PlayStation 4 Slim Fan System Replacement

Written By: Harry Koos

Comments: 75

PlayStation 4 Slim Fan System Replacement

Difficulty

Moderate

Steps

Time Required

25 - 35 minutes

Introduction

Use this guide to remove and replace the fan system in your PS4 Slim.

Tools

Parts

PlayStation 4 Slim Fan

Step 1

Locate the plastic warranty sticker next to the three ports on the side of the console.
Remove the warranty sticker by peeling it off with any kind of spudger.
Removing the warranty sticker will NOT cause your warranty to be null and void.

Remove the screw directly to the left of that one in the picture as well. Should be silver.

Elizabeth Johnson - 18/12/19

ihr seid so ein scheiß haufen das stimmt über haubt nix

Toaster 95 -

einfach alles stimmt nicht

Toaster 95 -

Quitar la pegatina anula la garantía en España al menos

Ana y Francisco -

So becore you start on this guide if you read the comments at the last step, this guide is geared more towards repairing of the disc drive not replacing the entire optical disc drive, i have done mine already and the guide does help get you halfway there but you are gunna need a bit more to pull the entire disc drive out, i will post another comment on the last step so you can follow these steps and then mine to further reference from that point on. See ya on the last step of the guide 🤘

Walter Gamboa -

Step 2

Unscrew and remove the now exposed 5.0mm screw using a TR8 security Torx screwdriver with a counter-clockwise motion.

Are you SURE that it’s counter-clockwise?

The Stuff - 10/12/18

Try T9. Fits better.

Otter - 07/08/20

T8 fits like a glove for me

Daniel Henderson - 23/08/20

Is there anything else you can use

randomweeb -

A small flathead screwdriver will work

shawng6363 -

There is a small metal rod in the middle of the screw that isn’t allowing my t8 inside. Any insight on this?

gavinstoutconner@icloud.com -

Some T8 bits have a hole in the middle that will allow that rod to go through; some do not. If you have a set of multiple bits, check if there are any others labeled T8 or TR8 with that hole in the middle.

Nicholas -

There is a metal thing inside of the screw slot any insite on this?

Tristan York -

Step 3

Place the Playstation 4 Slim upside down with the side of the screw you just removed facing you.
Pry up on the two corners that are facing you with your fingers.
This may take a bit of force to open up and you will hear a fairly loud click when the bottom cover detaches.
Remove the bottom cover by sliding it towards the back corners and lifting up.

It says to place it upside down, but didn't you do so in the previous step? I've been trying to unscrew the screw with my screwdriver that I got from here and if I had to had the system right side up, I'm afraid I might've stripped the screw from all the force I tried to use to get the screw out that will NOT budge. It didn't even move the slightest after removing the warranty sticker.

Vidal Santos - 03/08/18

There is a single clip on the left side about 5cms in, and another clip on the right side equidistant to the one on the other side. Jamming a spudger in there first, and lifting those clips helped, and then I had to slide down to lift a total of 4 clips on each side (each about 4cms apart). Then push the cover away from you, if that makes more sense than “sliding it towards the back corners”, since the back corners are technically facing you.

Emil Fisk - 11/03/22

It would be easier if you just lifted the top cover of the PS4.

Poobler -

The earlier comment by Emil Fisk is spot-on. I found it impossible to remove the cover without first using a spudger to release the four clips on each side.

midahed -

I saw many video and tried it my self, you have to remove the hard disc before removing any cover.

Bahaa CHEBLI -

Step 4

Place the Playstation 4 Slim right side up, with the PS logo on top and the side with the words "SONY" and "PS4" facing you.
Pry up on the two corners that are facing you with your fingers.
This may take a bit of force to open and you will hear a fairly loud click when the top cover detaches.
Remove the top cover by sliding it towards the back corners and lifting up.

Undo 4 clips on each side by using a spudger. And then lift the front corners up and pull towards you to undo them.

Emil Fisk -

Step 5

Unscrew and remove the two screws (left one 31.0mm and right one 24.0mm) using a T8 screwdriver with a counter-clockwise motion.
Unscrew and remove the 3.0mm screw using a Phillips #1 screwdriver with a counter-clockwise motion.

UK model seems to be different here. There's no Philips screw where there is on your image.

