I use to fix the 64 controllers for my friends back in highschool, I was in electronics in a vo-tech. You need to add some silicon gear grease to the white ring on the spring and a bit in the bottom on the white bowl part. If not it'll wear out really fast and it won't be as responsive as it should be. Great video brought back so many memories.
most of that dust is plastic from parts wearing against each other , I always use silicon grease on the pivots and at the bottom of the area where the end of stick rubs , and like brylcreem just a little dab will do Great fix thanks Vince
Without some silicon grease, those moving parts inside the thumbstick are going to wear down quickly. You can see the result when testing it on the Switch; it's more jittery than before in the zone where it worked. You should pull it apart soon and apply some before you incur further damage to those parts.
Nah, just enough silicone oil to wet all wearing surfaces. Otherwise, you're increasing the chance some grease might get onto the wheels' optical gates.
I'm honestly so bloody glad I discovered your channel today, I've been trying to get a better understanding of electronic troubleshooting as I've always loved to take broken things apart and try to fix them ever since i was a wee crotch goblin and your videos are perfect, cheers Vince!
Thanks for the info, I just bought 20 gear sets. I have five or six N64-Controllers that need the gears replaced, they are worn out beyond anything. And those 20 gear sets are about as expensive as 2 new complete sticks.
Sort of tangentially related but: be careful using canned air or compressed air around fans. If you blow air into a fan you might end up spinning it way faster than it's designed to spin and damaging it.
Great job =D You can buy replacement sticks! One problem with these that nearly always happens over time, the part that presses down onto the semi circular part in the base causes wear. Next time I get my N64 out I was going to put a tiny bit of molykote in there to try and protect against that problem. Love that end music lol!!
Also to make your life easier next time, to reassemble the module: Top assembly (in order) -Spring -Washer -Smallest Crank (Turn it to lock spring in place. Gears should face away from front) Bottom assembly -"Bowl" -PCB -Largest crank Clip em together and screw it in. If it goes far right like that you assembled it wrong. Hope this helps.
After quite some time they do wear away but I remember hearing something about metal joystick replacements so maybe look into that in the future for a possible repair on another n64 controller.
I don't use canned air, I got a air compressor like for spray guns and have on the line a water trap and use an air gun. I pump it up two or three times a week and its by the front door so if I need to blow something out I can just wander to the hall, grab the gun and just blow the stuff out. You should consider getting an air compressor as it makes like super super easy, paint fences or cars with it, fit air tools like die grinders or whizz wheels, or heavy duty stuff like an impact air gun or an air ratchet. Only downside is they are super noisy on the pump up. You can even buy a receiver tank for shoving in boot of car to pump up dinghy's. The other use is for plasma cutters which is super cool and surprised you haven't turned your hands to a bit o' metalworking as its super fun to cut and shape then weld up steels.
i remember trying to do a very amateurish repair on one long ago. taking it apart, i also had those white dust particles, as well as maybe some grease of some kind, but at that age i didn't know what it was. i cleaned it up, put it back together as it was, but now the joystick was very loose. it couldn't center anymore, and it just fell wherever gravity pulled it. so with that, i swore off N64 controller repairs since that was beyond me, and i was only in middle school at the time
Love this video! Way back I tried to fix a controller myself and I can agree with MrBuck295. The usual issue with Nintendo's first analogue controllers was plastic wear on the joystick part. Those grooves inside the analoge part were very easy to wear out. Third party controllers were no better.
Hi Vince, I was just wondering if you have a Brook Wingman XB adapter and if you could you please do a review on it. It seems like an affordable way to use an Xbox 360/PS3 controller on an Xbox series x and I just prefer those older controllers. I have one main question though, do analogue triggers register through the adapter?
I used to clean contriollers all the time as a kid, so much so I eventually near wrecked the casing of my Snes controller as the screws wore out and I had to use some force, didn't crack as much as due to prying open the edges were all scratched up, I suppose if its still at parents I could use a nail file to sand down and look mostly as new. Especially on light controllers you can see the dirt easily.
I literally have a joystick on my desk, since I just replaced it with a modern version in my yellow controller. I tried printing replacement gear pieces, but the left/right doesn't work properly with the three that I printed, so I'm just keeping it as spare parts, since it does still work.
