Nintendo Joystick Rebuilds (Pic Heavy)

NERDtendo

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I decided to take on a new project when freeplayinc listed a bunch of Nintendo joysticks for sale. I cleaned up one of my joysticks I had in my parts drawer and it turned out pretty nice. I had a couple people ask me to post the steps I took to clean and rebuild these joysticks. Saturday the joysticks from freeplayinc came in the mail so I figured I would document of few of the rebuilds from that lot on here for others to see. Here are two pictures of what came in the mail...

Top...
0-2.jpg


and Bottom...
0-1.jpg


There were a couple of decent joys in there, but for the most part they were pretty trashed. I expected this (that is why I got a good deal on the lot). Most of the joysticks are 8 ways for VS, PlayChoice, Punch-Out!, etc., but there are a few DK joysticks in there. I pan to rebuild these and then sell them off giving people the choice of what joystick they want (i.e. 2-way, 4-way, 8-way, and 25mm, 28mm, and 30mm balltop with appropriate shaft). Some of the joys barely move and they don't return to center when let go of. Some are missing parts. All in all, this lot should keep me busy for a little while.


The first joystick that am I rebuilding is a 4-way joystick with the 25mm balltop that is used on Nintendo cocktail games like DK, DKJR, and POPEYE. Here are detailed before shots of the joystick...

1-1.jpg


1-2.jpg


1-3.jpg
 
Here is a list of the materials I use...

Drill
Sandpaper (100, 320 and 1500 grit)
NOVUS 1, 2, & 3
Damp work rags
3-IN-1 Multi-Purpose Lubricating Oil
WD-40
Cans of compressed air
6-in-1 tool
Small flathead screwdriver
Pliers
Toothbrush

2-1.jpg


2-2.jpg


A lot of the materials I used can be replaced with other products. These are just the materials I use.

First thing I did was disassemble the joystick and see what I was going to need to do.

1-4.jpg


As you can see there are parts missing. I need another microswitch, a restrictor plate and 3 of the 4 mounting screws. I have those parts in a drawer and I plan to fix up the balltop/shaft. I decided to replace all of the microswitches with better ones.

2-3.jpg
 
First thing I worked on was the base. It was very dirty and had lots of rust. I used the sandpaper to remove as much rust as possible. I then used the WD-40 to free up the ball bearing in the center. After the initil cleaning with the WD-40, I cleaned the base with soap and warm water. I dried the base off with a rag and used the compressed air to make sure all the water got out. I relubricated the ball bearing with 3-IN-1 multipurpose oil. Now the base functions perfectly and looks much better.

3-1.jpg


3-2.jpg
 
Looks good, and like you have some work ahead of ya. Fun!!

I have rebuilt many Nintendo sticks and as a suggestion i have found that the White lithium grease works the best...for me anyway...

have fun !
 
The next part I focus on is the balltop and shaft. I lock the jostick into my drill and clean it by rotating it in a damp rag. I then use he 1500 grit sandpaper to remove as much of the dings and pittings as I can. I then use the Novus 3, then 2, then 1 to polish the balltop back to sparkly...

3-3.jpg


3-4.jpg


Comparison of polished balltop to NEW REPRO balltop...
3-5.jpg


Lastly I clean the microswitches and reassemble the joystick. Here is the finished product...

4-1.jpg


4-2.jpg


I'm going to post more joystick rebuilds as I get to them, but I'll just be posting before & after shots.
 
Looks good! Hopefully this will inspire me to get around to fixing up the joystick on my punchout and my spare.

I need to get a hold of a super-punch out joystick for when the kits are released.
 
Nice one.

I've done some Nintendo sticks as well. After removing the bulk of the rust with steel wool or sandpaper, I soak the rusted metal parts in CLR and that pretty much removes all traces of the rust. You just have to be carefull not to soak anything that has the gold coating on it in CLR because it will take off that finish. I soak all the metal parts in WD-40 to get off the gunk and make sure I clean the hell out of the bearing. Then I use litheum grease to lube. This works really well but will take all day long.
 
Nice! Great timing since I've got a couple of these to redo in the next few months. I'll be using this as my guide.
 
I didn't have before shots of the first one I did, but here are the after shots...

