How to disassemble a nintendo stick

baritonomarc

Member
Joined
Mar 19, 2010
Messages
548
Reaction score
7
Location
Mestrino, PD, Italy
Hi all,

i am trying to restore a nintendo joystick. I was able to remove it from the control panel (WoW!! :D) but i cannot see how to remove the ball/stick from the rectangular body...

sam0626slim.jpg


could someone help me?

thanks!
 
Last edited:
Looks like yours may be rusted together. Once you remove the clip on the bottom everything is suppose to come off. I had one stick that wouldn't come apart. Srayed some PB blaster on it and had to let it sit for a week. Yours is going to need some help.
 
Thanks

Do you think that blocking the bottom part in a vice and apllying a load in the axis direction could break the oxide? Could it break some component?
 
The spring may break, but that would be because it is rusted to hell anyways. You could try a vice, but I'd only do that after it has sat in something for a while. I'd let it sit for a while and just tap it with a hammer before resorting to a vice.
 
Here's the exploded diagram on my site for a reference:

http://www.priglmeier.com/arcade_projects/joysticks.html

Once you get it apart use some naval jelly and steel wool on the metal parts. You might need a new spring, but the rest of the stick will last forever. Nintendo made good sticks!

good site, boss. I should probably do this to all my joysticks, not so much because of rust, but because they've probably never been worked on before. any recommendation on what to lube them with?
 
Thanks

Do you think that blocking the bottom part in a vice and apllying a load in the axis direction could break the oxide? Could it break some component?

I have used this approach before. Put the stick in a vise on its side, ball top away from you. Block the top of the joystick plastic plate with wood and leave enough room between the joystick ball and vise jaw for the stick to push out the top. Use a bolt close to the diameter of the joystick shaft on the opposite vise jaw to press the joystick out. You have to align it correctly or the joystick will shift and the whole works will fall out of the vice.

Be careful and use discretion; I didn't have to crank very hard to get mine to pop out.
 
Last edited:
After some (soft) hammering of the bottom cylinder without success, now the stick is "ageing" on a derusting liquid. In the meantime help me figuring a thing out please: i noticed that pulling the stick up on its axis, the run is limited by something (i thought it should run up to the spring complete compression): is this normal or maybe i have the stick shaft rusted toghether with something else (maybe where the two upper metal plates join toghether?)
 
Last edited:
After some (soft) hammering of the bottom cylinder without success,

Never hammer any shaft (no matter what you're working on, this is a general tip) out of a collar/fitting; you will mushroom the end of the shaft you're beating on and the collar will not come off once you unseize the parts.
 
Yeah I'd probably let it sit in oil or something for awhile and hope it comes loose. Maybe some sand paper while it's dry on the metal parts to get any of the loose rust out so the lube can get to down to the problem area.
 
Thanks for the advices, but what about:

[...]In the meantime help me figuring a thing out please: i noticed that pulling the stick up on its axis, the run is limited by something (i thought it should run up to the spring complete compression): is this normal or maybe i have the stick shaft rusted toghether with something else (maybe where the two upper metal plates join toghether?)

EDIT: searching on the Forum i read that there's a "ball" inside the two metal plates: i suppose the shaft is rusted toghether also with that "ball" :(
 
Last edited:
SOLVED!

Looks like the stick was rusted to hell: using derusting liquid(s) was not sufficient to loose the bottom cylinder from the shaft just to let soft hammering work. I decided then to give it to "The Specialist" (the mechanic working in the research center i work in). After some "polite" test, he went in the back of the workshop. He reappeared after 30 seconds with a BLOWPIPE ! I said: No! Romeo! What are you doing with my ... it was too late: the bottom of the stick was invested by a high temp flame... the torture lasted for a couple of seconds (maybe 3). After that he blocked the cylinder in the vice and, with little force, the shaft was free!

Yea, the difference in thermal deformation between the oxide and the metal made the trick

Thanks Romeo! :)

sam0628slim.jpg
 
Last edited:
Back
Top Bottom