@My Mate Vince There are replacement Joysticks for the N64 Controller. There is also a Gamecube Style Replacement Joystick for the N64 Controller which should me more reliable.
Maybe some silicone grease on the gears? I wonder how easy it would be to 3d print replacement parts for these things? These joysticks are notorious for wearing out.
If you happen to see an N64 controller with a joystick that's loosey goosey I remember seeing more than a few that had huge dead zones where the joystick would tip over.
what are you talking about? there’s no stick drift i didn’t have to send in my joycons to be repaired and had to wait two weeks to get them back only for them to have problems soon after Nawwwwwwwwwwwwwww
Would be nice if you knew how to do metal bowls with the Switch N64 controller. Has inferior parts to the original from what I have read about it and that it can only have proper modding done to it if the joystick does not wear out.
Only started watching so I'm making a prediction: I'm guessing there's dust or hair or something blocking some of the little slits in the rotating flywheel used by the optical sensor.
I’ve got a couple of broken n64 pads. Also there’s no signal from the av cable on mine anymore. I keep forgetting I even have the thing. I must sort it out do I can play it again
Has anyone had the issue of the controller case creaking when put back together? As if it hasn't gone back together properly? I've taken apart 2 of these controllers for cleaning and stick replacement, but when I put them back together, the two halves of the case no longer feel tight against each other and creaks.
I just love how this guy used a switch to test a n64 controller. Also, CEX is a massive scam. Me, being in the uk, and not being near any mom and pop retro shops was forced to buy from them or facebook marketplace (which I don’t like at all). Bought a few controllers, all were dirty as shit, one had an alive spider in it and one just didn’t work at all, and even with proof of purchase and stuff they refused a return. Bought a ps1 console which was a little dusty but, funnily enough was perfect other than that. Then bought a GameCube, which was perfect other than a bit of yellowing (but was obvious that the console was disassembled at some point due to mis-matched yellowed cover on the memory card slot so it would probably be cleaned by whoever did that), then bought a ps3, which, just like the others looked perfect, but when I turned it on, it had a broken disk drive that played dvd’s and cd’s but not blu’rays (and, by proxy, ps3 games) so took it back. Got ANOTHER ps3 WHICH HAD THE EXACT SAME ISSUE. Just took it back for a money refund then. Bought a wii from them a few months later and it had, AND I FUCKING KID YOU NOT, AN ALIVE SPIDERS NEST IN THE HEAT SINK WHICH EXPLODED INTO HUNDREDS OF BABY SPIDERS WHEN I ATTEMPED TO MOVE IT. NOT GREAT FOR SOMEONE LIKE ME THAT HAD AN ANXIETY ATTACK WHEN A TINY SPIDER APPEARED ON MY ROOF. my dad then, after me crying, cleaned as much out as possible, put it back together, made sure it worked and went back to demand a refund lol
My Xbox one s the hard drive was corrupt . I put new SSD Download OSU1 ,isn’t picture for 30 minutes > black screen for 40 minutes > preparing console 60 minutes > Finally….. TROUBLESHOOT but no recognising my USB with de UPDATE OSU 1 , I tray 3 USB …. And When I tray prees SYNC +EJECT +POWER IS ONLY 1 BEEP isnont picture but when tray prees SYNC + EJECT + POWER
I found out too off of Reddit what the white powder was in my N64's, it was dessicated and dried out white lithium grease that just turned into powder with age, still wasn't very good when it happened to my brand new Pikachu N64 after a few months but then it was on very long hours doing Pokemon Stadium and Smash Bros duty.
This video is reversed! He started out with a fully working controller, broke it and just played the video backwards. Not the first time he has done this.