DKJOYHOLE.jpg


DKJOYSCRATCH.jpg


DKJOYBOTTOM.jpg


...This one is a DK upright joystick with the 30mm balltop.
 
Using white lithium grease in the pivot ball and socket of a Nintendo joystick makes them sluggish in my experience. I use 3M dry silicone spray which works really well. I imagine a light oil would work well too. The key of course is to clean them thoroughly, especially that ball and socket area. With the ball and inside of the socket clean enough to eat off, a Nintendo joystick works smoothly even dry.

Most of the joysticks are 8 ways for VS, PlayChoice, Punch-Out!, etc., but there are a few DK joysticks in there.

Punch-Out uses a 4-way, but it is not like a DK joystick. It is like a VS. and PC-10 joystick except it has a 4-way restrictor.

By the way, the new reproduction restrictors are much nicer than the originals. They are laser or waterjet cut and they are very smooth. I ordered one when they first became available for a spare Punch-Out joystick that was missing it, but it was so nice that I swapped it for the original restrictor in the joystick in my Super Punch-Out machine. As you slide the stick from one direction to another against the restrictor, it is as smooth as greased glass. It definitely improves the overall feel of the joystick.
 
Punch-Out uses a 4-way, but it is not like a DK joystick. It is like a VS. and PC-10 joystick except it has a 4-way restrictor.

My bad. I had taken the games list for the joysticks straight from MikesArcade Technical Archives without really looking. If I had looked I would have seen that the balltop and shaft were the same but like you said the restrictor plates are different. Good looking out there.
 
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Using white lithium grease in the pivot ball and socket of a Nintendo joystick makes them sluggish in my experience. I use 3M dry silicone spray which works really well.

I haven't had a problem but I'll try the silicone spray in the next one and see if it feels different.
 
rust

Don't forget to use some Naval Jelly on the rust after you wire wheel the metal. The rinse and repeat until it's all gone.
 
I haven't had a problem but I'll try the silicone spray in the next one and see if it feels different.

Probably if you spread the lithium grease on really thin, it wouldn't make it feel sluggish. When I tried it, I packed that socket with lithium grease like you would with ball bearings in a race, and it was no good.

The dry silicone spray is nice because it is easy to reapply when needed (you don't have to remove and disassemble the joystick because you can get right in there with the straw and spray), and it doesn't tend to collect crud like grease does. Plus it doesn't actually need grease, because there really is no load to speak of on that ball/socket when used normally, nor does it see particularly high speed. I bet you could even leave that ball/socket completely dry and you'd never have a problem with home use.

I cleaned my SPO joystick thoroughly about 6 years ago, and I've only sprayed in more silicone spray a few times since then; and not because it felt like it needed it, but rather, just for the hell of it.

I do use a very thin layer of lithium grease (so thin it is transparent) on the brass bell so that the plastic wheel on the 5th microswitch rides smoothly against it (only relevant for Super Punch-Out and Arm Wrestling joysticks).
 
Probably if you spread the lithium grease on really thin, it wouldn't make it feel sluggish. When I tried it, I packed that socket with lithium grease like you would with ball bearings in a race, and it was no good.

The dry silicone spray is nice because it is easy to reapply when needed (you don't have to remove and disassemble the joystick because you can get right in there with the straw and spray), and it doesn't tend to collect crud like grease does. Plus it doesn't actually need grease, because there really is no load to speak of on that ball/socket when used normally, nor does it see particularly high speed. I bet you could even leave that ball/socket completely dry and you'd never have a problem with home use.

I cleaned my SPO joystick thoroughly about 6 years ago, and I've only sprayed in more silicone spray a few times since then; and not because it felt like it needed it, but rather, just for the hell of it.

I do use a very thin layer of lithium grease (so thin it is transparent) on the brass bell so that the plastic wheel on the 5th microswitch rides smoothly against it (only relevant for Super Punch-Out and Arm Wrestling joysticks).

I went about 50/50 on it. I didn't pack it in there, but it was more than just a thin layer because I sprayed it in there and its tough to regulate the spray. I'm going to rebuild my DK joystick soon so it will be cool to see if the silicone spray feels different.
 
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