(Part 2) Best products from r/n64

I wrote a huge comment here on how to refurbish a stick, but it was a reply to another comment that was deleted. The deleted comment mentioned Kitsch-Bent brand replacement gears, which I would recommend for sure. You can find them on google and on eBay. (And for the record I'm not associated with Kitsch-Bent, I've just used their product and I don't know of any competitors.)

Keep in mind they're not quite as good as brand new gears, but you can get a pack of 10 controllers' worth for significantly less than you'd spend on a single brand new controller.


In addition to this, here's how you refurbish the rest of the stick: I would highly recommend buying a jar of ceramic grease and applying it to the insides of the stick using a toothpick, or with a q-tip with the end cut off. This is the stuff I use.

You're only going to want to use a little bit. This jar will be enough for every N64 controller you ever repair. Seriously. The other bonus is that the ceramic microparticles embed themselves in the plastic, so instead of the assembly being dry plastic on plastic (which will rub itself to dust, literally) it becomes greased ceramic rubbing against ceramic. Theoretically it'll last forever, and practically it'll most certainly last "long enough."

You want to take the whole joystick assembly apart, keeping in mind the order and orientation of everything. Then you want to actually clean all of the parts as good as possible. (If you replace the gears then just throw the old ones out — don't bother cleaning them). There shouldn't be any plastic dust on them before you continue.

DO NOT REMOVE THE ROUND BLACK GEARS WITH SLOTS ALONG THE EDGES FROM THE WHITE BOWL. These gears are precision designed and are meant for sensing the displacement of the stick. If you fuck them up, your joystick is garbage. Heed my warning.

Now that the parts are all clean, put them together and grease them in this order:

1. Insert the stick through the top part of the assembly further than normal, so the ball is past where it normally sits and the top of the stick is flush with the top of the assembly. Place it upside down on the table, so the insides are sticking up and the top of the stick is against the table. Then use a toothpick to grease the inner "slots" of the ball of the stick. Use VERY little grease here, and do NOT get any on the rest of the stick.
   
2. Take the spring between each hand and tug it lightly to expand it. You want both ends of the spring to still be parallel to one another, so don't tug too hard. DO NOT GREASE THE SPRING.
   
3. Place the smaller end of the spring into the top part of the joystick assembly. At this point, the top plastic should be sandwiched, so to speak, between the top of the joystick itself and the smaller end of the spring.
   
4. Place the white ring, lip side down, on top of the spring. Now use your toothpick to apply very little ceramic grease to the exposed, flat side of the ring.
   
5. The smaller gear holds the top assembly together, but before you put it on we want to grease it. Apply grease somewhat liberally to the oval inside that goes around the end of the stick. Put a little on the convex side, too, but try not to get much on the concave side. It isn't the end of the world if you do, but try not to.
   
6. Notice the gears are shaped with D-shaped ends on their "axles." Apply a dab of grease on the flat side of these D-shaped ends.
   
7. Lock the top half of the assembly back together by putting the smaller gear on. You want to insert the flat "tab" on the end of the stick through the gear, and then turn the gear 90°. The actual gear itself should be towards the top, and the tab should be perpendicular to the slot in the gear assembly.
   
8. You should have, at this point, applied grease to: The slots in the ball of the joystick, the white plastic ring, the slot in the small gear, and the flat sides of the D-shaped ends of the small gear's "axles," and then put the top half of the assembly back together. Now go ahead and apply a little to the sides of the tab on the end of the stick, and a nice sized dab on its ball-shaped tip.
   
9. Now we're done with the top half! Let's focus on the bottom half. Take it all apart, except do not attempt to remove the gears from the white bowl piece. Now clean everything, so there is no plastic dust at all.
   
10. Make sure the white bowl part and its gears are completely dry, and don't apply any grease to any part of it yet. Look closely at the gears and notice there are slots in it. The joystick works because the optical sensors in the circuit board count the number of slots. If you have a steady hand, and you replaced the gears in your stick with Kitsch Bent gears, I suggest applying a very minuscule amount of grease along the teeth of the gears, and ONLY the teeth. If you get any on the part of the gears with slots, clean them very well. The joystick will not work if there are any contaminants the slots. If you don't have a steady hand, or these aren't replacement gears, don't bother greasing their teeth at all. The risk isn't worth it.
    
11. Place the bowl/gear assembly back into the bottom half of the joystick assembly's shell. With the screw hole on the bottom, there should be one gear on the right-hand side, and one gear on top. Feel free to put the circuit board back on at this point, too.
    