@@jamiepowell6655 just saying it as it is. Remember when he fixed the front end of a smashed up Tesla by slowly driving it into a wall and then quickly reversing...... backwards video! When he fixed the screen of a broken iPhone by repeatedly hammering it .... backwards video! More fool you if you think he didn’t do the same on this video
The thumbstick design in the N64 controller sucks so bad that even if you repair it, wear and tear is inevitable, due to the bowl-like internal design that revolves around friction at the bottom of the thumbstick. I guess it's just as flawless as Nintendo's Switch online services then? 😜😬 That said, at least the thumbstick you have here hasn't crumbled to dust and only needed a good clean
I use to fix the 64 controllers for my friends back in highschool, I was in electronics in a vo-tech. You need to add some silicon gear grease to the white ring on the spring and a bit in the bottom on the white bowl part. If not it'll wear out really fast and it won't be as responsive as it should be. Great video brought back so many memories.
most of that dust is plastic from parts wearing against each other , I always use silicon grease on the pivots and at the bottom of the area where the end of stick rubs , and like brylcreem just a little dab will do
Great fix thanks Vince
Without some silicon grease, those moving parts inside the thumbstick are going to wear down quickly. You can see the result when testing it on the Switch; it's more jittery than before in the zone where it worked.
You should pull it apart soon and apply some before you incur further damage to those parts.
Totaly agree with vince you need to put some molly or lithium greese in there.
Nah, just enough silicone oil to wet all wearing surfaces. Otherwise, you're increasing the chance some grease might get onto the wheels' optical gates.
I'm honestly so bloody glad I discovered your channel today, I've been trying to get a better understanding of electronic troubleshooting as I've always loved to take broken things apart and try to fix them ever since i was a wee crotch goblin and your videos are perfect, cheers Vince!
I would highly recommend the kitsch bent replacement joystick, bowls, and the gear pieces they are good.
Thanks for the info, I just bought 20 gear sets. I have five or six N64-Controllers that need the gears replaced, they are worn out beyond anything. And those 20 gear sets are about as expensive as 2 new complete sticks.
I like how most of the things u try to fix reminds me of my childhood love the nostalgia I get watching your content
Just ordered one of your mugs. Specifically the one that says I’m not an expert because that fits so well😂
Sort of tangentially related but: be careful using canned air or compressed air around fans. If you blow air into a fan you might end up spinning it way faster than it's designed to spin and damaging it.
This channel reminds me the early days of UA-cam. Keep up the good work!
Loved the singing in the middle, you have a good voice , vince 😊
Good to see CEX checking the products thoroughly before selling them 🙄🙄🙄
Great job =D You can buy replacement sticks! One problem with these that nearly always happens over time, the part that presses down onto the semi circular part in the base causes wear. Next time I get my N64 out I was going to put a tiny bit of molykote in there to try and protect against that problem. Love that end music lol!!
This is what I've done with mine as well.
Great video Vince. Gutted I was going to do a series, 25 days of Fixmas 😂
🤣🤣 You carry on Phil 👍👍
Love how those things were made for people with 3 hands.
Nice video you can officially now call that controller third party refurbished
I actually now dread the insides of a N64 controller. Though I've done many fixes on them, I just feel a rush of dread.
Also to make your life easier next time, to reassemble the module:
Top assembly (in order)
-Spring
-Washer
-Smallest Crank (Turn it to lock spring in place. Gears should face away from front)
Bottom assembly
-"Bowl"
-PCB
-Largest crank
Clip em together and screw it in. If it goes far right like that you assembled it wrong.
Hope this helps.
After quite some time they do wear away but I remember hearing something about metal joystick replacements so maybe look into that in the future for a possible repair on another n64 controller.
I don't use canned air, I got a air compressor like for spray guns and have on the line a water trap and use an air gun. I pump it up two or three times a week and its by the front door so if I need to blow something out I can just wander to the hall, grab the gun and just blow the stuff out. You should consider getting an air compressor as it makes like super super easy, paint fences or cars with it, fit air tools like die grinders or whizz wheels, or heavy duty stuff like an impact air gun or an air ratchet. Only downside is they are super noisy on the pump up. You can even buy a receiver tank for shoving in boot of car to pump up dinghy's. The other use is for plasma cutters which is super cool and surprised you haven't turned your hands to a bit o' metalworking as its super fun to cut and shape then weld up steels.
i remember trying to do a very amateurish repair on one long ago. taking it apart, i also had those white dust particles, as well as maybe some grease of some kind, but at that age i didn't know what it was. i cleaned it up, put it back together as it was, but now the joystick was very loose. it couldn't center anymore, and it just fell wherever gravity pulled it. so with that, i swore off N64 controller repairs since that was beyond me, and i was only in middle school at the time
9l very 56-year-old
If I recall, L+R + Start + Z will reset the encoder values to zero if you need to.
