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The PlayStation 3 (or commonly known as the PS3) is the third home computer entertainment system produced by Sony Computer Entertainment, and the successor to the PlayStation 2. It was released November 11, 2006

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PS3 heatsink clamp screw broken

Hey, guys!

Short history: After more than 4 years of great service, my PS3 FAT was a bit warm and I decided to reapply the thermal paste. Everything went good, except that I broke the heatsink clamp screw.

I was just rescrewing it in place and it suddenly got a bit harder to turn. One more little turn and 'snap', it was broken, with part of it inside of its hole. So now the clamp over the Cell Chip has only one screw holding it, what is not enough to force the heatsink into contact with the Cell chip.

If you look at this picture (not from my system), the broken screw would be the lower-left one on the picture: http://guide-images.ifixit.net/igi/OLZ2u...

The result is that now the fan goes 100% within seconds after turning on the console, and the message "The system is becoming too hot blablabla" is shown without even logging in.

My question is: do you guys have any idea about what I can do to overcome this problem?

I was thinking about using something (like a thermal pad) to fill the space and force the contact. Is this a bad idea?

Thank you very much.

Answered! View the answer I have this problem too

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Daniel, I think you might get a bit more of a response if you could post images to show us the damage on your board. Just knowing which screw broke is just not enough to envision the damage and may be come up with a fix. ;-)

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@oldturkey03 The thing is there is no damage on the board. The screw just broke inside its hole. That's it. Anyway, I'll try to get some pictures. Thank you!

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Did you get the broken bottom part of the screw out or is it still in?

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It is still in. I have no idea how to remove it :(

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Daniel, since the broken part of the screw is still inside the thread, you should remove this first. Get a small screw extractor and use it according the the instructions for the individual set. A set like this or this one should work. Once you remove the piece, you should check to see if it needs to be retapped. If you are not sure about doing it, check with your local vocational school or machine shop. Most of these shops will exactly know what to do. This will most certainly resolve your dilemma. It is really not a good idea to try to temporarily fix anything that has to do with the heatsink. Hope this helps, good luck.

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Daniel will be eternally grateful.
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