12. The white bowl is actually the most fragile part of the assembly, and the part that wears the most. That's why the "joystick dust" is white. To prevent that, apply a rather liberal amount (by which I mean maybe two or three dabs — we really don't want to use a lot of this stuff!) inside the bowl, and then use your toothpick to apply some to the "slots" along the edge.
    
13. Now let's grease the larger gear. Don't apply any grease to the teeth of the gear unless they're new, Kitsch Bent gears and you have a steady hand. Do apply grease to the entirety of the slot part of the gear, so you're actually greasing the concave, convex, and inside of the slot part. Then get the little D-shaped axle ends like on the smaller gear, and drop it back into the bowl. This gear should mesh with the optical gear on the right-hand side of the bowl.
    
14. Put the damn thing back together. Be careful to make sure the tab at the tip of the joystick fits into the slot on the larger gear, and that the teeth of the smaller gear are on the opposite side of the top assembly from the screw hole. Feel free to hold it together with your fingers and play with the stick a little before screwing it together, as you want to work some of the grease in further and you can easily take it back apart if something feels wrong.
    
    As long as you followed this carefully and made sure to not get any grease anywhere near the optical sensors, nor anywhere near the slots they sense your joystick should be as good as can be.
    
    I've purchased two brand new OEM N64 controllers, and I did this to both of them.

I would avoid third party controllers at all costs if I were you. They aren't bad, but they dont compare to the original N64 controller. I bought a couple of the controllers you posted a few weeks ago, i think it was a Cirka. The joystick was tight, but you couldnt achieve anywhere near the amount of accuracy you can with originals and its quite frustrating even trying to pick a character in super smash or adjust the CPU difficulty. I ended up selling these on Ebay and using the money to buy originals. I picked two gray originals for $14 each and they are near perfect. As for replacement joysticks, I have heard mixed things. I would save the money and buy the real stuff.

If you are going to buy a 3rd party controller this one is the best i have played with, its not the same, but i think it holds up pretty well compared to the original and its pretty cheap. Not to mention the joystick is much harder to ruin because of the PS2 type of design. Only set back is that my up on the C pad is pretty sticky, but thats about it.

Thanks for everyone's help I've actually got it working perfectly now. I'll document what I have done incase others come across similar issues. As I said I bought a cheap AV and power on ebay but also I bought a 'higher quality AV cable on amazon [Here](http://www.Meguiar.com/'s G19216EU Lustrant... https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01F7FRWIA?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share). So I was at wedding most of yesterday got back real late but thought I'd give the new cable a go and still nothing on screen but no buzz. I woke up to a couple more deliveries this morning which included an Expansion pack again I thought I'd just give it a go and see if it made any difference and lo and behold it's working like a dream!
So I didn't know if the expansion pack was the difference? Is this something I over looked when researching the RGB mod?
But its always nice to add a solution when you post a question.
Once again thank you to everybody who offered their advice and tried to help out that what makes the Internet and in particular Reddit such a great place. Cheers!

An emulator's the cheapest and most convenient, minus the occasional game that gives trouble (N64 emulation still isn't perfected). And it may be tough to get a controller set up and feeling just like the original. I haven't played with the 3rd-party options, but you've got quality-focused ones like the Tribute 64 (basically a modern recreation of the Hori Pad Mini, one of the few classic 3rd-party controllers that was considered decent). And these controllers actually have decent reviews. It sounds like the quality control may be iffy...but they're cheap, at least.

People do sell a lot of actual N64s on Ebay. "Pricey" is relative. Bought separately, the console itself might be $50-ish (hopefully with expansion pak and cables), controllers might be $15 each, games from $5-$30 should cover most of the library. There are some fun listings like that as a bundle, where you might want to ask if it comes with the expansion pak (or most of the Perfect Dark game will be inaccessible...). $100 isn't a terrible deal for a starter bundle, even if you don't care for some of the games (you never know; maybe you'll be in an odd mood one day?) If you're looking for a $50 all-in set...they're out there, but you may be looking for a while. Or getting lucky at a garage sale, talking to some coworkers, etc. Around the $20-$25 price range for games, watch out for ones shipping from China, listed as "New", or stored in neat little plastic wrap baggies. Those are warning signs for counterfeit/fake cartridges. They'll work (usually), but they've got a bad track record for reliability.

Between Ebay, Amazon, Shopgoodwill, occasional good deals from GameStop, and a few games that I was able to salvage from my parents' house (my sister got the others), I've been building a collection over about the past 10 years. The games get expensive pretty quickly. As a midpoint between emulation and collecting carts, you might consider a flash cartridge like the EverDrive. It's pricey...but if you're buying more than 5-10 games (especially popular ones), the flash cart may well end up being cheaper.