MaFt Morley - 09/10/20

This regards EU models in general, i think. My danish version is the same.

William Villadsen - 30/12/20

The screw on the left was 31mm, and the one on my right side was only 19mm.

Emil Fisk -

CUH-2215B doesn't seem to have the top antenna screw

Kenneth Beerman -

Step 6

Remove the four 16mm Philips screws holding the power supply in place.

Es gibt diese Schrauben bei meiner Ps4 Cuh 2116A nicht und ich bekomme das Teil so nicht raus. Kann mir jmd helfen?

Julian S. - 26/03/20

Only 2 Phillips actress here on my UK

MaFt Morley - 09/10/20

Only 2 phillips screws on the US one as well.

Sean Douglas -

I also only have two screws here in the US.

Rachel Kelley -

CUH-2215B has two T9 Security Torx screws on metal shield and two Phillips screws

Kenneth Beerman -

Step 7

Remove the metal sheet from the top of the power supply by grabbing and lifting up with your hands.

Is this metal sheet required for the unit to power on?

AlexT - 13/01/19

I think the metal sheet protects the rest of the console or something from heating too much.

BloodSpark22 - 07/02/21

Kann man diesen Metallblech einzeln kaufen? Finde im Internet nichts

SoN GoKu - 26/10/20

A quoi sert la tôle métallique qui recouvre le ventilateur et l’alimentation svp

Ittady92 - 13/12/20

Que puedo hacer si uno de los tornillos que sujetan esa lamina está barrido y no los puedo quitar?

Maalem -

Step 8

Remove the antenna from the top of the power supply by guiding the wire with your fingers through the groves underneath the metal panel.

What does this mean for part do? This part is not present in my console nor is the space where it's supposed to reside as shown in the picture above.

The Hondo - 10/05/19

Me neither, guess they are different models.

Daniel Henderson - 23/08/20

There was a longer clip 8mm long on the left side which had to be pulled straight out. However, be careful when pulling out the antenna. My cable was soldered to the metal plate.

Emil Fisk -

It is easier to wiggle the cable out from the plastic power supply housing in step 10.

Emil Fisk -

Step 9

Flip the Playstation 4 Slim onto its back.
Unscrew and remove the 4.0mm screw using a Phillips #1 screwdriver with a counter-clockwise motion.

Forgot to mention to remove the hard drive.

The Stuff - 10/12/18

it's usually pretty straightforward to remove the HDD first on any Playstation System

Kenneth Beerman -

How do you get it when the screw is stripped

Lucas Holland -

Step 10

Use a plastic opening tool to make space between the power supply and console by wedging and wiggling it in-between the two.
Lift the power supply up and onto its back on the metal sheet using your hands.

Step 11

Disconnect the wire connection from the power supply by firmly gripping it with your fingers or tweezers and pulling out.
Remove the power supply completely by grabbing and lifting up with your hands.

Your guide is good but detail. Could be alot better for a start you forgot to mention the screw on the other side that must also be removed to let the power supply out of ps4 slim

Chicky Boy3 - 20/09/19

Could you replace a ps4 slim model CUH-211B with a N16-160P1A power supply

Aiden Thrash - 18/08/20

Just because I feel like this needs to be stated clearly, “Do no attempt to pull the plug out by the wires!”

Pull from the plastic, male end of the plug or you’re going to end up have a very bad day.

Matthew D. H. - 04/03/21

Literally no way I can do it by the plastic, the only way is wires. Gotta risk it I guess

Misha FV -

You are right, pulling the wires is entirely wrong. I used the small rectangular, thin blue plastic to push the cable back from the socket. It was too tight. From my experience of repairing, never pull wires. The consequences of damaging it are not worth it.

El-Musleh -

This cable is very hard to remove from the connector. It's much easier to unplug this cable from the motherboard side (in step 20) because you can push the connector out from behind. (This might only be true for some motherboard revisions.)

You can leave the power supply propped up on top of the console, like shown in the first picture. After you've unplugged the two cables in step 13, you can put the power supply back where it was to make flipping the console over easier.