Love this video! Way back I tried to fix a controller myself and I can agree with MrBuck295. The usual issue with Nintendo's first analogue controllers was plastic wear on the joystick part.
Those grooves inside the analoge part were very easy to wear out. Third party controllers were no better.
*reference - I've fixed a few n64 controllers
Love the N64 and it's controller. First analog stick and still great.
Nice one, Optical encoder nice and simple way for joy stick, This was used in the old ball mouse for computers , 👍👍👍👍
Cheers AR👍👍
Nice fix; I thought was just going to be another potentiometer (after reading the video's title), but, no... Thanks for the vid.
Hi Vince, I was just wondering if you have a Brook Wingman XB adapter and if you could you please do a review on it. It seems like an affordable way to use an Xbox 360/PS3 controller on an Xbox series x and I just prefer those older controllers. I have one main question though, do analogue triggers register through the adapter?
I used to clean contriollers all the time as a kid, so much so I eventually near wrecked the casing of my Snes controller as the screws wore out and I had to use some force, didn't crack as much as due to prying open the edges were all scratched up, I suppose if its still at parents I could use a nail file to sand down and look mostly as new.
Especially on light controllers you can see the dirt easily.
Hi Vince, great video! I was wondering what was the song you played over the time lapse sequence? very catchy! I love the channel, all the best.
The Trick - Sleepaway Camp
You could have added some white grease in the bottom of bowl so friction won’t affect as much
I literally have a joystick on my desk, since I just replaced it with a modern version in my yellow controller. I tried printing replacement gear pieces, but the left/right doesn't work properly with the three that I printed, so I'm just keeping it as spare parts, since it does still work.
Nice fix, Vince!
Great video Vince.😊
the fact that u found that music
@My Mate Vince There are replacement Joysticks for the N64 Controller. There is also a Gamecube Style Replacement Joystick for the N64 Controller which should me more reliable.
You could get a gamecube replacement if you never want to play goldeneye, The reviews of them things aren't good
interesting just a little clean and a blast of air and some removal of hair :) and Vince fixes it again :)
Nice work, Vince!
Brilliant I have two on my n64 with Hdmi ..ill be doing this now !
Great video
I love the outro
Im curious if the switch OLED joy cons work on an ordinary switch can you make a video about it please
Maybe some silicone grease on the gears?
I wonder how easy it would be to 3d print replacement parts for these things? These joysticks are notorious for wearing out.
Just as you said it, I was thinkin it. Clean those button pads off.
My mate vince
Great repair 👍
If you happen to see an N64 controller with a joystick that's loosey goosey I remember seeing more than a few that had huge dead zones where the joystick would tip over.
So this is like a behind the scenes of your earlier N64 emulator video? :)
Another excellent video
Awesome fix
I love the mug
It's a shame the technology for analogue sticks "got better" if they still used older technology we might have less stick drift
gee. seems almost like it was planned...
what are you talking about? there’s no stick drift i didn’t have to send in my joycons to be repaired and had to wait two weeks to get them back only for them to have problems soon after Nawwwwwwwwwwwwwww
@@user-jf4lt4uk7u my nes controllers still work quite well. hell so does the zapper. mid 80s tech
Great job 👏 👍 enjoy your videos 📹 please keep them coming 🙏 and here to help get your videos out to everyone 😀 😊 👍
good job mate.
Would be nice if you knew how to do metal bowls with the Switch N64 controller. Has inferior parts to the original from what I have read about it and that it can only have proper modding done to it if the joystick does not wear out.
Only started watching so I'm making a prediction: I'm guessing there's dust or hair or something blocking some of the little slits in the rotating flywheel used by the optical sensor.
I’ve got a couple of broken n64 pads. Also there’s no signal from the av cable on mine anymore. I keep forgetting I even have the thing. I must sort it out do I can play it again
Has anyone had the issue of the controller case creaking when put back together? As if it hasn't gone back together properly? I've taken apart 2 of these controllers for cleaning and stick replacement, but when I put them back together, the two halves of the case no longer feel tight against each other and creaks.
