N64 controller gears; from wobbly to working.

[drxandy | 3,225]

Today I repaired a N64 controller I picked up yesterday for $6 with a wobbly stick and decided to make a lil post about the process.

Issues with the design of the analog stick cause the base of the stick itself to grind against the support bowl.. as well as heavy use causing the gears become worn out or clogged up with the dust created by the bowl grinding. The controller uses all standard Philips head screws and is pretty easy to get inside.

First off, remove the screws from the back, the top two by the accessory slot are smaller but longer.

The stick is nestled under the z button pad, unclip it and move out of the way to remove 3 more screws and unplug the wire harness. The stick has 1 more screw on the back, then you're in.

Ooof all that plastic dust. The sensor board lifts out easily as does the bowl assembly which has some wheel gears which are important (I don't know where to buy replacements haha) clean everything and if the bowl isn't completely gone then I reuse it. You can transfer the wheels to a replacement bowl if needed. The gears are usually worn out in the middle where the stick sits inside them and allow too much travel: not letting the stick return to center like it's supposed to.. but the teeth aren't usually an issue except for that plastic dust.

The other side of the stick housing with the spring disassembles by twisting the stick to get through the gear arm's hole. This releases the spring tension and the top white plastic ring can be removed, this is the position that you want to have it back at for reassemble.

I bought parts from https://store.kitsch-bent.com/collections/replacement-parts

They sell the gears, bowl assembly, and different color sticks if you want. I got a few 'colors' for down the line but this one will be left stock other than the fix.

I had heard that lubricating the gears lightly was the way to go so I picked up some of this super lube 21030 from the local harbor freight and used a cotton swab to dab a tiny bit on the gear teeth and other rotating parts like where the wheels are in contact with the bowl assembly, the inside of the bowl, and the bottom of the stick. Followed up with the dry side of the swab to remove the excess lube and it was good to go.

Now the stick won't flop from side to side and remains center.

https://i.imgur.com/xisxO79.mp4

 

While I was in there: cleaned all buttons and button holes, contact pads, excess flux from areas, accumulated finger fudge, the whole shebang and here's the final shot..

Good as new

Edited September 5, 2022 by drxandy

[Tanooki | 4,930]

Nice to see some proof one maker finally got to creating parts that fit and work correctly, the other chinese choices are garbage.

[CMR | 519]

Mario Party destroyed more n64 controllers than anything else.

[360collector | 289]

I replaced one with a gamecube style stick it feels fantastic

[Brickman | 3,983]

2 hours ago, 360collector said:

I replaced one with a gamecube style stick it feels fantastic

Yeah I really like those too, but I now use the Retro Fighters Brawler64 controllers as my main. I can't go back to the original 64 controllers now.

Brawler64 Color Edition v2 - Retro Fighters 

[OptOut | 8,881]

Anyone playing N64 on anything other than the original N64 controller is a COWARD. 

[darkchylde28 | 1,546]

On 9/7/2022 at 2:08 AM, OptOut said:

Anyone playing N64 on anything other than the original N64 controller is a COWARD. ENLIGHTENED

There, FTFY. 

Seriously, though, for non-fans of the N64, a not insignificant amount of the time, the reason folks aren't fans is because of the crappiness of the original controllers (typically the design, but I've seen enough fans and non-fans on here complain about the quality thanks to the gears breaking down to know better than to not include that as a factor).  For the most part, the people that I've encountered that are just absolute N64 fanboys tend to be people who grew up with that as their first or primary system at the time when it came out and/or was at peak popularity.  I might have given a lot more N64 stuff a chance, now as well as years and years ago, if the controller hadn't been so unnecessarily awkward (and in some cases, painful) to use.  The wireless Brawler64 controllers are the sole reason that an N64 has even been dug up and connected in my living room, so I'd call them a win for N64 enthusiasts (even if they don't care for them themselves) since they facilitate getting more people into the system.

[OptOut | 8,881]

2 hours ago, darkchylde28 said:

There, FTFY. 

Seriously, though, for non-fans of the N64, a not insignificant amount of the time, the reason folks aren't fans is because of the crappiness of the original controllers (typically the design, but I've seen enough fans and non-fans on here complain about the quality thanks to the gears breaking down to know better than to not include that as a factor).  For the most part, the people that I've encountered that are just absolute N64 fanboys tend to be people who grew up with that as their first or primary system at the time when it came out and/or was at peak popularity.  I might have given a lot more N64 stuff a chance, now as well as years and years ago, if the controller hadn't been so unnecessarily awkward (and in some cases, painful) to use.  The wireless Brawler64 controllers are the sole reason that an N64 has even been dug up and connected in my living room, so I'd call them a win for N64 enthusiasts (even if they don't care for them themselves) since they facilitate getting more people into the system.

Fine. You don't have to play on the original controller. I will also accept the Ultra Racer 64.

But that is IT sonny Jim. 

Edited September 8, 2022 by OptOut

[darkchylde28 | 1,546]

15 minutes ago, OptOut said:

Fine. You don't have to play on the original controller. I will also accept the Ultra Racer 64.

But that is IT sonny Jim. 

Didn't somebody also offer a driving wheel (and maybe pedals) that could make the experience just that last, little bit more irritating difficult maddening challenging?