Jak Atackka - 07/08/24

This is about where I'd give up

Shane Lucey -

Step 12

Unscrew and remove the 31.0mm safety screw using a T8 screwdriver with a counter-clockwise motion.

cuidado pestañita toma tierra lateral dvd y pieza negra en el otro lado

Daniel Vila -

Step 13

Locate the two wires connected to the bottom of the motherboard.
Remove the wires by firmly grasping the metal connections with your fingers or tweezers and pulling up until they disconnect.

Doesn't exist in my

Daniel Henderson - 23/08/20

Mine only has 1 wire

Kyle Cordle -

Step 14

Flip the device to the backside.
Unscrew and remove 14x (19x for CUH-21xx) 4.0mm black screws using a Phillips #1 screwdriver with a counter-clockwise motion.
Unscrew and remove 8x (7x for CUH-21xx) 6.0mm silver screws using a Phillips #1 screwdriver with a counter-clockwise motion.
Unscrew and remove 4x 3.0mm silver screws using a Phillips #1 screwdriver with a counter-clockwise motion.

- There are 14x 4.0mm black screws, but the step only shows 13 of them circled in red. One of the 11 orange circles (near front of unit) is actually the 14th black screw. Photo: http://i.imgur.com/7G64egd.png

- As for the 6.0mm silver screws, there are only 8x of those. The two silver screws behind the IO ports on the back are 3.0mm fine-threaded screws. Photo: http://i.imgur.com/cQD6KQu.png

- Source: Have a PS4 Slim (CUH-2015A) right in front of me, doing this exact job. Hope this helps someone else down the road.

lane anderson - 20/07/18

In my PS4 slim many of the screws shown in this step are melted plastic rivet type fasteners. I guess I’m supposed to just cut through them and hope the game stays together or is there a way to remove them and drill and tap holes for screws that will hold the board etc in place? My game is getting old and I would like to clean the fan and make sure the thermal paste or Liquid Metal is still working (“the perfect amount “). The fan in my game seems to run a quite a bit. Thanks!

Mark Frederick -

By definition, "unscrew" is in a counter-clockwise motion. And, people who are taking apart a device like this will be able to tell when they try to turn the screw which way is correct.

In the second picture, there is a hard disk. In the first and third pictures, there is no hard disk. You might want to update these instructions to include hard disk drive removal.

David -

In my experience with creating guides you use existing guides as stepping stones to build up new guides. That means sometimes pictures will show a procedure for one step where other steps may come before or after the one being described. The point is you should be looking at what's being described rather than nit-picking on things like is the hard drive there or not. Just assume if the instructions haven't told you to remove the hard drive, then you don't need it removed even if the picture shows it having been taken out.

With regard to the second picture in particular, I added that one when I was taking apart my grandson's CUH-21xx system only to find that the screws were substantially different than the ones in the original guide. My point was to document those differences and no, I didn't worry about whether the hard drive was there or not, so my picture has it in and the others don't.

Jerry Wheeler -

Step 15

Unscrew and remove the two 5.0mm screws on the side of the console using a Phillips #1 screwdriver with a counter-clockwise motion.
Skip this step for the CUH-21xx, as those screws were removed in the previous step.

These are 3.0mm screws, not 5.0mm. This step could probably be condensed into the previous step.

lane anderson - 20/07/18

These screws are not present on the US model

Sean Douglas -

Yes, my US model doesn't have it either

Kyle Cordle -

Step 16

Locate the white wire connected to the corner of the top of the motherboard.
Disconnect the wire by firmly grasping the metal connection with your fingers or tweezers and pulling up until it detaches.
Unthread the wire from the tape and move it off to the side using tweezers or your fingers.

This wire is black, not white on the US model

Sean Douglas -

Step 17

Remove the connections by pulling out on the blue tabs with your fingers.
Flip up the black clip on the largest tab with your finger before removing it.
Remove this wire connection by firmly gripping the wire with your fingers and pulling it out.

Step 18

Remove the metal plate by grabbing two sides of the plate and lifting up and away from yourself.
You may need to wiggle the plate a bit to get it loose before you lift it out.
Do not lose any of the black pads attached to the motherboard while performing this step.

This step would benefit from showing a picture of the black pads in question. Pic: http://i.imgur.com/zQnehtA.png

lane anderson - 20/07/18

The US model has two black screws under the HDD

Kyle Cordle -

Step 19

Unscrew and remove the two 10.0mm screws (one silver and one black) using a Phillips #1 screwdriver with a counter-clockwise motion.
Remove the small metal plate by grabbing it with your fingers and lifting up.