I just love how this guy used a switch to test a n64 controller. Also, CEX is a massive scam. Me, being in the uk, and not being near any mom and pop retro shops was forced to buy from them or facebook marketplace (which I don’t like at all). Bought a few controllers, all were dirty as shit, one had an alive spider in it and one just didn’t work at all, and even with proof of purchase and stuff they refused a return. Bought a ps1 console which was a little dusty but, funnily enough was perfect other than that. Then bought a GameCube, which was perfect other than a bit of yellowing (but was obvious that the console was disassembled at some point due to mis-matched yellowed cover on the memory card slot so it would probably be cleaned by whoever did that), then bought a ps3, which, just like the others looked perfect, but when I turned it on, it had a broken disk drive that played dvd’s and cd’s but not blu’rays (and, by proxy, ps3 games) so took it back. Got ANOTHER ps3 WHICH HAD THE EXACT SAME ISSUE. Just took it back for a money refund then. Bought a wii from them a few months later and it had, AND I FUCKING KID YOU NOT, AN ALIVE SPIDERS NEST IN THE HEAT SINK WHICH EXPLODED INTO HUNDREDS OF BABY SPIDERS WHEN I ATTEMPED TO MOVE IT. NOT GREAT FOR SOMEONE LIKE ME THAT HAD AN ANXIETY ATTACK WHEN A TINY SPIDER APPEARED ON MY ROOF. my dad then, after me crying, cleaned as much out as possible, put it back together, made sure it worked and went back to demand a refund lol
damn these things used to break every five minutes back in the day
Oh yeah. 👍🏻
The song is awesome Vince 😍
Sweet
hey vince do you still use windows video maker?
Do You Have Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack?
Can you do PS4 or PS5 repairs please ?
How was that ipa related? That was you related
Wow Fixmas cool
nice
hi vince
I ordered a working switch for 140€ so i think i can be happy with that
Pressing l and r and start for 3 seconds recalibrate the joystick
3:11 😳
My Xbox one s the hard drive was corrupt . I put new SSD Download OSU1 ,isn’t picture for 30 minutes > black screen for 40 minutes > preparing console 60 minutes > Finally….. TROUBLESHOOT but no recognising my USB with de UPDATE OSU 1 , I tray 3 USB …. And When I tray prees SYNC +EJECT +POWER IS ONLY 1 BEEP
isnont picture but when tray prees SYNC + EJECT + POWER
Could have got it from eBay for under £8, cex prices sucks.
I found out too off of Reddit what the white powder was in my N64's, it was dessicated and dried out white lithium grease that just turned into powder with age, still wasn't very good when it happened to my brand new Pikachu N64 after a few months but then it was on very long hours doing Pokemon Stadium and Smash Bros duty.
What was the music at 7:20 ?
The Trick, by Sleepaway Camp.
sorry mate what is the song name?
My Retro Watches
7:52 that's not dirt, that is carbon.
lubricate the stick to preserve it.
Hey My Mate Vince can you send me a Nintendo switch I always wanted one
The membrain are men-brains
Smee smee smee is the sound that air makes.
This video is reversed! He started out with a fully working controller, broke it and just played the video backwards. Not the first time he has done this.
Pretty thick aren't you
@@jamiepowell6655 just saying it as it is. Remember when he fixed the front end of a smashed up Tesla by slowly driving it into a wall and then quickly reversing...... backwards video! When he fixed the screen of a broken iPhone by repeatedly hammering it .... backwards video! More fool you if you think he didn’t do the same on this video
@@OfflineSetup
Good old troll
3:00 or a old computer ball mouse
The thumbstick design in the N64 controller sucks so bad that even if you repair it, wear and tear is inevitable, due to the bowl-like internal design that revolves around friction at the bottom of the thumbstick. I guess it's just as flawless as Nintendo's Switch online services then? 😜😬
That said, at least the thumbstick you have here hasn't crumbled to dust and only needed a good clean
I would recommend just not using an N64 controller.
You need to work on your shipping costs vince LOL LOL RIP OFF