Since no one has posted an informative explanation about just what exactly "goes in there," here is everything you need to know to make an informed decision about which part you need.

The N64 shipped with a 4MB ram cartridge, called the "Jumper Pack." This is what came stock with every N64.

They look like this: http://imgur.com/UBEJfa3

Several years after the N64 launched, nintendo released what was called an "expansion pak." It was an 8MB RAM expansion that replaced the original "jumper pack"

The N64 "Expansion Pak" looks like this: http://imgur.com/68miFsX

Essentially, if you have an N64 that doesn't have anything in that slot, you want to purchase an "Expansion Pak" because every single game will work with it, and many games will even have enhanced resolution or additional game modes when used with it.

The stock "jumper pack" will not work with games such as Donkey Kong 64, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, or the single player portion of Perfect Dark, as they all require the upgraded "Expansion Pak"

Be sure and find a Nintendo Brand "Expansion Pak," because the third party ones have a tendency to be glitchy, and not last for very long.

Here is a list of vendors for the correct part you need from Amazon, starting at around $25 with shipping.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B00000INR2/ref=dp_olp_used?ie=UTF8&condition=used

Good Luck

The optimal HDTV experience will be with an N64 HDMI, pretty much everything else will look like garbage. You're blowing up a tiny image to 1080 or more, and it's gonna result in a super muddy image.

That being said, I use one of these:

SIENOC PC Laptop AV S-video Video to VGA TV Converter Switch Box Color Black https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ENH8G16?ref=yo_pop_ma_swf

With this:

3.5mm Male to 2 RCA Left & Right Audio Female Adapter https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003LVDWOQ?ref=yo_pop_ma_swf

And this:

AmazonBasics VGA to VGA Cable - 6 Feet (1.8 Meters) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PML35RC?ref=yo_pop_ma_swf

For when I am bringing my N64 to someone else's place. I bring my Asus VW246H computer monitor which has an integrated speaker. I plug the N64 S-Video into the adapter, the Adapters VGA out to the monitor, and connect the RCA-Auxillary adapter to the monitors audio input jack. This plays fine, although CRT is always best.

I know it's the trite answer, but you really have to play on a CRT to get the best experience.

This is what I use and I love it. Converts to HDMI and takes care of the problems with old consoles on non CRT TVs. It's a little pricey at $50, but worth it since you can use it with all old consoles on any TV.


http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B2B9Z20/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I love mine. As an added bonus, you can get the cable for the N64 that supports s-video and use it with this box for a little more quality, or go all the way with the RGB mod and this box still works in all scenarios.

best result i got so far were kitsh-bent replacement bowls and gears. some of the pieces requires a bit of sanding, but an OG joystick with lubricated kitsch bent parts is the best you can get nowadays. cost about 5$CAD for a kit, and requires 30min of work to install.


https://store.kitsch-bent.com/product/n64-joystick-gears

Second best were optical style joysticks on amazon.

I use an Epson EX5210 Projector, with the S-Video hook up for the N64 Beerio-Kart, Smash, and Mario Party 3 parties. It works flawless and I love picture on it through the S-Video 1000x better then the composite video cable.

http://www.amazon.com/Epson-EX5210-Projector-Portable-brightness/dp/B005J31BCY/ref=sr_1_16?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1405347988&sr=1-16&keywords=epson+hd+projector

The top cover comes off really easily, I just bought one from Craigslist and gave it a nice deep clean, I bought a kit with the screwdrivers and brushes on Amazon for $10. I'm a bit of a clean freak as well, so I thought it was a good investment.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01KSOWL3Q/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_st0TDbWA3684N

Right here.

This little baby works like a charm, and is the closest you will ever get to the original. It's a tad stiff at first and a notch high in sensitivity, but it works flawlessly after a few playthroughs. I highly recommend it to anyone looking to replace their N64 joysticks for a cheap price and a close resemblance to the original.

If your TV supports s-video get one like this. Might as well get the best quality when you can.

You'll get the best picture with a s-video cable (unless you're willing to do the RGB mod). Cheap ones are about $5-10. If your TV will accept svid directly (unlikely though given that it's new) then do that, else, you should get an upscaler to convert the signal to HD and allow you to plug-in HDMI.

Are these two recommended as well or the S-Video is basically the go to cable to achieve the best result?

http://www.amazon.com/Super-Nintendo-SNES-64-N64-Gamecube/dp/B0014B1S5U

http://www.amazon.com/Gameplay-SNES-GameCube-N64-S-Video-Audio/dp/B0085ME19Q/ref=sr_1_6?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1458424020&sr=1-6&keywords=nintendo+n64+s+video

I think they're just different brand names for different regions, since I got mine in the UK rather than the US. The device I have looks just like the one in the video, and the box is the same too. Even the brands Tendak and Tensun sound pretty similar.