Why is one silver and one black? I keep thinking they are different and try to keep track of where they go.

Reed Deemer - 02/10/18

What's the name is the part with the two metal screws that is being taken off

Devon Higgins - 21/03/21

both screws are black on the US version

Sean Douglas -

Step 20

Remove this wire connection by firmly grasping it with tweezers and pulling out.
This might require a bit of force to disconnect, but be sure not to break any of the wires.

Do not attempt to disconnect the plug by pulling on the wires! If you rip out the wires, you’re gonna have a very bad day. Wiggle the plug using the plastic on the male end of the connector while pulling out.

Matthew D. H. - 04/03/21

que pasa si se desolda esa parte como puedo volver a soldarlo o cuanto se cobra por solo soldar

TheKiller Xtreme1 -

this is plugged in WAY too hard. I've been wiggling it for 5 minutes. Not budging an inch. i learned that if you follow the cables of that, they are just held in place by a few plastic hooks. You can slide them out of there by flipping the ps4 over and then pull the motherboard out no problem, cable still attached.

Also, dont forget about the small plug in at the top of the motherboard. That is the fan power cable and needs to be off to remove the mobo as well.

Zoey Schlemper -

I broke the cable by accident, where can i find a replacement?

Daniel Dilley -

A better approach is to unwind the other end of the cable leaving the connector plugged into main board , no risk of damage doing it this way.

markduff -

You only need to unplug this cable from one end. You can just fish the cable through the hole, then you can separate the motherboard from the console. There are small plastic guides holding this cable in place; these guides are pretty fragile but it's not a big deal if you accidentally bend or break them.

There is a safer way to unplug this cable from the motherboard. If you look closely, there are two small slits on the back of the connector. If you look very closely, there is a tiny hole inside each slit. If you can find something small enough to fit in that hole, you can push the connector out from behind. It takes some force, but it's less risky than pulling directly on the wires.

(This advice might not apply to all motherboard revisions)

Jak Atackka - 07/08/24

Step 21

Remove the motherboard by grabbing the edge of the board with one or two hands and pulling away and up.
You may need to wiggle the board a bit to get it loose before you remove it.

Step 22

Unscrew and remove the six 4.0mm screws using a PH00 screwdriver with a counter-clockwise motion.

On my model, there are screws on the opposite side of the PS4 that are long and have their threads facing up into this plate. You have to unscrew them from the opposite side so they come off.

Also, you DEFINITELY need to reapply thermal paste when doing this step in reverse order after replacing the fan!! How is this not mentioned, its critical otherwise your CPU will overheat.

Zoey Schlemper -

Step 23

Remove the metal plate by grabbing the edges and lifting up with your hands.

Step 24

Unscrew and remove the two 40 mm screws using a PH00 screwdriver with a counter-clockwise motion.

Step 25

Remove the fan system by grabbing the edge of the top metal plate and lifting up with your hands.

Conclusion

To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.

Author

Harry Koos

Member since: 24/01/18

5309 Reputation

5 comments

Thank you so much for this guide! It was very helpful!

David Rodriguez - 16/12/20

Deine Schrauben großen machen gar kein Sinn du hast mehr verschiedene Schrauben als es gibt

Andre Hollmann - 14/01/21

My PS4 “Slim” is quite different internally than the one shown. But regardless, this guide is an excellent resource for us diy’ers. And don’t forget any parts when reassembling, like I did. Took four tries to get everything back where it belonged. And man, was it dusty in there! Regular cleaniings are a must.

Patrick Ogren - 01/05/21

My ps4 slim is different it has some extra parts, now I don’t know how to put it back, hahahahahhahaha

Lancelotte Fabros - 05/06/21

This guide gets you 90% of the way there. Some really important pieces are missing though, primarily:

- How you dont need to unplug the power supply cable from the motherboard, you can just unhook it from the plastic clips on the case.

- It never mentions cleaning the old Thermal Paste off the heatsink + cpu and replacing with a new dab.

Both of these are essential for a proper tear-down. If you dont replace the thermal paste, your PS4 is guaranteed to break down irreparably in the future. I had to know or discover them for myself. Please, please update this guide with that info.

Zoey Schlemper -