Nintendo 64 Joystick Repair??

[DerekG52]

Has anyone ever looked into repairing the worn out joysticks from the standard controller? I haven't found any info anywhere on this topic, but if possible I would like to be able to repair those joysticks. I know they have replacements at shops online, but they are just pulled from otherwise broken controllers. If this is the case, some day in the future there will be no more working official 64 controllers? The problem seems to lie in the joystick itself rubbing against the white housing (if you have looked in how the thumbstick is put together), creating that lovely grayish powder. Help!

[Ack]

Your best bet is to replace the joysticks. There are a few retailers that carry them. Apparently it isn't that difficult to do.

[DerekG52]

I've done searching and it seems that the majority of sites that sell them are out. Whether this is a holiday type trend or permanent remains to be seen, but if it were possible I'd rather repair it than paying ~$10 per. It seems that a little epoxy or something to add back that little bit of length to the joystick would be all it takes? I wanted some input from anyone with experience before I went ahead and tried some things.

[Ack]

Epoxy? I don't think I understand how you would be applying that. Wouldn't it cause more trouble?

I've talked to Fastbilly about this in the past, maybe he'll know something.

[fastbilly1]

Ive never heard of fixing them with epoxy. Usually people will replace the spring with a stronger one. But that will only gain you a couple hundred more hours of gameplay, and if you screw it up it will still be fairly loose - trust me, every spring replacement Ive tried has ended up that way. Replacing the joystick module is fairly cheap and quick. I bought four about six months ago and replaced three within fifteen minutes - the fourth needed alot of cleaning and took longer.

The fella I bought them from is out, due to Christmas, but they will start showing up on ebay again soon. It kinda unnerves me that he sold out, since he had hundreds of them, but it happens. My four cost me $23 with shipping - so about $5 a pop - well worth it in my opinion.

HOWEVER if you figure out something you can do with epoxy or green stuff let us know.

[ott0bot]

egads. the x/y axis on the analog controller is made of cheap plastic which wears out pretty fast. I have tried rebuilding the plastic or melting it a bit and reshaping it...and it kinda worked. They eventually wore out too. I usually just went to thrift stores and found the unit with the best and most stable analog controller and used that or popped out the worn out one and put it in my controller. Try to find a bundle of new ones on ebay as suggested.

but really I hate these controllers.....just aweful design. they are the reason I don't own a 64 anymore.

[countcowden]

http://codebook.potchgult.com/stickrepair/stickfix.htm

This can help depending on how bad the plastic is. If you do get a good replacement then if you do this it every so often it can also prolong the life of the joystick. Some third party sticks actually look like the plastic one but have a metal stick under the plastic so you could buy a thrid part controller.

The are ugly but if you dont want to get into replacing them, then this is the way to go.

[DerekG52]

Thanks to everyone for their replies. I will probably end up just buying then online or thru local means, but its a shame that there isn't much that can be done to repair the stick or housing itself. fastbilly you mentioned replacing the spring, is that just a spring from another thumbstick housing or do you have a spring source?

[bonefish]

Applying epoxy to the knob at the bottom to add some size back to it is a thought I've had as well. But then I just went and bought new sticks but I saved the old ones... It is a slow day at work today so....

[bonefish]

egads. the x/y axis on the analog controller is made of cheap plastic which wears out pretty fast. I have tried rebuilding the plastic or melting it a bit and reshaping it...and it kinda worked. They eventually wore out too. I usually just went to thrift stores and found the unit with the best and most stable analog controller and used that or popped out the worn out one and put it in my controller. Try to find a bundle of new ones on ebay as suggested.

but really I hate these controllers.....just aweful design. they are the reason I don't own a 64 anymore.

I just did something similar to what you were talking about with melting and reshaping. I added to the knob using a plastic fork and melting it with the original plastic as best I could for strength. Then I used a dremel tool to shape it. I'm kind of impressed with the immediate results... I guess I'll have try it out some time!