
Tool
There are some basic tools you need to make sure you're ready before starting this process. It is also strongly recommended that you take care when doing this as this is an electrical item and the power supply will hold a charge for a short period of time so keep that in mind. You will need the following tools.
- Torx TR9 Security Screwdriver
- Phillips #0 screwdriver
- Phillips #1 screwdriver
- tweezers
Most of these tools can be purchased at a hardware or even hobby store and don't cost much. Again, it's important that you take all precautions and also remember how you took it apart so you can put it back together. You wouldn't believe how many people have come to me with a bunch of parts and asked me to put the console back together as it was easy to take apart but very hard to put back together if you forgot how it went right. We will start by explaining the steps to disassemble your PS4 Slim.
How to disassemble a PS4 Slim
This is a fairly easy process once you know what you're doing and it won't take that long to complete. Disconnect the console from the power source before beginning. This reduces the chances of being shocked and helps you boost your energy delivery process, discharging any stored energy and reducing the shock.
- You need to be safe and start by taking the console, turning it over, and positioning it so that you have direct access to the ports. Here you will find a screw with a sticker that refers to the guarantee. Peel off this sticker and discard it. Remove this tag as it won't be as important in the long run. There is a security screw under the tag. This is to prevent you from being tempted to open your console and clean it regularly. Use the special T8 screwdriver you have to remove the screw, as this is the only way to remove the screw.
- Then make sure to remove the hard drive cover from the back of the console. It's next to the screw you just removed. Once removed you will see a screw responsible for holding the hard drive to the console, remove it and the drive should come out.
- In this step, prepare to peel off the lid. This can be done with the system facing down and opening the case from behind.
- You can see the inner workings of the system, but there are still a few more panels to remove before you have full access to the system. One of them is the top cover, which can be easily removed.
- This is where you need to be careful as the cover over the system power supply has a few more T8 screws. Be careful not to touch this with your screwdriver or you will have a very shocking experience. (Believe someone who made that mistake once.) After removing the T8 screws, you can use your Phillips screwdriver and remove the remaining screws.
- There is one last phillips head screw you need to remove before it comes loose. Once this screw is removed, the device is easy to disassemble as long as you use the right tool to disconnect the cables, as well as the device's WiFi adapter, which is located in the same area. Once this is done, you can resolve everything from the case.
- Now it's a matter of removing the brain of the operation, the motherboard. This is a very delicate process because once something goes wrong, your system may just be a paperweight. Once you've removed all the screens and other screws holding it in, you need to use the pliers again to remove those wires. Once they are all loose and out of the box, the motherboard will pop out of place and can be removed.
- Finally, if you remove the board screws under the motherboard, as well as the few on the back of the system, the board can usually come off and allow access to the console's cooling system. Many people go this far because they want to make sure their fan is as clean as possible to ensure their system runs at its best.
At this point you can remove things like the drive that holds the hard drive in place, but unless you have a stuck hard drive, that would be a waste of time and trouble. The next section is about how to disassemble the PS4 Pro.
Disassemble a PS4 Pro
Be sure to remove the hard drive cover on the back of the system first. This can easily be done by removing a single screw, which will require your Phillips screwdriver and a screw. Once extracted, you will have to remove more and the hard drive will be free of the console.
- At this point you need to make sure that you have removed the stickers. Once you have done that, you will need to remove the security screws that you will find under these stickers.
- Once all of these panels have been removed, you should be able to see the motherboard in its entirety. Although the back has a metal plate that protects it.
- You can now turn the console upside down and remove the first panel you'll see. There should be no stickers to deal with. This allows you to remove the power supply and easily clean the inside of the console. As long as you have not opened the other side, the warranty will not be void.
- Now that the power supply is out of the way, you can simply flip the console over and start removing the motherboard cover. You have to remove a few screws to do this.
- At this point, you can remove the element responsible for protecting the heat pipe. Once you've done that, you'll notice that this is where the fan and optical drive are located. As with any type of electrical device you disassemble, be sure to save any screws that come out and where the wires go when it comes time to reattach the PS4's back components.
Now that you have all the knowledge you need to take apart a PS4, you should have no problem cleaning it and keeping it in tip-top condition. Plus, if you need to replace something, you can easily do it and save time, shipping costs, and having to wait weeks to get your system back. With a simple set of tools and a little time and patience, you can easily replace a large number of these components. As mentioned above, it's always a good idea to be careful not to touch the power supply.
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