US Amazon actually has both for some reason. Weirdly the Tendak one has a slightly higher price.

https://www.amazon.com/Tensun-Composite-Converter-Upscaler-Nintendo/dp/B019T0WFA4/

https://www.amazon.com/Tendak-Composite-S-Video-Converter-Upscaler/dp/B00V2ULHBS/

I'm surprised you couldn't get a good picture out of an RGB scart console though. In theory that should be even better than S Video.

[This one] (http://www.amazon.ca/Portta-PETCSHP-Composite-Converter-Windows-10/dp/B003NS0UUQ).

I have the N64 hooked up with composite to it right now, I'm waiting in the mail on an S-video cable as the current S-video cable I have now is terrible.

It's a pretty sweet scaler, but you dont have to necessarily buy from the link I sent you. It appears to be a china model and the "porta" is just the name of the reseller. You can buy the exact same box for a little less from other sellers. Just make sure the picture of the box is the same.

It has 4 modes.

-Compostie 720p

-S-Video 720p

-Compostie 1080p (What I'm currently using)

-S-Video 1080p

Totally agree, it's $4.47 on Amazon for a legit screwdriver.

http://www.amazon.com/Screwdriver-Security-GameCube-Consoles-Genesis-Master/dp/B000F78NBQ

[choose this one! I have it and works awesome!](Portta YPbPr Component RGB + R/L to HDMI Converter v1.3 support LPCM https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003VJ9RP6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_kHKNzb32F62WN)

I ordered this one - https://www.amazon.com/Gamecube-N64-S-Video-AV-Cable/dp/B00005RH4D

So yes it does

You could get a cheap usb capture card like this and play through your computer. You could also live stream with it if you wanted.
https://www.amazon.com/USB-2-0-Audio-video-Converter/dp/B06XJKSJZ8/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1536422319&sr=8-4&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=capture+card+rca&dpPl=1&dpID=41U4tXTIH2L&ref=plSrch

Check your TV's manual and make sure the green connector is the one you are supposed to plug the yellow video cable into. This isn't standardized so different TVs will need a different configuration.
To answer the question about upscalers this is the gold standard but there is no reason you can't go with something cheaper like this.

If you have the correct gamebit (screw driver bit) you can easily open the console and just pop both the reset and power buttons out and give them a thorough cleaning. Here's the bit http://www.amazon.com/Screwdriver-Security-GameCube-Consoles-Genesis-Master/dp/B000F78NBQ

I picked up a s-video cable and then a video converter from here:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00B2B9Z20/ref=ya_aw_od_pi?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It works well aside from the fact that the picture is slightly off center.

I run my NES through this at the same time as the N64. I just use a audio switcher for that portion.

I don't mind the replacement joysticks from RepairBox that aren't the GameCube style ones

They're possibly cheaper elsewhere - look for the code on the box DN64R-AO4

These aren't perfect replacements, but they do the job just fine

https://www.amazon.com/RepairBox-Replacement-Controller-Optical-Style-nintendo-64/dp/B07C39PV3N/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8
or
https://store.kitsch-bent.com/product/n64-joystick-gears

I'll be trying those at some point with I have cash to burn, avoid the Gamecube styled ones. I've had better luck playing Goldeneye with my makopad ffs.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000F78NBQ?pc_redir=1412322229&robot_redir=1#

Here's the link to the screwdriver. I'm on mobile so I can't make the link smaller.

The crack inside of the n64 is strange to me, if you can open the n64 without damaging the shell more then I would check it out. Although I'm not what else you can do.

You need this.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B00000INR2/ref=dp_olp_used?ie=UTF8&condition=used&qid=1417806379&sr=8-1

I got a madcatz s video cable http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000C88IB?keywords=madcatz%20s%20video&qid=1451775523&ref_=sr_1_1&sr=8-1 ...the only one without a yellow cable I can find is this http://www.amazon.com/Gamecube-S-Video-Cable-Bulk-Packaging/dp/B000P6R46W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1451775184&sr=8-1&keywords=s+video+bulk

Also forget to mention, I ordered the converter today just to try it out, its this http://www.amazon.com/Portta-PETCSHP-Composite-1080p%C2%A0-%C2%A0Not%C2%A0-%C2%A0Windows%C2%A010/dp/B003NS0UUQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1451775247&sr=8-1&keywords=hdmi+converter+porta